A major Midlands council is considering a selective licencing when its additional licencing scheme for HMOs finishes in 2025 as it seeks to answer critics who believe this type of property is damaging social cohesion in many areas. The Cabinet committee of West Northamptonshire
Living in an era where the UK has concerns about the security of energy supply, rising energy costs, and the need to meet environmental considerations, looking to innovative energy back-up alternatives makes sense. Since the shock of the war in Ukraine, it has become increasingl
Housing secretary Michael Gove has moved to reassure private landlords that the Government backs them, describing their work as vital to a functioning rented sector. His column for the https://www.nrla.org.uk/" target="_blank" NRLA </a
Strange proceedings have been reported at Bristol Magistrates Court after a landlord was fined �44,000 over serious fire safety issues at an HMO he operates. Joe Sutera attended the court hearing but refused to identify himself saying he was a man and that Joe Sutera h
A rogue landlord has been handed a hefty fine for renting out a dangerous and mouldy property his second in two years. Hazmar Fauz, of The Avenue in Welwyn, admitted several serious defects at the house in London Road, Luton, when he appeared before magistrates and was fined
Letting agents urge govt to annually increase Local Housing Allowance to at least the 30th percentile, helping benefits tenants afford rising rents.
Rising rents and frozen Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates mean that more and more tenants on low incomes cant find an affordable place to live. Whats more, for those lucky enough to find a rental that they can afford, invariably they will cost more to run.
The Renters Reform Bill wont lead to a mass landlord exodus as an army of youngsters are already starting to take older investors place. The https://www.thepropertysourcingcompany.co.uk/" Property Sourcing Companys poll of its 3
The Heat Pump Association (HPA) wants the government to firm up a date for phasing out traditional gas boilers as UK heat pump installations continue to trail the rest of Europe. The governmentshttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heat-and-buildings-strategy" i
Universal Credit expert Bill Irvine says the DWP is using the benefits cap as a reason to halt Alternative Payment Arrangements (APA) which goes against previous advice from the departments boss. In a letter to Irvine, at https://universalcreditadvice.com/our-service
A landlord in Mansfield has been ordered to pay a �17,000 penalty after renting out a sub-standard and unlicensed HMO. The landlord, who was investigated by Mansfield District Council officers after a complaint about alleged overcrowding, was found not to
Landlords and student groups have teamed up to tidy Leedss streets during student changeover week. The city hosts about 37,000 students, the vast majority of whom will move house each year at the same time, leaving behind large amounts of rubbish, overflowing bins, furniture
A twenty-something entrepreneurial pair aim to shake up the HMO sector by building on their upmarket guaranteed rent model. Liverpool-based Cosi Living founders Joe Duggan , 24 and Olivia Maher , 25, (main picture) only rented their fi
Omitting BTL landlords from the governments mortgage charter will only hurt supply and push up rents as landlords are forced to pass on their costs, says Labour. The new agreementhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_76Y3b2cjM" https://www.youtube.com
A tenant who failed to convince a judge that his landlord did not give him statutory tenancy deposit information is taking his case to the High Court. Merryck Lowes application relating to a claim for �120,888 against charitable landlord, the Governors of Suttons Hosp
Landlords should pay more tax to balance inequalities within the tax system, according to the Resolution Foundation. The think-tanks new report points out that while the top tax rate for employees stands at 53.4% including employer NICs, only 28% is paid on property gains. </
Are you confident your buildings will meet the coming changes to energy performance rules? Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) legislation has been in statute since 2008. Since then there has been a progression of increasingly stringent regulations to cajole property owners to
Landlords buying properties via personal buy-to-let mortgages are facing greater stress testing of their affordability as economic jitters unsettle lenders, it has been revealed. Financial expert Louisa Sedgwick (main picture) from broker ht
A report in The Guardian newspaper says that the Surge in no-fault evictions prompts calls to renew UK-wide ban,� on section 21 evictions that is, as was the case during the Covid pandemic. Tenants were protected from being removed during lockdown - how
Business rates revaluations are scheduled at certain times, but if these occur during period of high inflation the new fix could put businesses and commercial landlords at risk. Though business tenants are liable to pay business rates, landlords should be concerned because they
Labour's Lisa Nandy criticises landlords, pledges reforms to shift balance towards social housing and empower renters.
A Uttoxeter-based landlord, Gunes Ata, aged 47, has been successfully prosecuted by Sheffield City Council for repeatedly failing to provide his leaseholder tenants with the detailed information they are entitled to when presented with their service charges. Mr Ata, who owns She
Kwasi Kwarteng failed to deliver the hoped-for repeal of Section 24 in his mini-Budget but confirmed a permanent cut in stamp duty. The chancellor raised the threshold before stamp duty is paid to �250,000 and for first-time buyers, to �425,000 - cuts universally panned by mor
Fire doors and fire door safety are key elements in the Government's drive to improve fire safety post-Grenfell.
Landlords have been offered a glimmer of hope by the new Prime Minister whos hinted that shes not adverse to considering the repeal of Section 24. https://www.nrla.org.uk/" target="_blank" NRLA boss Ben Beadle n
Landlords have slammed the Governments new plans to force HMO landlords who operate all inclusive rental properties to pass on the �400 rebate being made available via the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS). This announcement is an abrupt U-turn previously Minister
The MP replacing Eddie Hughes at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is Lee Rowley. This 42-year-old MP and Leave voter, who was elected to parliament by the constituents of North East Derbyshire in 2017 following his two unsuccessful bids in other co
May has brought more bad news for some landlords with the Nationwide Building Society reporting a 3.4% drop in house prices in the year to May 23 and interest rates that are expected to rise to 5.5.% later this year.
Estate agents have called for landlords who advertise sex for rent to be banned from the PRS for life. In its response to the governments https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/exchange-of-sexual-relations-for-accommodation-sex-for-rent#:~:text=The%20consultatio
Redbridge Council in North London has given the go-ahead for a new borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme. The scheme extends licensing to all HMOs with three or more tenants forming two or more households after the authoritys consultation disco
The Halifax revealed today that house prices have fallen on an annual basis for the first time since December 2012, by 1%. This means the average house value has declined by �132 which may not sound a lot but represents a seismic change after years of ultra-low interest rates p
Property educators are being urged to collaborate, learn, and shape the future of property education at The Property Investors Bureau Property Educators Summit. The invitation-only industry event aims to improve standards, foster collaboration, and add value to their business by
Following our storyhttps://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/breaking-evictions-grind-to-a-halt-as-bailiffs-reduce-workload-over-health-and-safety/" https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/breaking-evictions-grind-to-a-halt-as-bailiffs-reduce-workload-over-health-and-safe
Persistent home working is affecting office occupancy rates and is leading commercial tenants to fail to renew their office leases. Ghost city streets have emerged post pandemic as occupancy rates hit a new low. In the UK it has been reported that these office space rates could
Last year saw worrying housing shortages in a number of university cities in the UK. In Leeds we were turning away larger than usual numbers of students at the back end of the summer as there were simply no rooms available. Even before the proposed changes under thehttp
The Welsh Government has launched a consultation on fair rents and adequate housing within which housing minister Julie James (main picture) reveals she is considering rent controls. The https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/consultations/2023-06/housing-adequ
Airbnb is to share data with the taxman on its hosts earnings going as far back as the 2017-18 financial year, a new warning on its website reveals. The information will help HMRC identify those making money from letting their properties without declaring it, who then face cr
A managing agent who failed to licence a property has had his appeal thrown out by a First Tier Property Tribunal. Taren Lamba tried to convince the judge that he was not in control of the property in Kenwood Road, London (main picture) by insisting that a
Illegal evictions and harassment by rogue landlords are increasing as tenants struggle to pay their rent and some landlords resort to criminal means to remove tenants as the court system falters and some landlords seek to exploit soaring rents, according to Safer Renting. Figure
In the third in a series of blogs for LandlordZONE on rental reform, Sean Hooker , Head of Redress at the https://www.theprs.co.uk/" <em
Prospective tenants flooding into London this summer along with the continued shrinkage in property numbers is set to create one of the most competitive rental markets ever seen. May bank holiday is when many 12-month and 18-month tenancies come to an end, explains Adam
Across the UK nations theres been a rolling programme of rental reform, one new tenancy regime after another, but has any of this really worked for the benefit of tenants or landlords? We dont yet know the final form the Renters (Reform) Bill will take, theres a long wa
A law firm has warned that the looming property portal will be a gold mine for tax investigators who are likely to focus on accidental landlords rather than rogue operators. The new landlord database proposed by the Renters (Reform) Bill could expose those landlords who may - p
A new Home Energy Efficiency Tool promises to help landlords and homeowners make their homes more energy efficient and reduce bills. The Nationwide Building Society initiative aims to provide information about their current energy use and will then outline the cost, energy or ca
Landlords face even longer waits than normal to evict tenants in London after two big landlords were told that bailiff operations are to be suspended for the foreseeable future. This unusual situation has been blamed by officials on now confirmed health and safety reaso
Rent reforms wont work until the real problem of affordable housing waiting lists is addressed, according to leading property expert Kate Faulkner. Although MPs are focusing on the PRS, the housing crisis is nothing to do with the private sector, believes Faulkner, who sugges
Traditional landlords in the Midlands face growing competition as the region looks set to witness a big expansion in the build-to-rent sector. Birmingham led the way nationally in 2021, according to JLL, which reports that of the pipeline of 50,000 BTR homes outside London, 11,3
Landlords have increasingly fewer BTL mortgages to choose from as lenders withdraw products amid a rise in average fixed rates. Moneyfacts reports that since the beginning of last week, the number available has dropped from 2,748 deals to 2,343 while the average rate on two- and
A rogue landlord has lost a landmark case after she failed to convince an Upper Tribunal to overturn her banning order. <figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type- " data-rt-type="" data-rt-align=""><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63bef2f3c329eff8e3a4af45/64cb99f6e035517f
Landlords in Scotland face further pain after it was announced today that it will for a second time extend the rent cap and evictions freeze first introduced in October last year to help combat rising inflation. The measures within the Cost of Living (Tenant Protec
The burgeoning build-to-rent (BTR) sector has been warned not to rest on its laurels as new research reveals slipping customer service standards. Consultancy hereSAYs BTR Mystery Shopping Benchmark Report found that although the developments still prese
Eleven tenants have been found crammed in a squalid and illegal HMO during a dawn raid on a three-bedroom house in Wembley. <figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type- " data-rt-type="" data-rt-align=""><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63bef2f3c329eff8e3a4af45/64cb9a422825
