Putting a freshly cut onion in roughly the centre of a room whilst painting and after you have decorated will get rid of the smell of fresh paint a lot quicker. Give it a try, it really does work, not by masking the smell of paint with the smell of onions either. I’m no scientist […]

Yesterday the House of Commons gave a second reading to the Welfare Benefits Uprating Bill which caps future increases to Local Housing Allowance rates at one per cent from 2014. Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer of the National Landlords Association (NLA), says: “Capping future increases to Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates to one per cent […]

The Bridging Loans market has become popular with many new niche lenders competing with the big banks for your business. This competition can only be good for price, customer service and lending criteria. The Loan Directory is a regular feature publishing examples of the most competitive and frequently used product offerings helping readers identify possible […]

According to Savills there is a shortage of 42,760 student bed spaces in Glasgow. That’s why Glasgow is a buy to let property hotspot and also why we expect these superb central Glasgow Buy to Let Studio’s for the student letting market to sell fast.                       Central House, Glasgow […]

I have just had a text from a tenant complaining the BT landline is not working. BT say if its internal then they charge £99.00 call out + fix fee. Steve’s question is who should pay for this ? Myself or the tenant ? If it was a cooker or washing machine then we provide […]

We are about to rent out a house that does not have a cooker, just a space for a free standing one with a gas connection. A local estate agent mentioned to my husband that we are legally obliged to provide a cooker. Please could you tell me if she is right as I did […]

When do you need to re-protect tenancy deposits? Clarification from TDS Following an article on Property118 before Christmas some agents and landlords expressed concern as to whether they are approaching deposit protection at the end of the fixed term in the correct way.

I suspect very few of our readers expected to see the words Rent Guarantee Insurance and LHA Tenants in the same headline! Following headlines that only 1.5% of landlords will now let their properties to tenants in receipt of housing benefits is alarming, particularly if you are a landlord whose entire property portfolio is only attractive to […]

Housing Charity “Crisis” report that only 1.5% of private landlords will let their properties to housing benefits claimants. This is because the risks are considered to be too great. Make it a criminal offence not to pay rent, especially if Housing Benefits have been claimed for this purpose, and improve the eviction process for none […]

    Tessa Shepperson of Landlord Law is a solicitor specialising in residential landlord and tenant law. Tessa very kindly wrote a series of articles exclusively for readers of Property118.com some time ago. These still serve to be an excellent resource for landlords who find them when searching the internet so we have decided to […]

We have a house let to three persons and they seem to have fallen out, with the lead tenant (for deposit protection purposes) giving us notice. The deposit is registered with My|Deposits. My question is what is legally correct? Do I return the full deposit to the lead tenant or do I give a third of it […]

Here at Property118 we constantly share ideas to help UK Landlords to reduce your costs and maximise your returns. These are our austerity tips for 2013, each section is linked to the relevant page of our website where you can find out more and make contact with the providers of products and services we currently recommend. Links […]

“Milking the Buy-to-Let” is a Landlords Tax Planning Strategy which is very much under utilised. The strategy applies only to married couples and Civil Partnerships and is used to offset mortgage interest against rental income, regardless of whether the amount borrowed exceeds the original purchase price and also regardless of how the proceeds of the […]

One of our goals for 2013 is to get 5,000 landlords to “like our Property118 Facebook page” We have recently updated it so please take a look by clicking on the link or the logo above. Also, please remember to click the like button.

Both John Paul and the The Castledene Group have earned an enviable reputation of being leading experts in the management and letting of residential property to benefits claimants in receipt of Local Housing Allowance “LHA”. John Paul is a portfolio landlord in the North East and founder of the Castledene Group of letting agents which […]

In the West Midlands we are addressing the issue of educating the young to understand their future housing options, financial obligations and choices. I work on behalf of NLA with a consortium called HOMESTAMP (www.homestamp.com) and we are just coming to the end of a major project to get a module into the national curriculum […]

“Hello Mark, very impressed with your site, I have a question for you: My wife and I have a small portfolio of property which has been built up over the years by keeping on our residences rather than selling to finance the new ones. None were purchased on Buy to let mortgages.

Landlords advice – 10 things landlords should seriously consider before it is too late 1. Know when to stop investing and start living. I have a friend who is fast approaching 50 years old who owns 82 properties. His goal is to get to 100. What’s the point? 100 is just another number isn’t it? […]

According to the housing Charity “Crisis” only 1.5% of private landlords across the UK are willing to rent to benefit claimants aged under 35. Changes in benefit rules have meant that single people under the age of 35 can now only claim benefits which are sufficient to rent a room in a shared house. With […]

I would just like to say a big THANK YOU to the BBC for giving me the opportunity to put forward a landlords perspective on why so few of us now choose to provide accommodation to benefits claimants. As soon as I can get a recording of the programme, which was broadcast live on BBC […]

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) today revealed its predictions for the UK property market over the next 12 months. Ian Potter, Managing Director of ARLA, said the Private Rented Sector (PRS) will continue to see demand outstrip supply throughout 2013, particularly in London and the South East. The lack of affordable mortgage finance […]