Heather Lake of Worthing I am now retired and use my Buy to Let portfolio as my pension, as state and Company pensions do not add up to much. I have been letting property for nearly 25 years, and in that time have encountered a fair few problems of various types. The best advice I […]

I have 2 properties that I bought for cash, one of which is my primary residence and one is a flat I rent out. I have just taken a buy to let mortgage on the flat and wonder what is the best way forward to building my property portfolio. Do I buy one property with that […]

Property investors are passionate about building property portfolios, income and the potential for growth and take a lot of time and effort in financing and planning their properties and assets. But are the portfolios effectively protected for family and loved ones in the future? In essence, is your estate ‘as safe as houses’?

I am a non-exec Director of Letting Supermarket, an ARLA member letting agency which we have been recommending to Property118 readers since the end of 2012. The feedback received from landlords we’ve referred has been superb with savings of 50% or more being reported when compared to other ARLA member letting agents.

Allan Hopkins of A F Properties Wales Ltd Llantrisant I am a Landlord and just do what is right and fair! I have residential property in Herefordshire with great tenants and just refurbed. I was badly let down by previous tenants of 8 years in my commercial (office) property in Newport, Gwent, and having had […]

Lesley Emmet of Medway Kent I am a Landlord and support The Good Landlords campaign

The Labour Party policy review paper indicated: The Party is considering creating a national register of private landlords so that people found guilty of criminal acts could be banned from being landlords, by being struck off the register. The review said there was a small minority of criminal landlords who deliberately prey on the vulnerable […]

I recently got raided by police under the misuse of drugs act. I was told by my solicitor it was because they received information which was not true. I was held by the Police for 22 hours so were three of my friends, we were all released on bail, nothing was found and my flat […]

Stephen Fitzgibbon of Fitzgibbon Property Services Brighton and Hove Building the trust between landlord and tenant. With over 15 years experience in the lettings market, I am a landlord with a small portfolio of properties in the Brighton & Hove area who views renting as a long term project. At Fitzgibbon Property Services it’s our […]

We are hearing reports coming in suggesting that David Cameron’s “Major Projects Authority” may have given Universal Credit reforms a Red Light warning. The Major Projects Authority was founded in 2010 with a mandate from David Cameron to turn around the Civil Service’s record of delivering projects.

A common question from new Landlords is why are so many BuytoLet mortgages taken out on an Interest only basis rather than Capital and Repayment. First of all it helps to understand that a BuytoLet mortgage seems very similar to a Residential mortgage, but it is not regulated in the same way by the Financial […]

A city with a chronic under-supply of bespoke student accommodation, Nottingham is the ideal location for this latest boutique project from leading student accommodation specialists Knight Knox International. Investors will receive assured NET returns of 9% for the first 2 years and can be reassured that the residence is being refurbished by an experienced student accommodation developer. […]

The Housing Minister Mark Prisk speaking to MPs on the Immigration Bill announced in the recent Queen’s speech confirmed the immigration status of tenants will only have to be checked under a light touch regime. He said: “What we’re asking for is all landlords undertake that basic check to see people are who they are […]

In a recent press release the National Association of Landlords NLA have announced plans committing that all its landlord members will be accredited by 2020. In a speech on ‘Delivering excellence in the private-rented sector’, Carolyn Uphill, Deputy Chairman of the NLA, outlined the Association’s ‘Vision for Accreditation’. The NLA believes that landlord accreditation is […]

Several years ago my business partners and I were approached by an insurance broker who told us we could save a lot of money by combining our landlords insurance policies into a block policy. This was the beginning of our landlords buying group.

Over the last few days a newbie property investor called Craig has been picking the brains of myself and Mary Latham by email. Yesterday we got talking about negotiating with estate agents and the advice we shared with Craig is well worth sharing here so that others can benefit from it too in my opinion. […]

I have been attending the Bank of England quarterly seminars since 2007 and was completely flummoxed by the opening statements reporting good news for a change. They are confidently predicting consistent growth for the first time in a long while of 0.5% on GDP per quarter for the next year. This is however with the […]

I need some advice on stopping a repossession for a motivated seller with a view to getting the property on an option. Property is listed as a 3 bed but has been converted to a 4 bed. £285000 on an interest only mortgage + £17000 in arrears. 4 beds in this area range from £330000-£400000. […]

I previously posted information about a problem Estate Agent who had let my property in Dover to a family on DSS with 7 children contrary to my instructions of no DSS tenants and no pets. I was very specific about my requirements due to a nightmare and costly experience with a previous tenant on DSS who trashed […]

Thank you to Vanessa from Property Tribes TV for allowing me to share these Words of Wisdom from Harry Oatten, a landlord with 50 years experience. This video was recorded at the Welsh Landlords Day on 20th May where the youngest landlord was 21 years of age and the oldest was 80. I particularly enjoyed Harry’s […]

Simon Benstead of Topservice Refurbishments Ltd Great Dunmow I am a Landlord and support The Good Landlords campaign