After moving into my ex-HMO and refurbishing it last year, I decided that I wanted an open fire or woodburner. I’ve always wanted one and seemed to have come so close a few times but then sold a house before my dream could become a reality – husband citing it as a poor investment. During […]

Buildings insurance for a property is generally the responsibility of the owner or landlord. Tenants must still take out contents insurance to cover their possessions if they want to be protected against theft or fire damage, though for example. This is even more relevant in a House in Multiple Occupation letting to students or professionals. […]

Premium tenancies are something I’ve heard a bit about from a few different landlords in various parts of the Country who don’t know each other. This leads me to believe that these tenancies are more than just an urban myth but I have to admit that they are something I know very little about. However, I’ll share […]

The tax man has lost a key case that allows holiday let owners claim business property relief against inheritance tax. HM Revenue & Customs has argued for many years that holiday lets are an investment, not a business, and as such are not allowed to claim the relief unless the owner was ‘substantially’ involved with […]

Firms buying homes and renting them back to struggling home owners who are often trying to avoid repossession have stopped trading after a Financial Services Authority investigation. The FSA says most of the schemes should never have been sold as they were either unaffordable or unsuitable solutions for homeowners. The schemes were marketed under several […]

Do you think Landlords need to have a Data Protection Licence? My opinion of this is that the rules are very clear. Any person carrying on business who holds personal and/or financial data about other people should be licensed and take proper care to protect any data they hold, whether that’s computer or paper records. To quote […]

House prices in East and Central Scotland have fallen over the past three months according to the latest house price report from ESPC, and they don’t expect things to change. On average, Edinburgh has seen a drop of 1.1% in the course of the year, but the properties in the city centre increased in value […]

The latest news and cash flow tips for landlords. Vanessa Warwick offers her top 6 strategies to improve cash flow, Mary Latham calls on all landlords to understand what impact the Governments freeze on rents will have across the sector and Mark Alexander explains Property118’s relationship with Property Tribes, our chosen forum partner.

The UK Government is backing plans to encourage elderly homeowners to down-size to smaller properties. The move will enable councils to rent out their larger homes to overcrowded families. The new plans which were recently announced by Housing Minister Grant Shapps, intends to assist young families that are finding it difficult to find affordable housing […]

The National Landlords Association announced Friday – “We have just learned from the Department for Work and Pensions that LHA rates are to be frozen from April this year.” If you are thinking “Thank goodness my tenants are not on benefits” don’t stop reading because one P45 can change all of that. I didn’t take […]

I am often asked what the relationship is between Property Tribes and Property118. Some people even get the impression that there is common ownership based on the fact that they see the owners interacting so often on each others websites. To clarify the relationship I’ve written this blog.

Hard pressed landlords are looking at switching tough to let offices in the square mile to swish apartments for City high fliers to make ends meet. Pension funds and developers are buying up disused commercial buildings that were home to thriving banks and financial services companies in Central London.

Landlords in Peterborough are enjoying the best rental returns of anywhere – even the flying high yields in London, according to letting agents haart. Peterborough reigns supreme for one, two and three bedroom homes, says the first buy to let index from the letting agent, which has offices across England and Wales. Property investors in […]

As all Landlords should appreciate, property investment is a business. It’s not something you should ever attempt to do “as a hobby”, “reluctantly”, “on the side”, “accidentally” …. .  There’s too much at stake for that, up to and including the wellbeing of your tenants, who you are responsible for in the eyes of the law. […]

A London council has set up the first local authority full management lettings agency for rental homes in the capital. Harrow Council has run a property finding service for tenants but is extending the service to manage homes for landlords.

Live away property owners are urged to go ‘ex-directory’ in an anti fraud campaign by the Land Registry. In a bid to stop crooks hijacking property titles for mortgage scams or bogus sales, the Land Registry has scrapped fees for a special service restricting lawyers from accessing information.

Existing tenants will start to feel the pinch this month as their benefits are reduced by an average of £83 per week due to the housing benefit cuts introduced last April. The UK government hopes the alterations to housing benefit payments will both save money and reduce private rents. However, many opposed to the new […]

Cornwall keeps top spot as the favourite UK destination for second homers with 14,000 properties – almost double that of second place Westminster, London. The most sought-after postcode for holiday homes in the UK is Cornwall’s South Hams, which includes the towns of Salcombe and Totnes, where just under 10% of all homes are second […]

As a new tenancy deposit protection scheme opens for business, some landlords may be confused over the costs and benefits each offers. To help compare the schemes with each other, here’s a look at the costs and some other important points to consider:

Mark Alexander shares his thoughts on how to regulate the letting industry and adds a thought provoking social media video link to his landlord’s log. HMRC delays its self assessment filing deadline by 48hrs, Mary Latham draws attention to a dangerous scam email and Ally MacDermot passes on some top tips to brighten up communal […]

There has been a lot of discussion on Property118 in recent weeks about Letting Agents, regulation and trust issues. That’s hardly surprising given the number of reported instances of the closing down of Letting Agents whilst owing landlords rent and having failed to protect deposits. We have also witnessed an increasing level of debate surrounding […]