One of my tenants is not keeping the house tidy?

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I have let my house through a letting agent and the tent is a single mother of two. Shes been in the house for almost 2 years.

The house was gutted top to bottom before she moved in.

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NRAM variable rate goes up but never comes down!

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I am currently stuck with NRAM with 2 buy to lets, my problem is that since the crash they haven’t dropped their interest rate, but over the last few months as the base rate has increased they have moved up accordingly.

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BTL lenders with Ltd co products up 47% on last year

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The Mortgages for Business’ Buy to Let Index indicates an increase in the number of buy to let lenders lending to limited companies by 47% over the last year. Click here to see the full article.

The index shows:

There are now 22 BTL lenders now lending to limited companies which is up up from 15 in Q3 2017

The total number of BTL mortgage products available to limited companies has more than doubled since from 263 to 628

44% of BTL transactions are now made in the name of a limited company increased from 42% last year.

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Shelter’s strategy for 2019 – 2022

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Shelter have documented their strategy for the next three years 2019 – 2022: click here to view the full document.

Their purpose: Shelter exists to defend the right to a safe home. (note not to provide a safe home)

How they will achieve change:

“A nationwide movement demanding social housing and defending rights

• In communities we harness the power of our services

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Help your tenants feel safe with our fire safety checklist

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Fire Doors:

Fire safety is one of the most important factors for landlords to consider when it comes to making sure their tenant’s accommodation is kept safe. Howden’s comprehensive guide provided here focuses on providing the information you need to create a safe environment for your tenants.

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005¹, landlords have the responsibility to keep their properties and tenants safe.  The ‘responsible person’ has a legal duty of responsibility for fire safety and for complying with the Fire Safety Order on their premises. Landlords must take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from a fire and make sure people can safely escape in the event of a fire. The responsible person must take appropriate measures that will limit the spread of fire should one occur, including the installation and maintenance of fire doors.

Fire doors are a lifeline. When properly fitted and correctly maintained, they can provide people with vital time to safely escape from both fire and smoke. A fire door helps to ensure that if a fire breaks out it will be contained in the compartment in which it started. A fire door will keep fire and smoke trapped for a defined period of time, allowing individuals enough time to escape from the building via alternative routes. It will not fulfil this function, however, if it is damaged or left propped open.

Different fire door specifications provide varying protection time. An FD30 door will offer up to 30 minutes of fire resistance and an FD60 will ensure that there is up to 60 minutes of protection. Fire doors alone will not provide the necessary protection in the event of a fire. They will only be effective if installed with the correct hardware – you can find out what makes up a fire door and more in our Fire Safety Hub.

Figures show that 28% of tenants do not trust their landlord to understand and implement all the necessary fire safety measures in their building². Our fire door safety guide is a helpful source of information you can use to educate your tenants in understanding their landlord’s role and responsibilities and to alleviate any of their concerns surrounding fire safety awareness.

Fire doors are not the same as normal doors; they have been carefully engineered to maximise fire safety. Make sure all fire doors are installed by a competent and experienced fitter. Fitting a fire door incorrectly will compromise the door’s protection and both the property and lives could be at risk.

Maintaining high standards of fire door safety does not need to be difficult or costly. Explore our fire safety hub to find a series of useful articles that are full of information and advice on fire safety and how to keep your premises safe for tenants. Read our top tips on buying high quality, certified fire doors and ironmongery from reputable and trusted suppliers.

Download the fire doors safety guide

Howdens Joinery Co.

^[1] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/contents/made

² https://firedoorsafetyweek.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/101-facts-about-fire-doors-Fire-Door-Safety-Week-2017.pdf

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Help your tenants feel safe with our fire safety checklist | LandlordZONE.

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Welcome Landlords – Have 0% for three months!

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The Leads building society is offering a welcome start of 0% for Buy to Let purchasers on their new range of ‘Easy Start’ products.

Welcome is designed to allow BTL customers breathing space when their finances are most stretched after the initial cost of purchase.

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A Budget for the sunny uplands of a post-Brexit Britain?

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Budget 2018: 

Budget predictions from accountants, business and financial advisers Kreston Reeves for next Monday’s Budget.

Chancellor Philip Hammond will deliver on Monday 29 October the most keenly watched and important Budget of his career.  It will be a Budget delivered through the lens of Brexit and will, says accountants, business and financial advisers Kreston Reeves, set out the Government’s vision for what the UK might look like once we have left the European Union.

Laurence Parry, Tax Partner at Kreston Reeves said: “With 29 March drawing closer we would expect the Chancellor to deliver an upbeat Budget that gives a flavour of how the UK will look post-March 2019 and one that sends a message to the country of the Government’s future intent.�

Whilst big policy announcements might be missing, Kreston Reeves tax partners, Laurence Parry and Daniel Grainge anticipate the following.

The introduction of a digital tax
“The corporation tax payed by some of the world’s largest digital companies has once again hit headlines with Ed Sheeran earlier this month reportedly paying more tax in the UK than Amazon and Starbucks,� says Laurence.

“The Government is under increasing pressure to act, and we expect the Chancellor will announce a consultation on a new digital tax whether based on turnover from UK customers or some other measure.  We don’t expect a blunt transaction tax.�

Buy to let
Daniel Grainge, a partner specialising in private client tax says: “A further move to make houses more affordable for owner-occupiers was raised at the Conservative party conference earlier this month with the potential for landlords to be offered capital gains tax reliefs if they sell to tenants.  We expect to see more detail in the Budget.

“This is potentially an attractive position for property investors looking to realise the value of their investment.  The Chancellor would hope that this measure might increase supply and so reduce prices; however, it is difficult to see how this will significantly ease our housing crisis.�

Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
“Agricultural Property Relief (APR) has long been rumoured for reform,� says Daniel.  “It is a valuable relief for farming families, but there is a feeling that the relief should not be used for investors owning land.  Given, however, that many landowners will be Conservative voters we would be surprised if reform were announced on 29 October.

“But we would not be surprised to see reform to Business Property Relief (BPR), with the relief removed from AIM-listed shares.�

Inheritance Tax
“Again, the reform of inheritance tax has long been promised by the Conservative party but not actioned,� says Daniel.  “It is difficult to see any meaningful change being announced this time around, but we would not be surprised if the rules surrounding gifts were eased.�

What would we like to see?
“There is one reform we and many employers would welcome,� says Laurence, “and that is the harmonisation of national insurance and income tax.  The two are increasingly blurred.  Combining the two would save employers, their advisers and the Treasury considerable time and money.

“But, just as Heathrow’s third runway and HS2 are proving challenging, we think this might be a step too far for a government consumed by Brexit.�

About Kreston Reeves:
Kreston Reeves advises dynamic organisations, private individuals and families on their business, tax and wealth needs. We help them make confident decisions about the future. We have offices in London, Kent and Sussex and employ over 550 people including more than 50 partners.

Offices in: London, Kent and Sussex

Website: www.krestonreeves.com

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – A Budget for the sunny uplands of a post-Brexit Britain? | LandlordZONE.

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Refusal to award fixed costs and contractual costs

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I have been in court again! The case was heard in Canterbury County Court yesterday, Wilson v Manser and Manser, which went in the landlord’s favour. The Judgement itself is not of particular interest, but the refusal of Deputy District Judge Eyley to award fixed costs and contractual costs is of considerable importance to the Letting Industry.

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Minor ACM Cladding = unmortgageable

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My niece has been trying to buy a flat in Hackney Wick, a relatively new development next to the Olympic Park. One flat was rejected by all lenders as it had ACM cladding in the block – not on the flat she wanted to buy but on the attached 5 storey block.

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The ups and downs of the rental property market

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The Rental Market:

The commercial landlord with investments on Britain’s high streets, retails shops and in some cases offices, have seen the threat of the relentless growth of internet shopping. But home delivery and urban living have at the same time created a boom and driven-up the demand for warehouses.

One company that’s benefited greatly from this seemingly on-going structural change is FTSE 100 quoted real estate investment trust, Segro (LSE: SGRO). Its share price has doubled over the last five years, quite a contrast when you look at the stock price performances recently of retail agents like Countrywide and Foxtons.

Segro says it has 891,000 square metres of property approved or under construction, and this year it has signed new rental contracts worth some £52 million. That’s a 48 per cent increase on its reported figure of £36.4 million for the same period in 2017.

Quite how long this boom in warehousing will last is hard to forecast, and there’s always Brexit entering into the equation. However, with land in short supply, and internet delivery forecast to continue its rapid growth, there’s no reason to suppose this story does not have longer to run.

Another property company that’s done well in the letting market is student housing specialist, Unite Group PLC (LSE:UTG). One of the biggest operators in this sector, the FTSE 250 Company has also seen its share price double over the last five years.

The latest report from the company claims that it has let out 98 per cent of its available accommodation to students in the current academic year, and it has managed to achieve a rental growth this year of around 3 to 3.5 per cent.

The group recently had a change of focus: selling off some of its units in the smaller university towns, to concentrate on what it calls the “high and mid-ranked universities�. Here it thinks demand should be the most stable for the future.

Continuing high student demand for university places obviously poses a risk for a company like Unite, as it does for ubiquitous small-scale student landlord. But Unite’s emphasis on the top level “Russell Group� schools, and that fact that something like 60 per cent of its 50,000 rooms are let on long-term agreements with the universities themselves, gives it long-term stability.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – The ups and downs of the rental property market | LandlordZONE.

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