The state of the housing markets has led to many property people changing strategy to avoid losing money on sales. Property investors come in two types – buy to let investors and buy to sell traders. Both have a different set of rules to deal with the tax on selling a property. Developer is a […]

Letting agents are urging landlords to make sure they only do business with firms offering a money protection scheme. Firms signed up to the SAFEagent scheme are highlighting that landlords and tenants risk losing thousands of pounds in rents and deposits if an agent outside a money protection scheme shuts. The most recent firm to […]

As the sun begins to show its face, we’re all taking our first tentative steps around the garden and the majority of us will all be thinking the same thing; what a mess! If it makes you feel any better, you should know that we’re all in the same boat and, even though it will […]

“How much can I borrow?” is a question I am asked on a daily basis and thought I would assist by creating a written reference point. The first thing to bear in mind is that Lenders perceive a buy to let mortgage as a self funding commercial business proposition with the rental income covering the […]

This week is SAFEagent awareness week. Property118 has supported SAFEagent since its inception just two years ago. The concept is very simple, a Letting Agent displaying a current SAFEagent badge has purchased client money protection and is also a member of one of the 5 best recognised professional bodies in the UK Letting Industry. What this means […]

The government’s housing benefits policy is in disarray as judges have ruled a crucial test to confirm how big a house a tenant qualifies to rent discriminates against the disabled. The housing benefit regulations, which came into force in April 2012, were criticised as flawed in the Court of Appeal because they do not allow […]

Nearly a third of landlords have plans to buy more rental property this year, according to specialist buy to let lender CHL Mortgages. Landlord confidence is running high with just 1 in 10 aiming to sell property or leave buy to let, with 31% set to expand their portfolios, while the rest continue with business […]

Mortgage Trust will now consider remortgaging a property inside 6 months of the date of purchase, but only if there have been significant improvement works carried out which have enhanced the property’s value.

Calls to boost buy to let by upgrading pensions to include residential property are gathering momentum in Parliament. An influential select committee of MPs is urging the government to streamline pension and tax laws for landlords to stimulate investment in private rented housing.

Beds in sheds landlords are the target of a new government campaign to crack down on shoddy housing. Housing minister Grant Shapps is spearheading the battle against the spread of ‘suburban shanty towns’ by injecting £1.8 million into a fighting fund for nine councils.

Buy to let landlords filed nearly 6,000 claims to evict tenants in the first three months of the year, according to the latest Ministry of Justice figures. County courts handle around 65 new cases every day and lawyers are concerned that backlogs will cause financial problems for landlords as strikes and work-to-rules by public sector […]

Health and safety inspectors are cracking down on landlords who fail to manage building projects on their rental properties – even if they employ professional builders to do the work. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning that landlords face prosecution if they flout a little known construction regulation.

London has dropped to second in the rankings for most expensive capital to rent in as rents in Paris takes on the mantle. Rents in the French capital are now three times more than Shanghai and Mumbai. New York appears to have been the best performer though, with the highest yield and highest leap in […]

SAFEagent is launching a ‘week of activity’ beginning on May 14th until 20th May, aimed at raising awareness of the scheme with tenants and landlords. As part of the week there will be national and regional events to increase the knowledge of landlords- especially first-time landlords– and tenants of Client Money Protection Schemes and their […]

Landlords looking to install or purchase properties with solar panels using a 25 year lease agreement need to think twice if they require buy to let finance. We have had feedback from 3 of the major buy to let lenders asking if solar panels installed on a 25 year lease plan are considered suitable security for lending purposes

The Coventry Building Society has cut rates and fees on buy to let loans through subsidiary Godiva. Two year fixed rates are offered at 4.30% at 65% loan to value with a £250 booking fee and no arrangement fee, while another two-year fix is available at 3.99% with a £250 booking fee and a £749 […]

Buy to let mortgage applications make up one in five of all home loan applications, according to one of the UK’s largest estate agents. Haart also claims buy to let remortgage applications reached a new high for the year, despite the Council of Mortgage Lenders disclosing the number dropped by 1% in the first three […]

Buy to let borrowing was down 5% in the first three months of the year after a barnstorming end to 2011. In figures that revealed buy to let is treading water rather than buoyant, new landlord loans totaled £3.7 billion, according to the latest official figures from bank and building society trade body the Council […]

My article this time is more of an open question to which I would like your input. Background first. I was listening to ‘In Business’ on Radio 4 the other day, a programme about something I had not heard of- the business concept of “Frugal Innovation”, currently much in favour with many huge corporations and […]

A new buy to let lender has entered the market called Keystone They specialise in buy to let mortgages for Single Purpose Vehicle limited companies, HMOs and Multi-Unit properties. This part of the market was largely exited by lenders after the credit crunch and it is great to see some competition for more niche criteria giving Landlords a greater […]

Independent commercial mortgage finance & bridging loan specialist Crystal Mortgages has reduced its three month bridging loan to 0.75% per month, a cut of 0.5%. The change is available up to 70% LTV, although the company must guarantee to return two months interest if the account is settled in month one. Free valuation on selected […]