Latest blog posts

The Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) applies to companies that own residential property in the UK. The charge is levied annually, and depends upon the value of the property at the relevant valuation date. The valuation date 1st April 2012 for properties acquired before that date. For properties acquired after 1st April 2012 the valuation ... Read more >>

The UK, like any other country in the world, has various requirements and limitations in respect to non-citizen’s living and working arrangements. As we are part of the European Union (for the time being anyway) workers from within this economic area benefit from the operation of what is an internal/single market which allows free movement of ... Read more >>

Notices Once you have received a copy of your report you will need to pass a copy to your solicitor who will use our best case figure to serve a formal Notice. Technically this is a Section 42 for lease extensions and a Section 13 Notice for freehold enfranchisements. Once the notice is served the freeholder has a period of 2 months to respond ... Read more >>

The Government’s Help to Buy Loan Scheme has been running since April 2013 and is open to first-time buyers and home movers of new-build homes in England up to a purchase price of £600,000. The purchaser is lent up to 20% of the cost of the home leaving just a 5% deposit and a lender willing to offer a 75% mortgage. This not only means that ... Read more >>

Today saw the Chancellor deliver his first Spending Review & Autumn Statement since the General Election and whilst we did not see anything near as radical as the Stamp Duty and Capital Gains Tax Reforms of last year, there were still a few items to note in terms of housing: The Review targeted: Buy to let landlords who will now get ... Read more >>

One of the more unfortunate types of valuations that need to be undertaken by a Chartered Surveyor is for probate purposes. After a family member has passed away you will need to value their money, property and possessions (also known as their estate) in order to get  a ‘grant of representation’ (the legal right to deal with the ... Read more >>

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve begun to receive calls from overseas investors or their agents concerned about the change to Capital Gains Tax which is due to come in to force on 6th April this year. Announcing the change in his 2013 Autumn Statement, George Osborne, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer said “It is not right that those who ... Read more >>

I’ve had to prepare a couple of valuations recently for owners that wanted to either buy or sell a roof space. The most common scenario is where a property has been converted but the roof space, or part of it, has been retained by the freeholder; often for the purpose of housing cold water storage tanks serving the flats below. As the flats ... Read more >>