I have a portfolio of 15 houses in North London. The local council has just introduced additional HMO licensing whereby small HMOs like mine (i.e 3 or 4 sharers in a 2 storey house) will need to be licensed. I purchased my properties all using normal BTL mortgages and the problem I have is that […]

Had a tenant sign an AST in early 2013 and I didn’t register the deposit.  How do I go about correcting this without being fined? This was the only oversight as the other ASTs are registered. Thanks Sam

We’ve built up a private property portfolio of 4 houses, all rented on ASTs. Currently, each property has been funded with a cash deposit and separate BTL mortgage using my wife’s salary for the multiplier. We use an agent to get tenants and manage the day to day.  The cash pile is now running low, […]

We recently had an enquiry where we helped a desperate landlord and wanted us to assist in obtaining vacate possession. The landlord had served a section 21 notice on the tenant, which expired at the end of July, and there was also three months’ rent arrears owing . The landlord was in the process of […]

The European Central Bank (ECB) is the first major central bank to introduce a negative interest rate. The ECB has cut its interest rate to minus 0.1% for deposits banks hold with it. This means that banks will be charged for holding money with the ECB and banks could pass this charge on to customers […]

What’s the 10 best ways to find HMO tenants?  Currently I have a HMO with two rooms unlet and normally get all my tenants via Spareroom.com but at the moment I’m getting nothing. What other forms of marketing can I employ to find my tenants locally? 1, advertising classifieds 2, post cards in windows 3, […]

I am in the process of purchasing a leasehold property. I haven’t come across this particular issue before. Instead of the standard repairing and maintenance being down to the freeholder and then being charged back to the leaseholders, this rather archaic lease frees the freeholder of this obligation and leaves it down to the leaseholders […]

What are the permitted overall area sizes of a studio or 1 bed flat to get an individual mortgage via a mortgage lender?  Thinking of student pod sizes but not for students. Thanks Kathy

Let the SELLER beware!  I was shocked when I recently gave notice to my estate agent but received an invoice for £480 trying to charge me for Marketing Expenses. This was after completing my contract term of 12 weeks and after giving them the proper notice period. In that time (nearly four months) they only […]

The Pavillion development in Leeds takes buy-to-let accommodation into a new direction. Students demands have changed over recent years and many, especially those from overseas, no longer wish to live in converted houses or in the common “cluster-flat” undergraduate student accommodation. They now require bespoke, purpose-built accommodation which lies close to the educational hub. INVESTMENT […]

My landlord sent me a letter on the 28th May saying my tenancy comes to an end on the 17th June and therefore someone would be coming to do a checkout. I was totally shocked as I have been living at the property for 3 years and have always paid my rent in advance. I […]

Wrestling with a common dilemma whether to sell a good cashflowing flat on a low rate BoE tracker or sell to raise capital to reduce some unsecured debt and invest in another property. Selling will raise £60K whereas the cashflow is c.6.5k pa. but a lease extension will be required in about 5 years which […]

I’m applying for a HMO licence and the council officer is insisting we give our private residence address but I’m not happy to give this information. I’m not comfortable with my tenants knowing where I live.  I have given my office address but he says this is not acceptable. Does anyone know the law on […]

I joined Property118 today because I need to get my gripe ‘out there’.  I have been described as the ‘perfect tenant’ by previous landlords/agents. I am 61, live on my own, like to potter in the garden but basically keep myself to myself. I am very good at diy so never bother the landlord/agent with […]

Being the longest standing sponsor of Property118 we thought it was about time we published a follow up to our highly successful article written for Property118 by Cliff Verril which was entitled “Which Commercial Lenders Are Hungry For Business?” The response from Property118 readers to that particular article has kept us busy for the last three months! […]

Based on feedback from our members we have made some changes to the navigation bars at the top of all pages on Property118 in order to make things easier to find.  We would very much appreciate your feedback on the changes made and we also welcome all constructive feedback on any suggestions you might have […]

I have two buy to let mortgages with Mortgage Trust that are LIBOR linked and several others that are base rate linked.  With base rate likely to increase within the next 12 months I’m currently doing a bit of forward planning. The answer to this question might be obvious to some, but I haven’t a […]

We are putting together a comprehensive list of landlord websites and would like Property118 members to add comments and links to any other landlord websites they read. Please feel free to continue to build the list in the comments section below this article …. This is a one off occasion in which we will allow […]

I manage a couple of properties for a landlord who has a portfolio of about 12 in total, all mortgage free. He is very old school and when I went through his property form he told me he hasn’t got Building Insurance and thinks its a waste of money (until lighting strikes, or the gas […]

A friend has just asked what they need to do as a tenant wants to cancel his guarantor after 4 months of a 12 month contract.  Do you think I have advised correctly? 1) get a new Guarantor signed up first before making any other changes.(including credit checks) 2) When that’s sorted out create a […]

HMO landlords and commercial property owners will no doubt be very interested in a meeting I had with a chap called Bill Lorryman recently because he has this very simple business proposal ….  If you are an HMO landlord or commercial property owner and Bill can’t get you a tax refund then you don’t owe […]