I’m coming to the end of a 52 week contract with a letting agent that gave them sole agent on the letting, all fees due to them have been paid. The tenancy is also coming to an end a few weeks after the contract I have with the agent.   During the year they failed […]

I have recently added a very spacious purpose-built two bedroom apartment to my portfolio. It is almost ready to let, just a few minor upgrades in progress. As I have this week taken on some extra self-employed work in the area of the property (in addition to my permanent job elsewhere) I am curious to […]

My name is Rony Aga and I own a flat in east London. A few weeks ago the leaseholders on our building got an invoice to pay an excess service charge for 2011 – 2012 with a calculation document from the management company.  Forty leaseholders decided go through the LVT process but in the meantime […]

There is a large House/Hotel in my area, I have not looked at the property yet just seen it on leaflet but I think I could make it into 3 x 2 bed Flats – then rent them out.  What are the implications? I know there will have to be 4 core 3 phase Wiring coming […]

New build high yielding investments with assured rental returns of 35% NET and starting prices from £82K. Landlords are increasingly choosing Vita managed Student apartments over traditional buy-to-lets. Even void rental periods are taken care of, as your rental return is assured for 5 years, regardless of occupancy. Please click here for further information [display_iframe […]

What are the rules on storing objects i.e. crates and large rubbish bins along a shared access footpath that is the only entrance to numerous blocks of flats?  A business below one of the blocks of flats (not mine) seems to think that he owns the whole path and any free space along that path. […]

I have a 2 bed flat with an 85ft garden that has just become available for let. Before I re-let the property for £950 pcm, I was thinking about installing a log cabin at the bottom the garden and renting this out as a studio flat with small garden for £550pcm including bills.  The log […]

I’m currently remortgaging my residential property to release equity with the sole purpose of using the funds to act as deposits for future BTLs.  I understand that the interest element on any BTL mortgage can be offset against rental income, but does this extend to the interest on my remortgage? Thanks James

From Howard Reuben Property118 Sponsor:- We all know that the vast majority of people don’t have a Will written, and even more people don’t have a valid Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in place either. Despite having been an estate planning Firm since 1995, it still surprises me that most people haven’t even considered an […]

My wife and I bought a three bed detached house for £75000 in 1993 we lived in it for one year then let it until this present day with just nominal blank periods.  Present value £300k if we sell CGT is 45k . We have considered moving back and developing it but as the value […]

I purchased a 4 bed buy to let property in 2001 for £115,000 and by 2008 it was worth considerably more so I refinanced it to 85% LTV and used the net proceeds to invest into more property. I have never lived in the any of the properties.  The properties I purchased in 2008 initially […]

GOOD landlords read Property118 regularly. You already knew that of course but do your friends? Please help us to build the Property118 pool of knowledge. Why not invite your fellow landlords to become members? We are not asking you to invite everybody you know, just a handful of people who you think might find Property118 […]

In cases where tenants are evicted, and the court makes a money judgement order, does this always get registered with the Registry Trust, and with the various credit reference agencies, (e.g. Experian, Equifax, etc)?  If not, how can landlords get these judgements registered? Thanks Robert

I have a resident in one of my HMO properties who is causing a problem to other residents. He is a nice person when sober, but is very verbally abusive when he is drunk. He is a chronic alcoholic, so has long bouts of drinking, i.e. he may be sober for a month but then […]

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today published new guidance for the lettings industry to improve their understanding and compliance with consumer protection law. The follows a report last year by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) which raised concerns about a number of unsatisfactory practices affecting tenants, including unfair and surprise fees and […]

I wonder if anyone has had a similar experience and/or can advise on the issue of who is responsible when the tenant has not adequately ventilated the bathroom so now the bathroom has to be overhauled to make it presentable again.  There is mould growing everywhere! The tenants were informed at the beginning of the […]

The New Interbay commercial Term Refurb mortgage product allows a refurb period for a borrower to enhance the value and earnings potential of a property with a view to holding. This is a longer term product with a period during which the property will be vacant to allow property owners to undertake a refurbishment project. […]

I currently have deposits protected in the DPS custodial scheme. My tenants are due to renew and I am wondering how to deal with their deposits.  There is no easy way in the DPS to just update the start and end tenancy dates without doing a whole resubmission.  This would mean the tenant has to […]

I have 4 flats in one building which I manage myself. I have 2 houses which have been managed for me by a proprietor run letting agency who has recently sold this part of her business, with no warning, to national letting agents. This does not suit me I much prefer to deal with a […]

My name is Neville. I am a new landlord for a Buy to Let property in South Yorkshire, my letting agent is based in Redhill which is 250 miles away from where the property is based. The property is coming up to two years old. I have found a letting agent that is within a […]

What view would HMRC take if a landlord overestimated his property rental return by say, £6,000 due to error/illness/stress?  Can the landlord request mitigation (illness) against his mistake? Thanks AA Properties (Wales)