Nearly one-fifth of private rented homes would need work costing more than �10,000 to bring them up to an EPC Band C, according to the latest PRS figures. The English Housing Survey Private Rented Sector report for 2020-21 found that these were more likely to need larger sums o
The latest figures available from Rightmove show that London rents jumped by around 14 per cent in the last year, with some property experts calling it the most competitive market on record Matt Hutchinson, a director at SpareRoom, the flat sharing website, has said: <p
The pandemic has had a devastating impact on commercial property, with lockdowns, social distancing, working from home (WFH), all accelerating the move to online and home deliveries. The likes of Tesco, Ocado and the other big supermarket deliveries were the saviour of the public during the
Welsh politicians have reaffirmed their desire to consider rent controls in the PRS while announcing plans to crack down on the holiday let sector. Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price (main pic, right) suggested rent controls could be on the table when the long-awaited but now <a href
Michael Gove, arguable the best housing secretary for some years, has been sacked from his job after joining a chorus of Tory cabinet ministers calling on the PM to resign. During a fast-moving day in politics which has seen over 40 MPs quit the government or withdraw their supp
Welsh government leaders have revealed radical plans to licence holiday lets in a bid to get tough on the causes of long-term rental shortages. The region is to introduce a cap on the number of second and holiday homes while bringing in measures to put more homes into common own
HMO landlords face paying thousands of pounds for https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/safety-peer-asks-why-private-landlords-must-do-electrical-checks-when-social-ones-are-exempt/" electrical equipment when new regulations kick in later this year. An amendment
Manchester aims to double the size of its selective licensing scheme by adding another 1,884 properties in eight areas. The council has given it the go-ahead to the https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/manchester-mayor-vows-to-launch-1-5m-landlord-licensing-across-city/"
Owners of second homes in many coastal and holiday locations could face a ban on renting using lettings websites like Airbnb. Tourist hotspots such as coastal towns in Cornwall and Devon are particularly affected. Communities being eroded In many of these towns, loca
Brighton and Hove has its sights set on being the first city to slap a ban on second homes and holiday lets. The Green-controlled council is looking to clamp down on landlords profiting from the staycation boom amid fears that the rapid growth has impacted on the availability of
Prepare for the Leasehold Reform Act on 30 June: what landlords need to know about new ground rent rules and leasehold fairness.
The long-awaited Government White Paper, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1083378/A_fairer_private_rented_sector_web_accessible.pdf" target="_blank" A Fairer Private Rented Sector ,
According to recent research buy property agents Hamptons International, for the last 11 months its been cheaper to buy a home with a 10% deposit than rent. This is because to rental growth was tearing away before and mortgage rates were near their record lows. In May this ye
Abolishing fixed-term tenancies risks ruining the student rental market, warns leading provider of major housing contraction.
Thousands of landlords have vowed to switch to short-term lets when Section 21 notices are abolished, a new survey has found. Assist Inventories study of 10,000 landlords and letting agents revealed that 45% plan to move away from long-term tenancies while 41% said they might
The new Building Regulations and accompanying technical upgrade to the SAP assessment methodology ask for a completely different way of measuring the energy performance of many buildings, giving a market boost to those properties with higher EPC ratings. Effective from last week
A landlord too terrified to reveal her name has warned others to conduct more regular property checks after she unwittingly rented her house to a drug-dealing gang for years. The North London-based landlord has had the same tenants since 2005 but only discovered their illegal ac
New research reveals how adult tenants cause as much damage as pets in rental properties and that for smaller landlords, animal damage costs less to repair. The survey of 537 landlords and lettings agents found 85% have experienced both kinds of damage while only 29% of landlord
A new law to crack down on predatory landlords who exploit vulnerable people for sex in return for free or discounted rent is being considered, Home Secretary Suella Braverman (main picture) has announced. Her department is seeking the views of victims, the police and charities
There are heavy fines for those landlords who fail to have their rental properties tested by a qualified electrician before letting, and for existing tenancies, or if they fail to comply with any of the important recommendations made in a test report. The landlord will ordinarily have 28 da
Tribunal judge warns landlords to include licensing update clauses in agency contracts to avoid fines for non-compliance with licensing requirements.
The number of VAT and/or PAYE enterprises operating in the UKs residential and commercial rental sectors climbed 2% in the past year, despite the governments best efforts to deter investment. Analysis of government data by debt advisory firm https://siriusfinance.
Luton Council is making yet another attempt to bring in two new licensing schemes after a string of false starts amid landlord opposition. Its overview and scrutiny board has agreed to recommend a town-wide additional scheme as well as a selective scheme in South ward, which now
Durham citys parish council has taken the unusual step of asking student landlords to make a voluntary donation towards the cost of cleaning up street waste and discarded furniture. It will ask for a contribution of �52 towards its precept from student landlords to match the
Two-thirds of private landlords might sell up if they are forced to make EPC upgrades, new research finds. The Mortgage Advice Bureau says 59% would consider selling their property due to not being able to afford the changes needed to meet the minimum level. With an
NRLA boss Ben Beadle has urged the government to learn from the awful implementation� of Renting Homes Wales which he labelled a car crash of epic proportions�. Speaking on The Guild of Property Professionalshttps://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/guildprop
The Mayor of London has accused private landlords across the UK of taking rent worth �9 billion for homes that are non decent, �1.6 billion of which is paid for via housing benefit. The figure is highlighted as, this morning, Sadiq Khan reveals his PRS research generated
Fewer than one in five private rental properties in England were within the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates last year, according to new joint research by the Chartered Institute of Housing and Shelter . The groups say the average
The government has missed a trick by not introducing a tenancy register instead of an anti-landlord landlord register, one property consultant has claimed. Blackbird Real Estate founder https://www.richard-berridge.co.uk/" target="_blank" Richa
The number of BTL investors buying properties has plummeted in the last six months while long-term landlords are selling up, according to one large conveyancing firm. Basildon-based https://pcslegal.co.uk/" PCS Legal
The Non-Domestic Rating Bill going through Parliament (House of Lords) will require business ratepayers to report any changes and also report annually to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). These changes to the operation of business rates will apply to all organisations responsib
Yesterday I spoke to a room of 200 anxious landlords. The uncertainly surrounding the Renters (Reform) Bill really has whipped the housing market into a frenzy with landlords serving notices, selling up and exiting the sector in their droves. The mere thought of Sect
��Lender NatWest has been called out by commentators after it announced significant increases to its landlord mortgages. The bank, which is till 38% Government owned, announced late yesterday that it was increasing the interest rates it charges on a range of home loans, includ
Report finds London has 38,600 Build‑to‑Rent homes plus 34,100 more in pipeline, transforming the capital’s rental market.
Tenant groups in Scotland have called for councils to clamp down on landlords who rent out properties under the guise of holiday lets. <figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type- " data-rt-type="" data-rt-align=""><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63bef2f3c329eff8e3a4af45/6
According to the Financial Times (FT), property investors have pumped around �2bn into converting under-used and unwanted London office space as the trend to Working from Home (WfH) continues, and as it looks like becoming an embedded employment practice in many inner city o
A management company has been ordered to pay out more than £49,000 for fire safety failures at an HMO. Monsoon Properties Ltd admitted breaches relating to a range of issues at the flat in Londons Tavistock Place, including inadequate fire detection system, obstructions to t
First-time renters accounted for just 4.6% of new tenancies during the first five months of the year, as more would-be tenants rely on the hotel of Mum and Dad. With average monthly rents topping �1,000, young adults can save �12,290 by living rent-free with their parents each
A large County Court in London has written to its legal clients to warn them that some of their scheduled evictions face being cancelled or rescheduled. The announcement has been made by the Civil and Family Court in Barnet (main picture), one of the major hubs handling eviction
A landlord in Dartford has batted off a huge rent repayment order (RRO) claim made by her tenants after a judge dismissed the case during a virtual Property Tribunal hearing. Manjit Sanghera, who co-manages the family detached property on the outskirts of the Kentish town with h
Campaigning group the London Renters Union is targeting landlords in London by urging councils to come down much harder on failing properties. It has launched an action plan in Brent, detailing how the local authority should hold landlords accountable for more than 10,000 privat
Buy-to-let landlords will influence https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/sponsored/what-do-the-falling-house-prices-mean-for-landlords/" house prices if a large number choose to sell up, according to rating agency Moodys. The firm is predicting that prices will f
The average annual https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/battle-over-holiday-lets-hots-up-as-campaigning-mp-holds-meeting/" holiday let income exceeded buy-to-let income for the first time in 2020-21, reaching �15,600 compared with �13,400, according to HMRC.
Short-term let landlords in https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/edinburgh-chief-admits-burdensome-licencing-plan-will-hugely-reduce-holiday-lets/" Edinburgh have won their legal case against the councils licensing scheme. In the biggest crowdfunded case in
Almost two-thirds of surveyors have witnessed rising numbers of buy-to-let landlords looking to sell their properties. The https://www.rics.org/" Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reports that a similar number have seen a drop in the level of inter
A new Parliamentary petition has been set up urging the government to ditch plans to remove assured shorthold tenancies. The LandlordZONE reader, who has a portfolio of properties in Yorkshire and Lancashire, was prompted to take action as he fears it could be the final nail in
Confusion surrounds the governments plans to introduce https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/blog-will-the-looming-pets-in-lets-rules-prove-pervasive/" pets in lets measures, with conflicting messages coming from the DLUHC. It has confirmed that the new
With increasing costs, inflation hovering around the 10 per cent mark and mortgage rates approaching 6 per cent theres lots of talk about increasing rents. Many landlords are unable to absorb these extra costs without going into losses, so for them theres little choice, th
This year our economy, regulations and taxes were the final straw that led landlords rushing to sell off their portfolios to beat the market drops, mortgage versus rent gaps a
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
