Buy to Let - How I made £100 @ month

Voyager2002

jordan_gibson wrote:

Me and me now ex have just recently split and we are finding that the vast majority of landlords just simply say no DSS. Neither of us have ever claimed 1p in benefits before but my ex will now get housing benefits to pay her rent.

My question is...if an advert says no DSS is it worth calling any way to see if the landlord will change his/her mind?? As soon as a landlord sees my ex, me and our son they will know that we are not full of drugs and going to trash the place. Is there anything else I could do to show the landlord how genuine we are???

Sadly, many landlords will have BTL mortgages and/or buildings insurance policies that specify "no DSS". Additionally, letting agents will be hardline on this, and efficint about checking employment details. Perhaps the only way out is to put on a posh voice and claim to have "a private income" -- I have done this before now!

Voyager2002

missk_ensington wrote:

Yes, but I'm not suggesting that one rents out a property and doesn't declare it because I know full well this leads to disaster. I'm saying they live in their rental property for 2-3 years before selling to make it their main residence. I don't think HMRC would delve into this, I don't think they would ever become ware of it as it would just be a normal house sale.

If they did investigate, would it not be 'Yes I used to rent this house out a few years ago, of which I paid tax on and declared everything, but i decided I liked the house and moved into it, I lived there 3 years and now we're selling because I want to live in Devon by the sea' Whats the problem with that?

I am afraid that the rules have changed. It used to the be the case that this would work, but now you can only claim that a property is your main residence for CGT purposes if the total amount of time when you owned th house but did not live in it, for whatever reason, is less than five years.

silvercar

My tenant is claiming HB and I haven't signed anything. The letting agent sorted out the pre-tenancy agreement with the council and I wouldn't have known if she hadn't told me. (I guess she only told me because she knew from the letting agent I was happy to have a DSS tenant.)