Buildings Insurance Goes Through the Roof With Some Insurers
Buildings insurance is going through the roof for some landlords as insurers take up new technology for shaping their quotes. Many properties are likely to see a massive hike in premiums as a new tool called geospatial analysis is included to assess the risk of...
Right To Rent Becomes A Criminal Offence
From 1 December 2016 certain parts of the Immigration Act 2016 which affect landlords are to commence. Primarily, the Immigration Act 2016 amends the Immigration Act 2014 which is already in force in England. The below information currently only applies to England but...
Councils Step Up Campaigns Against Rogue Landlords
Councils are stepping up campaigns to root out rogue landlords by putting more cases before the courts. In Brighton, housing officers are investigating 109 cases of unlicensed shared houses (HMOs) where tenants are living in substandard and unsafe conditions in many...
HMRC Loses CGT Tax Relief on Home Sale Case
The constant battle between property owners and HMRC over how long someone must live in a home to benefit from principal residence relief has been argued in front of a judge again. The tussle between property people and HMRC is based on main residence tax relief....
Stricter Buy to Let Borrowing Rules for Portfolio Landlords
Tougher buy to let borrowing rules come in for buy to let portfolio landlords from the end of September 2017. The measure impacts borrowers with three or more mortgaged buy to let properties who want to take out new loans. Under the new rules, individual and corporate...
Landlords Need to Treat Buy to Let as a Business
Buy to let landlords need to take a more professional approach to running their property as many are unaware of scathing new tax changes impacting their businesses. A new study reveals that many of Britain's estimated 2 million landlords have no plans to make changes...
Red-Tape Tangle That Ties Buy to Let Landlords in Knots
Landlords and letting agents are often accused of working in an unregulated market – but their critics fail to realise more than 145 property laws tie their businesses in red tape. Add to this special rules for taxing property rental profits and specific industry...
Property Wealth Puts Landlords Among Britain’s Richest
Property investors are among the country's wealthiest individuals – and those born before 1966 are the best off of them all, according to a new report. Although only one in 10 of the population are multiple home owners, 52% are aged 50 or over. And the number of...
Letting Agent Pays £20,000 Over Shared House Licence Sham
A letting agent has to pay £20,000 for handing shared house tenants licences instead of tenancy agreements in what is thought to be the first prosecution testing the issue ever. Islington Council, London, took the case to court to test the theory that tenants in...
Britain’s Property Wealth Tops £10 Trillion
A rise in house prices of 4.9% in the past 12 months has helped push Britain's household wealth to more than £10 trillion. Research shows that wealth has risen an average £143,059 for every household since 2006 and at a faster rate than the retail price index (RPI)....
Thousands of Landlord Tax Cheats Caught in Licensing Scheme
Thousands of landlords who have failed to pay tax on their rental problems face having their names passed to HM revenue & Customs by councils running licensing schemes. The move was revealed by East London's Newham Council, which has shared the registration...
How Do Your Buy to Let Running Costs Compare?
Repairs and maintenance are the biggest expenses for landlords, according to a new interactive buy to let business tool. The average cost of running a buy to let adds up to £3,632 a year before tax – a third of the rent collected from tenants. Just over £1,000 is...
Overview of The Money Laundering Regulations 2017
The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 commenced on 26 June 2017 and replace the Money Laundering Regulations 2007. The regulations apply to: credit institutions; financial institutions; auditors,...
Running Holiday Lets Is Not a Business, Rules Tribunal
The tax man has fiercely contested claims from the estate of a holiday lettings partnership that the venture was a business. The executors of Marjorie Ross challenged a ruling by HM Revenue & Customs that her two-thirds share in a partnership that rented out eight...
Who’s Right About Buy to Let Repair Gripes?
Official private home rental data from the government seems to paint a different picture of the market from a report released by consumer charity Citizens Advice. Citizens Advice claims 41% of tenants have waited longer than expected for landlords to carry out repairs...
Landlord Fined for Rent Smart Wales Offences
A Cardiff landlord who ignored Rent Smart Wales licensing in Wales faces a bill of more than £3,500 for not complying. Landlord Shelley Bailey of Eastwood Park, Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire was prosecuted under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 for breaking the law...
Home Office Issues Tower Block Fire Stats
The terrible Grenfell Tower disaster has triggered the government to rush out statistics about fires in high-rise blocks of flats amongst other types of properties including houses and bungalows. The data was due for release later in the summer, but the blaze prompted...
Penal Property Taxes Predicted to Backfire on Tenants
Property taxes aimed at taking the heat out of the buy to let market by punishing landlords financially will only hurt tenants in their pockets, argues a former Bank of England policymaker. David Miles says politicians want to look like they side with first time...
Property Pensions Likely to Generate Most Money for Retirement
Investors expect a property pension to make them the most money for retirement - but do not expect their investment to provide and income when they stop working. Not only is property considered the second safest way to save for retirement, but more than twice as many...
Landlords Stand on Richer Side of Wealth Gap
Private landlords holding large property portfolios are standing on the richest side of the wealth gap. A new report suggests the value of property is making the rich even richer as the number of homes in private ownership recedes and buy to let prospers. The latest...