Watson Knipe Blog

This is a summary of the latest update issued by Zoopla, which we think will be of interest to Landlords and property investors. 

We work with a lot of landlords and property investors in the East Midlands and London, so we keep abreast with how the rental market is performing. Here is a recent update for November 2021 which will be of interest if you have properties that you rent.

Rishi Sunak announced the Autumn Budget and Spending Review which covers many different areas from Personal Tax, Employment, Business Tax and Capital Taxes. We have pulled out two key areas that will be of interest to landlords and property investors.

We have supported landlords and property investors for many years. We know that managing finances and keeping track of income and expenditure can be difficult.

We like to keep our clients and contacts up to date with property sector updates. Here are a few key headlines that we have found recently which we think will be of interest to you.

Many of you will have heard about the Government's plans for Making Tax Digital (MTD). We have written this article to explain what this will mean for landlords and property investors.

Over the past few years, there have been several changes to tax rules for residential landlords. This means that anyone investing in buy-to-let properties either for the first time or as they build their portfolio should take the time to understand the impact on their potential earnings from a rental property.

We have a lot of experience working with landlords helping them to keep in control of their tax obligations if they own one or more rental properties.

It is important to understand what Capital Gains Tax is and the changes that were made to this in 2017.  Capital Gains Tax is a tax that taken from any profit that you make when you sell (or ‘dispose of’) something (an ‘asset’) that has increased in value. It is not based on the amount of money you receive.

Here is a quick explanation of what Stamp Duty Land Tax is and the changes that were introduced in November 2017.  You must pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if you buy a property or land over a certain price in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

If you are a landlord and own any properties in the Nottingham City boundary, then you need to be ready for the new Selective Licensing Scheme which is being introduced by Nottingham City Council.

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) tells you how energy efficient a building is. The rating is from A to G, A being the most efficient. By knowing the EPC of a building, you will know how much it will cost to heat and light a building as well as what the likely carbon emissions will be.

Houses in Multiple Housing (HMOs) are rental properties where a number of people live together but are not related. For example:

This year we have kept you up to date with changes that have affected landlords in 2018, these included Licensing reforms for HMOs and Energy Performance Certificates for Landlords. 

If you are a landlord or letting agent, then it’s essential to understand the changes that were introduced by the Tenant Fees Act on 1st June 2019.

There will be changes to the Private Residence Relief from April 2020. There has been a consultation underway for the past year and the draft Finance Bill published recently confirms that the changes will take place.

We wanted to let you know about changes to Capital Gains Tax coming up in April 2020. The amount of Capital Gains Tax is not affected; the changes relate to when the tax needs to be paid.

If you are a landlord or a property investor, then you may want to consider setting up a Property Limited Company. More people are taking this approach because there are several reasons which make this more beneficial in the long run.

We have written about this before, but we wanted to remind you about the changes to Capital Gains Tax if you are planning to sell a second property after April 2020. This is particularly important for all landlords and property investors who regularly buy and sell properties. 

Electrical Safety Standards 2020

On 1 June 2020, some new regulations came into force regarding electrical safety standards for the private rental sector. These regulations are being enforced to improve the standard of safety of all properties in the rental market.