Build-to-let funded by private investors and pension funds is the solution to the UK’s housing crisis, housing lobbyists have told MPs. Unlocking billions of private sector cash to invest in a house building programme together with the government’s new housing deal would meet the country’s growing need for homes, says the British Property Federation.

Another important factor I like to consider is the “Equity Return on Cash”. Ideally the smaller the deposit, the greater the Equity Return on Cash. Today 15% deposit is almost a thing of the past, 25% deposit is now the norm. Unless its apartment new build and then it’s a whopping 35% deposit. Let’s now […]

Desperate sellers are ready to accept knock-down prices on homes for sale as financial problems and a lack of mortgages keep buyers away. Both Britain’s biggest online property portals, Rightmove and Zoopla, report homeowners are discounting their asking prices.

Leaky pipes and sinks cost the UK’s landlords £2million a day and over 9 billion litres of water a year, and accounts for a quarter of all insurance claims on flats, according to property insurance specialist Cadogan Keelan Westall.

How and Where to Find Property Bargains Welcome to the next four part episode of the “Property Maverick”. I will again try to make this episode fact filled, funny and light hearted. But the real funny stuff will come in “The Pros and Cons of being a Franchisee”, “The Bulgarian Fool’s Gold Rush”, and laughs […]

As I sit here in a Civil Court’s waiting room waiting to be called (here pursuing a tenant on behalf of a landlord), it makes me think that all this is a bit laborious and pointless. Why is the legal system being used for run-of-the-mill cases like these? Yes, I know that it’s hugely important […]

I’m an unashamed fan of U.K. coastal holiday lets. My husband Nick and I first started investing in them in 2008 as we saw the economic climate deteriorating and reckoned that people would start holidaying at home again. We’re now the proud owners of two high-occupancy holiday lets – one on the island of Portland […]

Isn’t it ludicrous that we can invest our private pension funds into ‘off plan’ Caribbean Hotel Developments but we can’t invest them into solving the housing shortage in the UK? We have wealthy Greeks taking their money out of their failing economy and inflating London house prices by investing there and yet we can’t use our pension […]

Landlords might think that rent is the only income generated by their property business – but they may need to tell the taxman about other money coming in as well. Deposits from tenants are probably the main other income from tenants – and the rule is that these deposits always belong to the tenant.

The Government has launched a make-or-break housing strategy designed to boost the economy, create jobs and help people buy homes – but seems to have forgotten buy to let landlords. The initiative has the backing of Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and lays out a blueprint for the future of […]

The much awaited Government housing strategy was unveiled today with many seeing it not as the “radical and unashamedly ambitious strategy” professed in the foreword, but as simply not radical enough. The private rented sector is set to be boosted by tax changes as stamp duty will be assessed on the average value of individual […]

Today the government announced a new initiative to provide 100,000 new low cost homes over the next four years creating 200,000 new jobs. Well it’s better than nothing some will argue, but it hardly scratches the surface in terms of meeting requirements. To do this, a similar number of properties to a City the size […]

This week we have reported on a variety of political issues affecting landlords, some of which have been picked up by the mainstream media. Fortunately, it’s not all politics in this Newsletter. Our guest authors have written some excellent articles to lighten the mood and provide useful insight too.

Answer? – When it’s an Assured Tenancy. Rubbish joke I know. Most conversations I read on Property 118 and other websites centre on ASTs and the rules and regulations that surround them, but did you know that actually there are around 16 different types of tenancy and licence agreement?

As you probably know, search engines rate websites by the number and rank of other websites that link to them. The higher you rank the better for SEO purposes. Please feel free to place a link on our site and a few lines about your business in the comments section below. All we ask in […]

This week I attended an unofficial Bank of England briefing. This article is based on that meeting and informal discussions with other attendees before and after. It is not intended to be representative of any official views of the Bank of England or Property118. These are my personal opinions and perceptions only.

The buy to let market will grind to a halt if EU proposals to change the way lenders hand out mortgages to landlords are approved, claim experts. Do not let this happen – sign the petition linked below. The new rules will stop landlords buying new property to rent and restrict mortgage lending that will […]

With people living longer and with less people per household, it is pretty obvious that more housing is needed. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Office of National statistics has predicted that the UK population will grow to 71.6 million by the year 2033. But where will they all live?

Buy to let rents are still rising – but not as fast as over recent months. In October, renters paid landlords an average £720 per month to let a home in England and Wales – 0.2% up compared with September.

Around 25% of landlords have invested in more buy to let property this year, says the Association of Residential Letting Agents. Letting agents also confirm demand for letting property from would-be tenants is outstripping the number of available homes in many areas.

Prices for homes sold at auction are running at about 20% below market value, according to the latest round-up of figures for homes that went under the hammer in October. Property buyers snapped up 1,759 homes for an average £126,580 each – compared to the Land Registry’s average home price for the month of £159,999.