bil8999

10 hours ago, Richlist said:

For those of you like me who pay/ have paid enormous amounts of Council Tax and even larger amounts of CGT, the police investigation into the tax affairs (& other matters) of the shadow deputy prime minister, should, I hope, have got your attention. I hate to see people getting away with paying less than they should. She is, of course, innocent until proven guilty but, I'm not holding out much confidence in her ability to keep her job beyond the end of the month.

Agree, I have always thought that we as tax payers should be able to choose which services we would like our tax to be spent on, nhs yes, pot holes yes, support for elderly yes, funding the arts no, these are but a few, if you choose to pay tax to fund the arts then i don't have a problem with that. 

Looks like Rayner made a choice not to pay

1 hour ago, Richlist said:

1 in 5 working age adults are economically inactive ie. not working.....that's 9 million  people + another 1 million are unemployed. We have 900,000 job vacancies in the UK......what's going on !

Where the hell are they all living ?

How do they pay their rent ?

They don't, we pay it

Yes, i can remember years ago, swapped a gas boiler for a tenant, took them a couple of electric heater to keep warm, they then shortly afterwards presented me with the electric bill for the additional electric used, crazy.

Add additional concrete plinths to prevent kicking damage, smaller fence panel or cut existing above with internal side fixings

On 11/23/2023 at 7:40 PM, Richlist said:

It's not possible to pay both........😁😁

 

Don't really want to pay either

Keep inheritance tax scrap CGT, sorted

2 hours ago, Melboy said:

I do know that the electrical bonding requirement for all gas pipes has been upgraded and if it is this case that your gas engineer has probably recommended this work to be completed. It may help you if you can get a second opinion or at least determine whether this additional earth bonding is a mandatory requirement or a just a post build requirement.

6 hours ago, Petra said:

This is for a 1995  purpose built flat.   Following a recent gas service and inspection to obtain the Gas Safety Certificate the engineer made a suggestion regarding the electrical bonding of the meter.  The meter is outside at ground floor level and supplies a first floor flat via an external copper pipe. The earth bonding is all completed  where the copper pipe enters the building. The gas meter itself is made of plastic and is non bondable.. The engineer's suggestion was to run a separate earth wire from close to the meter up the wall and into the building to connect up to the rest of the bonding. Our long standing gas engineer has retired and this has not been suggested before. Is this a futile exercise given that the copper pipe is a suitable conductor.?  I would appreciate your  views/comments. Thank you

I tend to go along with the engineer that I am paying to complete the cert, otherwise he may refuse to sign it off

I feel that the days of the small landlord are numbered.

11 hours ago, Melboy said:

Going back to the point that "if the property becomes empty I would consider selling" by bil8999 I am of the same opinion but in my case it is very unlikely my rentals will become empty so that choice is not really an option for me. My tenants are all long term and well looked after and paying below local rental prices for similar properties.

   Speaking to an LA / EA this week regarding the local scene I am informed that demand is high and few rental properties coming to market now. They do have 3 properties on their books from established landlords selling up.

Yes , I am the same, long term tenants, but when you have some properties that are now in the 300k bracket rented out at a yield of 3.5%, then it makes you think sell.

If local councils are so short of housing, then they can buy all mine  that come empty at a discount, as long as HMRC don't charge me CGT

Never thought id say this but, if any of the houses come empty, think I will sell, pay the CGT move on.

Personally I think tenants that have always paid there rent should be given at least 6 months notice.

1 hour ago, Richlist said:

If you want to keep it entirely business like (as opposed to mates rates because she is family) then she should get the same as a private company / Agent would doing the same. I'm not aware of Agents who guarantee rent payments. Presumably we would be looking at the percentage split AFTER TAX......and she would be doing virtually everything so probably full time. It would be quite difficult to make the switched as some of the property would be work in progress etc. You know what your annual net profit is likely to be and if it were me I think I'd rather pay her a set salary for running the business, at least for a full year until she is familiar with things.

I was thinking more on the lines of me leasing her the properties for a fixed amount, any void periods, repairs, insurance etc has to come from her %

1 hour ago, Carryon Regardless said:

About 8% of revenue,

so all the profit.

What about repairs, or, is that included in the 8%

We have 41 lets, thinking of my daughter taking over all responsibility for maintenance, rents etc.

Pretty much the same as renting a chair in a hairdressers, i still get my rent even if you don't have a customer.

I still work on the tools 6 days a week building etc, 70 in January, got enough work for next 5 years on new builds etc. Then that's me finished.

The question is, what percentage of the rental income should she receive for taking over?  

4 hours ago, kesm said:

Hi all,

I have a bit of a dirty and messy family living in my rental house. I have 3 issues

1- The kitchen was new when they moved in 7 years ago. Now it looks like this and also they are saying that the hinges are lose etc. Basically they are pushing for a new kitchen. Is this normal wear and tear ?

2- They have said that they had mice and I stressed how they should keep everything clean. They do not. When I went to visit there were crumbs and general dirt on the floor, in between appliances, in front of the skirting boards etc. How can I fix this ? I put mice traps, closed any gaps (could not really seal all the tiny holes in the skirting boards), but they are saying I should be closing gaps that are usual house gaps. i.e. they want me to close the gap between the oven and the cupboards or the washing machine and the fridge. What am I supposed to do?

3- They are saying that the oven gets hot and the cupboards near it get warm. Again the oven is dirty inside and I wonder if that causes the surrounding cupboards to get warm as they say. They also said that they cannot see the temperature in the oven because the “sticker” that shows the temperature has rubbed off. Should they not have told me about this when they first saw this happening?

 

Thanks all

Could have fitted heat deflector above the oven, only a thought

14 hours ago, Melboy said:

All i seem to hear is that young people will never get on the housing ladder, and that the government need to do something about it.

Are young people wanting to buy beyond there means.

How, when doctors, nurses, teachers, public sector workers, railway staff etc, are on strike for higher pay, can we get cheaper housing, builder to work for less.

Worked for a teacher the other week, to match her earnings, pension, holiday pay and sick pay, i would need to charge £350 per day for my labour, she would have said get my tools together and do one. So much for cheap affordable housing. 

 

 

14 hours ago, Melboy said:

 

 

Keep hearing about the government need to build more houses to bring the cost down, cheap affordable housing, how when nurses, doctors, teachers, public sector workers all want wage rises can we build cheap affordable housing, do they all expect building workers to work for less, we already do, don't say migrant workers please.

Any thoughts

12 hours ago, Richlist said:

Let's put things in perspective.

I had a mortgage on my own home between 1973 - 2016.......43 years. During some of that time mortgage rates were 8%-11%. I had a wife & 3 children and one income. For a large part of that period we had no spare money for holidys or any luxuries. Apart from child benefit we had no Government help. So I kind of feel that I've done my bit, I've gone without, I've worked hard & come out the other side in a very comfortable position.

Often what I see now are people who don't want to put themselves out. Id like to know of those people pleading poverty just what their lifestyle consists of. Foreign holidays, smart phones, subscription TV service, couple of dogs, regular hairdresser & nail bar vists, latest fashions etc etc ?

There are going to be genuine hardship cases but I don't think the charities (of which my wife works for one) do enough checks before providing assistance. 

Buying a house has always been difficult.....it was back in 1973. But all my kids have managed it, all my cousins, neices, aunts uncles & friends. One or two of them have rented or moved in with family in order to save a deposit but they have all managed to buy. In fact I can't think of a single family member or friend who is currently renting. 

Renting is a lifestyle choice. The Tories sold off the Council housing stock so I guess they are to blame for the shortage. It ain't my problem.

If mortgage rates to up we pay more. So, why shouldn't tenant pay more ? What makes them feel they are immune to cost of living increases ? It's difficult to have sympathy. On the radio this week was a woman with 4 rental properties. Her mortgage rates have increased and she said she now has to do 3 jobs to bring in enough money to pay the loans because she doesn't want to increase her rents.  Good luck with that......why can't the tenants take on 3 jobs ?

Lots of landlords are selling up & leaving the rentals market because they have had enough. Can t blame them really.

Yes, the example you have given is of many people of our generation, we need to encourage people to be less reliant on the system, we need to help the hard working people to achieve there goal of owning there own property, and inactive people back into the workplace for there own well being.

This will be beneficial to both renters and landlords.

There appears to be increasing number of of elderly people with interest only mortgages, selling at a profit , stashing the proceeds away, moving into rented, claiming credits and making up the rent  difference from the stash.

Also the number of people living in assisted living accommodation, its as if there is a growing number of people that want looking after while the rest of us pay for it.

I really feel for someone that is homeless due to no fault of there own.

Its not possible to give everyone a home, we need to help in other ways.

Only my opinion for what its worth.

Interested on views regarding tenant/ landlord rights, ie no fault eviction etc.

Been reading about tenants in Cornwall being asked to leave because landlord wanting to sell property, either because they want to move into property, children want to move in or mortgage has increased so need to sell.

Tenants say landlords have to much power over tenants!.

Local council asking people with spare room to prevent homelessness .

Any thoughts as to how this can be addressed?

43 minutes ago, Melboy said:

Probably not, but my circumstances are probably different to most landlords. Landlords who are working on tight budgets and are really affected by the increased mortgage rate, bad tenants, repairs and overheads etc. are most likely to be the first to take their money by selling up with a capital profit and getting out of BTL.

I am also in an enviable position, got my first property to rent at the age of 25 for £1500, now let out 41 properties, never had any borrowings, like you small time property developer, still got 6 plots to develop, will rent when built. Would i invest in property at the moment, no, unless well below market value,  would i sell if no tax to pay, not sure. As i know zero about how to invest money other than into property.

8 hours ago, Melboy said:

Interesting snap-shot of the current BTL market. Worth a read I would suggest.  I do personally know of two landlords selling up and getting out of the business, but there again there are many who are not, me for a start. My selling HMRC tax bill would be enormous!  😃

‘I’m selling my properties as soon as a tenant gives notice’ (msn.com)

Would you sell if no the government covered the tax

5 hours ago, kanrent said:

Yes true we all have to pull together and make sacrifices to try and mitigate the mess the government has made of the economy 

A lot of these workers are not underpaid, the ones that are should have a wage increase, all i seem to hear is that people on benefits need more, we need to get these people into work, that will not happen while we keep handing out free money.

I can see why young people do not want to be in my industry as a tradesman, its not that well paid, and hard work.

I own a listed building, and was told it was exempt, we converted it into flats years ago which are 50sqm which also makes them exempt, or so i was told, but we had them done anyway, just so that we didn't have any hassle 

On 8/9/2022 at 7:32 PM, Melboy said:

You will need a CO alarm in a bedroom as it is very advisable to do this if not already current regulations. I will ask my Son tomorrow morning as he is coming to do some work for me. 

I am aware that in many cases you would have no other option but to install a boiler in bedroom but it is something I would not like to have.

I would never fit a boiler in a bedroom, have never worked on a property where it has not been possible to install elsewhere, just more cost involved.