This week our favourite journalist at The Telegraph (Nicole Blackmore) wrote an article entitled “Should mortgage lenders be allowed to change mortgage terms”  What an outrageous question you might think. However, it’s not Nicole’s question, it is a question posed by the FCA! Mark Smith from Cotswold Barristers commented … “This is the line that […]

I am aware that a lot of landlords on this site have faced some of the same problems with councils that I have had to endure over the last several months. Such as giving tenants legal advice (they are not allowed to do this) and lots of other problems that they try to intimidate me […]

I’m in the process of purchasing a flat and shop under one deed. It’s a hostile purchase (forced) and neither the owner, or the tenant, will give me a copy of the tenancy agreement or inventory. The tenant is now claiming the rent is a lot lower than they originally admitted too. I’ve told the […]

We evicted a long term housing benefit tenant who consistently failed to pay her rent and who became seriously in arrears. When she moved out, it cost us £7,500 to repair the damage to the property. While the repairs were being done, paint was thrown on the exterior on more than one occasion, the fencing […]

I would really appreciate some advice please for the following situation: Tenant paid rent up to 23/04/2013. Property inspected & everything ok deposit refunded via DPS. Informed council in writing on 24/04/2013 that property was unoccupied/unfurnished &would let them know when it was tenanted again. I did a refurb and got tenants who had to […]

I can see many different time limits on different sites given in order to comply with Torts act. These times can vary from 2 weeks – 3 months. Is their anybody who can clarify the time a landlord has to give a tenant who has vacated the property, but left goods behind. The tenant and […]

Whenever you get into a legal wrangle, and before wherever possible, you will probably want:-  1)    A fixed fee quote detailing exactly how much it will cost to deal with the matter. 2)    Qualified specialist advice on what can be done and the chances of success. By removing unnecessary delays associated with legal fees insurance […]

I have been a tenant in a property for two years now and have had to sign 6 month contracts.   I refused to sign a new contract earlier this year and am now on periodic tenancy. My landlord cant force me to sign a contract if I am still paying my rent can he? […]

The Property Redress Scheme held its first meeting this week and I was delighted to be asked to attend. This scheme has been sanctioned by the Government for all Letting Agents to join later this year, and it will be compulsory for agents to join one of the schemes so that both landlords and tenants […]

Hello everyone! I’ve just had an offer accepted on my first buy to let property in London and while I’ve been pouring over the fantastic resources here on 118. To further my knowledge, I wondered if there were any good books that any fellow members can recommend I read that might be helpful for a […]

The UK average house price has now surpassed the 2007 peak by almost 1%. However, if you exclude London figures the average is still 0.4% below the pre-credit crisis high with London actually 30% above. Year on year figures in the Nationwide survey show the UK average house price rise was 11.8% to £188,903, while […]

Mark, Mike and I met through the common background of BuytoLet and Commercial Finance. Over the years through The Money Centre and now Property118 we have literally helped 10s of thousands of Landlords, developers and investors start and grow their property businesses. Unfortunately we are now old enough to have seen, done and bought the […]

I have a HMO property that I rent to six students. Their contract ends on 31st July and a Inventory was carried out at the start of the tenancy. Three of the existing students are pairing up with two new students and their tenancy starts on the 1st August. Does anyone know how to deal […]

We worked hard to bring you a price guarantee on landlord insurance with our buying group, because that is our business and passion.  Now we have a fantastic offer for your own home insurance to save you money as well. We have teamed up with The Property Insurer and Discount Insurance to bring you a […]

I’m in the process of setting a small unlicensed HMO up.The house will be shared with no locks on doors so nobody has exclusive rights to one room.The tenants will join the house share at different dates and leave at different dates. Ideally minimum 3 month tenancy. What would be the best tenancy agreement for […]

I would like to learn what to do when a property has been rented out whereby the keeping of clean carpets and relatively free of stains are of paramount importance and the tenants were informed of this. We lived in the property for two years and were very careful to maintain the carpets in a […]

I have a small portfolio of 4 x modern apartments, in Leigh, Gtr Manchester. Each is 2 bed, first floor( of 3) and with balcony picturesque canal views to the rear. They have been great solid renters since purchase 2006 accruing 5.8% yield for me and with long standing tenants who wish to stay even […]

I have inherited a property which has a tenant who has been in there nearly 10 years now. I know when the tenant first moved in the contract was made by a letting agent. The same letting agent still holds the deposit but my father chose to deal with the the tenant direct removing the […]

Hi, wondered if anyone has ever encountered this problem with a management company. I have received a letter from my management company with a section S20B notice saying they is a deficit amount of £3324 for the whole development and we will all be invoiced accordingly for this. Do I have to pay this, surely […]

However, the term “selective licensing” is something of a misnomer in this instance, as the proposal is for it to be borough wide. The newly elected council’s objective seems not to be to tackle anti social behavior (and they can hardly claim lack of demand in a London borough with excellent transport links which is […]

The Bank of England’s Governor, Mark Carney has today held a press conference to outline new plans to stabilise  the housing market under the Financial Stability Report. The housing market is the biggest single domestic risk to the UK’s economy, and the Bank of England is seeking to encourage long term price stability. Mr Carney […]