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

Bank of Ireland issued the following press release and wrote to 1,200 borrowers today:- “In February this year Bank of Ireland UK wrote to 13,500 mortgage customers to advise that their base rate tracking differential would increase on 1st May.  This increase is permitted by a specific clause in these mortgage contracts, which allows an […]

If you didn’t already know, there are now four Deposit Protection providers in England and Wales and between them they have seven schemes, all with different rules! The new kids on the block are a corporate giant called Capita, a FTSE 100 company. You may not have heard of them before as they generally service […]

I stumbled across one of your articles outlining Squatters rights.  I hoped you might be able to assist me in a current quandary I face. I am a tenant, I have paid my landlord on time, every month, for the last 5 years.  I have just discovered that he has not been paying his mortgage […]

I am aware of a potential dispute regarding smoke drift between flats. The block in question comprises 24 flats in three blocks. One of the leaseholders on the first floor has recently taken up smoking.  The resident on the second floor immediately above has lodged a formal complaint with the managing agents citing intolerable levels […]

I normally only increase the rent when I have tenants move out of the property and new tenants move in. However, over the last few years I have noticed tenants remaining longer and longer. I have a tenant that is now running behind with the rent and the rent is quite low for the style […]

Watch this video and learn the solution you need to deal with rent arrears in just 60 seconds. Then simply complete the form below 🙂

I rented out my house just over 5 months ago to a Tenant who actually begged me to rent to her since her family lives on same street. I agreed on compassionate grounds since she was a single mother with 3 children. Got her to pay deposit after she and her guarantor failed credit check. […]

Every summer I have to sort out the new names and contact details for my 120 plus students in all my HMO properties for the Gas, Water and Electric. Council tax is pretty easy as the University send these across to the council automatically. The process I go through is checking who the utility provider […]

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), partially taken over from the FSA, is to collect the personal information from mortgage applications for use by its policy risk and research division to monitor the lending of banks. This raises serious Data Protection act questions and we are also asked to trust another body Phoenixed out of the […]

My house is rented to students and is managed by a letting agent. Now as we know, students are generally excepted from Council Tax. However, neither my tenants nor my managing agents appear to have informed the council. I have now received a summons. Please let me know what I should do in this situation. Thanks in […]