How Long Should a Landlord Keep Tenant Documents?
A practical landlord retention framework that separates specific tax and right-to-rent requirements from other tenant records and unnecessary duplicates.
Read article →Property investment blog / About the author
Meet the author
Mark Parham
Property investor. Business owner. Author and speaker.
I bought my first property in 2010. Since then, I have bought, refinanced and improved properties while running businesses alongside my investments.
BTL Reality is where I share the experience behind those decisions: the numbers I look at, the questions I ask and the lessons that are useful when things do not go to plan.
Founder of BTL Reality · Author of The Game Of Money
The practical background
Experience from owning property.
My first purchase was a house in London in 2010. Renting spare rooms was part of my starting point. Later came a family home in Didcot and refinancing earlier properties to help fund further investment.
That experience shapes what I write about: buying at the right price, understanding the mortgage, deciding which refurbishment work is worthwhile and leaving enough room for costs that do not arrive neatly each month.
I have shared the reasoning behind individual deals, including properties in Rugby and Kettering, and the trade-offs between houses and flats. The useful part is understanding why a decision made sense in its circumstances.
Running businesses alongside a property portfolio has also taught me about debt, reserves and resilience. I discuss the difficult periods as well as the progress, because both belong in an honest account of investing.
2010
My first purchase
A London house and an early approach that included renting spare rooms.
2015
A home in Didcot
Around this time, a family-home purchase became the next part of my property journey.
2017
Refinancing to invest
Releasing equity from earlier properties helped fund the next stage of investment.
Explore the detail in my first purchase and refinancing story and the Rugby and Kettering case studies.
On stage
Sharing experience in the room.
I have spoken on stage at events with audiences of up to 2,000 people. Speaking gives me another way to share my experience and bring the decisions behind property and business into a conversation.
For speaking, interviews or media enquiries, contact info@btlreality.co.uk.
Speaking experience
2,000
People in the audience at the largest events I have spoken at.
Property, business and the lessons from putting ideas into practice.
Watch & read
More ways to get to know my approach.
Property on YouTube
My videos explore property decisions, deal numbers and the lessons from my own experience. Start with the story of how I used refinancing to build my portfolio, then follow the channel from the video.
Watch my property story on YouTube ↗The book
The Game
Of Money
Of Money
By Mark Parham
Alongside my videos and articles, I am the author of The Game Of Money.
Writing gives me space to share my thinking beyond a short video or a conversation on stage.
Book informationThe dedicated book page is coming soon.
What I write about
The decisions behind the investment.
My articles cover getting started, checking a buy-to-let deal, understanding rental cashflow, refinancing and managing a growing portfolio. I use worked examples and practical tools to make the assumptions visible, so you can see what changes the answer.
Personal experience, illustrative calculations and current rules each have a different role. Historical results are not a promise of future returns. Where a decision needs mortgage, tax or legal advice, speak to an appropriately qualified professional.
For hands-on examples, explore the free property calculators and resources.
From the blog
Latest articles by Mark
Deposit Prescribed Information: What About Joint Tenants and a Parent Who Pays?
A practical English landlord workflow for joint-tenancy deposit information, including third-party payers, current scheme packs and clear completion evidence.
Read article →Who Pays for Tree Work in a Rented Garden?
A practical England guide to tree work at a rental, with a permissions checklist, scope comparison and clear limits on automatic tenant charges.
Read article →Can a Landlord Be Liable for a Tenant’s Water Bill?
A practical water-bill handover guide, explaining supplier-based notification duties, occupied and void periods and evidence to keep.
Read article →What Does Trace and Access Cover Mean for a Landlord?
A practical landlord guide to hidden-leak investigation cover, with separate cost categories, policy questions and an original £3,300 claim illustration.
Read article →Who Pays When a Landlord-Supplied Washing Machine Breaks?
A practical England guide to a broken supplied washing machine, separating appliance ownership, repair terms, diagnosis and the completed replacement cost.
Read article →Can a Landlord Put a Second-Hand Sofa in a Rental?
A practical used-sofa buying and evidence guide for landlords, distinguishing permanent labels from swing labels and proposals from rules already in force.
Read article →Does a Landlord Need to Pay the ICO Data Protection Fee?
A practical ICO fee assessment for landlords, explaining why fully managed does not answer the question without checking the personal information actually used.
Read article →Tenant Wants a Smart Meter: Can a Landlord Refuse?
A practical landlord response to a tenant’s smart-meter request, distinguishing the billpayer, installation access and the actual tariff costs.
Read article →Can You Use a Buy-to-Let Remortgage to Repay Personal Debt?
A lower monthly payment can mean a higher lifetime cost. Compare the whole mortgage and repayment plan before moving personal debt onto a rental.
Read article →