Property investors looking for the best returns on their cash should look at the booming student letting sector. Student numbers are increasing as universities and colleges in towns and cities all over the UK expand. But while student populations are on the up, only one new bed space was created for every eight new students […]

Following the letter of the law is seemingly a problem for government solicitors as well as property investors over deposit protection rules starting on October 1. The Communities and Local Government Department (CLG) has already issued revised guidance about the regulations before they even come in to force.

Bank of England Agents’ Summary of Business Conditions September 2010

In the last week of August the new administrators of The Money Centre’s Landlords Insurance Scheme were overwhelmed with requests to switch to our new block policy for landlords insurance before the 1st of September. Sadly we couldn’t get back to them all in time to secure the business. We now have a process to […]

Peter Curran, Head of Intermediary Distribution at Lloyds Banking Group recently announced, “From 25 September, buy to let property portfolios will be limited to a maximum of three properties, or £2m worth of lending (whichever is exceeded first), across Lloyds Banking Group. At the same time, buy to let products will no longer be available […]

In this article I look at the differences between owning property as joint tenants, tenants in common or as individuals. I also explain why portfolio landlords who are married couples should own half the properties each in single names and how to deal with property ownership which is not structured for optimal tax purposes right […]

Tax code bungles and other IT disasters at HM Revenue and Customs have led to thousands of workers redeployed for working on ‘higher priority cases’. HMRC has already announced that filing forms authorising advisers to speak to tax inspectors as client agents are backed up until at least October 31, which is also the last […]

Commercial property tenants are finding relationships with landlords are better but they still have room for improvement. Tenants marked their landlords an average of 4.9 out of 10, according to a satisfaction survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Rents have hit a two-year peak as the squeeze on mortgages has dried up funds for first time buyers and home movers. Rents were up 1.4% or £12 a month on those in July – equalling the last peak of £686 per month last seen in September 2008.

If your net assets are worth over £325,000 when you die, any money that you leave to anybody other than your husband, wife or civil partner will be taxed at 40%. This includes payouts from your life insurance policy, regardless of whether you’ve made a Will or not. The solution, which is very simple and […]

The latest capital gains tax (CGT) increase announced by the Chancellor George Osborne in June has added a massive £36 million in unnecessary tax payments, according to independent financial web site unbiased.co.uk. Capital gains tax is charged on the disposal of investment property and rates currently stand at 28% for higher rate taxpayers and 18% […]

In comparison, the rest of England and Wales was stuck in a rut with more static month-on-month figures. The buoyant London market is put down to less worry about long term job prospects and cash-rich buyers not affected by difficulties in obtaining mortgages.

Landlords need to turn detective and make sure they police how tenants are using their rental properties otherwise insurers could refuse to pay out on claims for damage left behind by crooks. One of the largest UK insurers, Aviva, urges landlords and letting agents to start their own neighbourhood watch – especially for cannabis farms.

The seasonally adjusted index for the month was 4.7% below the recent peak in April 2008, but 11.1% above the recent trough in April 2009. This figure is the best indicator of trends in house prices over time, says the CLG.

The UK’s average property value is currently £167,953, according to the Halifax’s latest survey. It is probably fair to say that every landlord owns at least two properties, their own home plus at least one buy to let property. Therefore, excluding any other assets or life insurance policies, their assets are likely to exceed the […]

The housing market seems to have shaken out the inflation excesses of the boom period of a few years ago. Estate agents, builders and lenders are all reporting a stable level of activity, even though this may be constrained for property investors looking for profits from capital growth.

Millions of landlords and property investors are tied up in the HM Revenue and Customs PAYE code bungle and may have to pay back tax wrongly calculated over previous years. Any property investor who has tax collected under the PAYE scheme or receives a notice of coding for pension payments could be drawn in to […]

Buy to let mortgage borrowers can breathe a sigh of relief for another month as the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted to keep the official bank rate steady at 0.5%. The decision means the bank rate has remained at the record low of 0.5% for 18 consecutive months since March 2009.

Building on the success of a property business involves much more than managing tenants in rental homes. Many investors start to lose a grip of their property business once they have two or three successful property transactions under their belt and their portfolio starts to grow.

Housing minister Grant Shapps has scrapped complicated blanket planning rules for houses in multiple occupation (HMO). He has announced new regulations aimed at cutting 8,500 HMO applications from the planning system every year by removing the need for every new HMO to apply for planning consent.

Landlords could face big fines if they do not act to comply with changes to assured shorthold tenancy agreements from next month. The change means compulsory tenancy deposit protection comes in to force for assured shorthold tenancies for rent up to £100,000 a year from October 1, 2010.