I own a flat in London which I rent out – and recently received a Hazard Awareness Notice from the council relating to some fire safety issues. This came with a schedule of required works and a thinly veiled threat to upgrade the notice to an Improvement Notice if nothing is done. Some of the […]

Housebuilders share prices fell immediately to post Budget reaction that BTL mortgage interest tax relief will be capped to the basic rate of 20%. Barratt shares fell 5.7% Taylor Wimpey  shares fell 5% Persimmon down 4.7% This is direct instant economic indicator to what the financial markets think about the reduction in tax relief, as no […]

How much worse off might you be as a result of the limitations on claiming BTL mortgage interest as a taxable expense? We’ve built a calculator to help you work it out. First of all, allow me to explain the issue …. Tax relief on Buy-to-Let mortgages is to be reduced to the basic rate of […]

The concern is; Budget proposals to “restrict finance cost relief to individual landlords”.  To calculate the impact of this policy on your personal finances download this software

Hi all, I am a newly registered member here. I paid nearly £7k to an established property sourcing company in London for an off plan project in Slough. The project never materialised, I was told that the builder pulled out but have no way to verify the same. I was informed that as per the […]

I am currently taking two separate tenants (or rather their guarantors) to Court, one over arrears and the other for damages to the property.  I am regularly in Court as it is the nature of renting in my area and I usually win. However, in both of these cases a local Councillor seems to be involved […]

Last year I obtained a CCJ against a guarantor which I subsequently upgraded for enforcement by HCEO’s (High Court Enforcement Officers). I expected fairly swift and effective results but to date no payments have been received.  The HCEO costs are now about double the original debt!! I am VERY disappointed with the service I have […]

Updated 7th July 2015 – First published on 30th April 2015   Property118 Portal Limited is a new start up business hosted on the established Property118.com website. It seeks to attract investment of £150,000 in return for 10% of the shares in the new company. The Property118.com website now serves two separate businesses owned by […]

I have come across a block of flats that has 3 of its flats up for sale. I am trying to get hold of the freeholder and negotiate about its freehold as I believe all flats have been sold off on lease and hopefully if the freeholder does agree to its sale as a ground […]

I am looking at getting an ordinary mortgage to buy my housing association house getting my right to buy discount etc…..  I then want to move my nan into this house and she will live here for the rest of her life and I believe she has at least 20 years left in her, She […]

Channel 5’s ‘Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords’ is set to show how one rogue operator gives good letting agents a bad name. Margaret Wilson faces the agent that owes her £20,000 in a perfectly captured showdown on Wednesday 8th July at 9pm. Margaret Wilson owns two rental properties in Oxfordshire. Two years ago she handed them […]

We have an issue with bedbugs in a property that we let out.  We received an email from the estate agent two weeks ago, saying the tenants had been having problems with bedbugs since January. The tenants moved in August 2014. They paid for treatment in January which got rid of them temporarily. They were […]

It seems to be more prevalent that local councils are advising non-paying tenants to be as difficult as possible to landlords. These problem tenants are being advised by councils to turn up at their court hearings at the last minute to force cases to be adjourned, then hold on until bailiffs arrive. This hasn’t happened […]

If you are a commercial landlord, property lawyer, or commercial agent, you are likely to come across CRAR and forfeiture on a regular basis. CRAR – Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery – is a remedy for commercial landlords to recover rent arrears from tenants where there is a written lease in place, without the need to […]

I mainly let to DSS/Housing Benefit tenants. Many of them are referred by homelessness organisations, so most of these are homeless at the time of referral to me, and unfortunately I am unable to house everyone as I don’t have enough flats or rooms (in HMOs) for them. However, what I do have is plenty […]

I have a tenant on an AST (6 months) and weekly rent – specified in the AST. He is now four weeks behind with the rent and despite several promises each week that it will be paid I doubt now whether he ever will. I understand that on a weekly rent schedule I only need […]

The Buy to Let (BTL) market has continued to grow rapidly and now accounts for 15% of all outstanding mortgages and 18% of the total flow of new mortgages as reported in the Bank of England Financial Stability Report (see chart below). This recovery in BTL has been assisted by increased competition from lenders leading […]

I occasionally work in conjunction with a Homeless agency and provide accommodation to people from that source, sometimes things do go awry with tenants and one has to accept that possibility, (whether it be ex drug users returning to their habit or whatever), however I have a scenario at present that is a new one […]

The New Buy to Let range from Keystone is funded exclusively by the peer to peer lending platform Landbay. The Classic Range is geared towards individuals and limited company applicants looking to purchase or remortgage a wide variety of residential investment property. Range features: Complimentary £100 Welcome Bonus for every new mortgage holder (conditions apply). […]

I have started a furnished tenancy to find 2 old sofas in the lounge. They leave no space for anything else, are end of life and difficult to sit on (especially as it aggravates my back). So I asked if they can be chucked (I’ll bring my own sofa). I was told no, I cannot […]

Letting agents in the UK have seen a rise in the number of inquiries for short term lets, as both tenants and landlords look for greater flexibility, according to new research from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). Just over a quarter (26%) of letting agents agreed that they had seen a rise in […]