After a year long battle, I have recently evicted a tenant and am in the process of repairing the damage to the property by the previous tenant in order to re-let. There are a number of letters still being received at the property addressed to the previous tenant which give a strong indication of possibly […]

I am thinking of using an answering service for my property business.  Someone gave me this advice for a variety of reasons such as giving a professional image, never missing a phone call and screening calls. I have done some research and come up with quite a number of options. I believe there are people on […]

My previous letting agent did not make me aware I needed an HMO licence on a property which they subsequently rented to 3 people.  It has now been picked up by the new agent and I have applied for a HMO. Am I liable to prosecution? Thanks Gary

I manage the residential letting of 7 properties which I jointly own with my wife and/or brother and/or sister and HMRC can’t decide if I should register as a Self Employed landlord. Currently, I am not registered as Self Employed and normally complete the Property section of my Self Assessment tax return. However, as tax […]

I use an agent for one of my properties who has now inserted a “break clause” in the standard 12-month AST. The wording is the same for the Landlord as it is for the tenant. This clause appears to me to effectively make it a 6 month AST.  Is this a standard break clause? Do […]

We are a small property development partnership that mainly buy houses, do them up and either sell or rent them out. For our first major development project we recently bought a plot of land near the city centre which is predominately a student area being so close to the university.  We applied for planning application […]

My wife and I have in addition to our own property three rental properties, owned outright as tenants in common. We wish to minimise our IHT liability for our two children. We have been advised that if we give them half of the properties as tenants in common (i.e. a four way split) and do […]

Manchester is the number 1 city for house price growth in the UK (Nationwide) with prices growing by 21% in 2013. This is even more than London which grew at 15%. Pre-launch prices for these new Buy to Let opportunities start from £98,285 with a projected market value in excess of £110,000. They come with […]

What are today’s landlords and tenants struggling with? We’re running a live Q&A in partnership with Shelter, helping everyone to get answers to their burning questions on renting and sharing. We’ve invited people to send in their questions in advance and the range and depth of what we’re getting in already is quite astonishing. We’ll […]

After 7 years living abroad we are moving back to the UK in the next couple of months. Before we left in July 2007, in the dim distant days of self certified buy to lets and sub prime lending, we transferred the mortgage on our home from a repayment to a buy to let mortgage. […]

85% LTV, low rates and fees AND positive cashflow on new BTL purchases? Yes it’s true, and it’s available NOW! The eagerly awaited collaboration between a market leading BTL mortgage provider and the UK’s only provider of BTL equity finance has now been launched – AT LAST!!! The resultant product allows landlords to purchase properties […]

I’m trying to purchase a property that is a circa 1910 built share of freehold, 900 year lease, maisonette. The valuer sent by the mortgage company has indicated that it appears as a purpose built but has asked the solicitor to confirm because if not and it’s a conversion then we need to check building […]

This came up while on holiday with friends who are considering selling a rented property. They and others were convinced they did not have to pay CGT if they had owned it for 10+ years, until I poured cold water on that notion. However, I was not entirely clear about the actual rules and calculations.  […]

One of my properties in a dodgy area has now got what the letting agents tell me is a excellent tenant, a Polish single mum in her twenties, who is looking after the property very well. She has just had her Housing Benefit stopped because of changes in entitlement of EU citizens. She has lived […]

I have recently had external wall insulation installed to a number of my rental properties.  My problem concerns one property – a mid terrace converted into 2 – one bed flats. The survey and assessment recommended external or internal wall insulation, I had external wall insulation installed. Recently the owner of the property at the […]

This is very probably a naive question but could someone please tell me the pros and cons of giving an AST in a BTL to a close relative and their family? Thanks in advance Danny

When landlords fall on hard times …. Steve is that landlord and has submitted this cry for help. I have no idea what to advise him so I’m hoping others here will be able to point him in the right direction. The remainder of this article is Steve’s own words …. I have recently been evicted […]

I’ve had an offer accepted for a BTL 2 bed property which backs onto lots of fields. I’ve just discovered that there is a development plan to build 450 houses on this land over the next few years. It’s a 2 bed terrace that was last sold in 2006 for £119,950. My agreed price is […]

Bridgebank capital are a Bridging loan lender fully regulated by the FCA and uniquely advertise they will lend against the open market value (OMV) of a property rather than the lower of purchase price or value. They are targeting landlords/investors/property traders who may be purchasing at auction, repossessed, distressed sales or bulk discounts. The maximum […]

I’m now finally ready to purchase my first BTL property! Deposit saved, mortgage in principle agreed, solicitor on standby but, I’m still not sure what type of property to invest in. I’m looking to buy a property in the Liverpool area for up to £70,000 with a 25% deposit. Option 1: A 2 bed leasehold […]

I’ve just found out that a Tenant who has now left put my name in his energy bills 1 month before he left. Eon have said that I am liable – I was not informed of this and had no notification until I saw a bill after he had gone. It’s only for £40 but […]