Category: Advice

Landlords warned to draft up proper Tenancy Agreements

In a number of our previous news articles and blog posts we have highlighted the importance of having a properly written Tenancy Agreement for all your lettings as they could help you if there is ever a legal dispute. Furthermore, Tenancy Agreements make it clear to your tenant when they are expected to pay rent, the length of the tenancy and their responsibilities which means that your business is protected during the length of the tenancy.

Landlords warned to create contingency funds

As the property and rental markets are constantly fluctuating, landlords have been warned that they need to protect their businesses by creating contingency funds. However, it has been revealed that many landlords are failing to create these types of funds, which had led to a large number of buy-to-let properties being repossessed by banks once landlords fail to make their mortgage repayments. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, in the first three months of 2013 alone one in five houses that were […]

Buy-to-Let Landlords warned over end of Tax Year

It’s the time of year that every self-employed person dreads – the end of the financial year and the time to calculate and pay your taxes. Landlords need to be especially careful this year when it comes to paying the right amount of tax as the HMRC have said that they are planning on cracking down on all buy-to-let landlords that do not declare all the money they receive in rent payments. Therefore, the Landlord Syndicate is now offering advice to all landlords […]

Homeowners with large Grounds may have to pay more Tax

It has been reported that homeowners whose properties have over 1.23 acres of land will soon have to face paying 28 per cent levy on gains on the sale of a home. The new plans are being called a ‘garden tax’ and is threatening to upset the long-held belief by many of those living in the UK that the profit of the sales from one’s main home are exempt from tax.
This new stance by tax authorities, whom revive the enforcement of rules on the […]

Landlords will come under increasing scrutiny

A report by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Office (HMRC) suggests that property investors who typically cover their properties with landlord insurance are responsible for evading taxes on a massive scale.
Earlier this year HMRC set up a task force to investigate the financial affairs of landlords in Leeds, York, London and East Anglia and if the investigative website Exaro’s information is correct then there is little wonder why. According to Exaro a report by HMRC estimates that landlords evaded paying over half a billion pounds […]

Private landlords need to be thorough with their checks

Research released has shown that basic checks are not giving private landlords enough background information on the tenant to protect them from rent arrears, tenancy issues and possible claims on their landlord insurance policy.
Landlords purchasing a basic tenant check often only receive information that will just verify that the tenant is who they say they are as well as highlighting any previous problems on the tenant’s history. However, research shows this is not always enough and rogue tenants find slipping the net quite easy. For […]

ARLA issues fresh warning on rogue letting agents

The Association of Residential Letting Agents is again issuing warnings to people looking to rent for the first time. They are urging them to be on the alert for rogue letting agents as well as logos which could be either fake or mean very little as to the credentials of the agent.
ARLA feel that the internet and especially online forums can be a hotspot for unscrupulous agents because there is hardly any regulation about who can post an advert online. It is also relatively cheap […]

Landlords are again being urged not to forget about tenants on benefits

The owner of a lettings company that specialises in finding tenancies for pensioners has pleaded with private landlords not to turn their backs on tenants who are on benefit. Peter Girling feels it is wrong to stigmatise those who are on benefits for various reasons.
The latest research from the NHF (National Housing Federation) shows there has been a massive 484,000 rise in the number of social housing tenants during the past three years. This huge increase has coincided with the number of private landlords with […]

Landlords Urged to Buy Correct Level of Insurance Cover

Accidental landlords and first time entrants into the property rental market are being warned about the dangers of not having the correct type of landlord insurance.
The warning comes after the continued financial downturn sees many people reluctantly become landlords when they can no longer afford to live in their own home and can’t manage to sell it. David Lawrenson works for a leading online letting agent and says many people coming into the rental sector look to keep their overheads to a minimum and don’t […]

Property Investors Advised Not to Take Solar Panel Installation Lightly

Landlords looking to benefit from the installation of solar panels on their properties are being advised to ensure they get approval from their mortgage providers and property insurance providers before they go ahead.
Even though the feed-in-tariff for renewable energy has been halved by the Government in the last few months, many landlords still see the leasing out of their roof spaces to companies generating power from photovoltaic panels as a profitable sideline. However, The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) which represents many buy-to-let mortgage providers […]