Page 771 – Property118

Best way to structure three sharers contact?

8th December 2014

I have just refurbished my first 3 bed house bought on BTL mortgage. The property is, in Croydon (Article 4 area) a prospective tenant has just approach me wanting to rent it with 2 other friends. Do I sign AST just with him, or joint AST with 3 people. As an “inexperienced” landlord, renting a property […]

Overseas Landlord in a bit of a mess

8th December 2014

In brief:  Three years ago I bought a flat from developer in a refurbished building, developer owns the Freehold and the managing agency. First 2 years paid the ground rent and maintenance fee on demand. Managing Agent was ok…a bit disorganised but ok. Year 3 did not receive a request for ground rent and maintenance. […]

Council Guarantee Bonds are useless

8th December 2014

I let a property out to a tenant who had no deposit but had a guarantee bond provided from the council.  This bond covers damage up to a certain amount and contains helpful clauses such as ……….. “The council will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that the tenant is fully advised of her responsibilities […]

Periodic Tenancy – Notice to Quit

7th December 2014

My existing tenants have been on a periodic tenancy for the last 2 years since their first AST expired, do I still have to serve them with a Section 21 notice if I want them to quit my property or will a two month written notice do?  Can I give this notice by email as […]

Freeholder reappears demanding 6 years ground rent

7th December 2014

I purchased a property in 2011 at auction,The solicitor was unable to locate the leaseholder.Recently I remortgaged and this time she was able to contact and yesterday I received this response.  We can confirm the ground rent is not up to date and have been informed we can only claim a maximum of six years. […]

Overseas Landlord with tenant in UK property

7th December 2014

I represent my sister who lives overseas but rents out a property in the UK. I read that an overseas address is not valid in respect to any financial matter between landlord and tenant as far as the Court is concerned. I am named on the Tenancy Agreement as the Representative.  I have sent, as […]

Do banks require sublet AST for loans?

7th December 2014

I own, outright, a flat in Suffolk. I asked LLoyds Bank for a 70% remortgage (approx £34,500).   All seems to be going well, although long winded. A few months ago I made a three year guaranteed rental agreement with Genesis, a housing association. I assume they sublet for social housing or similar. Lloyds bank […]

My brother is trying to force me into giving him a tenancy – Help!

7th December 2014

I am not actually a landlord, but I own my mother’s house. She is 85 years old, and my brother and his wife moved in a year ago to care for her. There is no formal agreement, or tenancy of any kind.  I offered my brother and his wife a year rent-free as they were […]

Denied pre rental visit – update

7th December 2014

In August I explained I was renting out a fairly top end property for the area. The agents successfully referenced some new tenants and I asked if I could visit them in their current home. This was the first time I had suggested this – read it on here somewhere. But they said they weren’t […]

Evicted Tenant Returning to Property

5th December 2014

Our previous tenant was evicted back in 11th October 2014 for non-payment of rent leaving four thousand pounds repair bill, and no forwarding address. The property was repaired and a new tenant moved in 22nd September. The new tenant has just informed me that the previous tenant has visited the property demanding their letters, and […]

Tricky Eviction Situation

5th December 2014

I have a tenant in possession of tenancy agreement which was signed by an estate agent. However, this company ceased trading and the property is managed by a new estate agent. Rents are regularly being paid. However, I would like to evict the tenant for maintenance purposes. Can I issue a Section 21 Notice and […]

Should tenant be evicted but accept possible Tenancy Deposit penalty?

5th December 2014

I have a friend who has let her property for 10 years to a tenant who has now not paid the rent for over 6 months. My friend is worried about issuing the tenant with an eviction notice as the tenant’s deposit was never paid into a deposit scheme when it was introduced. My friend […]

Change of Protected Tenancy Terms

5th December 2014

I have a protected tenant and “Southend’s Private Sector Housing Enforcement Office” are trying to get me to install fixed heating. My feeling is that this was not a requirement when the “Protected tenancy” was agreed some 30 years ago and it did not form part of the original contract. Contract Law states that they […]

5 year fixing or shorter term and refinance…??

4th December 2014

I am just in the process of agreeing a mortgage on a BTL property, and had been heading for a 5 year fixed rate, as these seem such incredibly good value at the moment. But thinking of the principle of frequent refinancing to release equity, I wonder if this is a false move to fix […]

Compensation while works go on in a house?

4th December 2014

Hi all This is a problem which occurs quite regularly; we do some work in a house and the tenants ask for a rent reduction while it is going on. The current scenario is this: We are changing a 4-bed, 1 bathroom house into a 6-bedroom, 2 bathroom house. Phase 1 is converting a large, […]

WordPress

3rd December 2014

If you have a website or a blog which uses WordPress I would really appreciate you getting in touch.  We have already developed one plugin – the UK Property Research Tool and we’re looking into two others; 1) A Stamp Duty Calculator based on recent changes 2) A Buy to Let Mortgage Quotation plugin. If […]

Conveyancing Needn’t Be Taxing

3rd December 2014

We are delighted to announce a new joint venture with Hawkins Ryan Solicitors.  Lots of the questions posted on Property118 are about buying, selling and owning properties in the most tax efficient manner. It appears to be quite rare for conveyancing solicitors to advise their clients on the most tax efficient property ownership structure and […]

Landlord Emergency Cover

3rd December 2014

I’ve worked out that if I’d have had the Platinum version of Landlord Emergency Cover I’ve just taken out on two of my properties over the last 12 months it would have cost me £139.98 and saved me £1,100 and a whole load of stress. The Housing Charity “Shelter” seem to believe that whenever a […]

Moving Tenants Between BTL Properties

3rd December 2014

I currently own a Buy-to-Let house in which I have a tenant. This property has a BTL mortgage on it. I have just been offered the option to purchase a more attractive property in the same village and wish to do this, also on a BTL basis. However, I will need to sell the current […]

MyDeposits has there been a change in policy?

3rd December 2014

I have registered the same contract with MyDeposits for several years. It’s four sharers in a jointly & severally liable 12 month contract. Each year I pay to renew the deposit registration covering four named sharers for 12 months in line with the contract even though no sharer moves out at this point. During the […]