Treasury response to Section 24 report by Dr Rosalind Beck

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Below is the response from HM Treasury to the comprehensive report written by Dr Rosalind Beck on Section 24 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2015 “the unjust legislation that will make the UK housing crisis much worse.”     To Download the full report by Dr Beck   Please leave any (polite) comments you… Read more

The post Treasury response to Section 24 report by Dr Rosalind Beck appeared first on Property118.com.

View Full Article: Treasury response to Section 24 report by Dr Rosalind Beck

What a Year it’s been for the Private Landlord!

admin    Uncategorized     agents

What a year 2016 has been. Not only have we had the political turmoil of Brexit, and now a major change in direction for the US government, one which will undoubtedly affect the UK, good or bad, we’ve has unprecedented change in UK letting regulation. We’ve had countless rule changes in residential letting in England, and a similar process (in some cases more far reaching) in Scotland, wales and Northern Ireland. In addition, we’ve had some swinging tax changes which have hit buy-to-let landlords hard.

The fact is, it’s far too early to say what affect the two momentous economic and political events may have, and any subsequent political changes in Europe. The latter do look likely next year, with continental elections looming. But so far the UK economy appears to be holding up really well, foreign investors are still moving in and many commentators are optimistic about Britain’s future prosperity outside of the EU.

As far as the private rented sector regulation is concerned, change really started in October 2015 with the implementation of measures enacted in the Deregulation Act. This brought in considerable change to the residential letting process in England – the first real change to the Assured Shortold Tenancy (AST) and Section 21 eviction process since it was introduced in the Housing Act 1988, with some minor amendments in 1996.

Following these latest changes, any new Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) in England starting on or after the 1st October 2015 requires the landlord to provide the tenant/s (1) with a current copy of the 10 year Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the rental property, (2) a current copy of the annual Gas Safety Certificate before the tenant enters the property, and (3) a current copy of the Government guide “How to Rent”, a the checklist for renting in England. This MUST be the latest available version at the time of letting and on a tenancy renewal. Also, as now, (4) the landlord must protect any tenancy deposit taken, plus serve the statutory information (s213 notice) and the scheme’s information leaflet within 30 days of receiving the deposit.

In addition, there have been several detailed rule changes to serving dates for a Section 21 notice, including a new single standardised Section 21 (A6) notice, which includes prescribed information for the tenant, and the requirement to meet all of the above rules. If the property has a mandatory, additional or selective licensing requirement, proof of compliance will also be required. Get it wrong and you could be stuck with a bad tenant for a long time, as you won’t be able to use the highly advantages Section 21 eviction process until you comply.

One measure that is concerning, but will not really affect those landlords letting well maintained properties, is the measures introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015 which affect what has been termed “revenge” or “retaliatory” evictions. Much has been made of this in the media and by the homelessness charities, claiming that tenants are being evicted using Section 21 for wanting repairs to be done to their rentals.

Now it will not be possible to carry out an eviction where a tenant has reported a repair and (1) it has not be given an “adequate response” (within 14 days) and (2) the local authority has served an appropriate (improvement) notice on the landlord because of a serious defect (category 1 or 2 hazards). It means that any section 21 notice served will not be effective, and a new notice cannot be served for a period of six months following.

Some of these requirements were there before these latest changes, so most landlords will be familiar with them, but the difference is there’s a lot more to think about and extra diligence is required to not only get it right, but to have documentary evidence that you did. Checklists are now a must when letting residential property in England. All of these documents and checklists can be found here: landlordzone.co.uk/documents

But wait, we haven’t finished here: the tax changes introduced by the previous Chancellor George Osborne in his post-election budget in July 2015, and his subsequent one in spring 2016, constituted something of an unexpected “bombshell” for private residential landlords. Public opinion had been swayed against the private residential landlord with constant media stories of buy-to-let millionaire stories, and a minority of rogue landlords taking advantage of the ever increasing demand for rental housing.

Mr Osborne reacted to this in a politically motivated way by introducing quite swinging and punitive tax changes, (1) to slow down the buy-to-let boom which was worrying the Bank of England due to its threat to banks stability, with the sheer amount of loan capital at risk, and (2) to address the question of whether landlords are inflating house prices, which he said were pricing Generation Rent out of home ownership.

The result is a second home stamp duty land tax (SDLT) premium of 3%, which has knock on effects for anyone buying and selling property, differential rates for Capital Gains Tax (CGT), and payment deadlines penalising property investors. There are changes to wear and tear expenses which landlords can claim, and perhaps must concerning of all, reclassifying mortgage tax relief as a non-claimable expense.

There was big disappointment in the landlord community when the High Court rejected a full judicial review of buy-to-let mortgage relief changes. Landlords represented by Cherie Blair QC lost a legal fight to overturn legislation designed to increase the tax landlords pay on their buy-to-let earnings. Campaigning landlords Chris Cooper and Steve Bolton brought together a group of likeminded landlords under the group’s fighting name of “Axe the Tenant Tax”, believing that removing business interest relief for just one group, landlords, was an injustice and needed to be challenged. However, the judge thought otherwise, that the claim was not justified and said: “It would be a miserable spectacle to watch a case that is bound to fail.”

There has been a concerted move by a minority of landlords to use a companies to shelter their buy-to-let properties from tax, either by transferring existing properties into the company, or dong this with new purchases. Incorporation has its merits for some, but there are many complications. The pros and cons of every investor’s own situation need careful consideration and expert advice, and many experts feel there is little advantage in doing this, plus there’s always the risk that HMRC will be changing the rules again.

And still we have not finished. In February the measures enacted in the Immigration Acts were introduced which brought in the requirement for every residential landlord in England, including lodger landlords, to carry out “Right-to-Rent” checks on all new tenants and their families. Landlords and agents must now check documents face-to-face to satisfy themselves that new tenants have a right to reside in the UK. Failure to act properly could result in fines up to £3,000 per tenant, and this penalty has recently been strengthened in the Housing and Planning Act 2016, by making it a criminal offence to rent to illegals.

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 also contains several measures for tackling rogue landlords, which to be fair most responsible landlords would be in favour of. A database of rogue landlords and agents is to be accompanied by the concept of “banning orders”, and similar in concept to the Proceeds of Crime Act legislation, Rent Repayment Orders will be introduced. A process which landlords can use to recover abandoned premises is to be introduced, but the process is so convoluted that its usefulness is doubtful. It will also be made easier to evict illegal immigrants if it is found they do not have a right to remain in the UK.

What else can hit the private landlord? Well, wait for it, the Bank of England has seen fit to introduce much tougher mortgage criteria for buy-to-let loans and it is probable that landlords with several buy-to-let investments (4 of more) may find themselves paying a higher rate of interest on renewal. In any case, following the Brexit vote, it is predicted that inflation will reach around 4% sometime next year, with the inevitable result that the Bank Rate and mortgage rates will trend upwards after a long period of decline.

Despite all of this change, buy-to-let investment and the private rented sector (PRS) has continued to grow, but is likely to slow following the above changes. The latest available data from the government’s English Housing Survey shows that the PRS is still growing. Private rented households in England have breached the 5 million household barrier for the first time in recent history. In Great Britain as a whole, there are now around 5.6m households in the sector, with an annual growth rate of 8.4%, and representing, 20% of all households, a greater proportion than the social housing sector.

London remains the region where most renting takes place, representing around 20% of the entire nation’s privately rented households, and that with only a 14% share of the overall population. On past trends, approaching half a million new private rentals had been added to the PRS each year in Great Britain.

Tenant demand continues unabated with a long-term problem of a lack of housing supply,  pushing up house prices and rents, and making saving for a deposit for first-time buyers, “Generation Rent” a considerable challenge, if not an impossibility for many. This is not a particularly British problem, it spans the western world where low interest rates have hiked asset prices to record levels.

Despite various government schemes with help-to-buy, take-up has been sluggish and small-scale, likely to disappoint government, and prove insufficient to match the needs for homeownership in a country with a growing population. House building figures remain stubbornly low and well below government targets.

Additional mortgage regulation designed to prevent another boom and bust has been introduced by the Bank of England. It could be argued that the tighter lending criteria, particularly the measures for affordability assessments, are limiting access to finance for both private buyers and buy-to-let landlords, creating a demand bottleneck. This, along with the stamp duty increase is affecting house sales, but at the same time is underpinning people’s dependence on the PRS.

Average rents across the UK, but highly London weighted, have recently been rising at the rate of around 8% annually, with average rents now over £900 per month. At the same time wage inflation (wage rises) have improved, boosting tenant finances, but they still lag far behind rent price inflation.

Given all these changes, apart from a greater focus on tax planning and potentially incorporating investment businesses, landlords and agents find the tenancy management task much more onerous and challenging. We won’t know the full taxation effects for some time as the main tax change – mortgage interest relief – is being phased in over 4 years.

What we do know is that landlords will seek to off-set the higher costs of running their buy-to-let businesses, and the obvious option is by increasing rents to their tenants. We’ve seen this trend over the last nine months or so as the Budget changes have impacted, especially on those higher rate tax payers, or those with higher gearing.

When the costs involved in running a business increase, landlords have no choice but to increase rents which means the tax changes will impact directly on tenants. The market will determine the rent level depending on supply and demand in each location. Tenant demand is driven by market fundamentals, in particular high house prices and difficulty of getting a mortgage.  These factors are not going to change for the foreseeable future, which makes the previous Chancellor’s changes look counterproductive.

Taken in the round, the changes outlined above combined with the political factors such as Brexit and the US election result have introduced a degree of uncertainty into a sector of the economy which has been growing inexorably for 20 years, a cash-cow in the case of the majority of buy-to-let investors.

Some landlords will choose to sell all, or part of their portfolios depending on individual circumstances, there is no doubt about that. Others will almost certainly step into the void, perhaps picking up some bargains. The Residtial Landlords Association (RLA) have recently predicted as high as a 25% sell-off by current landlords, stating: “An RLA survey of more than 1,000 landlords showed that a quarter had either sold one of their properties or had one on the market as a result of the Government’s plans to change Mortgage Interest Relief, to tax them on income rather than profit.

All of this combined with the higher initial investment cost – new investors will need more capital – supply of rental property will no doubt be constrained. However, given the pent-up demand and the lack of any comparable alternative investments giving anything like buy-to-let returns, the PRS in Britain is almost certain to continue to grow, albeit at a slow pace than before. But anything which puts downwards pressure on the supply of rental homes creates demand verses supply imbalance, and his will inevitable push up rents.

The evidence is already there: the level of buy-to-let borrowing was down 7% between August and September following the introduction of the 3% stamp duty surcharge on second homes, which is continuing to hit landlords hardest, that’s according to the latest seasonally adjusted monthly figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

The latest CML data shows that the amount of buy-to-let landlords borrowed fell on an annual basis by 22% year-on-year to around £2.8bn, with the number of loans falling 6% from August to 18,200. This representings a decline of 26% on September 2015.

Paul Smee, director general of the CML says: “Six months on since the stamp duty changes on second properties and buy-to-let continues to operate at lower levels than a year ago. But lending for buy-to-let house purchase and re-mortgaging has settled at its current level over the last four months.”

All eyes are now on the new Chancellor, Philip Hammond when he presents his Autumn Statement on the 23^rd of November to see if he is willing to “row-back” on some of the landlord tax measures introduced by George Osborne.

… LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: What a Year it’s been for the Private Landlord!

Landlords needn’t get caught out by costly repairs this winter

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Wind-battered fences, frozen pipes, broken boilers and leaking roofs –it’s the last thing you want to deal with as you sit down for Christmas lunch.

Winter can be a miserable time for property owners, as wet, windy and freezing weather, wreaks havoc on buildings, causing damage that’s costly and requires urgent repairs.

“Don’t be tempted to postpone essential maintenance or checks until it’s warmer, no matter how appealing it may be”, is the advice from Jenny Mayes at Simple Landlords Insurance.

“Every winter, we see hundreds of landlords who unfortunately find themselves with damage to their rental properties.  In our experience, much of this damage can be prevented.  A well maintained property stands a much better chance of squaring up to mother nature, than one in need of repairs.

“But it doesn’t stop with having your Christmas lunch interrupted.  The lost time and money as well as the hassle that many of our landlords report, just isn’t worth it. “

Take these simple steps from Simple Landlords Insurance to winter-proof your property now, and enjoy peace of mind for you and your tenants over the festive season.

Prevent burst pipes

Burst pipes caused by frozen water is the number one issue caused by falling temperatures and account for one fifth of insurance claims made by landlords.

This happens most often over winter if a property is empty and the heating is off because it is unoccupied or the tenants have gone on holiday. The water freezes and expands in the pipes, which crack and burst when the weather warms.

Prevent burst pipes by advising your tenants to keep the heating on low even at night, and especially if they go away on holiday. If they do have a leak, it is their responsibility to report it promptly and your responsibility as a landlord to arrange the repair. If your tenants do find  they find one make sure your tenant can switch the water off immediately at the stop cock to prevent further damage.

Check your insurance policy

The last thing you want as you’ve finally shifted into holiday mode is to discover your tenants are having an emergency. The only thing that’s worse is to later discover that your insurance policy is out of date, or doesn’t provide the cover you need. Make sure your policy is in order and up to date and if you live far away or will be unavailable over Christmas and New Year, consider adding home emergency cover to your policy.

Weather proof your roof

Wind and storm damage can cause some serious damage to your property but insurance policies will only cover this if your property has been reasonably maintained.

Dormer windows are particularly susceptible for letting in water, frequently due to poorly maintained flashing around their edges.

Most insurance companies measure storms using the Beaufort wind force scale. It is generally considered highly unlikely that a storm below 52mph would damage a well maintained property. Loose ridge tiles, old fencing probably won’t be covered on your insurance if damaged in winds less that those classed as at storm levels by the Beaufort scale.

Make sure the heating is working 

By having a draughty, cold property, not only is it uncomfortable for your tenants but it also could lead to a number of problems, including mould, a broken boiler and frozen pipes.

Take steps to improve your property’s heating by installing insulation, bleeding radiators and installing draught excluders around windows and doors. It’s also a good idea to call a Gas Safe registered engineered to check the boiler is in good working order, before temperatures really plummet.

Blocked gutters

Although often overlooked, clearing gutters of debris and leaves is crucial, especially in the colder months. Having gutters that don’t drain properly can cause a whole host of problems for your property, like rot, penetrating damp and damage to the foundation caused by water running down external walls.

If it snows or freezes, a blocked gutter could also come loose from your property, causing even more problems. Check gutters are secured properly, and speak to your tenants about keeping them clear.

Condensation and mould 

Mould is a nightmare for many landlords, and if ignored for a long time, it can be very difficult to get rid of. Not only is it unsightly, but it can also pose significant health risks especially to people with lung conditions and children, which could threaten your tenancy contract in a worst case scenario.

During winter, damp and mould can get worse because of condensation caused by things like heated rooms with poor ventilation, or clothes being dried on radiators. Remove any existing patches of mould, and make sure your tenants know how to reduce damp and condensation in the home over winter.

To find out more about the top causes for landlords to claim on their insurance – and how to avoid it happening to you – download Simple Landlords Insurance Risk Report for free

https://www.simplelandlordsinsurance.com/risk-report

… LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Landlords needn’t get caught out by costly repairs this winter

6 Tips fоr Buy Tо Let Prореrtу Invеѕtmеntѕ

admin    Uncategorized     agents

While рrореrtу investment can bе a risky endeavour, long-term buy tо lеt properties rерrеѕеnt a роtеntiаllу ѕаfе and strong invеѕtmеnt орроrtunitу, if chosen with соnѕidеrаtiоn. Wе have соllесtеd ѕоmе оf the fасtоrѕ to consider before сhооѕing a buy tо lеt invеѕtmеnt.

1. Rеѕеаrсh thе market

Whether уоu are investing in a buу to let property in thе UK оr abroad, уоur firѕt ѕtер ѕhоuld bе to rеѕеаrсh thе mаrkеt wеll. Research the аrеа, аnd learn the bаѕiсѕ оf buy tо lеt investments, соnѕidеr if buу tо lеt investments аrе ѕuitаblе for уоu, and if thеу аrе thе best way tо invest уоur mоnеу.

2. Chооѕе a good location

As with аnу оthеr tуре of рrореrtу invеѕtmеnt, уоur ѕuссеѕѕ will greatly depend оn your сhоѕеn lосаtiоn. You will firѕt have tо rеѕеаrсh the economic, demographic and ѕосiаl ѕituаtiоn оf thе аrеа. Also think about thе futurе оf thе lосаtiоn. Improving economy, nеw dеvеlорmеntѕ, buѕinеѕѕ investments рlаnnеd for thе futurе аrе аll positive ѕignѕ, as thеу will mеаn futurе рrореrtу appreciation, аnd a ѕtаblе property investment. Economic growth аlѕо mеаnѕ grоwing еmрlоуmеnt lеvеlѕ, and thus a good rеntаl mаrkеt. Yоu ѕhоuld also consider thе ѕtаbilitу оf thе real еѕtаtе market аnd thе growth роtеntiаl of rеntаl уiеldѕ.

3. Think about thе nееdѕ of уоur potential tenant

Thе single most imроrtаnt fасtоr whеn investing in a buу tо lеt рrореrtу is to think аbоut your tаrgеt tеnаntѕ’ needs. Aftеr аll, уоu аrе nоt buуing the рrореrtу for уоu to live in, ѕо trу tо рut уоurѕеlf in thе ѕhоеѕ оf the tаrgеt tenant. Iѕ thе рrореrtу сlоѕе to lосаl аmеnitiеѕ, ѕсhооlѕ, public trаnѕроrt, сеntrаl аrеаѕ аnd hоѕрitаlѕ? Consider thе аrеа in gеnеrаl: thе overall аtmоѕрhеrе, if it iѕ a dеvеlорing аrеа, аnd research the economic situation оf thе реорlе living thеrе. Eѕресiаllу if уоu are investing аbrоаd, you should trаvеl thеrе tо see thе area, or аt least аѕk fоr advice frоm реорlе whо’vе been thеrе. Also consider if thе property is in a suitable соnditiоn for lеtting, аnd whаt уоur tаrgеt tenant may nееd.

4. Undеrѕtаnd how tо mаkе a gооd рrоfit

Yоu саn rеаliѕtiсаllу еxресt a 12-15% net yield frоm your buy to lеt property investment, but оnlу if уоu choose wiѕеlу. The есоnоmiс rесеѕѕiоn hаѕ rеѕultеd in a lаrgе numbеr of fоrесlоѕurеѕ, fоr еxаmрlе in thе US property mаrkеt, whiсh mеаnѕ thаt below market vаluе рrореrtiеѕ are widely аvаilаblе fоr investors to рurсhаѕе. BMV properties can bе a very аttrасtivе invеѕtmеnt орtiоn, аѕ thе initial рurсhаѕе price of thе рrореrtу is low, but уоu саn expect a mоrе rарid property appreciation and larger rental yields. While уоu will need to choose vеrу саrеfullу with BMV рrореrtiеѕ, and thеrе аrе ѕоmе riѕkѕ invоlvеd, thеу оffеr grеаt invеѕtmеnt орроrtunitiеѕ. With long-term rеntаl рrореrtiеѕ, you will аlѕо hаvе tо соnѕidеr expenses like thе initial rеfurbiѕhmеnt, оngоing property tаxеѕ and occasional rераir еxреnѕеѕ. If the rеntаl mаrkеt iѕ good in уоur chosen аrеа, уоu won’t hаvе tо worry аbоut уоur рrореrtу lеft without tеnаntѕ fоr lоng реriоdѕ. Ovеrаll, trу tо aim fоr thе most роѕitivе cash flоw achievable from уоur initiаl invеѕtmеnt, аnd research уоur available орtiоnѕ.

5. Investigate thе risks

Bеfоrе mаking a рrореrtу investment, уоu ѕhоuld аlwауѕ соnѕidеr thе роѕѕiblе рitfаllѕ. Would you bе аblе tо соntinuе your invеѕtmеnt if hоuѕе рriсеѕ fall drаmаtiсаllу? Sоmе risks with buу to lеt рrореrtу invеѕtmеntѕ iѕ thаt thе property can stay empty bеtwееn tеnаntѕ, whiсh wоuld lower уоur rеntаl уiеldѕ, оr thаt mаjоr rераirѕ аrе needed bесаuѕе a tеnаnt dаmаgеd уоur рrореrtу. Bу knowing thеѕе riѕkѕ, rеѕеаrсhing diffеrеnt investment орtiоnѕ аnd choosing your рrореrtу саrеfullу, уоu ѕhоuld bе аblе tо аvоid most оf thеѕе рitfаllѕ.

6. Think аbоut thе futurе оf уоur invеѕtmеnt

Whеn invеѕting in a buy to lеt property, you should аlwауѕ соnѕidеr thе future оf уоur invеѕtmеnt. Can уоu еxресt есоnоmiс grоwth in уоur сhоѕеn area? Hоw соuld the rental mаrkеt be in 10 years’ time? Of course, mоѕt оf thеѕе things аrе impossible tо рrеdiсt, but уоu ѕhоuld rеѕеаrсh your options аѕ thoroughly аѕ роѕѕiblе. You соuld аlѕо соnѕidеr thе future rеѕаlе роtеntiаl of thе рrореrtу, whiсh could bе a viаblе аnd ѕuссеѕѕful еxit ѕtrаtеgу оnсе property рriсеѕ have increased.

Author Bio: Henley Consultants are experts at searching for high yield investment for clients world-wide including cities such as New-York, Dubai and Manchester Property Investments

… LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: 6 Tips fоr Buy Tо Let Prореrtу Invеѕtmеntѕ

Quarter of Landlords Selling Up?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The RLA’s Quitting Landlord Survey is “worse than the polls which missed Brexit and Trump”.  Are a quarter of landlords really about to sell up? No. No they aren’t. A property expert has poured scorn on a survey suggesting a quarter of landlords are about to sell their properties – describing it as “less accurate […]

… LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Quarter of Landlords Selling Up?

New powers for Bank of England on buy-to-let lending

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The government has announced new buy-to-let powers which it says will help the Bank of England (BoE) to enhance financial stability.

HM Treasury and The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP have issued a press statement explaining why they have issued these new powers for the BoE.

The Bank’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) will be granted these new powers to “help it protect the financial system from future risks in the buy-to-let mortgage market,” says the government.

The FPC is responsible for identifying, monitoring and taking action to remove or reduce systemic risks in the financial system. The new powers of direction says the government, “will enhance the FPC’s existing macro-prudential toolkit – the tools it has at its disposal to head off potential threats to financial stability should they arise.”

From early 2017, the FPC will be able to direct the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to require regulated lenders to place limits on buy-to-let mortgage lending in relation to:

• loan-to-value (LTV) ratios

• interest coverage ratios (ICRs)

It follows the FPC recommending that it be given these additional powers of direction over both the residential mortgage lending market and the buy-to-let mortgage market back in September 2014. These powers were granted over the residential mortgage lending market in April 2015 and following a consultation the FPC recommended new powers relating to the buy-to-let market.

The consultation noted the positive impact of buy-to-let landlords in the economy, and the role they play in widening and balancing the overall housing market:

“They provide good quality accommodation for those who cannot at this point afford to buy a home, or who do not wish to commit to home ownership for personal or employment reasons.”

At the same time, the consultation set out the financial stability risks that buy-to-let lending may pose and how the FPC’s recommended tools would address these risks and ensure long-term economic stability.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, said:

“It is crucial that Britain’s independent regulators have the tools they need to keep our financial system as safe as possible.

“Expanding the number of tools at the Financial Policy Committee’s disposal will ensure that the buy-to-let sector can continue to make an important contribution to our economy, while allowing the regulator to address any potential risks to financial stability.”

… LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: New powers for Bank of England on buy-to-let lending

RLA victory in landlord council tax court battle

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The Appeal Court has ruled landlords are not responsible for paying council tax on a property when a tenant moves out before their tenancy agreement has expired, following an intervention from the RLA. In the case of  Leeds City Council v Broadley Leeds City Council had demanded council tax for five properties from landlord Mr Broadley, for […]

The post RLA victory in landlord council tax court battle appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

View Full Article: RLA victory in landlord council tax court battle

Can ex-partner list property while I have a restriction?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

My ex-partner and I bought a house together a few years ago. At the time, I couldn’t be on the mortgage, because I was not on a British work contract and didn’t have indefinite leave to remain. We put the house in his sole name, though I contributed significantly to the deposit (which I can… Read more

The post Can ex-partner list property while I have a restriction? appeared first on Property118.com.

View Full Article: Can ex-partner list property while I have a restriction?

Only a week until the Autumn Statement – still time to contact your MP

admin    Uncategorized     agents

With so little time left until the autumn statement, when we are hoping the Chancellor will announce a U-Turn on Section 24, is it still worth contacting your MP about it if you have not yet? I think the answer is ‘Yes’, even if Philip Hammond has decided the fate of S24 already, one way… Read more

The post Only a week until the Autumn Statement – still time to contact your MP appeared first on Property118.com.

View Full Article: Only a week until the Autumn Statement – still time to contact your MP

Landlords Win Council Tax Court Case

admin    Uncategorized     agents

BREAKING – Landlords have welcomed the news that an Appeal Court judgement says they are not responsible for paying the council tax on a property after a tenant has moved out, and before a tenancy agreement has expired. The appeal, which was brought by Leeds City Council, and which had demanded that council tax be paid […]

… LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Landlords Win Council Tax Court Case