Hello all, I am a prospective first time landlord and am asking for any advice regarding buy to let mortgages. I am looking to buy a property for around £80k (with a £20k deposit). The best interest only mortgage I can find is a 2 year fixed rate mortgage at 3.7% (£185 per month), or […]

I have recently written to Wellingborough Council as follows and would be interested in the views of other landlords (in particular those with a detailed understanding of the relevant legislation): Why are local authorities Paying Housing Benefit directly to tenants? It has recently come to light that Wellingborough Borough Council has been paying housing benefits […]

Can anybody help me please? My previous tenant has appointed a solicitor who has written to me claiming for numerous things. One issue is “Repairs”. The solicitor states that the tenant complains of the following defects at my property since the beginning of the tenancy in June 2011. These include:- (1) The screws behind the […]

InterBay Commercial part of OneSavings Bank plc group have introduced a new Buy to Let range and of real interest for the market is an 85% Loan to Value product stress tested at 110% interest cover on the pay rate. This means that the amount you can borrow  is worked out by the monthly rental […]

Hello Mark, I hope you are well and I will keep this short as I know you get asked a lot of questions. I am a youngish guy, with no dependants. I have roughly £35k sat in the bank and am keen to getting into property investment. I would love to know if the following […]

The University of Southern California is testing a giant 3D printer that could be used to build a whole house in under 24 hours. Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis has designed the giant robot that replaces construction workers with a nozzle on a gantry, this squirts out concrete and can quickly build a home according to a […]

The campaigns organised by members of Property118 against hikes to tracker rate mortgage margins moved up a gear yesterday when I was invited to meet with David Morris MP and his aide Andre Walker at The Houses of Parliament. I spent 90 minutes with them in total. I also managed to get a very quick […]

Please can anyone tell me if landlords insurance policies cover pest infestations? Including any damage caused by the pests. We have a problem with rats, the tenant is responsible because of the rubbish they let build up in the garden, and also the pet rabbits they are now keeping in the attached garage. Will our […]

I have a long standing tenant who up until around 8 months ago never caused a problem. Various family issues have resulted in her getting in with the wrong type and she now is dependant on drugs. This has resulted in the property becoming a local drug den. Windows are smashed there are needles and […]

My daughters landlord has served her with a section 21(1)b Notice to quit as they are selling the house. Her fixed six month tenancy ends on the 8th of February 2014 so the notice has been issued during the fixed term. The notice was dated 19th Jan and delivered on the evening of the 21st […]

The majority of tenants say their rent provides good value for money, according to the National Landlords Association’s NLA latest research findings*. More than seven in 10 tenants (73 per cent) rated their rent as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ when asked their opinion on whether it represented value for money. One in five (20 per […]

Shawbrook have today announced that it is offering packaged finance products to clients for properties that require more refurbishment work than normally allowed by lenders with their Buy to Let and light refurb products. Heavy refurbishment is defined by the works being completed costing more than 15% of the property value. This is likely to […]

Invest in Royal London House from a minimum of £5,000 from cash or SIPP. The investment proposition is the provision of Loan Notes offering a fixed rate return on investment, not the purchase of property. [display_iframe src=”/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/InnovoLuton118.html” height=”1560″]

Agents are being educated on making the most of the ‘sharp end’ of the industry in Letting agent workshops. When a landlord has a problem tenant, it can be a stressful time and many don’t know what to do or who to turn to, so often end up putting the blame on the letting agent. […]

I’m currently looking at a bungalow marketed by an estate agent which is a repossession. I expect it to sell for 75k, but it will require approx 5k in refurb costs and I estimate the value on completion of the refurb to be 105k with monthly rent in area of £500 pcm. I would also […]

Hi all, I was asked for some advice by a friend, but this one was a little beyond my experience, so I was hoping you guys could help me out. My friend was sharing a house with one other tenant for around two years. He has admitted he didn’t pay any council tax during that […]

Hi All I have another question I would like to put to anyone with experiences of Buy to Let mortgages. I appreciate that with buy to let mortgages there is a restriction with regards to the mortgage holder living in the buy to property that the mortgage is attached to. Do you think this would […]

I’m quite new to investing in property, I’ve been using the landlord calculator and I can’t find any good investments, and what is classed as a good investment. I currently have one buy to let and I’m getting a ROI of 6% nett using leverage. Just wondered if there is a rule of thumb that […]

I have a 4 bedroom house which is empty some 2-3 months as i work traveling around the world, I am considering allowing some family members to move in to the spare rooms just to keep the property full while i am away. Although they will paying the bills and contributing on the decorating – […]

Back in September 2013 I wrote an about an HMO investment opportunity which could be of interest to people wanting a relatively low risk, low hassle investment so far as property goes. It was a sponsored article and every enquiry raised funds to help support the running costs of Property118. Interest levels were reported to […]

Mark Alexander has very kindly invited me to tell Property118 readers about my new book, which is very likely to be of interest to you if you’re obsessed with property investing and enjoy nosing into the details of other people’s lives! The book is called “Beyond The Bricks: The inside story of how 9 everyday […]