Breens Blog

The Chancellor’s budget will be announced on Monday October 29th – and with healthy tax receipts over the past five years from Stamp Duty, CGT and IHT, commentators are expecting to see further hikes in tax rates. The three taxes combined brought revenues of £25.4 billion to the Treasury this year, according to The Times […]

4 Jun 2018 Author: Stephen Breen If you’ve been named as an Executor in someone’s Will, you might wonder what your duties include. It is the Executor’s responsibility to administer the estate of a deceased person. If the deceased did not make a Will or they made a Will but their choice of Executor is […]

7 May 2018 Author: Stephen Breen You have been lucky enough to find good tenants, they pay their rent on time, they keep the house in good repair, but what if you decide to sell the property. How do you ask good tenants to leave? Residential Leases The most common types of rental agreement are […]

3 May 2018 Author: Stephen Breen If you’re buying a home it’s hard to look beyond its kerb-side appeal and its original features. But looks aren’t everything. You need to consider how you live and whether the property will cause you problems down the line. Broadband and Mobile Connection Could you live without broadband or […]

3 May 2018 Author: Stephen Breen A report by insurer NFU Mutual suggests that thousands are missing out on a valuable inheritance tax break introduced last April. The Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB) was introduced last April, giving homeowners an additional £100,000 allowance to pass on to ‘direct descendants’ where the estate includes a family […]

1 May 2018 Author: Stephen Breen There are plenty of great reasons to buy a new build: from the 10 year NHBC guarantee to the ability to design every little detail yourself. But new builds can also suffer from a host of problems, from construction faults and poorly fitted pipes to vibrating floorboards and even […]

24 Apr 2018 Author: Stephen Breen Many people are missing out on substantial inheritance tax perks because they are writing their own Wills or using cheap DIY services, rather than consulting a solicitor, according to industry experts. Yet more are missing out by doing probate work themselves, believing they can save money and completely unaware […]

16 Apr 2018 Author: Stephen Breen Despite a wave of measures that have hit buy-to-let investors, there’s still money to be made in the market. A recent study conducted by Savills and UK Finance has revealed that contrary to the negative headlines foreseeing the end of the buy-to-let era, the predicted mass exodus away from […]

11 Apr 2018 Author: Stephen Breen A recent case has highlighted the importance for owners of leasehold property to extend their lease early, in order to avoid paying hefty premiums. In Mundy v The Sloane Stanley Estate, the Court of Appeal considered the extension on a lease for a small flat in Chelsea with just […]

10 Apr 2018 Author: Stephen Breen ‘Going green’ could soon secure you a better mortgage deal, with incentives available for the most energy efficient borrowers. The Government Green Finance Taskforce published a report on 28th March that urges lenders in the UK to take green factors into account when making lending decisions: and a high […]

2 Apr 2018 Author: Stephen Breen You’ve been eagerly saving up for years to put a deposit on your first home – so now you’ve got the money, what happens next? Follow our top tips to ensure your first purchase is as hassle-free as it can be. 1 Check your credit files There are three […]

31 Mar 2018 Author: Stephen Breen If you opened a Lifetime Individual Savings Accounts (LISA) last year, you may be aware that from 6 April 2018, your savings together with the Government bonus can be withdrawn to fund the purchase of your first home. With this date on the horizon, we look at some of […]

31 Mar 2018 Author: Stephen Breen If you’ve paid the higher Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) rates because you moved home without first selling your old home, you may be able to claim a repayment. Who can claim? You can reclaim the additional SDLT if you’re the main buyer of the property on which the […]

28 Mar 2018 Author: Stephen Breen You have made the decision, you are selling your home and moving on, now you must decide at what price you should list your property. Get this wrong and you risk your property languishing on the market for too long, get it right and you could be in your […]