I have a lodger who has been in arrears almost from the start, he now owes a months rent though he did pay a deposit of £150. He refuses to leave, saying he has nowhere else to go. I first gave him notice to leave on March 15th but he cajoled me into verbally agreeing to […]

I’m in the process of buying a property as my main residence and I’m getting jitters about the market. I’d be very interested in your views.  Dear Property118, I have a pressing question that I’d like your views on. When the market began to rise in Manchester I was ready to purchase with no onward […]

I have a offset mortgage on my home which I use to buy other properties, it is with Clydesdale Bank.  It works by paying the funds back to them when a property is mortgaged with the ability to re-draw at any time. I have just phoned to re-draw funds and have been told that as of […]

When I recently sold my flat in London the freeholders solicitor produced the management pack with bills for ground rent, insurance and service charges after I paid the fee for this. Some charges had been paid over the 3 years of ownership but there was a discrepancy of £400 as some cheques had not been […]

I have a DSS tenant who lives in a two bed house with her young daughter ( 3yrs old). She has now asked if her 18 year old brother can move in.  My questions are; Is this allowable? Will it affect her benefits? If it’s allowable would I have to add him to the tenancy […]

I currently have a one bedroom maisonette in Peterborough which I own outright and I was hoping to start a property portfolio, but due to being made redundant again recently, I have no option but to sell it and then rent. I could do with more rooms anyway, so it’s not all negative 🙂  I have decided […]

Our latest study reveals 62% of landlord notices are incorrect.  Landlord Action has carried out a study of the last 200 instructions received from landlords and letting agents that have served their own legal notices on tenants (Section 8 and Section 21). The findings reveal that 62% of these notices were deemed incorrect, which meant […]

You may well be forgiven for thinking that the current climate has been quite tough for obtaining finance.  The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) recent implementation of the Mortgage Market Review, which put new restrictions on lending, has now been quickly followed by talk of the Bank of England looking to raise interest rates sooner rather than […]

My sister and I inherited the home where we grew up, modernised it, and have been letting it to a great couple for 3 years. We told them before signing the first AST that it would be our intention, one day, to sell the house (due to its distance and relatively poor yield compared to […]

Despite the Press and politicians misreporting and misunderstanding Mark Carney’s (the Governor of The Bank of England) latest comments, Virgin Money have actually reduced their Buy to Let mortgage rates for lower Loan to Values. Mr Carney did not say interest were definitely going up this year and Virgin Money are proving that point by […]

At last it seems that common sense will prevail in Westminster.  Last year the Court of Appeal ruled (in the case of Manual Rodriguez vs Superstrike Limited) that statutory periodic tenancies are indeed new tenancies . This cast a shadow over interpretation of the law and whether or not new deposit protection prescribed information needs to […]

Wanted to pick your brains on business banking.  I have 5 properties, one I live in and the other four let out. My accountant has advised me to open a business bank account. Is this the right way forward? I guess it may depend on strategy, mine is to hold the property’s long-term.  I guess […]

I am a relatively inexperienced property investor and am in the process of buying 2 HMO student rental properties to add to one other B-2-L property we have.  We have been letting out a second property for about 8 years and as we are now buying a couple more I’m interested in understanding more about how people build […]

I have a room available in an HMO, I have met an applicant, he is a nice enough guy, an Italian over here on a short term contract and he wants to pay in advance for the entire 3 months.  He wants to move in this weekend as his employers have covered his hotel until […]

Robert Owen House is an eight-storey development in the heart of the city, as a solution to Glasgow’s chronic lack of student housing. A former office building, it will comprise 101 studios, available at three different investment levels – standard, deluxe and premium. Additionally, in-keeping with the Fortis Developments’ brand, students living here will have […]

We have taken one of our tenants to court for an eviction due to massive rent arrears. When we go to court the tenants had filed a counter-claim against us.  We were advised to get a survey on the property and to go back to court in August. It now transpires that the tenant has […]

I phoned a solicitor to discuss him advising me about a possible eviction in view of Superstrike, he said he would read my documents for £100 so I sent the documents to him. He then sent me a letter asking for £350. I spoke with him and he denied saying £100. I asked him for […]

We are renting a small shop in our home town. My question is what regulations do we have to follow regards fire safety? Do we need to install mains fitted smoke alarms, or standard battery alarms, and is it our responsibility to carry out a fire safety risk assessment.  Also with there being a hot […]

In November 2013 we were approached by Allison Wallace from the University of York to participate in some research commissioned by Lloyds Banking Group and Shelter. We were pleased to help and we are grateful to Property118 members for getting involved. The discussion thread can be found HERE. Several Property118 members contacted Allison and her […]

As per title, I am looking for advice and yes I am a landlord basher so the irony of my post here is not lost on me. Perhaps when you read this you will understand.  I’m 12 days into a new tenancy. I’m in Northern Ireland, which I realise makes a difference. So far I […]

We were in the process of letting a property and had been presented with the Landlord’s Gas Safety Certificate. The Landlord’s property has a gas boiler and gas hob and as far as the Landlord was concerned both appliances were covered by a British Gas HomeCare agreement. The Landlord’s Gas Safety Certificate was also provided […]