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2 A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P R S T U W

• I'm recieving mail for previous tenants and some of them are from debt collectors. Will this get my property black listed and cause problems for my current tenants and myself in the future?
  It's fairly common to have mail arriving for months and even years after residents have left, and often times these are debt collector's letters.You should ...
• I am about to let my house for £30,000 pa, I understand that this has to be a bare contractual tenancy. Could someone tell me in what respects this differs from a standard AST. Would it give the tenant any extra rights?
   This was the case until 1 October 2010, but since that date all residential tenancies, where the rent is below £100,000, on the day the changes came ...
• I let my property on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) for six months. It expires this month but my tenants are happy to stay. Do I need to issue them with a new contract?
  You have two options here: (1) Do nothing and the tenancy automatically becomes a Statutory Periodic Tenancy. This means a series of monthly tenancies (assuming ...
• Inventory - I understand that with the deposit schemes (DPS) an inventory is now very important. I am considering doing my own inventory but someone has told me that the inventory must be done by a professional independent inventory clerk. Is this the case?
  You are absolutely right that inventories are very important if you put your deposit into one of the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (TDS).The reason is that ...
• Is it a legal requirement to have an electrical safety certificate for renting property? If so, who is responsible for it, landlord or agent, even if agent is not managing the property?
  It is a legal requirement that an annual gas safety inspection is carried out by a CORGI registered operator, a gas safety certificate issued and ...
• I signed up a new tenant with a good professional job and excellent references. We completed all the formalities including a detailed inventory. He paid a month's rent and deposit and took over, placing belongings in the property but he has not taken up residence. After a while he telephoned to say he did not want it and had pushed the keys through the letter box. What should I do?
  He never actually took up residence, so did a legal tenancy actually exist at all? Can he be held to this tenancy? The answer is almost ...
• I am a joint tenant with my friend who is leaving at the end of our 6-month fixed-term. I would like to stay on for a few months because I have another friend coming to stay with me, but my landlord is refusing, saying I must leave at the end of the term or sign a new 6 month agreement and pay the full rent. What rights do I have?
  Your landlord is correct. When one tenant involved in a joint tenancy leaves, effectively that tenancy is at an end. In no way can it ...
• I have heard that an action against joint tenants is limited to the first four listed on the tenancy agreement. Is this correct - does not seem to square with joint and several liability?
  Section 34 of the Trustee Act 1925 says the maximum number of people who can have a legal interest in land is 4. Therefore, when ...
• Is there any limit to the number of rooms I can rent out to lodgers, and are there any planning implications ?
  There are several parts of legislation in England and Wales that affect this question. Perhaps four main ones apply: Health & Safety (HHSRS), HMO, Overcrowding ...
• Increasing the rent - how can I increase the rent for my tenant who is on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy? Can I raise the rent and if so, how often?
  Usually an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) involves a short letting so rent increases don't come into it. If you have a 6 month or 12 ...
• If landlords accept holding deposits can they still accept higher offers?
  A holding deposit (reservation deposit) is intended to reserve a letting, and the landlord/agent does this by taking the property off the market, though new enquiries should ...
• Illegal File Sharing - I have received a solicitor’s letter threatening legal action over illegal file sharing on an internet service I have been providing for my tenants. It seems this has occurred some months ago and as I have a high turnover of tenants in my multi-occupied property I would find it difficult to identify the culprit or trace them if they have left. What can I do?
  From the research I have done into this, it seems that some hundreds of UK Internet users have been forced into shelling out £500 after ...
• Insured Value – I have relied on my insurance broker to put a value on my properties for insurance purposes, but the value he has arrived at does not seem to me to reflect the real value of my property. How do I know if it’s correct?
  As a landlord you need to make sure that your investment is fully protected by a good insurance policy covering all foreseeable risks based on ...
• I understand that Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on property sales has undergone some changes since April 6, 2008. How do I calculate my CGT liability after this date?
  Calculating Capital Gains Tax – Sales after April 6, 2008To work out any capital gains due, slot your figures in to this matrixSTEP 1££Sale price:xLess:Purchase ...
• I want to gift my property to my children but I need to keep living in my home. I would also consider gifting some investment property, but would still need to receive the rental income. Is it possible to do this without a massive tax bill? Would I need to set up a trust?
  This is worth considering when your total estate exceeds the current Inheritance Tax allowances, either for you individually or the joint combined allowance with your ...
• I let my business premises on a license and I would now like to terminate. How do I do this and are there any restrictions?
  First of all are you sure this is a license and not a full tenancy? A license is purely an owner's permission to use the ...