Landlords Urged To Weed Out Cannabis Farms
Landlords and letting agents are in the front line of weeding out cannabis farms as criminal gangs increasingly turn rented homes and commercial properties into drug factories. Police are increasingly calling on landlords to regularly inspect their rental properties...
Quarterly Tax Returns On The Way For Landlords
Landlords earning more than £10,000 a year are likely to have to make quarterly tax returns under Chancellor George Osborne’s new digital future for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The proposal is landlord will have to report their income and expenses every three...
Landlords Warned To Pay Taxes Or Face Jail
The tax man has signalled a new tougher regime for landlords who fail to declare their rental income. One of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) chief fraud investigators has warned any landlord evading tax will face prosecution. Tax investigations are also likely to...
Landlords Bamboozled By Business Expenses
How to deal with business expenses is one of the biggest financial headaches for landlords, says a report. Landlords just do not know the difference between a legitimate business expense and one that is not, claim 53% of accountants polled by online software firm...
Landlords Urged To File Tax Returns By HMRC
As the landlord tax season counts down to the January 31, 2016 filing date, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has published a guide to self-assessment for property investors. HMRC wants to remind landlords that tax is due on any profits made from letting property. The...
Gifted Deposits Trigger CGT Problems For Landlords
Working out the capital gains tax value of a buy to let home with a gifted deposit is fraught with problems for property investors. Some buy to let lenders encouraged developers to offer gifted deposit and were happy that the measure lifted the loan-to-value. But...
Accidental Landlords Will Face Tougher Buy To Let Rules
Buy to let landlords may find raising a mortgage harder as lenders prepare to enforce tough new borrowing rules. The countdown to the start of the European Mortgage Credit Directive has begun as some banks and building societies plan to impose the measure early – even...
New Housing And Planning Bill Proposes Abandonment Shake Up
The proposed Housing and Planning Bill got its first reading earlier this month. The parts summarised below only apply to England. Banning Order The Bill proposes that the First Tier Tribunal would be able to make a “banning order” if a landlord or letting agent was...
Judge Clarifies How To Claim CGT Property Tax Reliefs
Property investors often ask how long they have to live in a home for capital gains tax reliefs to apply – and now the answer has been signalled by tax judges. The question arises because property investors can reduce their capital gains tax bills by applying private...
The New Dividend Allowance And Landlords
Landlords could be forgiven for thinking Chancellor George Osborne is cracking down on the amount of tax they pay. In the furore over mortgage interest relief and the new wear and tear allowance, landlords with companies may have overlooked the new dividend allowance...
Buy To Let Gripped By Uncertainty, Say Lenders
The future of buy to let is uncertain for property investors due to concerns about tighter borrowing controls and changes to landlord taxes, according to lender trade body The Council of Mortgage lenders. Publishing a new study releasing a stack of new data about buy...
Buy To Let Is Far From Booming, Argue Lenders
Buy to let lenders have kicked off a campaign with new statistics that reveal the private rental sector may not be enjoying a boom time but may face an uncertain future due to new borrowing restrictions and taxes. Trade body The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML)...
Does A Deposit Cheque Have to Be Presented to Be Returned?
Where a tenancy deposit has been paid in connection with an assured...
How To Test A Carbon Monoxide Detector
From 1 October 2015, the new Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 will require landlords to install smoke and CO alarms in England Not only must landlords ensure that both smoke and CO alarms are installed but they must be checked and ‘in proper...
How To Comply With The Smoke And CO Regulations
How To Comply With The Smoke And CO Regulations We have previously reported about the smoke and CO regulations which were initially thrown out by the House of Lords but now it seems they have been finally approved. The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England)...
Benchmarking Buy To Let And HMO Rents For Landlords
Working out the price point for letting out a property is often a problem for landlords – but official data reveals the open market rents charged across many towns and cities. The Valuation Office Agency – a government body charged with valuing business rates, rents...
Prosecutions And Fines For HMO Landlords
A round up of recent HMO prosecutions and fines. Father and son landlords Sabbir and Asif Veshima were fined £750 for failing to licence an overcrowded house in multiple occupation (HMO) where 11 people were living. Magistrates at Stroud, Gloucestershire, heard that...
Tenants Misled About Planning Row Over Their Homes
A landlord who failed to tell his tenants that their flats had no planning permission has lost what is believed to be the first consumer protection test case for unfair trading. Majid Sanlinejad had converted a flat into two smaller homes with breached London’s...
Seven Landlords Fined For Flouting Right To Rent Rules
Right to Rent is a flop – according to official data collected from a pilot scheme in the West Midlands by the government. The figures suggest few landlords have broken the rules but are avoiding Right to Rent by turning away renters who are not British. Under the...
Britain’s Worst Landlords Named And Shamed
The latest so-called rogue landlord prosecution figures released by the Ministry of Justice expose how bad some landlords really are at first sight. The data reveals that between January2006 and December 2014, councils prosecuted 2,006 landlords and property...
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