Not strictly an accurate title but I have heard novice landlords refer to people on Housing Benefit (provided by the council) as such so many times. So, should you accept tenants who claim benefits? No one can make that decision for you – but there are some risks to consider, and precautions you can take. […]

While fully acknowledging that I am not a financial specialist I do know the residential property market. I have a proven track record of making money from letting property for 40 years. In my first book, which I released just a few months ago, I venture to give my opinion of the criteria I would […]

The government wants the banks to clamp down on interest only mortgages. Obviously there are tax advantages for these mortgages with BTL properties but can someone explain this situation on our own home mortgages: I always change my home mortgage every 2 or 3 yrs to take advantage of low introductory rates. Now as I […]

Tributes from across the lettings industry have been flooding in following the death of Northwood Managing Director, Nick Cooper, who peacefully passed away on Thursday 22 August. Nick, aged 50, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer nearly two years ago. He sadly leaves behind a wife and two children.  Nick’s career in the lettings industry spanned […]

I am considering to buy a but to let property in Ilford area with a deposit of £25k and I am looking for a 2 bed room flat valued around £150k.  My questions are:- 1) is Ilford a good area for investment in 5-10 years timeline? And beyond 2) what are the things I need […]

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has now become the first property organisation to have a Code of Practice approved by The Trading Standard Institute (TSI) under their Consumer Code Approval Scheme. As a member of the UK’s largest property ombudsman scheme, Property118’s Your Property Concierge is one of 11,745 residential sales agents that have signed up […]

I am looking into buying cheap properties at auctions and updating them. The idea is to sell them on for a profitt hopefully.  What would be the best mortgage to apply for? I am a qualified joiner and plan to do most of the work myself. Would I have to take out house insurance while […]

Common sense tenant referencing was pretty much the only option available when I first became a landlord and started letting property in the late 1980’s.  In this article I am going to explain what my family do to find the next perfect tenant, right from the day an existing tenant let’s us know that they want […]

I am a new Landlord and the first tenant has left after she couldn’t pay her rent. Her partner left the house a month before and the new tenancy agreement was signed in her name only. Some damage had been caused to the property, gas meter changed without consent and was in rent arrears so […]

Since the credit crunch it has been extremely difficult for anyone without a perfect credit history to obtain a Buy to Let mortgage. Mainstream lenders have not been interested in entertaining any mortgage arrears, CCJs or defaults until now. Aldermore have changed their Buy to Let criteria  allowing a mortgage to be considered for customers who […]

Located in the picturesque waterfront area of Liverpool, X1 The Quarter is a fully tenanted apartment block, offering investors the opportunity to own a prime piece of real estate in one of the most sought-after locations in the city.  Phase 1 of the development is an existing building that contains 111 fully-furnished 1, 2 and […]

This all depends on how obstinate your tenant is, at Landlord Action 61% of the time, when we serve a Section 8 Notice for rent arrears (14 day notice) or section 21 Notice (2 month’s notice) ending the tenancy, the tenants will vacate the property.  If they ignore the notice served, then the landlord will […]

In a similar situation to the excellent discussion on Retaliatory Eviction, I can report that I have encountered similar practices in an unlicensed HMO. The situation is in some ways worsened by the fact that the four tenants involved were teenagers (2nd year university students) at the time that the 1 year AST was entered […]

Our student property is currently rented under a 12 month tenancy starting 1.8.2013 for 12 months.   One of the students, who has signed the above tenancy (and is guaranteed by her parents) has decided not to go ahead with her postgraduate course (and move to Australia) but has found a friend who wants to […]

As a relative newcomer to buy to let investment, but a seasoned hand at web development, I decided to build a website that would help me find the highest yielding areas of the UK. The result of this is http://www.dontbettolet.com.  By leveraging Zoopla’s property data, the site compares the average rent versus asking prices in […]

After updating and writing the article on our Buy to Let mortgage sourcing system and calculator I thought I would give readers an update of what is still available and popular in the market. You can find all these products on our system and get a quote (CLICK HERE), but many people ask me what […]

I’m sure I’ve heard a radio advert recently from a letting agent that was offering a type of rent guarantee, not sure if was insurance backed or not. And I can’t remember the name of the agent, so I can’t check on their website.  Has anyone come across this? I’m sure it said that even […]

I am new to this forum and also reliability new to being a landlord so bear with me.  I say I am new to being a landlord by that I mean I only have one property but have had it for some years now. What I would like to know is… Is it worth buying […]

I have just finished updating all the products on our own in house Buy to Let Mortgage sourcing system and calculator. This takes quite a bit of time, but it is definitely worth it and I wanted share with readers what it can do as it is our own in house design specifically based around […]

Our tenant sent a message by text on 16 July to say she had found another property and wanted to move in about a months time.  I started viewings on the property and the current tenant suggested a moving date of 25 August. Our new tenants were due to move in 1 September and have […]

Under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, once an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) agreement has come to an end, a landlord has the legal right to recover possession of their property should they wish.  A landlord wishing to re-gain possession of a property is required to serve a Section 21 Notice to tenants. They […]