Buy to let may be booming now – but many full time property investors are still feeling the pinch from the credit crisis. Cash flow is the key to a successful business – not the value of a property portfolio. Many businesses go to the wall because they are poorly managed and run out of […]

I’ve raised this question is that it’s important to me. Am I in the minority though? I’ve insured my life and written the policy into trust to pay IHT without attracting further IHT.  However, this is going to get more and more expensive as I get older and my wealth grows.  I’ve also investigated various other […]

Landlords who need to file an online tax return to meet the January 31 deadline are running out of time. Only 25 working days are left if the landlord needs help or advice from an accountant – and this could shrink to a lot less time if the taxpayer has to set up online filing […]

Estate agents have slammed stubborn and self-serving mortgage lenders for holding homeowners and homebuyers hostage for the sake of their own profits. Peter Bolton King, head of the 10,000-strong National Association of Estate Agents accused banks and building societies of manipulating the market by failing to grant more loans.

More landlords can expect to pay higher rate tax from next April thanks to new income tax rates published with little publicity by the Treasury. In previous years, the Chancellor has announced changes to tax rates and thresholds in an autumn pre-budget statement, but this was cancelled following the new coalition emergency budget in June.

An internal report from town hall advisers confirms consultation over extending house in multiple occupation (HMO) powers is a sham aimed at avoiding compensation claims. The report – to councillors in Milton Keynes – suggests Housing Minister Grant Shapps is urging councils to take on controversial planning powers to curb the spread of shared houses […]

The Treasury announced new tax avoidance measures aimed at raising at extra £2 billion in tax over the next four years today. The announcement is the first step of the government’s much-vaunted tax avoidance blitz on individuals and companies – and more will soon follow promises the Treasury.

Improving knowledge and skills to make more money is one of the common traits of buy to let investors who queue up to attend seminars, courses, and conferences. Some of these events cost thousands of pounds to attend – and investors often try to claim the cost back through their property business only to find […]

Millions of homeowners and businesses may find buying buildings and contents insurance harder to obtain as a result of cuts to government spending on flood protection. Government figures show about 5.2 million homes are at risk from flooding – and that’s about 25% of the total homes in the UK.

After becoming an accidental landlord in the late 80’s I later realised this was the business I wanted to be in.  For me it started with a desire to invest into something that I could touch, feel, engage with and affect returns.  It was an opportunity to speculate to accumulate and to take control of […]

To get you started, the boys in the office came up with the following answers: Hugh Heffner to organise the party guests Aggie and Kim (off the TV program “How Clean Is Your House) Jamie Oliver to provide the party food Bob the Builder to fix it, so they don’t have to.

You may have noticed some changes to Landlord News which include:

  This week Sarah agreed to write an exclusive article for Landlord News to explain how her latest online venture “Tepilo” can help property investors to reduce their costs by letting and/or selling their properties for FREE. Some quotes from Sarah:  “If buyers and tenants are heading directly to the internet why is it really […]

This rule of thumb is very simple.  If you have £100,000 of buy to let mortgages you should have £20,000 in the bank. This article was written to show you a safe strategy that you may never have considered before.  If you don’t have the right level of liquidity reserve, don’t panic.  There are ways […]

Tenants struggling to pay rent arrears to buy to let landlords have rocketed by 20% in a year, according to the Citizen’s Advice Bureaux (CAB).  The free access advice centres across England and Wales dealt with 20 rent arrears inquiries every day during the three months ending September 30.

Business is booming for student landlords as rents, property values and returns are all increasing. The average student landlord benefitted from a 13.5% return on investment in the year ending September 30, reports estate agents Knight Frank in their annual student property survey.

Up to 3,000 cases currently before the courts are likely to be withdrawn by lenders who will have to start proceedings all over again as a result of the Supreme Court ruling that found lawyers have not served the right paperwork on homeowners in arrears with loans secured against their properties.

Letting agents expect buy to let rents to keep edging higher as more tenants snap up the few available rental properties. Four out of 10 letting agents reported seeing an increase in rents over the quarter ending October 31, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) residential lettings survey – while some (27%) […]

Private landlords may have to bear in mind their tenant’s human rights before they can evict them, according to the latest court ruling. Lawyers are likely to thrash out the implications of the case that could undermine a landlord’s ability to repossess a property in the New Year.

England faces a worsening housing crisis as house building is drastically out of pace with the demand for new homes.  The nation’s appetite for homes will run at about 250,000 a year for the next 25 years mainly due to the needs of a growing population, according to the latest government figures. 

A flurry of results and reviews about borrowing, the economy and tax that show the current state of the UK’s finances is pretty steady, if uninspiring, are now out. Building society gross lending was down nearly 10% in October – at £1.96 billion compared with £2.17 billion in September.