As they say, the old ones are the best! I’m sharing these as a light hearted end to a very busy and stressful week. They are all extracts of genuine complaint letters to landlords, councils, housing associations and letting agents. Enjoy! 1. It’s the dogs mess that I find hard to swallow. 2. I want […]

I think Shelter ought to try building some bridges with landlords. Shelter only usually get to hear about bad landlords and that’s not healthy for their perspective. Their constant drum bashing about “rogue landlords” doesn’t do Shelter many favours in terms of the perceptions of GOOD Landlords towards Shelter either. If I was in charge […]

We have a small office building in the home counties which was purchased with the help of al loan from the Skipton BS eight and a half year’s ago.  Times have not been kind to the commercial property market since 2008 and we have not been immune to that although we have never been late […]

Could you run your property portfolio from the other side of the world? If you couldn’t, without making a lot of changes, ask yourself “why not?” Whether you live next door or the other side of the world isn’t really the point. The real question is whether you are working as efficiently as possible and […]

A member of staff have let their property to a family member and it was agreed one months rent would be the deposit. The tenants said they would pay the deposit from the deposit their previous landlord is holding, however 30 days have passed since the start of the agreement and the landlord could not […]

Before they went bust, did Mortgage Express seek to arrange “review” meetings with you?  Did you have a Mortgage Express account manager before they went bust? Do your other mortgage lenders seek to arrange review meetings? These are of course loaded rhetorical questions! OK, I confess, I have become a cynical old sod, just like […]

I began to take the concept of sustainability very seriously within my property portfolio only when I realised that certain investments we had made could possibly jeopardize what we’d already built up.  Until then, I was mainly interested in building up a decent–sized portfolio, steadily counting the numbers we were accruing.  But let me ask […]

I’m looking for insight from fellow landlords, especially any that have already gone down a sole trader/limited co. route and if they would change anything with the benefit of hindsight. We have full time day jobs and also have several properties in mine and my business partners personal names. We are now embarking on a […]

We are refurbishing a flat won at auction and the discussions with the builder are dragging on a bit. He has asked for a Schedule of Works from us which I know should be the detailed list of requirements (2 bathrooms, kitchen, re-wire, etc).  Does anyone have a template that I can borrow from a […]

I recently bought a top floor flat in a building with 4 flats . The management company is made up of the 4 owners, it is a Victorian semi with two first floor flats and 2 ground floor flats. The management lease is standard covering all communal areas , roof and exterior. After owning the flat […]

West Bromwich Mortgage Company increased the margins on 6,700 of their Tracker Mortgage rates in December 2013 by 1.9% per annum. They claim to have the right to do this. I am not going to go into any legal waffle, nor am I going to provide every shred of evidence and every legal argument our […]

I own a leasehold flat which is on the ground floor of a converted Victorian terrace.  The managing agents have sent me an invoice for 50% of the £30,000 bill for external works and redecorations. What powers do they have if I do not agree this level of works are required. Thanks Wavenie

As a landlord, if your tenants are a young couple, on housing benefit or there was a question relating to their referencing, , it’s always advisable to get a guarantor to sign a guarantor agreement, to guarantee the rent, should the tenants default.  You may been renting to a student, LHA tenant or just private […]

My ex tenants are a married couple with grown up children. They recently moved out of my 3 bed house into a 1 bed bungalow but their grown up sons are now occupying my property (they weren’t there to the best of my knowledge during the tenancy). They were on a periodic tenancy after an […]

Hi all Every so often a deal comes up that I feel I ought to look at for the purpose of helping someone out, rather than for a big return, though it needs to be a decent investment. I’d be keen to see if any of you have creative win/win solutions for this one. One […]

Sponsored article:- A truly unique Buy to Let investment opportunity, this former brewery is located a mere 10 minutes from Manchester city centre and is perfectly located for anyone seeking an investment in Manchester. A conversion project with part new-build, the development will provide 64 apartments, comprised mainly of studios, 1 and 2-bedroom apartments. Offering […]

I hear that the Chancellor has changed rules on pensions today. From April 2015 the over-55s will be able to do what they like with their funds. With the demise of Annuities surely there will be a rush into property. What will be the impact? Here are 2 quotes from the BBC web coverage: “A […]

It has come to our attention that Mortgage Express (now UKAR – UK Asset Resolution) have recently been appointing LPA receivers with no apparent justification. Previously we had heard of LPA receivers having been appointed where a borrower has died or where a landlord had fallen into arrears. In some cases the properties were sold for much […]

Budget 2014 – what are the main points for Property118 readers and the PRS. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirmed the GDP forecast to grow by 2.7% this year, 2.3% next year, 2.6% in 2016/17 and by 2.5% in 2018. GDP (economic output) will finally reach its pre-credit crises levels this year. This is […]

East Midlands Property Owners is a professional residential landlords association but also a not-for-profit organisation. Its members own somewhere in the region of 15,000 rented properties across the East Midlands region. Our purpose is simple. We want to provide landlords, letting agents and property investors with the advice, knowledge and tools they need to be […]

Hi All, Some of my Tenants have been contacted by a company called Landwood group. They are trying to gain access to the properties to perform a valuation, and have requested the tenants provide information regarding the Tenancy Agreement. I have contacted Landwood, who said they where just the Valuers and gave me the name […]