Rent Payment in advance – Which tax year?

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If rent is due monthly under the terms of an AST, but the tenant pays 6 months rent in advance then if the time period the advance rent covers straddles a tax year is the full rent recorded in the tax year it is actually received or is it applied pro-rata?

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Shape Shifting For Landlords In Scotland Is Becoming Increasingly Affordable

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The Scottish Association of Landlords recently reported that Kevin Stewart MSP has recently written to the chief secretary to the UK treasury to express concerns about the impact of the “section 24” tax change, which reduces landlords’ tax relief on mortgage/finance interest.

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How do you work out your deposit claim amount?

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Dilapidations:

It’s the end of a tenancy and the property has been damaged, so how do you arrive at a compensation figure that will be accepted by the tenant and deposit protection agency?

Do you know the industry formula used by letting agents & professional property managers to work out compensation?

There are influencing factors that must be taken into account when working out compensation and damages for dilapidations at the end of a tenancy. As a Landlord you can’t just charge a full replacement cost for each damaged item. This is then deemed to be “betterment” and could then cause a problem with your claim.

When working out a fair costing there are a few things that need to be considered, for example, replacement cost, original condition, original age, length of tenancy and so it goes on.

Oakley Jane inventory services has produced a dilapidation app which helps you to clearly demonstrate how you have arrived at the amounts being asked for. It does this by showing a full break-down of all the known factors.

Simple to use and quick to compile, the professional looking report can then be emailed directly to the tenant for them to read through.

There is an in-built handy dictionary with over 300 items showing life spans. A sliding bar can be adjusted to take into account varying qualities of such items, i.e. where the item was purchased, budget carpet, medium grade or high end etc.

This app is a guideline app, the figures can never be set in stone as so many different scenarios exist, but it’s better than just putting your finger in the air and guessing. It definitely gives you a flying start, a starting point for conversation with your tenants, and one that’s far more likely to be accepted when presented in a professional way!

Oakley Jane inventory services has been established for over 22 years, providing good quality professional inventories, check-ins, check-outs and property inspections.

Oakley is on the board of the AIIC, members of ARLA Propertymark & they work for the country’s leading letting agents.

Company Director, Amanda Kingham says:

“During 22 years of business operation we have come across many situations of unreasonable expectations from both tenants and landlords. We decided to take all of our industry knowledge and create this application to help explain what should be taken into consideration.

“We are passionate about our industry and believe dilapidations should not only be worked out fairly, but should also be consistent between one property manager to another, or from one Landlord to another.

“Landlords should not expect betterment, nor a tenant expecting no financial loss when damage has occurred and by using this tool, the influencing factors during a tenancy can be clearly shown.

“We have designed a ‘guideline’ app. The formulated calculations are based on replacement cost, recognised life span (there is a dictionary included with over 300 items) original age, original condition, length of tenancy, occupancy, level of damage and area of damage.”

We believe that this will help to educate Landlords, tenants and agents with some basic knowledge of how to work out fair compensation.

It should be noted that all scenarios will vary and that correct information must be inputted by the user and should be used only as a starting point.

Dilapidation App – Deposit Compensation Calculator

Dilapidation App – Calculator

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – How do you work out your deposit claim amount? | LandlordZONE.

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Lettingsupermarket.com™ Birmingham Landlord Offer

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Lettingsupermarket.com™ are proud to introduce their Birmingham lettings specialist Bradley Drew, director of their latest franchise, Lettingsupermarket.com™ Birmingham .

Bradley and his team, based in the city centre, will be providing Landlords with a personal experience and superb local knowledge to ensure that every aspect of property management is dealt with as efficiently as possible.

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New SDLT Rules Can Help Smaller Landlords

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A little know amendment to Stamp Duty Policy in the Autumn Budget 2017 could help 1,000’s of small landlords in regards to their tax planning.

The changes were billed as “Minor Amendments” and were overlooked by many landlords and their accountants who believed the changes wouldn’t affect them.

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First time having a guarantor?

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I have a prospective tenant who has put forward her mother a guarantor as she has a bad credit rating.

Her mother has an impressive profile on LinkedIn and I think she would be suitable as guarantor.

I have not had a guarantor for any of my tenants before and wondered what other members thought and their experiences were of taking one?

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Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to address North West Property Conference

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RLA Conference:

Ex Minister and now Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, is to address the Residential Landlords Association’s (RLA) “Future Renting North” conference in Manchester on the 24^th of April at the Concorde Conference Centre, The Runway Visitor Park, Sunbank Lane, Altrincham, WA15 8XQ.

Mr Burnham, who in his mayoral manifesto vowed to tackle the housing crisis in the region, has spoken of his plans to create a “Good Landlord Scheme” to ‘better regulate private rented sector landlords’.

As headline speaker at the event Mr Burnham will lead a programme featuring a range of expert speakers addressing issues pertaining to housing and renting, including the Housing and Planning Act, Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, welfare reform and landlords’ tax.

• Are you ready to operate successfully in the private rental market of the future?
• What can you, as a landlord expect to see change in the coming years?
• And how do you prepare for it?

These are some of the questions the RLA’s Future Renting North conference expects to answer during the day. Attendees will be treated to a full programme covering the latest information about the PRS, and insights from leading industry experts.

The event marks the RLA’s 20th anniversary this year, and as the RLA’s spokesperson says, looking  forward to what the next 20 years holds for our rental businesses is impossible without first looking back to learn lessons from the past.

Mark Butterworth in an article for the RLA says:

“An exercise I did 25 years ago showed that over any 15 year period residential investment beat any other form of investment.

“The tax situation was stable and standards were low – not too many white goods required, not all flats had fridges then.

“Purchase prices were low and yields were high, but so were interest rates.

“Inflation was generally much higher and a reasonable return could be had from savings – this meant that the useful gain was capital appreciation.

“This rule has generally been the norm – run the properties out of income and take the long term view for capital appreciation – it depreciates the debt and appreciates the capital value in a way no other investment is able to.

“Efficient management keeps voids and costs to a minimum, meaning some income is produced after the initial hurdle of buying the investment and getting it up to standard.

“What has radically changed is the investment climate and the tax regime.”

What this conference is designed to do is provide some answers for landlords as to how to manage their rentals in this new climate, and what comes next!

The RLA’s Future Renting North conference is a must for northern landlords looking to future-proof their investments, with information on everything from welfare reform and tax to architectural design to property tech.

The conference will be held on April 24 at the Concorde Conference Centre in Manchester, with delegates also given the opportunity to take a free tour of the iconic aircraft.

Early bird tickets are now on sale priced at £45 for members and £60 for non-members, including lunch and refreshments.

For up-to-date information and tickets visit www.rla.org.uk/conference/future-renting-north/

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to address North West Property Conference | LandlordZONE.

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Jeremy Hunt purchases BTL in name of Ltd co.

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Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, has been slammed in the papers for reportedly purchasing seven flats in Southampton in the name of a new limited company.

Karen Buck, Labour MP, told The Sun: “It’s shocking that while renters wait

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Ending tenancy agreement paperwork?

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Hi all, I have a tenant almost 4 months into his 6 month AST. He is terrible at paying rent and currently 2 months behind.

I do not with to extend his tenancy beyond the 6 months mark.

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Help! Restrictive Covenant

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The restrictive covenant found against my property:

Not to use or allow or cause the property to be used for any purpose other than that of a single private dwelling house.

I would like to know exactly what this covenant states and means in practice.

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