You can reduce your tax bill by deducting expenses you incur when renting out your property.  — In this article   Which allowable expenses you can claim How an allowable expense affects your tax liability Wear and tear allowance Domestic items relief and how it works  — Allowable expenses a landlord can claim  Landlords can claim the expenses of running and maintaining their rental property, which in turn can reduce their tax bill.  Examples of allowable expenses you can claim are:  Landlord insurance  Letting agency fees   Legal fees ..read more

One more non-cheery article before Christmas is upon us.  Lets talk ‘condensation’…   So, we know that condensation occurs when warm air collides with cold surfaces, or when there’s too much humidity in your home. We will always notice it more on our windows.  Many of us will have our heating up fully in the winter months and don’t open our windows, therefore resulting in a greater level of warm moist air.   How to treat condensation Improve ventilation by use of extractor fans in kitchens, bathrooms, shower areas & utilities Open windows – double glazed houses w ..read more

The rent freeze and moratorium on evictions Emergency legislation in Scotland – under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Bill 2022 – has now been passed; to freeze rents and establish a 6-month moratorium on evictions for both the private rented and social sectors, until at least 31 March 2023. This will be backdated to 6 September 2022 and will last until at least 31 March 2023. Any increases landlords issued after 6 September and before the legislation was passed will be void. There will be exceptions to the rent freeze and the moratorium, and increased damages ..read more

  A brief introduction to the new short let licensing scheme  From 1st October 2022, anyone offering a property as a short stay let in Scotland will now need to apply for a license from their local authority. If you’re an existing host, you should apply for your license before 1st April 2023.  You can continue offering your property to guests whilst the council consider your application. The council have up to 12 months to  process your application. For new hosts, you must be granted a license before you can start offering short lets.  The council have up to 9 months ..read more

New property investors Due to high demand for properties, and lack of housing stock, we are now welcoming new property investors. During the past 6 months we have put in place various digital management tools that allow us to streamline our tenant referencing process. In this current climate, we no longer have enough stock available to accommodate tenant demand. We are experiencing a huge surge in applicants for properties, sometimes with as many 30 applicants applying for a property within a day of it going to market, and at present, the only stock we have to offer are properties where our c ..read more

  The new regulations apply to ALL homeowners and landlords and properties must be compliant by February 2022.  How and when are the rules changing? The change applies to ALL households in Scotland and must be met by February 2022, an extension of 1 year due to the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic. The new Scottish legislation states that an interlinked Fire and Smoke alarm system must be fitted in a property and that there should be adequate Carbon Monoxide protection. What do I need to know for my rental property? From February 2022, new standards for fire and smoke alarms in ..read more

Our Experience of the ‘short-stay rental market’ I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and new year.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve found it quite challenging, getting my business head back on and trying to be more productive with my time. With that said, I have taken some time to look back over the past 12 months to see what we have achieved as a business, whether that be positive or negative.  The obvious negatives being the impact COVID19 has had on the lettings market, not only this of course, but myself personally as a working mum, and how family, friends and associates ..read more

The Scottish Property Rental Market – Post Pandemic I don’t think there has ever been a time in the property rental market where the phrase ‘demand outstripping supply’ has been more accurate! This imbalance could look set to continue over the coming months, underpinning further rent rises. On another note, the next two years will see significant changes to private renting in Scotland, due to the planned ‘transformation of the ‘private rented sector’ by the Scottish National Party.  A 50-page agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens has been announced with the main objectiv ..read more

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation develops we’re continually adapting to updated advice from Westminster and Scottish governments as well as industry bodies.  These notes will be regularly updated to reflect the current state of play. Tenants Looking for Properties The latest advice from government is that you should only move home if you have a compelling need to do so.  If you do need to move, we have everything in place to facilitate that.  All our available properties are listed on our website, Zoopla, Citylets and OnTheMarket. If you would like to have a virtual tour ..read more

Just a brief notice from us to say that we’re happy to announce that as of Thursday 25th June we’ll back working in the office, however, the office door will be locked and we will be limiting appointment numbers or visitors to ‘1 person at a time’. For the next few weeks it will just be myself working in the office, two days a week.  I will still be available as normal by phone and will be working remotely also, so although there will be no changes to our service , there will not be much opportunity to ‘just pop into’ our office unannounced. I’m sure everyone will understand the reasons f ..read more