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As the UK property market emerges from lockdown, there has been a reported surge in buyer demand. According to property portal Zoopla, buyer demand is 54% stronger than it was before lockdown and sales have risen by 137% since the market reopened on 13 May.

Since restrictions were lifted on the housing market in May, we’ve seen enquiry levels from buyers jump to above pre-Covid 19 levels. Currently, we’re receiving 7.5% more enquiries than in February. Well known property portals have also been reporting strong demand with Zoopla, for example, also reporting dramatic increases in enquiries in May, both for …

Continue reading “The London property sales market – July 2020”

The last few years have seen a number of changes to the UK’s tax regime with the latest coming into force on April 6th 2020. The changes affect the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reporting deadlines and the amount payable when an individual sells a residential property that they have not used as their main home …

Continue reading “Changes to Capital Gains Tax in 2020 – what you need to know”

A. It may come as a surprise to know that landlords don’t always have to have a reason to evict tenants from their property. However, the grounds for a “no fault” eviction are pretty clear and come with certain safeguards for tenants. There are, of course, several factors that landlords can and will point to …

Continue reading “Can my landlord evict me?”

We are starting to see rental demand in London pick up and our teams at our 16 London lettings branches are working hard, liaising between landlords and applicants to ensure new tenancies can be agreed. Of course, it is clearly a tenant’s market now. With a lot of stock coming onto the market recently, there …

Continue reading “The London rental market – July 2020”

A. No. Lettings agents in England and Wales are now banned from charging fees to tenants and in England deposits are capped at the equivalent of five weeks’ rent. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 aims to enable tenants to see exactly what fees will be involved when renting a new property, with no hidden costs, but it means landlords must now pay for services such as referencing and inventory checks …

A. In the case of fixed-term tenancies, landlords cannot increase rents unless there is a mutual agreement with the tenant. Alternatively, they must wait until the rental term expires which is why it is so important to have a professionally drawn up contract that lets both parties know where they stand, what their responsibilities are …

Continue reading “Can landlords increase rent?”

A. A simple answer would be no. Painting any part of a private rental property without the landlord’s permission would usually be classified as damage and landlords are within their rights to insist that the house be repainted before you move out or that deductions be made from your deposit. However, like many things property-related, there are levels of nuance and as always, communication …

A. Unless there are deductions to be considered, you should be able to get your full deposit back from the landlord at the end of the tenancy. The reason why you may not get the full amount could be due to unpaid rent, damage to the property, missing inventory items, cleaning of the property and …

Continue reading “Can a landlord keep my deposit?”

Over the last few years there have been lots of tax changes affecting buy-to-let ownership including restrictions on mortgage relief and changes to the wear and tear allowance.  These have negatively affected many landlords’ incomes, prompting owners of rental properties to consider whether it would be more tax efficient to incorporate – ie set up …

Continue reading “Is it worth setting up a company for buy to let? Or should a landlord buy in their personal name?”

The housing market has re-opened and in the first two weeks since restrictions were eased, we have seen growing numbers of enquiries from renters looking to move home. Of course, the rental market we are seeing now is very different to how it was pre-lockdown. There is a lot of housing stock coming onto the …

Continue reading “The London property market – June 2020”

We continue to work hard for our clients, offering full support and updates for tenants and landlords throughout the Covid 19 pandemic. While our offices are closed, each has a full-time member of staff working from home who can be contacted either by their usual email address or office telephone number. Our property management, accounts …

Continue reading “The London property market update – May 2020”