Property prices in small market towns outstrip those of most nearby towns and cities by an average of £30,000, according to Lloyds TSB. House prices in English market towns are, on average, £29,319 (14%) higher than the surrounding counties.

What’s the cheekiest/craziest request you’ve received from a tenant?

A new rent survey based on the average cost of renting compared to buying a similar home on an interest only mortgage at 5%. Aberdeen is the cheapest place in the country to let a home, with rents 22% below the average cost of buying a similar home on an interest only mortgage at 5%.

Buy to let landlords making big rental profits and looking to save tax often flirt with the idea of running their business through a limited company. The main benefit is a company can be a tax-effective way of managing income.

Paying tradesmen for cash in the hand jobs seems like a good idea at the time – but ends up costing landlords more. The problem is only the tradesmen win when a landlord hands over cash for a job in return for a discount. The discount is generally equal to VAT the tradesman will not […]

Buy to let specialist lender Paragon Mortgages has announced a 32% rise in profits as the firm looks to reassert its former position as a major funder of professional landlords by lending £1 billion. After nearly three years away from the market, the lender has opened for new business after securing £200 million backing from […]

Tenants have lost two landmark appeals in cases that have rendered tenancy deposit legislation more or less useless. The ruling means that the current 14-day time limit on protecting a deposit imposed on landlords is merely an administrative requirement and not enforceable in law.

Buy to let lending has risen by 12% supported by ongoing demand for rental property fuelled by potential homeowners who have to rent because they cannot buy. There were 26,900 buy to let loans worth £2.8 billion advanced in the three months ending September 30, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage […]

Time is running out in some cities for house in multiple occupation (HMO) investors to expand their property portfolios. The repeal of HMO planning rules by Housing Minister Grant Shapps has given property investors who want to open new shared houses or extend existing properties a window of opportunity.

Link to the original Mortgage Strategy article which reads as follows: Three people, including a former police financial investigator were sentenced yesterday to almost ten years imprisonment in total for defrauding mortgage providers of £4.6m. Charles Overend, a former police financial investigator, defrauded mortgage providers by hiding discounts he had received on the price of […]

The taxman has finally come a cropper in the game of brinkmanship played on claiming unpaid tax right on the legal deadlines for chasing money. HM Revenue and Customs is well known for chasing late payers and launching tax inquiries at the eleventh hour.

Property investors have seen prices for homes in rural areas outpace those in towns and cities for the past decade and average house prices are now 20% higher than those in towns. The rural house price rise was also greater than the increase in property prices in urban areas (91%).

The Co-op Bank’s buy to let lending arm, Platform Mortgages, has a new range of fixed rate deals for property investors. The headline grabber is a two-year fixed deal at 4.59% for investors with a 40% deposit – increasing to 5.09% and 5.19% for 65% and 70% loan-to-values.

A 5,000-signature petition demanding changes in the law to speed up the eviction of problem tenants from buy to let rental properties has been handed in to Downing Street. Mike Weatherley, Tory MP for Hove and Portslade is leading the protesters, consisting of 14 landlord businesses and representative groups, including the Residential Landlords Association (RLA).

Landlords can expect to see a jump in the number of complaints from tenants about damp in their homes over the next few months – but who is responsible for paying to put the problem right? Many landlords are seen as a bottomless money pit by letting agents and tenants who are on the phone […]

The new universal credit for housing costs may still leave private landlords out on a limb over rent payments. The proposed new rules will replace local housing allowance with a housing cost element of the universal credit system. But the outline proposals are not clear over who gets the payment – the landlord or the […]

Buy to let rentals have gone up for the ninth month in a row to hit a new record high just shy of £700 per month. According to LSL Property Services, the largest letting agents in England and Wales, the average cost of renting a home rose by 0.4% from £689 to £691 in October, […]

Commercial property investment is much like sinking cash in to buy to let homes to rent – as a landlord you research and select a property, finance the investment and manage the tenant who pays your costs out of the rent. Some investors would argue that now is a good time to put money in […]

Please DO NOT renew your landlords buildings insurance without talking to us first. A new PDF is now available to download explaining why The Money Centre Insurance Scheme is so popular.

The taxman has confirmed The Money Centre’s long-held suspicion that HMRC is chasing property investors suspected of ‘flipping’ homes following the scandal of MP expenses. Following in the footsteps of our articles, the Daily Telegraph has revealed HMRC has a new computer system that compares stamp duty payments on property purchases with capital gains tax […]

Buy to let rents have shattered the £700 per month barrier and are on track to surpass the previous record high of £711, according to a property letting specialist. Average monthly rents have steadily increased throughout 2010 in line with tighter credit controls on mortgage lending from banks and building societies, says Belvoir, a lettings […]