Accidental Landlords question regarding “no inventory” I have taken over as the landlord of a property after a divorce. Before this I was never involved in the property business!!  Anyway the house was purchase about three years ago and the first tenants that took the property are still in situ.  My issue is that I […]

The number of energy inefficient properties owned by landlords is steadily decreasing, according to research from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).  In December 2012, 61% of landlords reported that they had no properties rated F or G in terms of their energy efficiency, an increase of 11% on the year before.  This rise in […]

Around 80,000 people in England and Wales, 10% of the market, could find themselves paying three times more Stamp Duty this year as the average property price looks set to breach the £250,000 mark. For these buyers, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) will jump up from 1% to 3%, a massive increase from £2,500 to […]

We suspect that hackers have been busy trying to get into our systems over the last 48 hours via a spam attack of Scottish Association of Landlords membership enquiry forms hosted on our systems. They didn’t manage to get in of course as our security is incredibly robust. However, we first noticed this when somebody sent in a very […]

Rent arrears are every landlords worst nightmare. One bad tenant can leave you unable to pay your mortgage with prospects of losing your property and possibly bankruptcy. Worse still the court system can take well over 6 months to achieve eviction!

It seems to me to be very unfair that one can sell almost any other business asset and reinvest the money without having to pay CGT but NOT a Buy to Let! Should we start a campaign for a legal change?! I am sharing this story to warn people not to make the mistake I […]

The House Crowd has now raised over £1 million of crowdfunded investment which has allowed for the revival of 15 properties in some of the North West’s most forgotten communities. The Manchester-based company is well underway breathing life into the distressed and uninhabitable properties already in its portfolio, purchasing and refurbishing them to a high standard […]

There is no doubt that our sector is attracting the criminal elements, however, landlord regulation is not the answer. Why would any person in their right mind choose to live in a bed in a shed, or a mouldy, over-crowded wreck of a property? The answer is simple, they need a roof over their head […]

I find the current tenants deposit protection schemes very time consuming and a waste of money, which all tenants sadly ultimately pay for through their rents. I fully appreciate that a few tenants and a few landlords do give the other side a tough time hence understand why deposits need to be regulated if they […]

I have issued a section 21 to one of my tenants because he fell behind with his rent. He has promised to pay the arrears and keep up with the rent and asked me if I would cancel the notice. My question is this, If I dont cancel the notice but let him stay, can […]

Most of my properties have integrated appliances and where they don’t I’ve always purchased white goods outright as opposed to renting them. I treat white goods as part and parcel of the rental package I provide for tenants whether the property is advertised as furnished or not. It has been interesting to read on this forum that some […]

I wonder if any of ‘s readers have experienced the same problems as I have in arranging a mortgage for a flat which is already occupied on a short term assured tenancy agreement. Everything is in place and we had an offer from The Mortgage Works , then the problems started. The Mortgage works offer […]

Download the AWA auction catalogue for the national public auction of residential, commercial, agricultural property and land. South Wales     North Wales 4th February, Swansea at 4pm 5th February, Cardiff at 4pm 7th February, Anglesey at 4pm  

One in ten properties in the UK are delivering gross rental yields of 10% or more, according to Countrywide’s 2012 Lettings Index. Rising rents and stabilising house prices are making rental yields highly attractive to buy to let investors, with an average yield of 6.2%. The largest lettings network in the UK found that of […]

It’s been a while since I wrote anything in my ‘Don’t shoot the messenger’ series. Mainly because I kept getting shot ha-ha. But I have a tough skin. This article is an open letter to all you P118 landlords but probably more the London crew, because it is about rent increases and London is a […]

We have been renting a house and our landlady used a local estate agent for the process. We are due to renew our tenancy and our landlady, after seeing all the charges for renewing to us from the estate agents, has said she was happy to do a private agreement between us. We get on […]

Is rent hiking a good business model? It’s been a while since I wrote anything in my ‘Don’t shoot the messenger’ series. Mainly because I kept getting shot ha-ha. But I have a tough skin. This article is an open letter to all you P118 landlords but probably more the London crew, because it is […]

We are a Manchester based property company and are in the process of building a small two bedroom two bathroom house, which we would like to sell or let when completed. Where can I find authoritative information, preferably free, regarding the cost differences between : (1) 12.5 mm dot and dab plasterboard and skim and 13 mm 2 coat wet […]

Dafydd Hardy are holding a property auction on Thursday 31 January 2013 at the Anglesey Arms Hotel, Menai Bridge – 5:30PM.

I have a shared house where the tenants are respectful and love this refurbished property as their home. The only thing they are requesting is proper drying facilities so they no longer need to use clothes racks or hanging stuff outside in the winter months What do I do ? The tenants would be happy […]

A multi-million pound scheme introduced to crack down on rogue landlords has resulted in only 11 people being reported to the procurator fiscal in two years. The Landlord Registration Scheme has so far cost landlords and the taxpayer nearly £18 million since 2006, figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives have revealed. That breakdown revealed responsible […]