Q My husband and I, both in the 40% tax bracket, own our two-bedroom flat in Islington mortgage-free. For commuting reasons, we are about to let it for £1,977 a month and rent in south London for £1,700 a month. We’re confused by all the tax changes for renting. Can we deduct the £200 monthly management fee for the Islington … Read More
Q&A: What landlord insurance do I need?
Q I am about to start letting the three-bedroom house that has been my family home. What kind of insurance do I need? Steve White, Manchester A Your standard home insurance is likely to be invalid if you let your property, so check your policy. As a minimum, take out landlord buildings insurance (from about £250 a year), which covers … Read More
Why we should scrap leasehold property
Lisa and Ray Chapple, aged 34 and 35, bought their three-bedroom terrace off plan only seven years ago, but say they would now “struggle to sell”. That’s because their house in Taylor Wimpey’s Speakman Gardens scheme, in Liverpool, is leasehold with a clause stating that the ground rent of £250 a year will double every decade for 50 years — … Read More
Sunday Times coverage: How to let your spare room
Looking for tax-free rental income? Follow these rules and it’s elementary Forget Rigsby. The typical owner who lets out their spare room is no longer a miserly live-in landlord like the one from the 1970s sitcom Rising Damp — fiftysomething and long since separated, spying on his bedsit tenants. Nowadays, they’re likely to be younger and struggling to afford the … 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 Sunday Times coverage: Oops, we did it again
Martina Lees shares her top tips for Britain’s growing army of accidental landlords I blame my husband. When Daniel and I got married — intentionally — we ended up letting his bachelor pad in southwest London — accidentally. It helped us to travel the world, start a business and buy our first family home. It also made us landlords. There … Read More