We are selling our flat and its a leasehold. Exchange date was set for the end of November and buyers solicitors are asking a lot of questions which then have to be referred back to the Freeholder who legally has 8 weeks to reply. My questions is – is it possible to let the prospective […]

Yesterday morning I attended a successful High Court eviction in North London, which will appear on our next series of Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords. The tenants owed £16,000 in rent. After much procrastination and protest, they finally left the property. The tenants had failed to pay rent for eight months. They had delivered excuse after […]

I reported an agency for not being a member of a redress scheme (they’ve been in business for over 30 years). It all came to light when an ex-tenant of mine left to rent a property from this agency, who messed her about and has ended up back with me. I told her she should […]

Fergus Wilson, probably one of Britain’s most controversial Landlords, claims to have sold his portfolio of Buy to Let properties in Kent to a foreign consortium for £250 million. In a statement given to the Guardian Mr Wilson said, “We reached an agreement today with a consortium of buyers to sell our entire portfolio for […]

If I receive a transfer of a rental property as part of a divorce settlement is there a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) liability. The property was bought for 107,000 and now would sell for about 147,000. Many thanks Rachel

Halifax report that house prices in the three months to November were 9% higher than on the same period last year. However, annual house price growth has slowed a little from 9% in October and although prices are up year-on-year, they actually fell 0.2% between October and November to an average of £204,552. Martin Ellis, […]

Experts have predicted that the buy to let market is moving towards a situation where only those with a 50% deposit are likely to qualify for a mortgage. Lenders are tightening their criteria for new applicants and Barclays has cut buy to let lending. The link between rental income and monthly mortgage cost is being […]

Hi all I hope someone can help on this peculiar situation. A tenant was signing up to a lease with my brother and duly paid him the deposit. The tenant then decided that they wanted to sign the lease agreements with me instead as I was the owner and subsequently did so. Although my lease […]

Tenant has just reported damp in many rooms of a small 2 room terraced property. Visited the property 8 weeks ago on an inspection and no issues. Damp in many areas of the house downstairs and upstairs. Wipes off. House full of clutter. Internal doors shut. No air flow. Windows wet in condensation. Damp corse […]

I own one of five flats in a converted house and as I’m the underlessor am responsible for obtaining and paying the building insurance. Normally I receive the correct payments from the other four owners(underlessee) but this year one refused to make a payment and now wants to make an insurance claim for water damage […]

In 2014 I was able to buy my sister’s 4 bed BLT using my inheritance and some of my pension as a large deposit. I am with BM solutions on a regulated BTL and the 2 year fixed ends at the end of Dec. My son lives in the property with his partner and their […]

My Girlfriend owns a house that we both live in. It’s basically the first house in a row of terraces the side of which adjoins to the back of another row of terraces which are a floor higher. We’ve had trouble with water dripping from seemingly random places in our house, except for the fact […]

Many of the landlords I have spoken to about incorporation (to avoid the effects of the new tax changes) have also spoken to their accountants. By using section 162 incorporation relief, many now realise they are in a position to avoid the implications associated with Capital Gains Tax.  A generally misconstrued perception of most tax advisers is […]

Kent Reliance’s Buy to Let Britain Report says radical changes to the tax treatment of landlords have already triggered a surge in landlords borrowing through companies. The report summarises: • Buy to let lending to limited companies doubles to 5,000 per month following Budget announcement • Number of loans to limited companies to climb to […]

The legal conveyancing process undertaken as part of buying a home in the UK is often seen as too complicated and slow, according to a new survey. 42% of home owners questioned felt their experience of the process was too complicated and slow with only 4% considering the process to be quick. Furthermore, 23% felt […]

We bought a flat with a sitting tenant on an AST. We did not need to occupy it ourselves at the time, so allowed the existing tenant to stay, notifying the tenant that we were the new landlords, paying us rent instead of the prior landlord. We now need the flat back, partly due to […]

We will be downsizing in next 2-3 years so are buying a 2 bed bungalow in same area as current house – we are acting now to also beat the stamp duty (we only have 1 property at present) – completion date early Feb 16 We Own current property in joint names – intending to […]

Due to the recent changes in Stamp Duty and mortgage interest tax relief how does everyone think they will effect London house prices? I have limited my question to London, because Buy to Let purchases are a very significant proportion of the market. I can see stagnation at best and most likely a fall coming. […]

It was announced in the Financial Stability Report (see below) that the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) will review the underwriting standards and procedures of Buy to Let lenders. The Chancellor George Osborne has also given the Financial Policy Committee powers to add lending caps on the BTL sector with further details to be decided in […]

I just bought a property with tenants in situ. Previous owner has been using a letting agent who introduced the tenant, used its tenancy agreement template, and subsequently managed the property. Deposit is held by them on TDS. There are some on going issues on the property relate to condensation. Tenant has been paying regularly […]

The hardest place to sell a house is London’s W postcode, according to new research which has examined 8,500 house sales. The London postcode includes the exclusive districts of Mayfair and Kensington where the average price of a house exceeds £3m. London homes require an average of 20 viewings, while vendors in Wembley and Ilford […]