r/uklandlords

Just reading about possible (likely) cgt changes.

Like many landlords, we've been drip selling a few, looking to get out over time. It's just not worth the risk and hassle anymore.

(Btw we're the sort of landlords people wish they had)

However, a huge hike in cgt is making us consider selling the lot now as a portfolio sale.

Anyone have experience of doing that?

Cue all the hate, another huge reason to sell up.

According to the BBC, Wes Streeting has just said he wants to equalise capital gains tax with income tax.

So for a lot of people that would increase from 24 to 40%.

Would that increase the number of landlords selling quickly even further or would most not sell and wait for a change of government?

It does feel like a trap. Can't sell, can't keep...

Property: 1st floor maisonette.

Neighbour : directly below

Context: Around June last year our tenant contacted us directly saying that the neighbour was accusing us of causing leaks that were penetrating and caused significant damages to the. After much distress I reached out to a plumber (via MyBuilder) to go to the property and inspect and determine any damage or cause for concern from a water leak perspective. Nothing came of this and they couldn't determine any obvious concern/negligence (no report or anything just a sense check). Months later neighbour kicked off again and so I did the same with another supplier - no concerns -just re-applied silica whilst they were there to the tile grout just incase . But all kosher - contacted the tenant and said my hands are tied- there's no clear leak from people we've hired and if the neighbour complains I can't do much.

Months go by - old tenant moves out - nothing. Just today I receive a letter from their solicitor alleging a lack of contact from myself (which again was deliberate - because - well I'm not liable for a speculative leak in your property).

They allege a bunch of costs and attach a report from I assume some 'flood specialist' from their insurance insinuating heavily that in their opinion the leak was vertically sourced from our property. They claim a bunch of damages and have given my notice to respond to acknowledge the damages?

A few points
1.I noticed that the claim that the flood is caused by our flat is under the section of "Opinion" as opposed to fact.

2. They did no invasive work and everything was moisture based measurements externally in the report under limitations that

3. Under the section of limitations there's acknowledgement that they had no access to our property to verify the source of the water escape. Amongst it being a singular inspection and that no plumbing assessment was carried out therefore undetected defects could not be ruled out .

EDIT:

So just looked through my correspondence from a year ago with the plumber. the first plumber we assigned DID in fact visit their property as well (they were let in) to help diagnose where a leak mighthave occurred - so there was correspondence albeit not directly through me - did a full diagnostic of the boiler and pipes in the bathroom (the pipes go directly outside so are almost entirely exposed - did some experiments over the span of several days to isolate each appliance - no leak

Question:

Do I respond to this ? is

Is there grounds for this since again I've asked two separate plumbers to investigate the property?

Do I need to now hire someone to formally confirm there is no leak and generate a report? - Any advice is welcome

Applied for a rental, failed the referencing and letting agent kept asking me what I wanted to do. I kept replying saying that i want to rent the property so could they please advise me on what the landlord wants to do. I never said i was backing out of the application.

The letting agent then said that they can’t rent it to me due to the referencing check and that they will not be refunding the holding deposit.

As far as I’m aware, that’s illegal under the tenant fees act? I made an official complaint, heard nothing back. 4 weeks later I followed up on the complaint, heard nothing. I then made a complaint to the property ombudsman and no reply.

Am I missing something here? All that happened was that I failed the referencing check. I didn’t fail the right to rent check or lied on the application.

Hi All. I have a tenant who is complaining that a neighbours cat is repeatedly foulling in his garden. The fence is broken in parts and this is one way the cat accesses the garden (also jumps over the fence too). The broken fence belongs to the neighbour.

Is there anything that can be done to stop the cat from foulling as the tenant is concerned his young son may touch/eat the faeces.

Any help would be appreciated with this strange matter

First - Thanks for reading and please, do excuse the length.

I need some advice on how to proceed with an acquitance who rented my one-bedroom flat.

Background:

In 2024 I paid him to renovate my flat. He did a generally good job.He then asked to rent it himself for shortlet use. I gave him a discounted rate (£1,250 pcm instead of the normal £1,400) because I knew him.

First year was mostly fine, except him reporting that a guest has made off with my old LG 55" 3D TV in the bedroom(I let that go as it was very old) along side his own 65" Samsung in the living room.

The problems:

From late in the first year he started missing rent payments. I was understanding because of the seasonal nature of shortlets, but I repeatedly asked him to tell me immediately if he couldn’t pay on time. He consistently failed to do this.

By early 2026 he had built up £3,550 in arrears.

In February 2026 he moved out. The flat was returned in mostly good condition, but he took:

A Vonshef kettle

A chrome toaster

A sentimental African Gurmi wall decor.

To be fair on him, he left behind a large leather corner sofa (Although fairly old, bit not that bad). We never had any discussion or agreement that he'll take my stuff and leave his behind.

While doing the renovation in 2024, I paid him £200 (bank transfer) to install extractor fan piping and an outlet. He never did the work despite many promises. When I recently challenged him he initially denied receiving the money until I showed the bank transfers.

End of March 2026: He paid £650, and I agreed to apply his £600 deposit, reducing the arrears to £2,300.

He has continued promising to do the extractor work but never has. I’ve been very patient overall — gave discounted rent, flexibility on payments, didn’t pursue the stolen TV or missing smaller items, etc.

Current situation (21 May 2026):

He still owes £2,300 in rent arrears + the £200 for the uncompleted work.

Our last proper exchange was on 7 May. I sent a clear message setting deadlines (payment by 15 May, extractor job by 22 May) and telling him that failure to course correct will result in my pursuing the the debts thrught Court. He replied defensively (questioning the discounted rent and saying he always pays eventually) even said he does not appreciate receiving such message. He has been completely silent since.

No payment, no work done, no communication.

I belie’ve been extremely patient because I know him, but I also paid him promptly whenever he did work for me (even if not fully finished), and the only thing I asked was basic communication when he couldn’t pay on time as agreed.

From my view, I've been extremely patient because I know him, but I also paid him promptly whenever he did work for me (even if not fully finished), and the only thing I asked was basic communication when he couldn’t pay.

I do not wish to act from an emotional place, so I'm here trying to get the views of those with far more experince in the rental gig than myself as this is my first experince of letting out a property. Additionally, I'm starved of time as I work full time in a professionally demanding high stakes role and also completing a Masters degree.

Questions:

1. Would I be unreasonable to issue a County Court claim for the £2,500+ (plus interest, court fees, and value of missing items)?

2. Since he’s ghosting, is a Money Claim Online straightforward with WhatsApp + bank evidence?

3. Any tips on wording the claim or next steps?

Thanks in advance.Friend/tenant owes me £2,500+, took some items, never did paid work, and is now ghosting – am I being unreasonable going to court?

Does anyone have any thoughts about listing with 2 agents at the same time.

I changed agents, now dropped price as market is bad and previous agent has asked if they can go live along current agent.

Anyone done this? Was it beneficial or negative?

Thanks in advance

Hi, I’ve just had a virtual council inspection at one of my properties. It’s a new build style home and has a mains powered linked smoke detectors on both floors in the landing and hallway.
There’s a carbon monoxide alarm in the kitchen.

The inspector has said that as the stairs come directly into the lounge I need to fit a heat detector linked to the smoke alarms in the kitchen.

Is this a new requirement as I’ve never heard of this before and none of my other properties have a heat detector fitted?

Any advice would be appreciated

Recently relocated from UK to Hong Kong and about to rent out my previous UK primary residence (unfurnished 3 bed terrace in the South East, recently renovated). I have appointed an agency who will provide a fully managed service and have found tenants on my behalf.

I now need to take out landlords insurance and i'd value more experienced landlords views on what is and isn't required/sensible.

Definitely needed:

- Buildings insurance

- Liability insurance

Are these add-ons must-haves in the renters rights act era?

- Rent guarantee insurance

- Legal expenses cover

Don't think I'll take (but please shout if you think otherwise):

- Contents insurance

- Accidental damage cover

- Home emergency / Boiler cover

- Intentional damage by tenants

- Between tenancy vacancy cover

I looked through historic posts on this sub and my plan was to go directly to the below insurers for quotes. Have I missed anyone obvious/good? Would you recommend going direct or through a broker?

- DirectLine

- Alan Boswell

- Insure Homes Direct

- UK Insurance Net

Thanks a bunch!

tenant hasnt paid rent in 3 months now and honestly the stress is getting ridiculous

every week its another promise that money is coming “next monday” and then nothing. meanwhile mortgage, insurance, repairs etc still need paying regardless

what annoys me most is people online acting like every landlord is some millionaire with 20 properties when a lot of us are literally just trying not to drown financially

ive tried being patient and reasonable because i genuinely didnt want things turning nasty but now everything feels hostile the second money gets mentioned

for people who’ve dealt with this before, how do you keep disputes from turning into an absolute war?

I was a small portfolio landlord for 27 years (exited in 2023) and in all that time I never used s8, always s21. Maybe 7 or 8 evictions in total, always for rent arrears (except for two which were for stupidity) so I could have used s8.

Never used it because I was advised that if the tenant disputed the claim, then the case went into the court system for 6 months until it was heard and so it was safer just to do a s21.

I have a vague memory of someone telling me that with a s8, you can ask for a judgement which includes the arrears as well as possession?

In the past there was no upside to using s8 as if they're not paying the rent then what good will a judgement do (blood out of a stone).

If that’s right and in a post RRA world, will future tenants almost always get a CCJ when they are evicted for arrears? I mean, why wouldn't a landlord, now forced into using s8 always ask for a judgement which includes arrears?

If so, won’t that create a class of people to whom no one will rent to and (presumably) can’t buy? Homelessness crisis incoming?

Or is advice from 20 years ago being misremembered?

Flat rented to a single older tenant a few years ago. They asked for the garden to be cleared at move in time, which was done. We did not promise anything further, but now claiming paving was promised!

Over the years, he has never maintained the garden. The neighbour and tenant complains about the overgrowth.

The tenant is on benefits and says they have health issues and cannot do gardening.

The rent is now around £300 per month below market rate (about £3,600 per year). Their rent is just below LHA levels.

If someone cannot do any labour, does that mean they receive extra money e.g. PIP?

Unhappy, forked £400 again this year to clear the garden. The tenant keeps asking me to pay it. Every time, this comes up, it is meant to be a one-off, on the promise, they maintain it. The tenant's son did offer to the help last year, but their parent, but this has not happened.

It is frustrating because other tenants would love a home with a garden, but this tenant accepted the property and does not maintain it.

In 2023, the tenant complained to the council about other issues without informing the letting agent, although issues were resolved quickly. Council were happy.

We just replaced the boiler, a couple of years ago and tenant still claims the property is cold, it has double glazing.

Overall, it feels frustrating and like the situation is being taken advantage of.

Hi all,

Unsure if this is the correct subreddit for this but I have built up around £200,000 of cash and I’m looking to get into residential property.

I’d prefer to buy a company that owns the property, rather than buy the property outright. I do have some questions.

1. My understanding is I would pay 0.5% tax instead of SDLT on the properties if I bought them seperatly (please confirm if true!)

2. My understanding is that landlords looking to exit the market will generally offer a discount on their companies since you are taking all the property off of their hands in one go. What is the general discounted rate? (I know this is a very broad question.)

3. How exactly is the value of the company evaluated? Is the price of the company generally considered to just be the assets - liabilities? Or is it more complex?

4. Are these purchases typically made in cash all at once? I don’t necessarily have a problem with that, but just wondered if an outright purchase in cash was typical for this sector.

I invite any and all feedback and really appreciate the help. If anyone can direct me to a more appropriate subreddit or resources please do

Kind regards

Perspectives under the new laws:

Evening all,

I recently requested an agent to list my property on the usual (Rightmove et.al) which is to be vacant come the end of July. He’s listed it £50 below what I recall asking. The first day of listing he called me with good news to say that a potential tenant has offered the asking price, at which point I came to find that it’s lower than expected.

Am I able to request the agent to increase the price? He seems to be of the view that this constitutes a bidding war (which I dispute given there is no other party), and that doing so could make their firm and myself liable to a fine.

I appreciate the help!

are you increasing rent because you can or because you are forced to? be honest.

At least they won’t need gas/electrical certificates. And the council will need 4x4’s to visit.

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