According to SpareRoom.co.uk there are around 15 million spare rooms in the UK. Letting just 10% of these could go a long way towards solving the UK housing crisis. Against this backdrop I was delighted to read today that housing charity Shelter are supporting a campaign by SpareRoom.co.uk to increase the “Rent A Room” tax […]

How does the Data Protection Act apply when it comes to landlords and tenants details ? With regard to the utilities, I have always notified the gas, electric and water suppliers and council tax office to advise them I will no longer be responsible and I have new tenants. They have always asked who they are, and […]

Hello All, I’m hoping someone can maybe help me. I’ve recently moved to Brighton, where the property market is very buoyant. I am moving into a property next week with a Letting Agency. There are some (what I consider to be) very OTT clauses in the agreement, and I’m wondering if anyone knows if they […]

In an announcement that seems to make no sense, the Nationwide who own their own Buy to Let arm “The Mortgage Works”, have said they will no longer accept remortgage applications from Nationwide customers where the purpose of an increased loan is buying investment property. A Nationwide spokeswomen said, “as part of Nationwide’s move to […]

Sponsored Article :- Currently in construction and 85% sold out, Trinity Church has been designed as a high-end refurbishment project, which will comprise of 82 luxurious apartments, set over three buildings. Offering an assured rental yield of 9% for the first two years and within walking distance of the city centre, shops, restaurants and amenities, […]

I am an expat, renting out my former residence in the UK. I am considering ‘donating’ the property to an off-shore company in my name. This is because CGT for expats is under review. I would do a ‘donation’ as opposed to outright sale because the country I reside in right now has global taxation […]

Conduct of Mortgage Lenders Having been lobbied heavily by their constituents Jason McCartney and David Morris are both delighted with the cross party support of EDM976 regarding the Conduct of Mortgage lenders, there are 39 signatories as of 6th February 2014 – see http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/976 The background to this is that at least two mortgage lenders […]

Personal Touch Financial Services Ltd (PTFS), one of the UK’s largest financial services network, has singled out Property118 sponsor H D Consultants to be the winner of the coveted ‘Buy To Let Mortgage Firm of the Year, 2013’ award at a Gala Dinner and Awards ceremony attended by hundreds of finance professionals, advisers, lenders and […]

My wife and I jointly own several BTL properties, but one is owned solely in her name in order to maximise tax relief by using her basic rate unearned income tax allowance. We are proposing to sell one of our properties and my question is regarding changing ownership of the property which is in her […]

Following divorce I have found myself owning the former marital home in Newcastle but with my kids having moved to Manchester.  For entirely non-financial reasons I jacked in a very good job there and moved to be with my young kids who live with me half the time.  I guess I’ve become an accidental landlord.  […]

We have three properties which we let out via a letting agent. My husband works full time and I have no other income. I am told that the tax man treats these properties as “investments”, (such as buying stocks and shares to quote them) rather than a business, thus limiting the type of expenses we […]

Should a holding deposit be retained by the agent or the landlord? A tenant paid my agent just under two weeks rent as a holding deposit, but a week later had to pull out due to personal circumstances. I told the agent I expected an amount equal to a weeks rent (being the amount lost […]

Hi All, Simple question which I guess a lots of people must have asked in the past. I have a council tenant who is renting my house. He has signed a AST agreement which expires on 24th April 2014. Rent is paid four weekly. I now intend to move back into this house as soon […]

I have a portfolio of ‘vanilla’ BTL properties with 70% mortgages on interest only basis. I have have come to a point where my investment fund is dwindling and there is no more equity to release. I’ve got two potential investors asking about armchair investment with me and I have two potential properties in mind. […]

I have just completed a telephone review with our partners at LettingSupermarket.com and one of the questions I asked was “what is the most popular area in the Country for Letting Supermarket right now”. Chris Sheldon, a Director at Letting Supermarket said “without a doubt it is Greater Manchester. We manage more properties there than […]

Does any one know the current limits on how many buy to lets/how much one can spend, before the big lenders pull the plug? I know some say you can have ‘3 buy to lets’ or ‘9 buy to lets’ or whatever, others say you can borrow an amount of money. I know there are […]

Dear community Having recently joined this group and fairly new to looking at property as a way to replace the day job (and salary), I’m interested to hear from experienced investors on how you would invest £500k in this current climate, for the maximum return and with the least amount of risk and hassle!  I […]

Question from Matt Does anyone know if its the landlords responsibility to supply a carbon monoxide sensor, in particular, when the boiler is in a bedroom? Response from Mark Alexander I am not aware of a law to say you must fit them but you would probably be held accountable if something went horribly wrong […]

With social housing more reliant on the private sector than ever before, it must be time for the government to start building council houses as a priority. Council waiting lists for housing according to Shelter are approaching 2 million and waiting times to get re-housed are running at 9-20 years in some areas, it’s no […]

The Bank of Ireland Tracker Rate Legal Campaign began in March 2013. History to date 100 affected BoI borrowers each paid £150 plus VAT into an initial legal fees fighting fund and instructed Justin Selig of The Law Department to obtain Counsels opinion on the merits of our case. Consensus of legal opinions was that regulators […]

The development is perfectly situated within touching distance of the M60 Ring road, Manchester City Centre and Media City at Salford Quays.  This off-market deal has been sourced from a bank who is looking to exit the apartments very quickly. Investment Summary • 15.1% Return on cash invested with a 30% deposit and 4% mortgage […]