Becoming a Landlord for the first time

anselld

badger09 said:

Cleagarr said:

Thanks all. Some potentially scary reasons not to do it! I can’t quite get my head around the Capital Gains tax issue - does it apply if I move back in and then sell later? 

Another query is that I jointly own the house with my wife - do we both benefit from the £1,000 tax free allowance - and which of us should claim the income? Any issues to consider there? 

You are getting more confused. The £1k you mention relates to interest from savings. There is no £1k allowance on rental income. 

There is also a £1k allowance on property income which can be claimed instead of expenses, however it is not usually a practical alternative to expenses for even a single property let.

Vannaa

macman said:

 you not do 6 monthly inspections?

I rented for 12 years in one property and never saw the landlord or the letting agent. Currently into year 2 of current tenancy, again, never seen the landlord.

Cleagarr

anselld said:

badger09 said:

Cleagarr said:

Thanks all. Some potentially scary reasons not to do it! I can’t quite get my head around the Capital Gains tax issue - does it apply if I move back in and then sell later? 

Another query is that I jointly own the house with my wife - do we both benefit from the £1,000 tax free allowance - and which of us should claim the income? Any issues to consider there? 

You are getting more confused. The £1k you mention relates to interest from savings. There is no £1k allowance on rental income. 

There is also a £1k allowance on property income which can be claimed instead of expenses, however it is not usually a practical alternative to expenses for even a single property let.

Thank you. Do you know if in a situation of shared ownership, this applies as £1k each?

anselld

Cleagarr said:

anselld said:

badger09 said:

Cleagarr said:

Thanks all. Some potentially scary reasons not to do it! I can’t quite get my head around the Capital Gains tax issue - does it apply if I move back in and then sell later? 

Another query is that I jointly own the house with my wife - do we both benefit from the £1,000 tax free allowance - and which of us should claim the income? Any issues to consider there? 

You are getting more confused. The £1k you mention relates to interest from savings. There is no £1k allowance on rental income. 

There is also a £1k allowance on property income which can be claimed instead of expenses, however it is not usually a practical alternative to expenses for even a single property let.

Thank you. Do you know if in a situation of shared ownership, this applies as £1k each?

Yes 1k each.

Cleagarr

Thanks again everyone. One other question (for now)... can I claim tax relief on spending before I actually begin the rental, for example, on membership of the NRLA, for Carbon Monoxide alarms, annual emergency insurances etc? And what about paying for a professional to repair plaster work etc before the tenancy starts?

Thanks.

ileven1225

https://www.nrla.org.uk/

I would recommend to join the NRLA, they also provide you help line so your individual case can be discussed over the phoe for members only. they also provide template for landlord, uite useful

There are pod cast as well, e.g. propery hub

jj_43

Cleagarr said:

Thanks for that - will take a look.

Yes, I can rent it out and have permission from the mortgage cpmpany. The covenant is an overage payment if we sell within ten years so no problem with that.

Be cheaper making the overage payment.

Cleagarr

jj_43 said:

Cleagarr said:

Thanks for that - will take a look.

Yes, I can rent it out and have permission from the mortgage cpmpany. The covenant is an overage payment if we sell within ten years so no problem with that.

Be cheaper making the overage payment.

How could you possibly claim to know this? The overage has another 3 years to run and currently sits at more than £100,000. 

macman

Vannaa said:

macman said:

 you not do 6 monthly inspections?

I rented for 12 years in one property and never saw the landlord or the letting agent. Currently into year 2 of current tenancy, again, never seen the landlord.

Maybe, but do you really think that's a professional way to manage the properties? 

ArbitraryRandom

chrisw said:

macman said:

chrisw said:

macman said:

Cleagarr said:

macman said:

Are you aware of the numerous regulatory and statutory requirements made of a landlord? And, when the time comes that you do want to sell the property, tat it may take you many months to evict a tenant who is not willing to leave at the end of the notice period? And that the current government is committed to abolishing so-called 'no fault evictions' under S21?

I’m on a learning journey with this. Not completely sure if the point you are making? That there are potential pitfalls…? In which case, noted thank you?

The point I'm making is that being an LL is a full-on business, and no place for an amateur. If you are prepared to put in the many hours of work involved, and learn the regs, then fine, good luck to you. 

This is just scaremongering. Yes, you need to understand the rules and regulations at the start but we all have to start somewhere. I haven't used a letting agent for 15 years and being a landlord probably takes up a couple of days of my time each year, if that.

Of course there are risks and it sometimes feels like a bit of a gamble but these risks can be minimised by finding the right tenants.

Whether it is actually the right decision for you is another matter.

Do you not do 6 monthly inspections? if so, say half a day for that, so one day a year. How can you possibly arrange everything else in one day? Repairs, maintenance, annual GSC, billing?
I agree with much of what you say: but the problem is that many LL's do not understand the rules and regs at the start and muddle their way through, which can have severe consequences if the tenant is savvy enough and knows the law.

I haven't really done 6 monthly inspections as 'issues' seem to crop up every 6 months or so. I usually pop round, weigh up the issue and then, if needed, phone the appropriate tradesmen who sort it for me. Some of the jobs have been major such as boilers, doors and windows and facias. Same with gas and electrical checks and servicing. 

Building a relationship with the trades is probably key.

The point there for the OP perhaps being that this situation is arising due to them moving out of the area. Therefore there's the additional dynamic of having to either travel to address issues/inspect OR trusting an agent to act on their behalf (while, as pointed out earlier in the thread, still being liable for any issues resulting from the agent's incompetence or negligence). 

I would agree with those who have suggested the need for a new landlord to fully educate themselves before advertising the property. 

I would even go so far as to ask the OP if they have considered staying in the house and the relative cost of lodging Mon-Fri in the area/commuting/asking the new employer about the possibly of hybrid working after the first 6/12 months of the new job.  

If your timescales are fixed at 3 years, it could work out cheaper than complying with the current (and soon to be implemented) legislation.