British taxpayers are vying with those in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands to pay the highest rates of tax in Europe. Top rate taxpayers here also suffered the largest tax hike in the world when rates soared to 50% for those earning £150,000 a year or more in April, according to a report by accountants […]

Student landlords and shared house investors planning and licensing rules face scrutiny under a second legal challenge – this time by local councils. The rules are already facing High Court review after landlords in Oxford decided to take on the city council over plans to take up tighter planning and licensing controls.

Two out of three investment fund managers intend to put cash in to commercial property in the coming months. Many still see commercial property as a good investment although they expect portfolio values to stand still or fall during the next three to six months.

Gifting property to families or loved ones without triggering a cluster bomb of taxes is never simple. Take two sisters who inherited a property from mum and dad. One of the sisters lives overseas and has no children while the other lives in the UK and has a son with a young family who need […]

Cashflow is simply defined as regular income. Positive cashflow is when income exceeds expenditure and you make a profit. So that’s important right? Of course it’s important, but are you in complete control of your cashflow position?’ might be a better question. The truth is there are some things you can’t control. You can’t choose […]

We’ve recently embarked on a new initiative to provide Estate Planning advice to people who need it most, whilst at the same time supporting charities that support families who are affected by the devastating news none of us want to hear but most of us experience at some point in our lives.

Mike Woodfine, Director of The Money Centre, comments on how, through outsourcing at a cost of £225.60 a month, he didn’t need to recruit a replacement HR Manager and reduced overheads by almost £40,000 a year and at the same time empowered our Management Team.

Capital allowances are mind-numbingly complicated and even confuse some accountants, but making the effort to unravel obscure tax points can save some property investors paying thousands of pounds in unnecessary tax. This tax reducer is especially important to anyone with: Furnished lets or holiday lets in the UK or overseas

Buy to let lender Paragon is jumping back into the landlord mortgage market to fill the hole left by Lloyds Banking Group tightening up borrowing terms. Landlords can expect to see more jockeying for position in the market with new products and lenders coming to the fore as Lloyds have left a massive whole in […]

Good property investment is about picking the right home that attracts good tenants ready to pay a competitive rent. Plenty of advice on what to buy hits the headlines – but tips on what not to buy are rare. Sometimes it’s hard to spot a rough diamond when viewing properties.

The self-assessment clock is ticking now – 2 million taxpayers have to the end of October to file a paper tax return and hundreds of thousands of them will pick up a £100 fine for late submission. Another 4 million taxpayers have until the end of January to file their self-assessment online.

The summer holidays hit mortgage approvals for August as the Bank of England revealed total loans to buy a home dropped to 47,372 during the month. This is down on the July figure of 48,346 and the month-on-month average of 48,619 that had held since February 2010.

The first house price statistics for September have hit the streets – showing average prices have notched up just a superficial 0.1%. The figures from the Nationwide also show the three-month house price trend has slipped in to negative equity for the first time since May 2009 – down a modest 0.9%.

Councils are afraid of tackling shared housing problems because they fear landlords will sue them for loss of earnings, a senior planning councillor in a university town has revealed. In an exclusive interview, the planner disclosed his council abandoned taking on powers to give them more control over houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) after taking […]

Private landlords have no room for complacency and need to improve standards as the private rented sector changes, urges the National Landlords Association (NLA).

Debt management firms can make financial problems worse for those that owe money by giving poor advice and misleading consumers by claiming to offer free services while taking hidden fees. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has warned 129 firms that their credit licences will be withdrawn if they do not show immediate action has […]

The buy to let mortgage market is in a state of flux as key lenders have changed their criteria over recent weeks. This weekend, Lloyds Bank effectively shut up shop to portfolio landlords with more than three properties. From close of business Friday (September 24), the bank reshuffled buy to let mortgage products and lending […]

Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is not an opt-in process – if you have made a gain and do not already have a self-assessment tax return, the obligation is on you to report the matter to your tax office and not hope you have got away with it just because you have not had a bill. […]

The government is diverting £900 million over the next three years to beef up HM Revenue and Customs in a bid to clamp down on tax avoidance to make sure everyone hands over every penny they should to swell the Treasury coffers. Ministers demonise tax cheats in the media as immoral and illegal – and […]

The case highlighted the wording of Section 214 of The Housing Act 2004, which concerns courts making an order for landlords to protect a deposit or return the money in full to the tenant. The section also allows a court to penalise a landlord who fails to protect a deposit by imposing a penalty of […]

In a landmark case that could affect hundreds of similar actions waiting to go to court all over the country, Anthony Finlay was taken to court by developers AMA (New Town) for breach of contract. He is just one of many property investors and buyers who were forced to withdraw from buying new build properties […]