An article by Alex Caravello – MK Landlords Association  Is Help to Buy just a Government con? To answer this question I thought I’d compare the true cost of the ‘Help to Buy Equity Loan’ scheme with the cost of renting a similar property long term. INTRODUCTION The ‘Help to Buy Equity Loan’ scheme only […]

I currently live in a three bedroom house that I have a normal residential mortgage on. It has been my only residence since 2010.  However, due to changes in circumstances, I will be living on my own and no longer be needing the extra space within a couple of months. One option I had in […]

My tenants boyfriend has been living in the house share for 11 months breaching the terms of the ASTA, can I claim from her deposit for him living there and not paying rent?  We have plenty of proof as other house-mates and neighbours are willing to confirm he was living in the house. I bought […]

I have some savings and I’m looking to make my first investment in Manchester.  I am hoping to buy 2 apartments around £60k-70k each. Since I don’t know Manchester and it is very difficult for me to visit often, I am looking for an estate letting agent who can advise me on properties and then […]

Hi all,  I’m in need of some advise. I have a mortgage which was taken out through Keystone mortgages. I also took out 6 mortgages with Mortgage Express. The Keystone mortgage was then taken over by MX. Keystones wording is identical to MX on the consolidation side. As all the mortgages are with MX/UKAR, can […]

Demand for rented homes will rise by more than one million households over the next five years, according to analysis from Savills. The latest findings have been revealed despite the government’s efforts to help ‘generation rent’ become ‘generation buy’. The Government has set a target of building 400,000 new affordable homes for sale over the […]

I am a landlord and purchased a two bedroom flat in 2012. The Ground rent doubles every 10 years from 2011 linked to RPI. Ground Rent is currently a manageable £250 and in 50 years it will be around £4000 Ground Rent. The Net yield on the property is very good indeed and make around […]

We are now in the process of purchasing property no 6 all individual family buy to lets. We don’t fancy HMO’s but obviously know that is where the money is, we will be looking at doing some flips along with a neighbour who is a builder. My question is, we have now re-financed some of […]

I want to buy in Milton Keynes it’s a great city. I want to give back to my home (concrete cows and roundabout it may be) and make a profit here. How big bad and ugly is the Planning Department? I know 3 storey conversions are pretty much out of the question, but how about […]

I have a situation where I need to get possession of a property, but it was sold to another landlord during the tenancy. At the time it got sold it was running periodic, a section 48 was issued to advise of this. I assumed a form N5B could be used but I’m being told it […]

My husband and I are trying to purchase my husbands family home. Prior the death of his parents, his parent built a clause into the Deeds to ensure their physically disabled sister would never be without her family home. My husbands sister now resides very happily in a nursing care home. We are having great […]

Landlords’ confidence in the buy to let (BTL) sector has collapsed to an all-time low and is now ‘worse than levels witnessed during the financial crash’, the CEO of the UK’s largest landlord association will tell leading mortgage professionals today (2nd February 2016). Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer of the National Landlords Association (NLA), will […]

I am renting what it is a two bedroom flat as a one bedroom flat. The owner keeps a room locked, never accessed it in 2 years (was told for storage). The property is band D and I think that the landlord is liable for council tax regardless of the AST agreement or whether they […]

I am currently in the process of buying a property which the vendor has recently refurbished, this included the fitting of UPvC windows and door. My conveyancer discovered that the property is in a conservation area, and apparently there was no local authority consent for the new façade. When pressed by my conveyancer, the vendor […]

Newbie here, both in HMO buy-to-let and in the forum. Has anyone used Access Control Card Key Systems in HMO rooms as key to rooms and control usage of utility? I am thinking of the key systems used in the hotels used as both keys to enter the rooms and to activate electricity and heating […]

Sad but oh so true, especially for landlords like me who have been life supporters of the Conservative Party (until recently!) … These are all phrases used by Chancellor George Osborne when referring to his infamous clause 24 restrictions on finance cost relief for individual landlords ONLY. His tax grab has no effect of those […]

In addition to the reporting today on several BBC Radio News Stations the Judicial Review has also been reported in The Telegraph and Mortgage Strategy.  To listen to, or to read the reports, please click on the links above and feel free to post links to other related articles in the comments section below as […]

My partner bought a 1 bed flat on the government’s help to buy scheme a couple of years ago, and almost immediately we found out we were pregnant! We continued to live there during the pregnancy and for a while after the baby arrived, but it was just too small for the three of us […]

My case seems to be quite peculiar. My partner and I are considering purchasing a small property in the UK as our first buy-to-let investment. I already own a property in the UK (where I live), whilst my partner doesn’t own any property. My mother in France has been considerably helping me with my finances […]

Pictures like this have been going viral on Facebook so I decided to create one of my own. I think we should keep this theme going every day so that more landlords get the message and share it with others. It only took me a few minutes to create these pictures so I’m very happy to […]