A lettings agency boss and landlord has been slapped with a �40,700 Rent Repayment Officer despite claiming that his failure to licence an HMO was an honest mistake. A First Tier Property Tribunal handed five former tenants the maximum award for the period from September 2019 t
Scotland’s Housing Bill proposes rent controls, winter eviction bans, pet rights & tougher eviction penalties in private sector overhaul.
Bristol has approved plans to extend landlord licensing in Brislington West, Bedminster and Horfield wards in a bid to raise PRS standards. The scheme includes additional licensing - HMOs with three or more unrelated people sharing facilities and selective licensing - privat
Durham County Council's selective licensing scheme covers 29,000 homes, requiring landlords to apply by 31 July for a £350–£500 licence fee.
This is a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman case involving an unnamed landlord (LandlordX or MrX) and Brentwood Borough Council. The case revolves around a common situation where the landlord required possession of the property after serving a valid section 21 notice un
I've been in the property investment business for almost 30 years and during this period opportunities have come and gone but I've yet to discover an asset class that perf
Ever since I started to market one of my commercial buildings around 10 years ago now, I began to doubt the efficacy of the EPC rating system. The guy that came along to do the inspection told me himself he had just completed a 6 week course, or whatever it was, to train to be a
Social and private landlords are to face tougher new rules which make it mandatory to fit smoke alarms in all rented accommodation regardless of tenure, and widen the conditions under which they must be fitted. Revisions to the smoke and carbon monoxide detector regulations also
If you had �50k to invest right now, where would you put it, buy-to-let property or stocks and shares? Certainly leaving it in a traditional savings account, with interest rates as they are at rock bottom, thats out of the question. And with the threat of rising inflation ea
Research carried out by LandlordZONEs insurance partner, Hamilton Fraser Total Landlord Insurance, revealed that the vast majority of landlords, https://hamiltonfraser.co.uk/knowledge/good-landlord-quiz-results/?utm_source=landlordzone&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=lz_november
The move to provide home heating and hot water by this method is part of a Government strategy aimed at making deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonizing the UK's power sector by 2035. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the scheme was designed to bring low-carbon hea
Tenants facing eviction in England are to be protected from losing their homes during the Christmas and New Year period, HM Courts and Tribunal has confirmed. Between 13th December and 10th January no evictions should be s
Some holiday lets owners are gaming the system to claim business rate relief, comments made by the Housing Minister Lord Greenhalgh suggest, who has promised action to clamp down on the practice. In a Lords debate on second homes, peers voiced concerns that second homeo
A company that houses asylum seekers has been fined more than �60,000 for HMO offences in Newport. Clearsprings Ready Homes, which has the contract for operating accommodation for asylum seekers in Wales, was found guilty of letting an HMO in Redland Street (pictured), in the B
The Minimum Energy Performance of Buildings Bill, which aimed to advance the governments energy efficiency commitments, is in doubt following the tragic death of David Amess MP. He was the presentation bills main sponsor in the Commons, launching it at the same time as Lor
However, Carol Lewis writing for the Sunday Times newspaper thinks that holiday let owners should be paying council tax. Given that levelling up is the government's buzzword du jour, it is time to level the playing field and bring holiday-home owners in line wi
Landlords and letting agents hit by the collapse of Ash Residential Property Management Limited (ARPM) have been left struggling to claw back deposits and fees after it ceased trading last month with debts of almost �1.5m. At least 8,000 properties and their landlords are affec
HMRC warns that owners must accurately declare these earnings on their self assessment tax returns or face criminal charges if in default. A boom in bookings The Covid pandemic has stored up excess demand for stay at home Britains under the foreign holiday restrictio
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
Experts discuss the implications of abolishing Section 21 evictions, including potential delays, increased court burdens, and impacts on tenant mobili
While in England the housing minister Eddie Hughes has just https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/breaking-minister-confirms-government-will-not-consider-rent-controls-in-england/" target="_blank" ruled out rent controls , in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Irish R
Weve all heard the expression, ignorance of the law is no excuse� and this applies without question in all areas of the law. But in some rare instances it seems the courts and tribunals are open to accepting a defence of what is termed reasonable excuse even when the regulatio
Nottingham benefits landlord Mick Roberts (main picture) has made another bid to sell 40 of his properties by offering to cut the sale price by a tenth if a landlord buyer keeps his existing tenants on. The regular LandlordZONE contributor has previously suggested https
Landlords have been warned to check a propertys potential status if their tenant wants to offer Ukrainian refugees a spare room. Updated guidance on the rules around the Homes for Ukraine scheme outlines that where a private tenant is paying rent for their accommodation, the
The Welsh government has announced a five-and-a-half-month delay to the introduction of its controversial Renting Homes Act which had been due to go live on 15th July this year. Now postponed until 1st December, housing minister Julie James says
Landlords are required to conform to the safety and environmental rules set-out in these regulations so its important you understand the law regarding the building regulations. The rules are in place to ensure that buildings meet a certain standard of safety to protect residents and memb
Landlords in Wales who rent out self-catering accommodation will no longer be able to dodge council tax under new and tighter rules announced by the Welsh government. In its bid to crack down on the impact many holiday lets and second homes are having on communities and the Wels
A staggering 71% of all landlords reported having at least one tenant in arrears due to the pandemic, according to the latest English Private Landlord Survey . Nearly a third (29%) were lucky not to have any, but landlords with one property most commonly ha
Landlords in England have since October 2015 been required to install carbon monoxide alarms in their residential rented accommodation where a solid fuel solid fuel heating appliance was fitted. This would include all open fireplaces that were available to be used, that is where
With rental growth in prime London offices set to outpace the rest of the country, the doom mongers predicting permanent working from home (WFH) and office flight have so far, it seems, been on the wrong tack. Quarter 1, 2022 has seen rent returns rise as UK commercial property
The government has today officially opened its Boiler Upgrade Scheme for applications including those from private landlords. Operated by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy , it offers applicants it offers gra
One of the UKs most notorious property investment fraudsters has been jailed for six years after a court heard how he swindled investors out of �592,000. 42-year-old father of three John Keats-Ormandy persuaded eight people to invest in his scheme by claiming he had a portfo
Brighton and Hoves Green Party is pushing for rent controls in the city where its now the most expensive place to rent outside the capital. The https://www.brightonhovegreens.org/" target="_blank" Green-controlled council, with Lab
A report on Irelands 50+ rent control pressure zones has revealed that the policy has led to higher rents and landlords quitting the market. Commissioned by the https://www.ipav.ie/" Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers
Claims by a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) minister that possession case delays are being addressed have been questioned by leading evictions specialist Landlord Action. In response to a question from Conservative MP Theresa Villiers, MoJ Parliamentary Under Secretary of State James
An investigation by LandlordZONE into data privacy within the private rental sector has revealed how many letting agents and landlords are sharing information about tenants' referencing information in contravention of GDPR regulations. In particular, many
Instead of abolishing Section 21 the government should encourage landlords to keep their tenants when they sell rather than via 'vacant possession', a leading landlording expert has claimed during a podcast with TV star Phil Spencer. Property Tribes Vanessa Warwick (main pic)
Commercial real estate has the advantage of providing landlords with a high income return, generally a higher yield than residential property, thats providing your tenants remain, rents can be increased regularly to keep pace with inflation, and where finances are involved, interest rate
SearchFlow one of the biggest conveyancing search providers in England and Wales has over 2,500 legal clients and conducts more than 1 million searches every year. On the 17th of May SearchFlows web seminar will brings together leading lawyers and practitione
England’s new private rental portal to track landlords, properties, compliance & disputes—enhancing transparency and enforcement.
HMO numbers in England have dropped by 3% during the past 12 months many landlords offloaded their buy-to-let stock instead of negotiating more legislative hurdles. Market analysis by Octane Capital reveals that while there were 511,278 HMOs in 2019/2020, this fell to 497,884 in
Multi-millionaire landlord Fergus Wilson has vowed to appeal against a High Court ruling ordering him to pay �125,000 to Ashford Council for harassing staff. A defiant Wilson tells LandlordZONE that he continues to dispute claims and believes the authorit
Traditionally, contracts for buying and selling property always relied on the old English common law principle of caveat emptor, or let the 'buyer beware'. In other words, the seller did not need to reveal material facts (defects) about the property for sale so long as the buyer, with
Tory MPs are urging the government to cut or scrap stamp duty in a bid to save homebuyers thousands although their proposals dont extend to landlords, LandlordZONE can reveal. Kevin Hollinrake, a member of the Treasury select committee and founder of Hunters estate agent,
