Martin Thomas
Martin Thomas's Latest Posts
Bristol landlord jailed for 8 weeks!!
According to ‘Landlord Today’, Bristol landlord Kevin de Carteret handed his tenant an illegal eviction notice. Bristol City council prosecuted him under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. Despite employing legislation that is nearly 50 years old, a Council spokesman was pleased with the outcome and said “This is why we are currently running a […]
BREAKING NEWS!!! S21 proposed changes and student tenancies
Breaking news ref Tenant Reform Bill proposal to abolish the section 21 reported by Landlord Today Responding to a report from the House of Commons Housing Select Committee ahead of MPs debating the Renters Reform Bill on Monday, the government has confirmed that implementation of the new system for repossessing properties “will not take place […]
Renters Reform Bill – second reading passes but there’s trouble ahead!
The bill’s second reading passed on 23 October without a vote. Labour obviously want it to progress as quickly as possible but the government is facing some opposition from back bench MPs that happen to be landlords. In further news, Michael Gove has said there will be no change in the tax situation for landlords […]
Bristol City Council own goal!!
As if tenants didn’t have enough to put up with, Bristol City Council’s actions are likely to result in the eviction of between 60 and 80 tenants by 1 December. Instead of using a Special Interim Management Order to deal with a landlord who was, in their opinion, problematic, they issued a banning order instead. […]
BANES decides not to renew licensing scheme!!
BANES has decided not to renew the additional licensing scheme that covers the whole of Bath and expires on 31 December 2023. That’s good news for the landlords of more than 1,000 HMOs, some of which have been in the scheme since January 2014. In truth, there could be little justification for continuing the scheme […]
Tax evasion or tax avoidance schemes?
To be clear, tax evasion is illegal but tax avoidance is lawful. In other words, organising your financial affairs to reduce the amount of tax you pay is perfectly legal. There has been a lot of correspondence recently on the landlord forum Property118 about the legality of certain schemes and ‘Landlord Today’ has just reported […]
NEW!! How to Rent Guide issued October 2023.
Don’t forget to issue the latest guide to your tenants when you create an AST to avoid problems down the road. How to rent – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Oh dear! Bristol Council at it again! Last call to Bristol landlords! Act now!
The deadline for two licensing consultations expires shortly – 7 November. Act now to register your opinions. and while you are at it, why not ask Bristol City Council how they spend landlords’ money – can it really all be spent administering the schemes? If it is, there must be office blockloads of council staff […]
Gove rows back on EPC deadline
Well, it’s official! The government has announced that the requirement for private rented properties to achieve an EPC rating of ‘C’ has been scrapped along with a number of other climate change policies. There is a recognition that the financial pressures on landlords to achieve the ‘C’ rating’ would result in increased rents for tenants […]
Sign the petition – student fixed term contracts
I started a petition in a private capacity to retain fixed term tenancies for all students on 38degrees, which is a pressure group, and invite you to sign as well. Just follow the link below. Student misery from the Renters Reform Bill | 38 Degrees Also, making sure our MPs know what we feel about […]
