Property118 IFA partners HD Consultants won a podium finish in their first venture out to the Business MoneyFacts awards held last night. Howard Reuben, the Principal of HD Consultants, and his team won 3rd place “Commended” Buy To Let Mortgage Broker of the Year 2015. Howard said “recent trade press report there are about 16,000 […]

New member reporting in, I’ve been a landlord for 8 years now and I’ve got 4 flats and a couple houses. The last purchase I got planning to build new so doubled my money ( gogo permitted development rights 😀 ) so I’m now looking at my next purchase as I’ll have a good size […]

So far this year we have taken many hundreds of calls to our free member helpline, asking us about the new rules for smoke detection in the private rented sector (PRS). Changes came in well over a year ago in Scotland, via the “Repairing Standard”. Our member factsheet on this topic is one of the […]

I have a leasehold basement flat which is within a block of four flats. The freeholder of the block recently notified me of their intention to sell the freehold and will soon be initiating the formal process by offering the freehold to the tenants before selling on the open market.  I would appreciate your advice […]

I have already served a Section 21 notice which hasn’t expired yet.  If in the mean time the tenant then becomes 2 months in rent arrears, can I then serve a Section 8 also ? Also, if I can presumably serve both notices, if the expiry date of the section 8 comes up first, can […]

I’m looking for advise from anyone regarding the most cost effective way of transferring deeds into joint names.  We started out our buy to let business 5 years ago, with initially 3 properties and at that time put the deeds for those three houses into my wife’s name for tax purposes. 5 years later it […]

Almost buried on page 51 of the Budget Red Book the Chancellor gives a very brief outline of his intention to prevent the Private Rental Sector from stopping tenants being able to sublet. This document states: “Support for the sharing economy 1.193 The government wants to ensure that Britain is the global centre for the sharing […]

I obtained a possession order for 2nd January 2015 and applied for warrant for possession immediately as tenants refused to leave. I have been waiting for the bailiffs to carry this out since then, and have had no messages from them despite emailing them and calling(no answer). The court says it can take 8 weeks!! […]

In our flat we have a card that we have to top up for heating our water which is provided by a third party service called Insite Energy.   We top the card up £25 at a time which usually last just under 2 months but since the new year we have noticed that it […]

I have a tenant who text me on 17th March to say she would be moving out by the weekend as she couldn’t afford the rent any more. I told her she had to give one months notice. She said she didn’t have any money. I said I could take it out of the deposit. […]

I am planning to buy a buy to let property for the first time and need advice. I have found a 1 bed flat at a decent price (£5k less than similar properties). It is a converted flat in an old 1910 built house, which has 7 more flats. All flats are on leasehold and […]

We are a family of 3, working professionals in the Luton LU3 area.  We have to move in a rush because the long term let we signed up to with an agent 18 months ago has been rudely and abruptly ended before we have had the chance of even finishing unpacking. The agency did not […]

YOU can now insure against being gazumped for just £59.99, Home Buyers Protection Insurance repays any fees or expenses incurred if your buyer pulls out of a sale.  Anyone who has ever been gazunmped or had a purchase fall through on them for reasons out of their control will know how frustrating and expensive it […]

The Ministry of Justice has proposed to charge 5% of the value of the claim to all court cases worth more than £10,000, which it estimates will bring in an extra £120m a year. A further consultation has also opened on extra charges for possession claims and general applications in civil proceedings. Possession claim fees […]

A few weeks ago I was invited by estate agent John Savage to record a series of podcasts as bonus editions to his Property Battlefield project.  If you don’t know what a podcast is, three examples of my ramblings highly professional insights can be found below, just click the play buttons. I have to apologise […]

I am contacting you on behalf of my in-laws. They have recently signed a tenancy agreement with an estates agent who at the time of the interview was verbally advised that pets were allowed. They have a jack russell and a cat. On moving in they have heard from their neighbours that there is a […]

I have some properties with tenants that will need to be sold in next couple years.  My thinking is if I sell with tenants in situ I will be selling to a small subset of aggressive investors. If I have empty properties, sure there is no rent coming in but I then can appeal to […]

The new rules that come into force regarding the ability to release cash from pension funds will have a huge effect on the BTL market. A rush of first time novice investors wanting buy up anything within budget will push prices up even higher and certain sectors ie flips, will be even harder to come […]

Following water damage at my rented property and a subsequent permanent relocation, I have still not been paid for the substantial amount of oil and electricity used to dry the house out. This is covered by the landlord’s insurance but despite several emails to both him and the insurance company I have still not been […]

I have a conundrum, with the property market bouncing back it has encouraged more investors to snap up property in the hope of its value rising. I have a portfolio of six fully paid up (No mortgage) 3/4 bedroom houses in Harborne and Mosely in Birmingham and these areas are the most affluent of the […]

I currently have a small property portfolio with two investment properties in West London as well as a residential home. My overall strategy is to build more aggressively the number of property’s I own to create a steady income and reduce the need to work in my current career. I have a wife and two […]