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 […]

Barclays, and its mortgage arm Woolwich, are one of the first high street lenders to take action after the announcement in the Summer Budget that there will be a gradual tapering down of tax relief for Buy to Let borrowers to the basic rate of tax from April 2017. From the 7th of December all […]

I have a mortgage split into two accounts with one interest only and one repayment. Is it better paying a lump sum to reduce the interest only part of the mortgage or the capital and interest repayment part. I currently have a 70/30 split with the 30 being interest only. Many thanks Kevin

The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s 2015 Autumn statement put me in mind of a scene from the epic television series Game of Thrones. In the scene, a musician, captured for making mock of the fatal goring by a wild boar of the former king of Westeros Robert Baratheon, is being forced to re-perform his offending […]

I have a rental flat with less than 70 years in the lease – the freehold is shared with the owner of the upstairs flat. I have never met the other owner and that flat is permanently empty. I would like to have a new lease (& perhaps do a management company arrangement as the […]

I have been made Bankrupt by the Council last week and they managed to prosecute the whole thing without my knowledge. The amounts of the supposed taxes were staggering and date back to Tony Blair’s reign. I’m trying to figure out their motives and after many hours googling and I think I have the answer. […]