Can anyone recommend a good referencing agency for tenants who have recently lived overseas? I am only aware of one, TenantVerify, and am unable to find any reviews, positive or negative. The tenants I have in mind come from Romania, and all I can find about tenant referencing within Romania is from this EU document […]

Our legal team from Cotswold Barristers and Michael Ashcroft QC were superb at The Court of Appeal. Three judges sat on the panel to hear our case, two Lords Justices of Appeal and one Lady Justice, the most eminent being the Rt Hon Lord Justice Leveson, President of the Queen’s Bench Division and third most […]

For a couple of years now, my unmarried partner and I have been sharing rental income from her old (leasehold) flat, which she owns outright. It never occurred to us that we couldn’t split the income in this way. It was a way of rewarding me for loss of rent-a-room income when she moved into […]

My tenant has been paying their rent six months in advance for the last year. They’ve now asked to pay monthly. Anything I should be aware of, do I need another credit check? Many thanks Ian

Buy to let landlords have experienced total annual returns of 12.2% over the past year assisted by the increase of purchases prior to the stamp duty deadline on April 1st. Average rents across England and Wales now stand at £791 a month, following a 3% increase over the year. The Midlands experienced the fastest rent […]

Could anyone please let me know if it is possible to have a small sum of money deducted from a tenant’s housing or other benefit payment following an eviction where the tenant has got a county court judgment. I know this may seem a futile exercise where a landlord claiming would probably only get a […]

The share offer in LettingSupermarket.com has gone live to the general public via the Seedrs crowdfunding website. Please Click Here The crowdfunded share offer was restricted to Property118 members until now. Well over a hundred Property118 members completed the “Expression of Interest” form and I know that Chris Sheldon (Managing Director) has been busy talking […]

This could be a historic day for all Buy to Let Landlords! The case of MARK ROBERT ALEXANDER (as representative of the “Property 118 Action Group”) Claimant – and – WEST BROMWICH MORTGAGE COMPANY LTD Defendant will be at 10 am on Thursday 28th April 2016 at Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, City of Westminster, […]

A woman rented one of our properties and then left leaving it in a terrible condition. We lodged a small claims court against her and the bailiffs were sent to her fathers house where she lives. He lives in a very expensive house in Cheshire and so could have paid off her debt, but now […]

I have paid our landlord by cheque our service charge less an amount that I am in dispute hence not the full amount asked for. They have refused the cheque and say that it has been shredded and have now employed a solicitor to collect arrears! As far as I am concerned the cheque is […]

Shawbrook Bank are now one of the most popular niche lenders in the property investment market with BTL, refurb, HMO, Bridging and Bridging to BTL products. They are one of the few that will consider loans on a case by case basis and not merely by credit score. They therefore have a very professional insight […]

I have a flat in a small block of 6 flats. We do not have a communal entrance or communal hallways. Each flat has its own individual front door, almost like a house. As per terms of the lease, Freeholders do not provide us with block insurance or any maintenance. We each maintain our own […]

I have a tenant who has caused extensive damage to my property on numerous occasions in the last few months. He’s been charged with criminal damage twice; convicted once, and pled not guilty to the latest charge claiming the police broke down the door to the property, therefore they are liable. The reason the police […]

Does anyone know what would need to be done to a conservatory in order for it to become habitable space? When Hammersmith and Fulham Council granted my HMO license, they said that the house would have to have a room dedicated for use as “tenant lounge” by 2018. They said that they’ve found fewer social […]

I thought I would share a recent experience. I wrongly assumed that all types of laminate flooring is covered under landlord’s building insurance and that my insurance would cover everything other than the tenants’ contents. Naïve? Probably. My rental property had a major flood from a leak under the kitchen floor. It has saturated the […]

I am sharing flat with a group of people. One of them has consistently demonstrated aggression and constantly smokes all kinds of stuff indoors, including communal space. I have complained to the landlord and they claim that something is been done. However this bad behavior has continued. As we are in a basement flat, I […]

I have been renting out a 3 bed property to groups of 3 tenants for the last 10 years. It appears that this is classed as an HMO. Southwark Council have now introduced Additional Licencing which affects any landlord renting out their property with 3 unrelated people living together. You are deemed under the 2004 […]

I have a few BTLs now and although I don’t have a company incorporated etc is it possible to pay my wife a Landlord Salary for looking after these properties (I.e. advertising, viewings, point of contact for tradesman etc)? Not sure if it is possible without forming a company, however I also appreciate my wife […]

After 7 years of damp mouldy windows the landlord has finally replaced them, but then wants to put rent up to pay for them. I sought advice and found lots of legal things he hadn’t done correctly. He had missed 4 gas checks, no electric certificate, no energy performance certificate and hadn’t protected my bond. […]

I rent my property out to four people who are excellent tenants and have made it their home for the past three years. Three weeks ago there was a house fire next door which caused some damage to my roof. My tenants were told by the fire brigade that they couldn’t return to the flat […]

I have tenant in my property since July 2010, I taken deposit from him in the sum of £1500 which was protected in 24 days. (Although it was required at the time to protect within 14 days). Please note that he is in Statutory Periodic Tenancy and his tenancy has not been renewed since July […]