On Friday 23rd November 2012 I was honoured to be invited to attend the 20 year anniversary of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers “NACFB” as a VIP guest. This article is to be the first in a series of blogs talking about the commercial finance industry, in particular my personal perceptions of commercial […]

You may recall that I wrote an article back in April of this year called “My tenant has died“. That was the first experience I’d had of that nature so this article will is to bring you up to speed with what’s happened since. I had purchased the property about six years ago, it was […]

We have received a cry for help from Julie Dawson. Her tenant is being held on remand and the Police have caused damage to the property through forced entry. Below is the email we received from Julie, what would you advise?

This winter tip for landlords and tenants was shared with me by my cousin, David Alexander of Alexander Plumbing and Heating Services based in the Wirral. Potential problem: When we have very cold spell and you have heating on in your property remember that if you have installed new loft insulation any tanks in the […]

Hot News for “Live in Landlords” If you’re renting out rooms in your own home, you’re technically a landlord, according to the government, and your responsibilities are similar to, if not quite as onerous as those of a landlord with a major property portfolio. You need to ensure that the space you provide to your […]

We recently published details of how students can now obtain 100% financing to buy a property and rent a room or two to offset the costs of ownership. When it comes to renting spare rooms to lodgers, one website immediately sprung to mind – SpareRoom.co.uk I spoke to Sam Cowen, Head of Marketing at SpareRoom this […]

I like to share my experiences, especially when something good comes from a difficult situation. With this in mind I’d like to share with you my experience and opinion of what constitutes an excellent Conveyancing job. You may recall that I wrote an article back in April 2012 called “My tenant has died“. That was […]

We have received the email below from Trudy. Please help by leaving comments if you have been in the same position yourself or if you know the law and can advise her what she should do. Trudy’s email is below:-

Further to my rant about HMO Licensing Fees on 16th October one of my readers decided to submit a Freedom of Information request to Oxford Council based on the questions I raised and has forwarded the response to me. As you may be aware, Oxford were one of the first Councils to implement both Article 4 planning […]

Seriously, this is NOT a wind up! Our regulated mortgage broker of choice has informed us of a deal that he’s done with a lender which allows students to invest into a buy to let property worth up to £250,000 with NO DEPOSIT. What’s more, the lender is offering a 0.25% discount off their standard […]

The Bank of England Inflation Report November 2012 shows the growth of GDP for this quarter at 1% behaving entirely as predicted. The 1% growth is made up from a 0.5% bounce back from last quarter’s extra Jubilee bank holiday, 0.25% from Olympic ticket sales and 0.25% from the extra spend by Olympic visitors. Therefore […]

I’ve been using Online Letting Agents to advertise my properties for a few years now. For me they are the most economical way to market my properties on the major property portals. Earlier this week I tried a relative newcomer to the market which, I have to say, looked a bit to good to be […]

Novice landlords are at risk of deposit disputes as many are failing to prepare all the correct paperwork, warns the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC). There has been a huge increase in the number of accidental landlords over the last few years as many home-owners have been forced into renting their property, due to […]

Michelle Reid Position: CEO of TPAS (Tenant Participation Advisory Service) Michelle has kindly answered the following questions:- How would you describe the role of your organisation in 150 characters or less? What do you perceive to be the main challenges facing the PRS in the next 5 years? What opportunities do you envisage for the PRS in […]

Alex sent the following email last night outlining a bizarre situation he finds himself in which looks to us like a “landlord setup”. We have invited some of the most knowledgeable people we know to comment on this thread as the circumstances Alex has described look to us to be potentially fraught with legal problems. […]

Experienced landlord Angus Ryan explains why landlords should not be afraid to invest in HMOs and also inform their local council if they are operating a House in Multiple Occupation. Indeed he has found that they are very helpful and want to help landlords improve housing standards for tenants. In this article he also tells […]

Lucasz is a post credit crunch property investor. In other words, 100% of his property success has been achieved since 2009, arguably the most difficult property trading period in two decades! Mark Alexander’s story has inspired thousands but there have always been the doubters who have said that he was lucky and and that his […]

In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the “Buy to Let Property Hotspots” section of our website Property118 are offering a free marketing campaign to UK Property Developers. With nearly 200,000 landlords and associated professionals now subscribing to Property118’s newsletters we are keen to increase the level of content in the “Buy to Let Property Hotspots” section […]

Property buying motives intrigue me based on the fact that we all think very differently so I thought I share a bit of deep thinking with you. The four primary motives for purchasing property, so far as I can think of, are Comfort, Cashflow, Kudos and Capital Appreciation. Every property purchaser will have at least one of these primary […]

Do you let out a property in Scotland? The deadline for protecting your tenancy deposits is TODAY, Tuesday the 13th of November 2012. Not only must you be registered with the appropriate local authority and transfer existing deposits, you now need to provide new tenants with details of the tenancy scheme you are using to […]

Sheffield Buy to let with 6.5% assured rental yield for two years. A stylish new-build in the heart of Sheffield, these modern studio, 1 and 2-bed apartments are the perfect location for anyone looking to live and/or study in Sheffield. Designed as a typical buy-to-let investment, these residences are also ideal for students, as an […]