If you plan to do your own viewings, it helps to ask the prospective tenant a few screening questions over the phone before they view. This will not only give you a better feel for the tenant, but it will also save your time and theirs: you can avoid wasted viewings by highlighting any deal breakers early on. Some good … Read More
Why new tax rules could put landlords in the red
If you are a buy-to-let owner, a dartboard sporting George Osborne’s face might be high on your Christmas wish list. And if it isn’t, you are probably one of the hundreds of thousands of small landlords still unaware of how they will be hit by a tax change introduced by the former chancellor. Vanessa Warwick, a landlord and co-founder of … Read More
The rental manifesto
The Green Party’s Sian Berry is a long-term renter who wants a union to protect tenants from bad landlords
The question on our lips is what Brexit means for affordable homes
Gavin Barwell didn’t expect to become the fifth Tory housing minister in almost as many years. When Theresa May called last Saturday afternoon, he was “halfway up a tree, sawing off a branch”, and nearly fell off, he confessed on his website. “Croydon Central came pretty close to having a by-election.” Barwell’s parliamentary profile lists his interests as “education, policing, … Read More
Annoyed homeowners are taking their Airbnb-ing neighbours to court
Here’s my bid for a new entry in the Oxford English Dictionary: “airbnbreach”. With more than 100,000 British properties now listed on holiday hosting websites such as Airbnb, HomeAway and Wimdu, annoyed homeowners are starting to take their short-letting neighbours to court. I’ve had a taste of it this month. Just after midnight, the phone woke us up — water … Read More