Day: 22 June 2017

With the school holidays imminent, many families are planning summer holidays leaving millions of homes vulnerable to burglary throughout July and August.

According to a recent report by the Office of National Statistics, over 16.2m Brits travelled overseas in July and August last year.

With sales of holidays abroad up seven per cent this year, this number is expected to increase suggesting that even more homes will be left vacant this summer. With opportunist burglars using social media to track the whereabouts of property owners, it is more important than ever for families to adopt a belt and braces approach to home security by re-considering the privacy settings of the whole family’s social media accounts and using smart home technology to compliment traditional security methods such as alarm systems and window locks.

To ensure family homes and neighbourhoods are kept safe this summer, Ring, the outdoor home security company, has compiled its top tips for protecting neighbourhoods through technology.  With Ilford, London, Leeds, Manchester and Cambridge being the most burgled cities, homeowners across the UK can spend more time enjoying a summer break to remember, rather than worrying about the safety of their most prized possessions.

Lock all doors and windows

It sounds basic, but a surprising number of burglaries take place because people have forgotten to lock all the doors and windows. Some people even leave a few windows open for air flow whilst they’re away. Leaving your doors and windows unlocked is an open invitation to burglars, so always double-check them before you leave and to be extra safe install a double lock on your front door.

Avoid hiding spare keys

Many homeowners still keep a spare set of keys somewhere in front of their house. This is a bad habit and a major security risk. Your key is never hidden as well as you think it is and experienced burglars will know all the common hiding places. If you have arranged for a neighbour or friend to check your post whilst you’re away, lending them a spare key is a far safer alternative.

Make it look like you are at home

Very few burglars have been known to strike when they think someone is at home. Many thieves are opportunists and if it looks like you’re on holiday they will be more inclined to try their luck. Making it look like you’re at home, is a simple and effective security measure you should take. Keep up appearances by opening your curtains, mowing the lawn before you leave and installing an outdoor light which automatically turns on for a couple of hours each evening. Better still, invest in an outdoor light with motion detectors, so that anyone who walks past triggers the light to come on.

Think twice about who can see your social media updates

Holiday makers who share updates about their upcoming trips months in advance and then check in and share snaps of their holidays put their homes at great risk of burglary. Criminals are increasingly using social media to check when homes are empty and the summer months can provide rich pickings.  Before you go on holiday think twice about who can see your family’s social media profiles and ensure that privacy settings are switched on.

Visible Security

Burglars will not try to break-in if they fear they will get caught. Savvy burglars will know of all the latest security devices, and they’ll avoid homes if they know that there are effective security solutions in place. Sometimes, even just a security sign can deter a burglar from breaking in, so get your devices set up, and make sure burglars know that your home is protected.

Smart Technology

Whilst traditional security systems are important, they cannot be relied upon to prevent crime from taking place. Unfortunately, most traditional security systems, such as alarms, are reactive solutions that will let you know when a burglary has occurred, but there is little you can do thereafter to stop it. Smartphone connected security devices, equipped with cameras and motion detectors, can send live video footage straight to you or your neighbours’ fingertips, meaning you can respond to and prevent suspicious activity before it happens.

A successful landlord, amongst other things, is a tax efficient landlord. So London based estate agent, Portico, asked the experts for 10 legitimate ways to reduce your tax bill and the results are below.

1. Expense, expense, expense

The first step in making your property tax efficient is knowing what expenses you can offset.

Seasoned landlord, Richard Blanco, has this to say:  “Religiously keep all of your receipts so that you can offset absolutely every expense against your profits. Talk to your accountant about travel costs, certain motoring expenses or types of vehicles that can be set against your profits.”

Here’s a list of some of the most common types of expenses:

• Water rates, council tax, gas and electricity
• Business and contents insurance
• Letting agents’ fees
• Legal fees for lets of a year or less, or for renewing a lease of less than 50 years
• Accountant’s fees
• Rents, ground rents and service charges
• Direct costs such as phone calls, stationery and advertising for new tenants
• The associated costs of running a home office

2. Reduce your stamp duty bill

Richard advises to “Avoid mega stamp duty by extending or expanding your current rental property(ies). Ultimately, the more expensive the property, the greater the theoretical savings.

Now is a good time to extend because permitted development rights are more generous than they have been in the past. However, be mindful of the change in the HMO definition due to come into force in October. From then on, any property with 5 or more sharers will need an HMO license, so if you extend your property and it becomes suitable for more sharers, check it’s up to mandatorily licensable HMO standards. Ask your council’s licensing department if you’re in doubt.

The golden rule for expanding an existing property is that the uplift in value should be more than the cost of the works. There will be a ceiling price for properties in some areas however, which means your property may not increase over a certain price even if you expand it – unless the area improves.  We’re in a tricky market at the moment so do your sums and expect conservative price growth.”

3.  Transfer your assets

Another way to potentially cut your tax bill is to use your spouse’s 0% and 20% tax bands.

Richard explains that “Generally no Capital Gains Tax is payable if you transfer assets to your spouse, plus if their earnings fall into a lower tax bracket you could pay less tax on the rental profits.”

Stamp duty land tax is not payable on the so long as the property is not mortgaged, and the husband or wife who is passing on the property doesn’t want any money for it.

4.  Save when you sell

If you are selling your rental property, make sure you claim all of the available relief.

Richard states: “If you’re a multi-property landlord, it’s often more tax efficient to sell one property in each tax year to take advantage of the 0% CGT band up to £11,300. Effectively this means you can make gains of up to £11,300 in a given tax year without any tax being due.”

5. Landlord Ltd?

Some landlords find it is more tax efficient to manage their properties through a limited company which effectively acts as a letting agent.  The Company could employ the landlord, relative or member of staff to manage the properties.  Richard advises you to talk to your accountant or tax adviser about this before proceeding.

6. Restructure your portfolio

You can also set up an LLP and Ltd company as a way of allowing all finance costs to be set against profits. This is complex and expensive to set up but it might be a positive way forward for landlords with larger portfolios.

Always be wary of spending a lot of money restructuring your portfolio around tax legislation. The government could change the rules in the next budget and you might then kick yourself for spending money on an expensive restructure.

7. Buy property through a company

If you’re thinking of buying property, setting up a limited company is more tax efficient in the sense that all finance costs can be set against profits. Richard urges landlords to “Beware of the extra cost of commercial mortgages.  This could offset any savings you make in tax.”

If you’re considering setting up as a company to save tax, make sure you read and digest our landlord’s guide to incorporation.

8. Remortgage!

Landlord and property expert Mark Lawrinson says that “A great way of cutting your interest costs is by re-mortgaging. Buy-to-let mortgage interest rates have fallen significantly in recent years, so deals currently on the market may well be substantially better than on products arranged a few years ago.”

9. Get your rental property revalued

With large increases in property prices in London, another tip is to get your rental property re-valued. This will make your lender recalculate your loan to value, and a lower loan to value means a better interest rate and a larger choice of lenders.

10. Fill the voids

If your buy-to-let property is empty for any period of time, remember that expenses such as utilities or council tax incurred can be claimed as an expense.

But more importantly, rather than losing money while your property sits empty, why not Airbnb the property until your find a long-term tenant?

Hosts typically earn up to 50% more on a short-term let than a long term-let, and we offer a premium Airbnb Management service in London so we can take care of the whole process. All you need to do is let us know when the property is available and we’ll organise guest bookings, arrange for 24 hour access, take care of cleaning and organising hotel standard towels and linen, and even kit it out with furniture if needs be.

Thanks to Portico Estate Agents for the above article.

www.portico.com