Landlords have been hit pretty hard over the past few years, whether it’s the withdrawal of the ability to offset mortgage costs against their tax bills & ever changing legislation. Here are some tips on how you can keep hold of more of your tenants rent.

Firstly Consider joint ownership Although this won’t be a viable option for some, for those who can it is something well worth thinking about. Switching from sole ownership to a jointly owned agreement will allow you to split the rent and pay tax on the resulting income in the most efficient way available to you and your partner.

Secondly many landlord don’t look into the Running cost reimbursements. Many buy-to-let business owners, especially accidental landlords, fail to claim the full amount when it comes to the running costs of their businesses.

Things such as home offices, business calls, broadband charges, petrol or other travelling expenses incurred when visiting your different buy-to-let properties, advertising new lets, legal fees, accountant charges, and more can all be claimed for…so why not keep track of them all?

And lastly Keep check of void period expenses. Many landlords consider void periods to be a total write-off in terms of money lost, but that isn’t strictly true. You can, in fact, claim for expenses on certain ongoing bills, such as utilities and council tax whenever your property is left empty.