We have a potential new tenant who can’t afford to pay the whole deposit (of £400) and the first month’s rent (of £400) up front. She has asked if she can pay the deposit in installments – £100 per month. If we went down this route, would we protect the deposit at the end of […]

Some of the two year fixed rate buy to let mortgages currently on offer look very good if you’re looking to improve cashflow on SVR deals or you’re refinance to release equity. I did a search using our new mortgage sourcing tool based on remortgaging a flat worth £100,000 at 75% LTV and these are […]

My partner and I had a portfolio of 15 mortgages with Mortgage Express and due to my partner (only) going into an IVA on his personal loans (not the mortgages – these had never been in arrears at all), an LPA receiver was appointed on all of the properties.  There was one line in the […]

I have a small one bed property, which is currently on a 70 year lease and I need to sell quickly. I’m in the process of negotiating a lease extension deal with my Freeholder. The deal as a whole seems quite fair at a premium of £5750 and ground rent set to £200 pa, but […]

I know that many think we live in a world where “elf ‘n’ safety” has gone mad, but when you are removing large numbers of activists from a building, you’d be mad not to consider it!  We undertook a squatter / activist eviction recently from a former hospital building full of asbestos. The feedback from […]

Investors are extremely keen on rental properties based in and around Manchester due to the high rental yields available in the city, which saw it named as HSBC’s second buy-to-let hotspot in 2014. Property investors are drawn to the high returns offered by prime city centre residential apartments in regional cities like Manchester, and these […]

Over the last 18 months the private rental sector has been under increased scrutiny as a result of new legislation and demands for transparency. An announcement made by Housing Minister Brandon Lewis in March of this year means that private landlords will have a legal obligation to install working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in […]

I should perhaps start by saying that I operate in one of the poorest areas of the country and what goes on in the middle class rental market of the south of the country cannot be applied to how the market operates where I am.  I am renting to the bottom of the socio-economic scale […]

No broker fees!  That’s always a good starter for 10 isn’t it? You can’t deal directly with this lender but we have a small panel of “strategic partner” brokers who don’t charge arrangement fees (*conditions apply). What makes them special? They lend to private individuals, partnerships, companies, LLP’s, trusts and ex-pats Their short term loans […]

I am a UK citizen now based In Singapore looking for help getting finance when I am non-resident in the UK.  I have one BTL property in London and a family home which is let out at the moment (both on mortgages via HSBC). I am looking to step up my investment & involvement levels […]

I am first time landlord looking to buy freehold property around Luton. The property is currently rented to young lady (aged 25-30) with her 2 children aged below 10. As far as I am aware, she is on council benefit but the property is rented on basis of periodic tenancy.  So far I’ve managed to […]

Hello all, I have a quick question. I am a landlord and have gone through the eviction process. I had a warrant of posession which was due to be executed today. I was at the property at the appointed time but the bailiff never showed up. I rang up after 20 minutes (initially thinking bailiff […]

Hi All Question – Lease Agreements and Holding Bond  I send out to my tenants the AT5 form and lease agreements by Email. As is the case with students these days, they appoint a scout to secure a property because the other co tenants are exploring the world. I offer Single Household Assured Tenancies on […]

On Wednesday 24th June 2015 at 9pm, Channel 5 will air the first episode of ‘Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords’, a six-part series following leading eviction specialists, Landlord Action, and council teams from across Britain, as they deal with the gritty side of the UK’s buy-to-let industry, exposing problematic tenants and dishonest landlords. With 8 million […]

Well my first ever eviction process has started, I’ve lasted 8 years in property without ever having to do this!  My tenant has done (and admitted to) several thousands of pounds worth of damage to the property. A section 21 has been served (using NLA form) and the expiry date is near end of July. […]

Letting supermarket.com 4% full management fee.  Is this too good to be true – how can they deliver quality, local service? Does anyone have experience of using them? Thanks John

I’m in a slight state of shock. An estate agent at a small, independent chain indicated to me at a viewing that if I were to ‘scratch his back’, so to speak he would help me to secure the property I went to see.  The market is fiendishly competitive. I’m not sure how taboo this […]

I have a young family interested in renting a property, 2 brothers and 2 sisters.  After the death of their father they decided to move house and find a new property. They are all working. Local council, local supermarket, one brother works for a builder, one sister at a children’s nursery. My question is would it […]

I am aware of two Mortgage Express / UKAR borrowers who received a letter this weekend calling in their loans, an extract of the letters, which are both identical, can be found below. In both cases the properties had been purchased using instant remortgages, i.e. the property had been purchased for cash or with bridging […]

I purchased a mixed use property (residential flat upstairs and a hairdressers downstairs) at auction. The deposit held was passed to me by the vendor as part of the exchange. I inherited an existing commercial lease which leases the whole property to the two tenants.  Questions; Do I need to register the deposit with a […]

A Government technical consultation on improvements to compulsory purchase processes has just closed (9th June 2015). These are proposals to make the process clearer, faster and fairer and the aim is to bring forward more brownfield land for development.  Section One: Improving guidance The guidance will be improved and provided online. It will be divided […]