Regular readers will know that I am a working Tenancy Relations Officer dealing with harassment and illegal eviction cases and also a freelance trainer of housing staff, delivering housing law courses and communication skills such as conflict management. I was recently training a group of housing staff in Dorset who told me that the worst […]

We are delighted to introduce two new guest writers this week, HMO Landlady and Tulloch Priest. They have very kindly taken the time to share their experiences and expertise on two very different subjects, maintenance companies and how to reference tenants. There have also been some excellent and very interesting debates taking place in reaction […]

Around 250,000 second-home owners could see their council tax double under changes that let councils scrap their discounts. Councils will have the power to scrap discounts and charge second homeowners the full rate of council tax with the extra money offsetting bills for full-time occupiers. Communities secretary Eric Pickles expects most councils to take the […]

A buy to let mortgage lender called in more than £1 million of loans when a landlord described as one of Britain’s worst slum landlords was arrested for fraud. The Co-operative Bank ruined the rental business by demanding Joshua Danski repay his borrowings when managers were alerted to his poor business practices.

A 200-strong team of investigators is targeting overseas property owners to check they are not tax cheats. HM Revenue and Customs has warned wealthy UK residents with homes and land overseas that the team is checking whether they have paid enough tax on rents and capital gains. The task force can call on finance, accounting […]

The housing market is still falling – but the pace of the slide is slowing down, according to the latest property price report. Prices slipped by 0.2% in October – compared to a 0.1% fall over the previous five months in a row, says Hometrack, an independent house price data analyst. Homes were losing value […]

A couple of weeks ago I started a discussion thread on Property Tribes about the trials and tribulations of dealing with trades in terms of property maintenance. It started out as a bit of a rant after my long-standing builder and I “had words”. Actually, he came over after sensing that I’d got my knickers […]

When a tenant has a beef with their landlord, I’m the guy they go to. My job is to either negotiate or prosecute, depending on the circumstances. This occasional and random series aims to let landlords know the common complaints that are made about them, the laws that cover them and how to deal with […]

An update to my previous video blogs entitled “My Tenant Has Done A Midnight Flit” and “Property Refurbishment Project”. Please excuse the plug for my brothers businesses AA-Lettings and The Modernizer which operate in Kings Lynn and Norwich but I felt he deserved a bit of recognition for his innovation and help.

London is still blazing the way from property prices with homes increasing in value by an average 2.7% over the past year, according to the latest Land Registry figures. The capital is the only place in the country where prices are rising – with the average drop for the rest of England and Wales hitting […]

Hauntings, murders and eerie goings sound a death knell of interest from serious homebuyers. Homes with a spooky or notorious past may pick up visits from the curious, but few feel comfortable living with the unknown. In many cases, local councils or owners decide to pull down the offending buildings as a break with the […]

“Don’t Shoot The Messenger”. Ben Reeve-Lewis investigates complaints from tenants about harassment and illegal eviction ………. he prosecutes landlords for a living! His full time occupation is a Tenancy Relations Officer with Lewisham Council. So why is he one of the most popular authors on Property118.com, one of the UK’s busiest landlord websites, you may […]

I thought I’d share my recent experiences of a “Tenant From Hell” We often take on properties from landlords who have problem tenants, usually leaving us the legacy of sorting them out. Because I practiced as a Landlord & Tenant Lawyer, I head up (and personally oversee) all evictions at NPG which means we don’t […]

A key skill for landlords is knowing how to work out whether an investment is profitable. Yield is the tool that gives the required result – it is worked out by taking the rent received on a property in a tax year as a percentage of the cost of the investment. For buy to let […]

A snapshot of landlords and letting has just been released by the Department of Communities and Local Government following a survey of property investors. The aim is to profile landlords how they buy, let, manage buy to let and shared homes, sometimes called houses in multiple occupation (HMO).

Having worked for about 20 years with new home builders, there are some things you should know. NEVER be pressured into moving in by their end of year or half year- everyone from sales to plumbers will be rushing like mad to get homes finished. There are financial targets to be met and the finish […]

Ideally landlords want a long-term tenant who treats the property as if it is their own, and this is where it is beneficial to use letting agents , that are experienced in finding good tenants ( in Nottingham in my case) and who can carry out the relevant checks for you. If you want to […]

I decided to write this article as a companion piece to Mary Latham’s recent article “I will not say sorry for being a good landlord”. I originally conceived it as simply a reply but I thought I had too much to say on the matter. Mary’s concern is a common one that I hear. “What […]

Letting agents are cashing in on debit and credit card surcharges on services for landlords and tenants, warns consumer champion Which? Researchers checked out 20 leading estate agents based on branch network sizes and found some charge for debit card payments, while 13 charged for credit card transactions. The survey focused on card charges for […]

Planning and licensing rules for shared houses could be an expensive trap for landlords as some councils take on new powers. Property investors can face fines of up to £50,000 for making mistakes – and the rules vary depending on where the letting property is located. Three sets of rules apply to small houses in […]

The number of buy to let mortgages has more than doubled over the past three years – with more special deals only available from brokers. Landlords and property investors can choose from 483 different mortgages – up from 237 in October 2008, according to independent financial monitor Defaqto. The number keeps rising as more lenders […]