��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.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has dropped a hint that he could be willing to consider tax concessions for landlords. Speaking in the Commons during a Budget debate, he told MPs that the government needed to make sure there was fairness in the tax treatment of landlords before l
Tax changes in the private rented sector have lost the Treasury �1.5 billion in revenue, according to new research commissioned by the NRLA. https://www.capitaleconomics.com/" target="_blank" Capital Economics fou
A landlord in Derby has been convicted of an illegal eviction and ordered by a court to pay a �1,600 fine. After initially agreeing a 12-month rental for an unfurnished house with a young family, landlord Grace Young of Pear Tree Street, Derby then attempted to illegally evict
A new devolution deal will give the 10 Greater Manchester councils powers to approve larger selective licensing schemes. The pact, signed by Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison (pictured, below), Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (main pic) and the council leaders, will al
A landlord whose properties are caught up in the cladding scandal faces a bill of up to �50,000 unless the government changes the rules about who it will subsidise. Neera Soni rents out a number of leasehold properties and says she and at least a quarter of those owners at
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been urged to clamp down on rogue exempt accommodation providers who exploit the housing benefit system and put vulnerable tenants at risk. An investigation by the London Assembly Housing Committee found some rogue providers wer
The Isle of Wight Council has vowed to charge owners of second homes and empty properties more council tax as soon as it gets the go-ahead from the government. Its ruling Alliance Administration had suggested putting a 100% tax premium on second homes and empty properties, howev
A senior figure from the banking world has claimed that institutional investment is the golden ticket to solve the UKs supply and quality problems within the private rented sector (PRS). Cedric Bucher (main image), who heads up Hearthstone Investments </st
Another First Tier Property Tribunal has confirmed that a superior landlord cannot be held responsible for a Rent Repayment Order (RRO), following the landmark Rakusen case. Tenant Riaz Moola had tried to argue that landlord Khalil Mbarek was responsible for the property in t
A landlord with a property in West Essex has urged LandlordZONE readers to be more careful when trusting agents to protect their tenants deposits via one of the governments approved schemes after a vindictive renter took her to a property
A cross-party group of MPs has urged the government to ensure HMO and other 'all inclusive' landlords dont pocket multiple council tax rebates under its new scheme https://www.gov.uk/government/news/households-urged-to-get-ready-for-150-council-tax-rebate" target="_blank"
The Welsh Government is to bring in its https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/welsh-government-to-wage-new-war-on-holiday-lets/" promised local tax rules for holiday lets to address the problem of unaffordable housing. Self-catering accomm
External auditors are to investigate selective licensing in Nottingham following a complaint about whether it provides value for money. One of the citys landlords has made a formal objection about the scheme which charges them up to �890 every five years for each rental prop
Councils are seeking to reclassify HMO properties as multiple single dwellings for council tax purposes to raise additional revenue, it has been reported. <figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type- " data-rt-type="" data-rt-align=""><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63bef2
A long-established letting agent has gone bust, leaving more than 200 deposits unprotected and many landlords without tenancy agreements and gas and EPC certificates. Pendley Estates in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, was a formerly reputable firm that had been trading since the 1
The UK government has committed to meeting internationally agreed carbon neutral targets and as natural gas (used in domestic boilers) is a major contributor to carbon emissions, a low carbon alternative such as hydrogen, used in existing equipment, is a likely replacement in the future.</p
The BBC has joined the ranks of landlord-bashing media by publishing a story that gives a distinctly one-sided view of an eviction, helping bolster Shelter and other organisations' campaigns to ban Section 21 notices. It quotes a tenant as saying she was in panic mode� when
Thousands of landlords whose properties are managed by a leading online letting platform are to see their property management firm change hands after Howsy revealed it is to be acquired by a major high street lettings agency. Launched in 2016 originally as No Agent
The road to net zero is paved with additional costs for Britain, not least the amount of money it will take to upgrade commercial property, in the industrial alone. Achieving grade B� ratings under the 2030 Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) requirements for the UK
Camden Council has handed out banning orders to four rogue landlords for letting an unlicensed and unsafe home in Kilburn. All part of the same interconnected group of London-based family and business associates - Mohammed Ali Abbas Rasool, 30, of Manor House Drive, Daya Ahmed D
Coventry aims to come down hard on HMO expansion within the city by introducing an Article 4 Direction. Councillors have approved the plans which will now form part of a public consultation this summer. They hope to change the rules which currently allow landlords to
Landlords who own flats hit by the cladding scandal will be covered by the remediation fund, the government has announced. However, portfolio landlords have been left out, with property experts suggesting that this omission will mean work will be held up and their flats could be
Drummed up by popular media horror stories, egged on by the homelessness charities, the ban Section 21� band waggon kept on rolling until eventually the politicians saw it would be politically advantageous to jump aboard. What is Section 21 <p id="
The governments controversial policy of phasing out natural gas boilers in favour of heat pumps, in its drive to meet internationally agreed energy efficiency targets, could be stymied because of an out of date EPC algorithm. Regardless of the fact that many older poorly insu
Westminster Council has launched a spirited campaign to stop central London being overrun by nuisance short-term lets booked chiefly through Airbnb. It is lobbying the government to follow Paris and Amsterdams lead whose authorities have clamped down on problem properties. </
After two decades of low property insurance premium rates, prices are being driven up by inflation. Steve Barnes, Associate Director at https://hamiltonfraser.co.uk/landlord-insurance/?utm_source=landlordzone&utm_medium=article&utm_id=lz+feb22+insurance+rising" target="_blank" id="
The large herbaceous perennial with its bamboo-like appearance became infamous in Britain for its threat to buildings. Its rapid growth, its size and most importantly the damage it can do, made it the villain of the horticultural world, and it became feared by property owners and mortgag
Four years after it was launched, the number on the Rogue Landlord database has only crept up to 61 out of the thousands claimed to be operating within the private rental sector, the latest government figures show. Asked by opposition MP Gill Furniss to provide an update, Housin
Flat owners (leaseholders) only own their leasehold property for a fixed period of time and during that period they pay ground rent and service charges to the freeholder (landlord). Theres always a long-lease agreement, a detailed legal tenancy agremeent between the leasehold
Luton Council has finally got its act together and revealed blanket HMO licensing for the town after a number of false starts over the last few years. HMOs of any size will now need a licence under its additional scheme which launches on 1st April, while all privately rented pro
The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 provides a right for leaseholders to acquire the freehold landlords management functions by transfer to a company set up by them the Right To Manage (RTM) company. The thinking behind the right was to empower leaseholders. The
Appeal Court judges have found in favour of the landlord in the landmark case of Northwood Solihull v Fearn & Ors, preventing a potentially huge logistical headache for landlords and letting agents. The judges ruled that any authorised employee of a landlord or letting agent
In an apparent re-run of Harold Wilsons 1970s investment income tax surcharge, Labour plan to re-introduce such an additional layer of tax to what is termed unearned income�. The Wilson Labour government applied an investment income surcharge of 15% and kept the top rate
According to a recent report by estate agents Hamptons, over the last four years the number of landlords operating their buy to let business through a limited company has doubled. There were 47,400 new buy-to-let companies incorporated in 2021 right across the UK, the figures be
