Page 886 – Property118

A fisherman’s tale?

7th March 2012

Two of my favourite authors write all of their important philosophies in parable style, this is mine. Once upon a time, a fisherman decided that he no longer wanted to be a wage slave to a trawler captain so he went off to do his own thing.  He made a rod and caught and sold […]

Third illegal eviction costs landlord £4,500

7th March 2012

Landlord Mohammed Khubaib needs to change his ways and stop illegally evicting tenants or he’ll end up in jail – according to his lawyer. The warning was voiced to Peterborough magistrates hearing Khubaib’s third case of illegally evicting a tenant.

Reluctant landlords pay more for mortgage deals

7th March 2012

Let to buy mortgage lenders are inflicting stinging interest rates on reluctant landlords who have to rent out their homes to move. Brokers and lenders say they are handling more applications from homeowners who are desperate to move because of personal or work commitments. Reluctant landlords have a choice – either asking their lender for […]

Rogue Landlords II – A Definitive List

7th March 2012

Before I got sucked into housing I trained in Cognitive Linguistics, the study of how language can be used to show how we make sense of the world, our beliefs and interpretations of a larger reality. One of the leading Cognitive Linguists of the 20th Century is a towering intellectual of a man called Noam […]

I need to say sorry to landlords who let in Birmingham

7th March 2012

I have organised this important meeting and I forgot to ask NLA to mail out to members to let you know.  This is entirely my fault and I am sorry to have let you down.  I know that it is short notice but I do hope that you can join us LANDLORDS IF YOU LET […]

John Paul - The LHA Expert

Property118 Landlord Newsletter – Issue 101

7th March 2012

Today’s newsletter highlights alternative options and strategies for landlords both in the news and by our guest columnists. The first instalment in a series of eight from John Paul, also known as @TheLHAexpert, introduces his top tips to renting property to LHA tenants, Mary Latham looks in to whether tax avoidance is a reason why […]

Flood dispute could make commercial landlords suffer

7th March 2012

Commercial landlords could find their properties are without insurance in a few months if the Government fails to provide the flood protection insurance companies expect. The current agreement runs until July, and the Government’s cuts are hitting flood defences. As a result, premiums will increase and some properties are being quoted with insurance of £20,000 […]

Chancellor urged to boost tax relief for landlords

6th March 2012

Chancellor George Osborne is coming under more pressure from landlord and letting agent lobbies to ease buy to let tax in the forthcoming Budget. The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) is urging the chancellor to scrap capital gains tax on investment properties and ripping up stamp duty rules to make the tax fairer for […]

Rents are cooling – but tenants still expect to pay more

6th March 2012

Buy to let rent increases are slowing down – but 60% of tenants still expect to pay more to landlords by the end of the year. More than 70% believe the current letting market favours landlords, while 55% of tenants say they are ‘trapped renters’ who would like to buy but can’t afford a home, […]

Fair wear and tear – downside of longer tenancies?

6th March 2012

The good news for landlords that tenancies are getting longer, may well be tempered by the warning from the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks that it create an increase in fair wear and tear disputes. The average length of a tenancy has crept up by one month every year for the past three years and […]

Holding your umbrella upside down will not keep off the reign of the taxman

6th March 2012

-By Guest Columnist Mary Latham- Landlords may be invisible but their properties are not and neither are their tenants, especially if they are among the increasing number who rely on benefits to pay their rent. Following a meeting of the Homestamp consortium this week, I was standing on a busy street outside of a small […]

Introducing The LHA Expert for Landlords – @TheLHAexpert

6th March 2012

-By Guest Columnist John Paul- Part 1 of an 8 part series Welcome to the first in a series of eight articles giving you top tips for renting your property to tenants in receipt of Local Housing Allowance (LHA). I have personally built a successful portfolio by letting to LHA Tenants and the profits and […]

Property investors target better yields

5th March 2012

Property investors are targeting high-yielding HMOs and commercial property in a switch away from buy to let, according to a new survey. Confidence in the property market is high – and up to 60% of landlords are looking at better returns from their investments over the next six months, says the report from a mortgage […]

Police on high after closing 5,000 cannabis factories

5th March 2012

Police are on a high after closing 5,000 cannabis factories across the North West in the past three years – and are urging landlords and letting agents to step into the war on drugs. Police are shutting down an average four cannabis farms a day – with many located in rented homes and commercial properties.

The story about the tiny frogs…

5th March 2012

This short story really struck a chord with me when people told me that I was crazy to follow my dream to build the UK’s leading news source and directory of service providers to the UK Private Rented Sector. There once was a bunch of tiny frogs… …who arranged a running competition. The goal was […]

Property118 Newsletter – our 100th edition!

5th March 2012

Firstly with this being a milestone edition we have to thank you, our readers, for your valued and continued support. We invite your feedback at the bottom of this newsletter to ensure we continue to bring you the news you want to read. Mary Latham looks at what the EPC changes mean to landlords, whilst […]

Property118 scores a century – Progress to date

5th March 2012

We have just released the centennial edition of our eNewsletter so what better time for me to report on our progress and to thank everybody involved in our successes to date. We launched Property118.com on 4th January 2011 and what a year it has been! It all started as a simple blog about my property investment strategy […]

What do April ’12 changes to EPC’s mean to us as landlords?

5th March 2012

For those who think “More legislation to make life difficult for landlords” let’s first look at why Government need us to have Energy Performance Certificates (EPC’s). When fossil fuels are used they emit carbon dioxide (CO2), which is known as a “greenhouse gas” (GHG) because it helps produce something called the greenhouse effect. This traps […]

Sorting the Rogues from the Ridiculous

5th March 2012

I’m an amiable kinda guy, the office joker in the roman helmet, more predisposed towards seeing the good in people than the bad. My default approach to dealing with landlord tenant disputes is to go into “Come on people, lets all shake hands and sort this out” mode, as opposed to a Sweeney, kicking in […]

Eastern Landlords Association MARCH 2012 NEWSLETTER

2nd March 2012

Deposits Three cheers for competition. A few weeks ago TDS, The Dispute Service, announced Deposit Guard, which at launch undercut the costs charged by My Deposits, and made a push for self-managing landlords, rather than agents. My Deposits have retaliated, by reducing their fees for agents, but not landlords. This may follow, and we shall […]

Bad bank profits leap to £1 billion

2nd March 2012

The ‘bad bank’ that owns former buy to let specialist Mortgage Express has announced a massive surge in pre-tax profits to just over £1 billion. UK Asset Resolution, the government-backed bank that took over the debts of Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley in 2010, claims the improvement is due to tough action to reduce […]