Former Housing Minister Esther McVey has been claiming tens of thousands of pounds in Parliamentary expenses for renting a London flat, despite her husband owning a property a mile away, it has been claimed.
The government has been urged to stop “sitting on its hands” and bring forward changes to protect tenants, leaseholders and landlords from poor practices in the lettings industry.
A new DIY lettings service for landlords should help Hello Neighbour fulfil its ambition of becoming the biggest letting agent in England, according to co-founder Richard Jenkins.
A landlord who rented out his unlicensed, seven-bedroom HMO to 13 tenants has been ordered to pay £3,000.
In February the average BTL mortgage rate fell to 5.5% which is the lowest since September 2022.
Landlord and tenant groups have welcomed proposals by MPs on the Work and Pensions Select Committee to introduce an annual ‘uprating guarantee’ to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA).
Only one in five (18%) landlords understand the Renters (Reform) Bill, while just 3% have read guidance surrounding the legislation, according to a new Propertymark poll.
The Guardian suggests that Government may start to veer towards a “surprisingly simple solution to the UK housing crisis” which could see them squeeze landlords further, blaming them for the current housing crisis affecting home-buyers.
A new report published today claims that 390,000 jobs rely on the private rented sector as critics of the sector, including the Guardian newspaper, have called for it to be shrunk or abolished entirely.
A housing safety law expert has called for Southwark Council to be hit with a multi-million pound fine after it failed to carry out required electrical safety tests at its properties.
All the major political parties have now released their manifestos ahead of the July general election. Here James Kent, the NRLA’s Chief Innovation Officer, and founder of digital compliance platform Safe2, looks at what they are promising when it comes to PRS property standards and compliance.
A rogue landlord who was fined £34,640 for having eight unlicensed HMOs has failed in an attempt to have his conviction overturned.
Labour party figures’ desire to end tenant bidding wars is unworkable in practice, while unenforced legislation would not lead to any real improvement, according to a top property lawyer.
A legal expert has warned that an amendment to the recently-passed Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act that raises the 25% non-residential limit in collective enfranchisement claims to 50% will have serious consequences for mixed-use developments.
The NRLA is to drop the word ‘landlord’ from its strapline in a bid to change public attitudes of those who rent out and manage properties.
Now more than ever, it makes sense to take extra precautions when letting a property. Taking a guarantor or rent guarantee insurance are great ways to protect yourself against rent arrears and other issues in a tenancy
The Labour party has clarified that although it will seek to stop agents and landlords encouraging bidding wars, tenants will be allowed to make ‘voluntary’ higher offers above the original rental asking price.
The NRLA has backed Labour’s proposal to stop landlords and letting agents enabling ‘bidding wars’ by requiring them to advertise a proposed rent based on market rates, with bids above that figure prohibited.
Lambeth Council has launched a new additional licensing scheme that will see the boroughs private landlords paying the highest per bedroom HMO fees in the country. Under the current licensing scheme, landlords pay an application fee of �289 per bedroom for a five-year licenc
The Section 21 possession procedure (currently under threat of being removed) is a no fault eviction process where the landlord can serve notice on a tenant to regain possession once the initial minimum 6 months or contracted fixed term has ended. A section 21 notice is for 2
A dog-owning tenant has launched a legal challenge against her freeholder which could result in parting with her pets or the leasehold. The womans partner moved into her property five years ago with three small dogs and admitted this to the freeholder. It then sent her a
A tech professional who is also a landlord has launched what she believes to be the ideal solution to the impasse between landlords who won’t take tenants with pets, and the estimated 7.6 million tenants in the UK who want to live with their cats or dogs.
Landlords and agents must make sure they dont come a cropper deciding what constitutes a single household when vetting HMO tenants in an age of polyamorous relationships, warns a top property lawyer. While the legal definition of a household can be explained quickly, re
Just over a quarter of a billion pounds has been clawed back from landlords since HMRC's Let Property campaign began eight years ago, it has been revealed. The latest figure for the campaign were revealed by Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jesse Norman in response to a writt
With private rentals and holiday homes in high demand, many due to Covid and holiday staycations, some councils are offering landlords some very attractive incentives, dubbed golden hellos� of up to �3,500. Some councils have been offering private landlords and second home
A landlord who was hauled up on minor maintenance issues has been refused an HMO licence by Glasgow City Council. Khurshid Begum told its licensing and regulatory committee that he had sorted all the problems at his property in Grant Street, Hillhead, but councillors would still
The UK Government has identified that homes across the UK contribute about 1/5 of all carbon emissions from the country. In order for the UK to reach its ambitious carbon neut
As a landlord, your life is far from idle as you work hard to find new tenants, manage your current ones, do the admin, find reliable tradespeople and much more.<br>Faced with
House building giant Barratt has revealed what it claims to be the future of UK housing a 37 sq metre one-bedroom apartment for sale at �285,000. The 160 initial Smrt homes are within the companys huge Eastman Village development in Harrow, North London where event
A national rogue tenant register to combat the issue of renters trashing properties and leaving landlords out of pocket could be open to abuse, a leading expert has warned. Sean Hooker, head of redress at the https://www.theprs.co.uk/" target="_blank" <strong id="
August got off to an unsettled and changeable start this year, with heavy rain and flooding in many parts of the UK. But the long-range weather forecast is now predicting warmer than usual conditions in late August, and potentially even a heat wave, with temperatures set to soar across some
Rent Smart Wales is challenging letting agents and landlords over the widespread practice of charging student tenants summer retainer fees which it claims are unlawful under Welsh legislation. It says a retainer is an additional fee which is unlawful under the Renting Home
Owners (landlords) of commercial (business) premises and sometimes residential premises want to let to a tenant on a short term basis, but are fearful of creating a long-term arrangement such that the tenant cannot be removed if the landlord wants it.Basically, there are three ways to do that whi
When it comes to owning a buy-to� let property, the decision as to whether to use an agent or not is a big one. It is estimated that more than half of landlords self-manage their rental properties, believing it to be the best way to maintain control over who lives there and how
Commercial investments produce an average yield of 10.7% while residential properties offer just 3.7%, new research has claimed. Scotland is home to the highest commercial yield at 20.4%, along with the South West (13.7%), while Scotland is also where investors can find the high
While the cost of renting continues to increase across the UK, the Government continues to grapple with the issue of making renting more accessible and secure, especially for
Covid-19 restrictions are easing, so now is the time to take decisive action to support la
Especially at a time like this, in the middle of a pandemic, when good commercial tenants are hard to find, landlords dread the time when a lease comes to an end, or their tenant goes into administration. When a commercial landlord loses a tenant, not only do they lose regular r
The government is pouring �13m into a homelessness reduction initiative to fund long-term accommodation for prison leavers in the private rented sector. More than 140 councils across England will share out the cash to pay for landlord incentives and loans for rent deposits, spe
We know that households across the UK will need to adopt a low carbon alternative to traditional heating solutions such as oil, gas, coal or wood burning in the future. Air source or geothermal ground source heat pumps are being touted as just such an alternative to help the UK
During these difficult times many tenants have found themselves in the position of wanting to divest themselves of surplus property, to reduce rental commitments by ending a lease agreement before it full term has expired. Perhaps the only way of doing this from the tenants p
Landlords who own leasehold properties in low and medium-rise apartment blocks affected by the cladding scandal will no longer have to supply an EWS1 form when selling or remortgaging their properties, the government has announced. Thousands of landlords who have been unable to
Spiralling fraud and overpayments in the benefits system now stand at the highest rate ever recorded, admits the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), as it identifies housing payments as an area of concern. Housing benefit fraud is particularly rife after the pandemic resulted
