According to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and the Home Owners Alliance (HOA), you can enhance the value of your property by almost £50,000 simply by removing an internal wall to create an open plan kitchen and dining area.
Wortley (LS12, LS13, LS28) Tel: 0113 231 1033
Gildersome (LS27, BD11, BD4) Tel: 0113 252 3322
Greengates (BD10, BD2, LS18) Tel: 01274 610 787
Email: sales@kathwells.com
Wortley (LS12, LS13, LS28) Tel: 0113 231 1033
Gildersome (LS27, BD11, BD4) Tel: 0113 252 3322
Greengates (BD10, BD2, LS18) Tel: 01274 610 787
Email: sales@kathwells.com
Gildersome (LS27, BD11, BD4) Tel: 0113 252 3322
Greengates (BD10, BD2, LS18) Tel: 01274 610 787
Email: sales@kathwells.com
Property News
Welcome to our blog! We regularly provide information about the property market and issues that will affect the value and / or return on investment you can expect for your property.
Private Residence Relief Changes
Did you know that when you rent out all or part of your home a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) charge may apply when you sell the property? Currently, HMRC exclude the last 18 months of your ownership – even if the property is let for this time – when assessing any CGT liability. However, in a draft of the Finance Bill released earlier this year, HMRC have confirmed that this 18-month period will be reduced to 9 months from April 2020. Disabled property owners, or those in a care home, will continue to be exempt for 36 months.
The house buying fees you’ll also need to budget for
If you’re thinking about buying a new home, you’ll need to budget for more than just the deposit. It’s a stressful time, saving! You work hard to put away savings each month and feel like celebrating when you have saved enough for that all important deposit. But don’t get carried away too early, as there are other costs that you need to take into account!
When you’re working out your ‘buying a house’ budget, you also need to take account of the cost of buying, your mortgage fees and moving costs – on top of your deposit. It all adds up and can easily plunge you into debt if an unexpected bill hasn’t been taken into account.
Latest Changes To Private Residence Relief
In July the Government confirmed its plans to change the way that Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is calculated for properties that are part or fully let.
10 Pitfalls To Avoid When Selling Your Property
Buying and selling a home can be a stressful process, so it’s important you are aware of the pitfalls that can cause a sale (or rental) to fall though. If you address these early in the process your chances of the deal going through is much greater.
According to the NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) Propertymark, these are the factors that most commonly cause issues..
Landlord Rental Income Expenses
If you are a landlord or have a portfolio of properties, you can claim ‘wholly incurred’ expenses against your property income. Expenses must follow the standard HMRC guidance and the expenses must be exclusively for the purpose of renting out the property.
HMRC provide a number of examples of allowable expenses including:
If you buy a new vacuum cleaner for your own home, and also use it to clean your rental property between tenants, you can’t claim the cost of the vacuum cleaner as an expense against your rental income.
However, you could claim the cost of any cleaning products you bought specifically for cleaning the rental property.
Where costs are incurred partly for your rental business and partly for some other purpose you may be able to claim a proportion of that cost if that part can be separately identified as being incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the property rental business.
Extending a home without having to submit a planning application
Want to extend your home, or a property that you are planning to buy? Here’s how to do it without having to submit a planning application.
Permitted development rights enable homeowners to make certain building works on a property without planning permission from the local council and without approval from a neighbour.
Tenant Fees Ban. How will landlords and tenants be affected?
Tenant Fees Ban. How will landlords and tenants be affected?
The new Tenant Fees Act comes into force on the 1st June 2019. So what is it? And how will it affect landlords and tenants?
New homes will have to be greener by 2025
That’s one of the key takeaway messages in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement this week. As the government introduces its Future Homes Standard, requiring that all new-build properties use low-carbon heating and become more energy efficient.
Other headlines included the expansion of the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme by up to £3 billion. Which will enable housing associations to build an extra 30,000 new homes through the scheme.
Why changing the colour of your front door, could help you sell more quickly!
It’s long been understood that colour has the power to transform behaviour and shape the way that we perceive a wide variety of goods and services. Businesses spend millions in branding and marketing to encourage us to chose their brand above others.
In our homes, we also use colour to affect the mood and ambience of each room. With brands such as Dulux investing heavily in the branding of colours to reflect the style, heritage and personality that we want to portray.
How will Brexit affect the value of your home or rental property?
Whether you voted to leave or stay, Brexit is beginning to take it’s toll on the UK housing market. Which ever way you look at it, we’re facing uncertain times; not helped by the fallout from the latest historic events at Westminster.
So, should you be concerned? And could Brexit affect your property investment plans? Let’s look at the statistics…
Getting ready for the January sales & lettings bonanza
Historically, the Christmas and New Year holidays see record visits to sites such as Rightmove and Zoopla, with over 1.6m properties viewed online as people escape the Christmas turkey to think about their next move.
Understandably, many people are reluctant to sell or let their property until after the New Year. But, if you are thinking of moving, selling or letting a property in January, can you afford not to put your property in front of potential buyers at this important time of year?
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