Robert Desbruslais of AskASurveyor Brighton I am neither of the above, however I do want to support The GOOD Landlords Campaign and welcome the opportunity to network with members www.askasurveyor.co.uk is a unique online service for anyone with concerns about property defects, conflicting advice from builders, “specialists” suggesting expensive damp or timber treatments, mortgage valuation […]

What if any are the legal implications to a landlord regarding insurance, mortgage and planning permission when a tenant becomes a foster carer? I had this  enquiry from a landlord today whose property we are managing.  The tenant has seen in situ for over three years now and has always been a haphazard payer but […]

My business partner and I are about to purchase our first buy to let property – a one bed flat in Southsea with a tenant in place. We are keen for the tenant to stay on (he has indicated he is happy to) so what is the best way of handling deposits and AST’s in […]

Is there a definitive list of what is the landlord’s responsibility and what the tenant should be expected to do as routine care? It’s pretty obvious on who’s responsibility most repairs fall on, but something like a roof gutter that gets blocked each year by falling leaves – as they do on every other house […]

As we know, running a business from home can be merely by using a computer, so would this contravene an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement and possibly planning permission too? I have a tenant who operates with a computer at home to market his business and although he has premises elsewhere to operate his business, he is […]

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. […]