Tax Changes to Affect Landlords in 2016.

Following last year’s Budget announced by George Osbourne, we have had to come to terms with the fact that Mortgage Interest Relief for residential landlords will be restricted to the basic income tax of 20%. In addition, landlords will no longer be entitled to a wear and tear allowance for furnished properties. Under the current…

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Visit properties regularly to stamp out multiple sub-tenants.

Recent news released from the NLA (National Landlords Association) reported that almost half of the tenants occupying rental property also partake in subletting that is not known by their landlords. This illegal practice is a growing trend, especially as immigration in to the UK continues to rise and costs landlords £1,000’s in costs for repairs…

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Our tips for landlords: Make your rental property stand out.

As mortgages are becoming harder to obtain; this especially applies to first time buyers. It is not surprising that people are deciding to rent instead of buying a home. This might seem like an ideal situation for landlords but in fact it starts a fierce competition between landlords and rental prices. So if you are…

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Government “declares war” on Landlords

In his New Year Message David Smith the Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association speaks  about the attack on Landlords by the Government during 2015, he says that it is no exaggeration to say last year turned into an annus horribilis for the residential landlord. He pointed out that The Residential Landlords Association’s job…

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A quick look back over 2015

As 2015 comes to an end I thought it might be interesting to just look back at some  items of news  that stood out during the  year for those of us involved in the Property Industry, if anyone has anymore to add please do so in the reply section. Month by month 2015 January.  Analysts…

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Opposition to tax relief changes for landlords.

It was announced this year by George Osborne that from 2017 the tax relief at 40% or 45%  presently enjoyed by landlords on their mortgages on buy-to-let property will be cut to a flat rate of 20%. This has been seen as unfair by some in the industry, a recent report in The Guardian reports…

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Landlord licensing scheme rejected for Redbridge.

In June this year Redbridge Council approved borough-wide landlord licensing, approval to implement this scheme was then requested from the Department for Communities and Local Government. Following widespread opposition from landlords, Redbridge Renters  started its own campaign urging tenants to share their experiences to bolster its support for licensing, at that time the group highlighted…

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Crackdown on “Rogue” Landlords and Agents

Enough is Enough, Landlords and Agents  who let out filthy and unsafe homes are about to get a shock, Housing Minister Brandon Lewis will be announcing the biggest package of measures to drive out these  “Rogue Landlords” and Agents. Those that let out unfit properties will face fines of up to £30,000 under new laws…

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Britain’s best known landlords sell up.

Fergus and Judith Wilson probably Britain’s best known buy-to-let landlords have sold their entire portfolio of homes to a consortium of foreign investors for more than  £250m, according to the Guardian. In a statement to the Guardian, Fergus said: “We reached an agreement today with a consortium of buyers to sell our entire portfolio for…

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Tax fraud by greedy landlords

While I was checking through the weekend news I was drawn to an article in the EveningStandard online, it was one of those reoccurring tax fraud cases involving greedy people who choose to defraud the system to finance their wealthy lifestyle at the expense of the majority who are in the main contributors to our…

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Rent Smart Wales now launched

With around one in seven homes in Wales now privately rented, the Welsh Government housing minister Lesley Griffiths today launches the “Rent Smart Wales Scheme”, this scheme is meant to uphold standards in the private rented sector. The aim of the licensing scheme is to improve the image of the private rented sector, all private…

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Tax relief cut is bad news for BTL

According to a new survey by Your Move and Reeds Rains, the reduction in tax relief is the reason that 50% of all landlords are currently looking to sell their buy-to-let (BTL) properties, the announced cut in tax relief for landlords to the 20 per cent basic rate has become a major factor for landlords…

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Purplebricks.com to float on stockmarket.

In a news item late yesterday Sky News announced that it has learnt that Purplebricks, the online estate agent   has informed shareholders in recent days that it wants to float on the stock market as soon as the first week of December. Backed by the City’s leading fund manager Neil Woodford,  this would give the…

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Tenants renting their homes for long term.

The latest findings from the HomeLet Rental Index reveal that over the three months to October the cost of a tenancy outside of London rose by 3.5 per cent when compared to last year. Whilst this level of growth for new tenancies continues to outstrip the rate of inflation, this is much lower than the…

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George Osborne – The Teddington Landlord’s friend or enemy?

Well the last couple of months has been rather hectic as Teddington landlords, some who use us to manage their properties and other landlords who just read my Teddington Property Blog, have been sending me emails or picking the phone up to me about the new rules on buy to let taxation announced in the…

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