OxDoc

Ah, there's a few I hadn't thought of. Utility costs and travel are ones to bear in mind. I can't see myself actually incurring any office costs from letting the flat, so I don't see myself claiming those - I also don't imagine it would be that great a payment compared to the work of keeping records of it all!

Yes, myself. I am letting out just one flat, so thought it shouldn't be too complicated to work out the tax! I'm not sure how I'd tell if I were not aware of all the other claimable expenses... I was planning to put down basically letting agents fees, maintenance costs, insurance and safety check costs, as well as the service charge and ground rent. If I'm missing anything major, it would be good to know.

Thanks. OK, yes I meant "supposed to" more as in understanding what's the limit of what a landlord can claim.

Hello, I recently started letting out a flat that I had previously been living in. I paid the service charge and ground rent before the property was let out. Am I supposed to claim these as tax-deductible expenses for the period the flat has been let out on a pro rata basis (e.g. 50% if the flat was let for half of the tax year), or is it payments that were made during the letting term that are claimed? I can't find this confirmed anywhere.

OK thanks, it's useful to know what others think is reasonable even if it's hard to be precise. I don't feel a need to take it further if there's nothing wrong.

Thanks for your reply. Do you have a feeling for at what point the fund value would start to seem unreasonable?

Hello, I'm a leaseholder in a block of 15 flats. The service charges we've been paying have been exceeding the freeholder's expenses by around £4,000/yr and this has been put into a major repairs fund, which is now worth around £30,000. Whilst I favour having a moderate reserve fund to ensure that urgent repairs can be carried out, I'm wondering why it needs to keep growing at this point, tying up leaseholders' funds. I've asked the freeholder several times if he has a plan for how large the reserve fund will be allowed to grow before the service charge is reduced or whether he foresees particular large repairs in future, and he just gives vague responses about there being a possibility of an expensive repair one day and doesn't seem to want to consider reducing the charge. So I was wondering what are your opinions about how large a major repairs reserve could reasonably be for a block of this size? How much would the largest repair job that is needed one day be likely to cost (e.g. a roof replacement)? For some context, the block is only 17 years old I think, 3 stories high and the roof area covers about 5 flats (which I thought might be relevant since replacing the roof one day will be a major expense). Actual maintenance costs have been ~£3-4,000/yr. The lease doesn't seem to say anything about paying into a repairs/reserve/sinking fund, so I think I may be able to legally challenge the charge if it came to it, but would want to feel sure that the freeholder is actually being unreasonable.

Grampa - basically, price. My flat is in a fairly high-rent area, and agents want 11% of the rent plus VAT, which comes to ~£160/month. Online agents seem to want far less than that (I've seen one for £35/month and one for £79/month). I worked out an approximate hourly rate for property managers' based on the high street agents' charges and the number of properties they manage and it's well into the three figures, so it seems that much better value should be obtainable. Of course I will negotiate with them a bit more to try to come to a reasonable price, but it's good to know if I should actually consider the online agents. Richlist - I agree, hence why I'm asking about people's experiences. Of course it will probably vary by location, but getting a gist is a good start I think.

Hello, I was wondering has anyone here used online letting agents for finding tenants and/or managing their rental property, and if so who did you use and what was your experience like? I'm going to rent out my flat for the first time, and want somebody competent to manage it as I will not be in the city, so I'm wondering can they give a service that is good enough compared to using a regular letting agent?