In need of a lift

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We purchased a flat just over a year ago, we did so as the flat was in a nice area, near to our family and importantly due to our advancing years and my wife’s disability, she is in need of a hip replacement.

View Full Article: In need of a lift

DIY conveyancing for transferring own house to ltd company

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Hi, I finally decided to transfer my personally owned & lived in property to a ltd company for renting out.

I have always lived in this property and will be moving out soon.

I understand that transferring to ltd company and rent later will save me from CGT for past dates.

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Fire break wall- Capital Expenditure or Revenue Expenditure?

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Hi all.

Hopefully, somebody on this superb property resource can help me with a tax query.

At the request of my landlord buildings insurance, I have recently had a fire break wall installed in the loft space

View Full Article: Fire break wall- Capital Expenditure or Revenue Expenditure?

EXCLUSIVE: Big landlord to sell ‘low-yield’ properties as interest rates rise

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Higher interest rates have forced one of the UK’s leading guaranteed property cash buying firms to rethink its investment strategy.

The Open Property Group plans to start offloading properties, says MD Jason Harris Cohen (main pic). He tells LandlordZONE: “We aim for a 7% yield but with borrowing costs of 6%, the only way to make it viable is to look for high yield properties.

“We’ll be selling off some of our lower-yield properties when they become vacant, especially those that wouldn’t meet the proposed EPC targets, but when there are opportunities to buy from landlords, we are still actively investing – albeit cautiously.”

Harris Cohen says rising inflation is pushing up the cost of contractors, building materials and sending round a plumber – all of which the landlord has to absorb – potentially making the HMO with all-inclusive bills model unviable, particularly due to higher energy costs.

Rent increases?

Landlords are also having to then weigh up whether to increase the rent or keep good tenants. With a void period, they might have four weeks without rent which is the equivalent of any rent increase, says Harris Cohen.

“It makes sense to keep the existing tenant in place, so we’re having to negotiate rents but at the same time making tenants aware of the support available.”

The company has just sent out a cost-of-living letter to all its tenants as it expects to see an increase in rent arrears this winter, possibly even worse than that experienced during the height of the pandemic when there was more government support.

“We appreciate that some of our tenants – the majority of whom are on housing benefit – will have to choose between heating, eating and paying rent,” he adds.

“We’ve reminded them how important it is to pay rent and explained the support available and that we will help them where we can. However, we have our own financial liabilities with 150 properties.”

Visit the Open Property Group.

View Full Article: EXCLUSIVE: Big landlord to sell ‘low-yield’ properties as interest rates rise

Issues with landlord-section 13

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My partner and I have been having issues lately with our landlord.

The Property was not in good shape and the landlord was not aware of the state of the property when she tried to let it.

The owner (her mum) lives on the ground floor

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Landlords with agents face due diligence checks

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Propertymark is urging agents to familiarise themselves with updated guidance, so they don’t fall foul of anti-money laundering rules.

The move will see agents carrying out customer due diligence on their landlord clients – and tenants.

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Scratched hob – should the tenant pay?

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Hi, I installed a brand new ceramic hob before my tenant moved in, even provided liquid hob cleaner, along with a note asking them to use flat pans only along with user manuals.

The tenant has just moved out and the hob is scratched

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Government portal will give details on criminal landlords

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The government has revealed that its property portal will be publicly available for everyone to help drive criminal landlords and agents from the private rental sector.

The response is part of the consultation to reforming its rogue landlord database with news that the recently announced property portal will ensure that local councils

View Full Article: Government portal will give details on criminal landlords

Leading Labour MP savages landlords over short-term lets ‘explosion’

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York’s MP has accused private landlords of turning the city into a short-let hotspot, draining it of people and revenue.

Rachael Maskell says that its 2,132 known short-term holiday lets are having a catastrophic effect on both the residential and student community.

“The average rental price is £945 a month in York, but landlords can make £700 for a weekend in an unregulated market where they are seeing the opportunity to make more money,” she told a Generation Rent podcast.

“We’ve seen a plethora of Section 21 notices issued, people being evicted and fewer rental properties available where we don’t have enough in the first place,” adds Maskell, who says as tenants are evicted, they are leaving the city, taking skills with them.

Luxury

Maskell has previously told the Commons that developers are building luxury accommodation in York, prompting the government to say it has achieved its housing target – but then these properties are simply switched over to Airbnbs.

The MP believes the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill, along with suggestions in the government consultation into the sector – looking at tougher checks and a self-certification scheme for hosts – don’t go far enough.

She says her Short-term and Holiday-let Accommodation (Licensing) Private Members’ Bill – which gets its second reading on 9^th December – is needed as it makes a case for a widespread licensing regime.

This would give councils the power to require licensing for converting properties into short-term lets, issue fines and vary rates of local taxes.

“Local authorities need the right to say no to a licence,” she asserts.

View Full Article: Leading Labour MP savages landlords over short-term lets ‘explosion’

‘Rent-to-Rent’ agency goes quiet leaving tenant without hot water or power

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The staff of a rent-to-rent operator in Birmingham appear to have gone to ground, leaving one tenant forced to wash with a bucket in his garden after his power was cut off in an energy bills dispute.

Nick, 36, tells StokeonTrentLive that he’s living off cold and pre-prepared food and has no access to hot water. He has been paying agent Virtual Rooms £500-a-month rent – including bills – for a room in the shared house, but now can’t contact the company, which is not answering the phone or emails.

Letting agency Virtual Rooms’ website has no properties for rent and seems to be completely non-compliant, without details of fees or membership of any redress, CMP or deposit protection organisation. Neighbouring companies who shared the city-centre address had never heard of the firm.

The case is unlikely to be the last of its kind this winter – many marginal rent-to-rent operators who offer tenants ‘all inclusive’ deals will now be struggling to make any profit as energy prices soar.

Showering

In this case, the unfortunate tenant is showering in the late afternoon once a bucket of water has been warmed by the sun, and is relying on an extension lead running from a neighbour’s home to keep his fridge and fish tank filter running.

He tells the website: “It started when the energy company knocked on the door one day to check the meter. Then all of a sudden the power got switched off and we had a letter saying £12,000 was owed on the gas and more than £5,000 on the electric. We’ve had no gas or electric since. We can’t live like this anymore.”

Councillor Marcus Bernasconi (pictured) labels it the latest in a long line of examples of absentee landlords causing misery for private renters in north Edgbaston, although the doesn’t make the important distinction between the landlord and the rent-to-rent operator involved.

He adds: “Virtual Rooms has questions to answer about how it has allowed this to happen. We need to clean this sector up for good. I’d urge those appalled by this story to submit to Birmingham City Council’s consultation on additional licensing for shared housing.”

View Full Article: ‘Rent-to-Rent’ agency goes quiet leaving tenant without hot water or power