Page 815 – Property118

Selective licence refused

14th January 2014

I have been refused a licence from Newham due to association with a convicted criminal. I have been a landlord for over ten years and have had no problems. I have a managing agent but who would be the applicant as no company is willing to do this? Or do they? I have spoken to […]

Ever thought about blogging about property in your town?

14th January 2014

Social Media is a great way to engage with people who think like you do and may even want to do business with you. It’s very different to advertising though. You wouldn’t walk into your local pub wearing a sandwich board and a megaphone advertising your business would you? However, if you get chatting to […]

Portfolio growth strategy – how do you fund your next purchase?

13th January 2014

I’m looking to better understand how fellow landlords have funded their portfolio. I’m very aware there is no single right answer here but would love to hear people’s stories and plans. I see three obvious options: 1) Fund from rental income 2) Fund from property price growth via re-financing 3) Fund from an external source […]

Council charging for new roof – can they?

13th January 2014

Any advise would be greatly received as we have a problem with a new roof being put on a council block where we lease a flat. The block is 1950’s build, we have had the flat 7 years and have always paid our service charge bill by return. We were advised in Autumn 2013 that […]

Tenant wanting to end tenancy early

13th January 2014

I am a tenant of a property with my partner. Since moving, we have had continuous problems with faults requiring repair. As soon as something is fixed, another problem arises. We’ve been here since March 2013. We renewed in October 2013 for 12 months as we didn’t fancy moving and also in the hope things […]

Selling property – tenant still in residence

11th January 2014

I am selling one of my properties to release some capital. The tenant is the daughter of one of my friends and moved in without a deposit and below market rent and has been a good tenant to date. Before I get estate agents involved I am offering the property to the tenant at a […]

Impact of the referendum on the Scottish property market

10th January 2014

Hi everyone, Happy New Year. With the Scottish referendum looming, I wanted to get people’s thoughts on what impact a YES vote may have on the Scottish residential property market. Should this be an area of concern for investors looking to build a BTL portfolio over the coming years and what considerations should be made […]

Tenant offering to pay 6 months rent up front

10th January 2014

We have just recently bought a property and are renting it through a letting agent. They have possibly found us a tenant 🙂 She is currently renting in the area and wants to downsize but she wants to pay 6 months rent in advance. My feelings are that this is not a good idea. My […]

Are leaseholds worth no value at the end of lease?

10th January 2014

I was wondering what happens with leases when they reach the last year of the lease, the lease I am interested in is a 123 years lease on a 1 bed flat in London, the original lease was for 125 years so was recently granted? Obviously I will not be around at that time of […]

Is the increase in my service charge legal?

10th January 2014

The management company of a development of apartments is trying to raise the service charges. The increase in the charge wasn’t on The AGM agenda as such, however it was discussed during the AGM and agreed. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the AGM (being one of the landlords). Interestingly, the only attendees for the […]

How Not To Rent Your Property

9th January 2014

A study released by Secured Loan company Ocean Finance has revealed some of the main qualms that put potential property renters off. Here are some of the key issues revealed by the survey, and tips on how to address them in your own property: Noisy neighbours (55%) – More than half  of potential tenants are put […]

200 Housing benefits tenants are served section 21 notice by Kent Landlord

9th January 2014

Kent based Landlord Mr Fergus Wilson reported to the press that he has served section 21 notices to more than 200 tenants on housing benefits asking them to leave after six months. Mr Wilson has a portfolio of over 1000 properties and has decided not to rent in the future to tenants claiming housing benefit […]

Claiming VAT back and saving CGT on Conversion

9th January 2014

I am in a predicament and my accountant is confusing me even more. My husband and I have jointly owned a commercial property over 10 years of which ground floor has been let to retail business. The whole of the building is Vatable and we charge vat on the rent to the retail tenant. The […]

How am I doing?

9th January 2014

Hi Everyone, First of all, an introduction. My name is Nathan, I’m 27 years old, originally from the UK but currently living in Brisbane, Australia. I have always been interested in property and bought my first buy to let investment in 2012 with my Wife. We knew we would be returning to the UK in […]

Tax Implications of Buy To Sell Refubishment

8th January 2014

Hi all I was hoping someone could give me a bit of advice. I am looking to diversify my investment portfolio (mainly stock market investments) by looking at investing for the first time at Property. Having done a bit of reading, and looking at property prices (particularly down in London where I am based), I […]

Mortgage advice required – splitting one house into two

8th January 2014

I am a property investor in the South Wales area and currently interested in a property that was previously 2 houses with 2 bedrooms each, converted some years ago into a 3 bedroom property. Could I get buy to let mortgage on the 3 bed house and then convert back to 2 houses? How would […]

Tenants smelly cooking

8th January 2014

My tenants of five months seem to live on curry. The flat smells of it every time I go around, despite my asking them to open windows and ensure the cooker hood is used. A tenant from an adjoining flat has already left because of the continuous smell. Three questions: (a) can I evict due […]

Crowd-funded HMO/buy to let – new business opportunity?

8th January 2014

With the ever increasing popularity of peer to peer lending sites like Zopa, Ratesetter, Rebuilding Society etc, why has some enterprising group come up with a way of participating in the burgeoning rental sector for those without the resources or time to commit to a full BTL of their own? I’m sure many would jump […]

Reasonable miscellaneous costs for landlords tax returns

7th January 2014

I’m just in the process of filling in a tax return for the first time and understand I can claim miscellaneous costs for such things as phone calls administration cost etc. As this seems to be a subjective calculation, (I’ve spent hours on the phone interviewing tenants and a similar amount of time in front […]

How establish tenant demand

7th January 2014

I live in North London (Enfield) and want to buy a 1 bed flat for renting out. Flats in my area are priced around £180K to £230K to buy and rent from £850 to £1,150 per month. Everyone and his brother that I talk to (not all in property) tell me that the rental demand […]

Buying a house for my parents

6th January 2014

My parents were declared bankrupt over 4 years ago and I am now in a financial position whereby I can purchase a house for them to live in. I am aware that a rental agreement will have to be put in place and I will have to get all of the relevant landlord insurance etc. […]