Our tenants son is been done for ‘sex trafficking offences’, he’s given his address as his parents address so our property is been dragged through the mud. They’ve owed us some rent arrears for 18 months plus but we’ve never pressured them for it so long as they paid their full rent weekly. There have […]

Does anyone know the legal position on my dilemma? I was paying a reasonable service charge of £60 per month for a number of years on a flat I was letting. The freeholder is a Housing Association. Over time, a small credit built up of approximately £600 and I have a statement that confirms this […]

My wife and I have been considering starting with BTL for quite some time with the aim of building a small portfolio to supplement / provide an income when we retire. We are in our late 40’s, and for most of my working life I have worked for firms that do not provide a company […]

I am a new B2L landlord and after 18 months of trouble free letting I now have a troublesome tenant.  I will be applying to court for a possession order via the s21 route as their 6m tenancy ends soon. However, I saw them smoking in the flat despite them completing the application and telling me […]

Following the non payment of rent due on the 1st May, my tenants have requested an early termination of their fixed one year tenancy as a result of family change of circumstances. Their guarantor to the Agreement (their father) has now paid the o/s rent following an exchange of emails/telecons, in which I have reminded […]

Liverpool City Council is proposing to bring in ‘selective licensing’ for all private landlords – if you own property in Liverpool you have the opportunity to ‘ take part in the consultation and share you views’ at meetings arranged for Monday 2nd June and Wednesday 4th June. visit www.liverpool.gov.uk/selectivelicensing . As a landlord with several […]

While it sounds exciting to purchase a property to renovate, television programs would make you believe that people will spend significantly over their set budget. Well, maybe on their first property. But with experience, hindsight and knowledge there are ways to make sure your costs are kept in control.  Certainly a lot depends on the […]

I am about to issue section 21 notices on two of my properties, I plan to sell one property and return to the UK and move into the other one. I issued new AST’s in July 2013 so they have about 2 months to run. As both tenancies have been in place for several years […]

I found out yesterday that Woolwich have now started using a reference rate of 5.79% at 125% in their rental calculations. They seemed the last of the lot in this regard after BM stopped using the pay rate last year. I’ve only been in the BTL game for a couple of years now, and wanted […]

The CUBE brand have announced their latest release in the UK. Using new architectural design for luxury en-suite student projects, facilities will range from a fitness gym to a pop-up cinema. Using group buying power a discount of £10,963 has been negotiated. The £50,913 high-spec en-suites would generate yields of around 8% however, due to […]

Can I as a Landlord, do my own tenant checks? Or is my only real option to use an agent or referencing service? I am really struggling to find a definitive answer on this one. Tenant checking services in general charge approximately £25. But what am I getting for my money? How do I know […]

I completed on a new flat purchase around 5 weeks ago which I paid for in cash. When the property was surveyed by BTL valuers they deemed it uninhabitable and therefore I couldn’t obtain a mortgage on it. I have now almost completed the necessary renovation works, but my broker informed me today that I’ve […]

I have had a tenant in my property since 2012. The most recent letting agent inspection report identified a major leak from the shower area affecting the room on the floor below. The tenant does have a bath they can use, but I have just been told they are disabled and cannot use it. On […]

Last autumn I put up my property to rent and used my local authorities approved rental list to advertise the house for the first time. I was contacted that day by social services who had a large family for the property. I met them a few days later and was told the father was taking […]

I have let my property for the past three years to the same tenants. My situation has now changed and I have decided to sell the property, giving my tenants notice to vacate explaining that I am selling the property. My tenants have now shown an interest in purchasing the property, and I have also […]

Where would you invest next for capital growth? If you had 200K to invest would you buy 2 houses up north outright or 1 house down south outright or leverage the money and buy more ? Bearing in mind buying a home outright is just a cash cow with no aggravation (apart from tenants). Many […]

I rented my property to a Limited Company based on my knowing the director. Over the period of the tenancy the Director closed and opened a few companies but still paid some rent from which ever company he chooses. The company was a provider to the Local Authority, so they get young people from Local […]

Hi Readers, My previous tenant vacated the property leaving £787 in rent arrears. The secure deposit which the letting agent lodged in their own name is for £625. The agent has identified £193 worth of repairs that need carrying out as a result of damage by the tenant. Whilst the tenant has agreed to the […]

On the 14th of May last week the Immigration Bill received Royal Assent. The Immigration Act 2014 contains 77 clauses and changes how the UK’s immigration system works. The Act is designed to reduce attractions that draw illegal migrants, make it easier to remove people with no right to reside and encourage UK Courts to […]

Newham came top in a report carried out by Shelter on the number of mortgage and landlord possession claims in each Local Authority area for the last year. The possession claims figures are taken from Ministry of Justice Analysis and based on the total number of landlord and mortgage claims in each area. The figures […]

My late Uncle died in December 2013. He lived in rented property which I believe is owned and managed by the same company. His rent was completely up to date; in fact he had paid more as it was in advance. He had lived in the property for the whole of his 76 years with […]