Nev M

Oh ok, I never knew. Learn something everyday, Cheers RL

They are starting Licencing in Luton but delayed due to Covid for some reason. I think is set last i looked around £500 every 4 years and they said they use the money for staff to do spot check inspections on LL properties and no doubt will place fines for any non compliance they see or notice for improvements in set time period for minor things potentially. If the Tenant checks and reports you for not having the licence (They can check online) then there is a big fine up to a years rent proposed.

Hi RL, Sounds like a lot of hassle your having there, sorry to hear this. Ref the CGT if they pump it up to 40% i agree that will have a big impact on things. People will rethink on selling and hold onto them just keeping the rental income until they really have to sell. People will find buy to let new ventures less appealing & people Flipping properties after buying and renovating will probably drop off drastically. I think thy will probably make less money by raising this tax (Certainly in the short term).

Below from the government website is an interesting read. It seems to suggest that if you have a current Safety Certificate then this does not have to be done again until the 5 year renewal is due as long as at the time it was deemed safe but best practice is to comply to the new Regs. When the new certificate is due there is no grey area it will have to comply and work carried out to make it compliant. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities/guide-for-landlords-electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector#the-report If an inspection took place and a satisfactory report was issued before the 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations came into force, but less than 5 years ago, will a landlord always need to have the property inspected again as soon as the Electrical Safety Regulations come into force? Regulation 3 requires that landlords have the electrical installation inspected and tested at intervals of no longer than every 5 years. Electrical safety standards (the 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations) must be met throughout the period of that tenancy. The 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations came into effect in 2019, so if a landlord already has a report for a property that was carried out after this date and has complied with all the other requirements of the Regulations, they won’t have to have another inspection for 5 years, provided the report does not state that the next inspection should take place sooner. Existing installations that have been installed in accordance with earlier editions of the Wiring Regulations may not comply with the 18th edition in every respect. This does not necessarily mean that they are unsafe for continued use or require upgrading. It is good practice for landlords with existing reports to check these reports and decide whether the electrical installation complies with electrical safety standards. Landlords might also wish to contact the inspector who provided a report to ensure the installation complies with electrical safety standards. If an inspection took place and a satisfactory report was issued before the 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations came into force, but less than 5 years ago, will a landlord always need to have the property inspected again as soon as the Electrical Safety Regulations come into force? Regulation 3 requires that landlords have the electrical installation inspected and tested at intervals of no longer than every 5 years. Electrical safety standards (the 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations) must be met throughout the period of that tenancy. The 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations came into effect in 2019, so if a landlord already has a report for a property that was carried out after this date and has complied with all the other requirements of the Regulations, they won’t have to have another inspection for 5 years, provided the report does not state that the next inspection should take place sooner. Existing installations that have been installed in accordance with earlier editions of the Wiring Regulations may not comply with the 18th edition in every respect. This does not necessarily mean that they are unsafe for continued use or require upgrading. It is good practice for landlords with existing reports to check these reports and decide whether the electrical installation complies with electrical safety standards. Landlords might also wish to contact the inspector who provided a report to ensure the installation complies with electrical safety standards. Will all installations have to comply with the 18th edition, even if they were installed before this edition was in force? The Regulations state that a landlord must ensure that electrical safety standards are met, and that investigative or remedial work is carried out if the report requires this. The electrical installation should be safe for continued use. In practice, if the report does not require investigative or remedial work, the landlord will not be required to carry out any further work. Reports can also recommend improvement, in addition to requiring remedial work. If a report only recommends improvement but does not require any further investigative or remedial work to be carried out – indicated with a ‘C3’ classification code – then while it would be good practice to carry out this work, it would not be required to comply with the Regulations.

Frightening & interesting point on the interest rates and it does look like it will be hard for them to keep them down. The Government Bonds price also suggesting a interest rise. Agreed on the budget also and we will all have to sacrifice to help the country recover, i just hope its not aimed at CGT and Capital gains / more landlord expense. I am understanding on other direct & stealth taxes are needed for us to recover. They need to get the EU customs & tariff agreements sorted out post brexit amidst other issues as hurting business badly but hidden to a degree by the lockdowns and Covid.

Have a feeling i am going to have to have the Fuse board replaced also in 2 properties in Luton area and certification. Will call the agents on Monday to get this underway. Appreciate this post Melboy, we had safety checks done by electrician and PAT testing but didn't realise on this law. Went back through pics before letting latest property and magnified the Fuse box from a full from picture. That looks like a seriously old fuse box.

I believe it was a Baxi 600 series 24kw. For now they managed to get the system up and running so will not be doing it just yet. I got the quote at same time as repair as i know the system is over 10 years old. Will also have to be considered soon as the monthly Boiler insurance is now at a yearly cost that means replacing it & including a 7 year warranty and cancelling existing insurance will payback in 5 years.

for 2 Bed house had a quote of approx £2,200 including power flush

Lets see what the March 23rd brings then. Fingers crossed.

Thanks again Richlist.

Hi Richlist & Members, I am summitting this return on behalf of my wife. For next return will definitely seek help of accountant but short on time now leaving it so late. I have followed your advise Richlist and entering 2 properties as the latest one is jointly owned and mentioning Form 17 / Deed of Trust. I can find the box to enter the Finance cost for Mortgage fee and Interest and adjusted it down to 25% of the allowable expense though this only allows to entry of the at 25% figure. There is no box to place the other 75% of Mortgage interest and fees at Basic 20% expense. I will call the tax office and see if they can offer any advise. Below is what i was going to write in the "Any other information box" on the Tax Self Assessment return and where it is in red I need to speak to the Tax office i think as unsure if i should write this at all. To much rope and all that. Can you have a read through and give your thoughts on if it is to much i am telling them or not enough. Appreciate any advise or thoughts. I have friends that rent saying don't mention anything but as you suggested Richlist i want this to be all above board as possible. Thanks Nev ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : "Dear HMRC, Please note I have bought a second property in Sept 2019 jointly with my Husband and we have an agreed Form 17 Deed of Trust as myself at 99% and my Husband at 1%. The original house that I have been renting and previously & declaring is still fully 100% in my name alone. I have adjusted the Page “Expenses for other property income” in field “Allowable loan interest and other financial costs: (optional)” to reflect the expenses as 100% interest for the property solely in my name and 99% for the new jointly owned property for mortgage interest. I have also reflected the expenses in the same way through the Form. This field also includes 25% of the Mortgage Purchase/Arrangement fee (£995 /4) charged by the Mortgage provider for the new property. There is some confusion our side as to where we enter the 20% Basic tax for the other 75% of the Mortgage interest and so have entered it in the same location to show the total Expenses."

Thanks Richlist, advise appreciated & noted.

Thanks Richlist, Some good food for thought, I will try to find the calculations on their website example and review it. This is the return for my wife we are doing at the moment, seems like a pain to split 1% on the profit and expenses removed to me as in reality i am not taking any of the profits or expenses at this time all runs through wife's account and will not do so till i am older and drop from 40% tax band and then will revert the Deed of Trust to 50/50 again. But i guess the taxman as you say will want to see it this way regardless. The figures you gave above do make sense to me and are very helpful. The confusion i had there was that there is only one box to enter your Mortgage interest in “Expenses for other property income” and says you must enter it as 25% of the total interest. There is no box to enter the calculation for the 20% as per your example "£7200 x 75% = £5400 x 20% = £1080", I can only assume that they have a formula based on the 25% sum i placed working out the 20% and placing into the total owed automatically. Thanks again, i will try sums and see if they match the HRMC figure as you suggest.

adding the wording on the tax return under residential letting

Dear all, I have a couple of questions I am hoping someone can help with. My wife is a 20% tax payer and on our Residential let property she is 99% and I am 1% Ownership for tax purposes via DOT and we are filling out the online Tax Return. 1. There is a field that asks “Any income from a property let Jointly” My wife answered no here as even though technically it is jointly with me but I am only 1% and do not receive any income from it all goes to my wife. Will this get her in trouble? Should I change this too jointly? 2. This part is confusing around what to enter into the “Allowable loan interest and other financial costs” field under the page “Expenses for other property income” My understanding is that this is a sliding scale to reduce the amount of tax that can be claimed eventually to 20% and for last tax year is set at 25%. We calculated 25% of the mortgage interest figures ourselves and entered it. I am making the assumption here that I am claiming a net cost of 25% sum to be removed from consideration as Taxable. E.g. Interest at £1000 and we entered £250? Should we not be able to then claim basic rate of 20% against the remaining 75% (£750)? Ref attached chart. Think I am missing something here and apologies this was confusing to explain I hope it makes sense to someone what i am trying to say. Regards Nev

Hi Richlist, Appreciate your considered response as always, than you. When you mention the "rent guarantee insurance" by this do you mean as offered by your agent and or via insurance company the landlord pays for e.g. Direct Line? I have cover through both currently but is there an insurance also you can insist on the Tenants taking out or di you mean as above? Couldn't agree more on the right tenant, I also would wait for the right one than rush just to rent to first through the door. Not sure i have had as high at 57 not right for the property in past but does push the point home to be very carful choosing right tenant.

Hi, I think this states 2 types of Breathing Space: "Standard" where limit is 60 days and "mental health crisis" breathing space where it seemingly looks like they can stay there forever as long as they have a mental health condition recognised by the NHS. That will be a real issue if they have this for months or years rent free while the mortgage still has to be paid. Ultimately you would lose the property. Also if you was to sell it due to this issue then you have to inform the person buying it that there is a current tenant there covered under this scheme if i have read correctly. Looks wide open to being abused by scammers to me also. What's the way around this, should we be looking for guarantors on each tenancy agreement?

Hi Grampa, I think you made the right choice, where else is a good return at the moment? I was thinking of buying car parks lol. I am definitely the newbie of the forum and only have 2 properties currently (and just bought the second) and with the same sentiment of where else can i put my money that will give the best returns (Committed now for better or worse). Granted the increased Stamp Duty, loss of 10% wear and tear hurts but and opted for a BTL standard Mortgage as placed as Deed of Trust in wife's name 99/1. Same as you i placed a large deposit and so the mortgage is small and the mortgage interest relief mitigated somewhat by this. I bought more as an investment on rental return for future than I did for capital growth. I worked on assumption over a 10 to 15 year period it will see about a min 30% increase and mortgage paid in 5 years. I am not assuming any real growth and potential drop over next 2 to 5 years then hoping it will balance and rise at a moderate amount with the mortgage covered by rent. Had times and tax laws been different and I though Capital growth was a reasonable certainty then i would have gone for a few properties on low mortgages and Ltd company maybe.

Thanks Richlist, will keep this in mind and also make a note to discuss all these points with the Agent on refurb and pre-letting stage. I note you mentioned the EPC, that does stay valid for 10 years right or have to redo this on letting each time again?

Really appreciate the responses and they where all helpful to me so thank you. I was using compaingthemartket site and gave me a lot of quotes with Finsbury (Simply Business) being the lowest circa £310pa and i called them to check what "Tenant Default" means on the quote and seems it is rent protection with similar conditions you all mentioned above. I called Direct Line and they also offer the rent protection and also said they would guarantee to beat any price by 10% or a minimum of £10. It was a reputable company i was after and the rent protection rather than the lowest cost and i think that's been answered here best it can be. I will make my choice, roll the dice and take my chances on either Finsbury or Direct Line (waiting for exchange of Contracts date so not doing it right now). Thanks again Grampa, Melboy, RL.

H, Yes sorry I probably a little vague. I want in regard to Landlord insurances covering standard buildings and contents, malicious accidental damage, legal help and fees etc but especially Tenant Default and from a perspective of readiness and willingness to payout when needed and valid. For Gas, Electric, Plumbing, Drains was going to do separately with British Gas Home care product. Currently we rent through the agent to the council and the Agent is paid direct from the council and the agreement with them directly and they cover bad tenants removal and guaranteed rent (Less rent than private renting). The Agent we have now has been good but certainly had our mix of problems with vandalism, theft, breakages, turning of outside boilers in winter causing £1000+ over a period of time as it froze with one tenant. Learned and still learning some valuable expensive lessons but this agent has been pro active on the most part so far. The agent previous to this kept 4 months rent from all landlords that rented through the council and despite being told the council continued to pay them and then they declared them selves bankrupt and basically went with our money (No Council compensation). This next rental is through same agent but is a fully private and no guaranteed rent scheme . One of my key concerns it "Tenant Default" insurance as i do not have the guaranteed rent scheme (as before) and intend to take this out. I am unsure if many of the insurance companies honour this but want to protect against bad tenants that don't pay and the long process to remove them. I know i will never know till i have to make a claim for it in reality. I suppose the question is there any insurance companies that members have dealt with that they feel are more reputable in looking after there customers in an event of a claim. Not so much the cheapest. All the quotes so far are approx £300 too 400 on comparison sites. I have not applied to Direct line yet as not on the comparison sites but will do. I ask about them as they seem to be advertising heavily on there Landlords insurance and seemingly no quibble when coming to claims (Suspect advertising hype)

Hi all, Title says it all really and there my be little for people to say apart from do your research and make your choice. But a few people have suggested to me that Direct Line are one of the best and wondered if this is just good advertising, truth or myth

You list is very useful Grampa as my agent currently has being doing most of this for me. I will check on some aspects on this with the new let property for private rental (still through same agent).

Thanks a lot RL!