The Liberal Democrats have vowed to address the power imbalance between tenants and landlords by introducing national licensing and standards, longer tenancies, rent smoothing and empowered councils.
An elderly landlord’s long-standing failure to carry out roof repairs has resulted in a £5,000 win for his long-standing tenant.
A rogue landlord faces a possible jail sentence for harassment and failing to comply with a banning order.
A key member of the recently disbanded Energy Efficiency Taskforce has expressed regret that it failed to launch any effective ideas.
As the Bank of England’s base rate continues to ride high at 5.25% it has been revealed that a much higher proportion of landlords own properties via mortgages than was previously thought.
Estate agent chain Winkworth has waded into the debate on how to fix the broken property market by calling for an end to infighting around housing delivery and the reinstatement of landlords’ mortgage interest relief.
A landlord has been ordered to pay £5,312 for unlawfully evicting his tenant, leaving the renter with nowhere to stay and without access to his belongings and medication.
Nearly a quarter (23%) of people without a smart meter say it’s because - incorrectly - they live in a rental property that can't have one installed.
Scotland’s minister for tenant’s rights is oblivious to the havoc he’s wreaking in the PRS and the harm being caused to tenants, says Tory MSP.
New research from the consumer campaign group paints a grim picture of renters facing tough financial conditions as they struggle to pay the rent.
Welsh Housing Minister Julie James has warned that Rishi Sunak’s green U-turn means many tenants will continue to rent draughty, inefficient homes and face high energy bills for years to come.
A lack of public money to back landlords keen to upgrade their properties islikely to have been a major factor behind Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap changesto minimum energy standards, an expert has claimed.
Increasing regulation of the private rented sector, the pain of finding tradespeople to do property repairs and increasing fraud are pushing more landlords into the arms of letting agents, it has been revealed.
London renters can flag up breaches of the Tenant Fees Act to Trading Standards by using a new reporting tool.
The Conservatives have put housing high on the agenda at their upcoming party conference, with at least 30 fringe meetings scheduled to discuss the topic.
Homeowners are buying the vast majority of rental properties being offloaded by landlords, reducing local rented supply.
Many landlords have spent thousands of pounds on energy efficient upgrades in readiness to meet regulations that have now been ditched by Rishi Sunak.
A ground-breaking ‘rent to buy’ service that helps tenants get on the property ladder has been expanded to include private landlords.
NRLA calls for urgent government support to address rent arrears and court backlogs, proposing interest-free loans and grants to sustain tenancies.
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
The private rented sector wont meet new energy efficiency targets unless the government stumps up more cash for any replacement to the Green Homes Grant, it has been claimed. Latest https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2019-to-2020-private-
Bury Council in Manchester has adopted new measures to fine landlords up to �30,000 if their properties dont meet the recently-introduced electrical safety standards. Although the standards came into force in June 2020, they had not been adopted and implemented by the counci
Following our recent article on property investment academies and the questionable activities of some operators, we asked the leading player in the market what should happen next. Last monthLandlordZONE shone a light into the famously Wild W
Thousands of people in the UK live rent free in return for providing services and sometimes, just companionship. But the sector is unregulated and such tenancies are a huge risk for both tenant and landlord alike. An investigation by Landlo
Storms & Floods : Given the severityof the bad weather and floods in some areas of the country recently,the past weeks have been an extremely anxious time for some tenantsand landlords. Unfortunately itappears that these worries are not goi
Section 21 : Not every landlordor agent would consider handling a possession claim themselves, butthe good news is, it can be done the system is designed for LIGs litigants in person. Everyone has theright to speak for themselves in co
Commercial Property :A commercial lease is based on contract law and a contractual agreement between landlord and tenant. The rules laid down are those as agreed in the lease agreement and are largely unencumbered by statutory rules, unlike the case with a residential tenanc
Holiday Lets : With the changes tothe tax rules many buy-to-let landlords are thinking of creative waysto overcome the loss of income. Their inability to claim tax reliefon their mortgage interest and the removal of their wear and tearallowance has made a
The Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 Part II deals with the leasing of Commercial (Business) Premises in England & Wales.Commercial (Business Tenancies) Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, Part II The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (the Act) is an important piece of legislation in
Its producers are looking for landlords who need help with a nightmare tenant or letting agent and are happy to feature in the show. Are you one of the millions of landlords who tune in to watch Channel 5s regular Nightmare Tenants Slum L
LandlordZONE understands that the huge task of sifting through 1,000's responses to the governments consultation on evictions reform, and the likely long process of getting the law through Parliament, will take at least 18 months. Landlo
Private Rented Sector Consultant a private rented sector consultant at letting focus and tenants renting guide David Lawrenson
Article 4 direction : Birmingham CityCouncil is introducing a city-wide direction for houses in multipleoccupation (HMOs) from 8 June 2020. An Article 4planning direction means that planning approval will be required forthe conversion of a famil
Capital Gains Tax: Owners of second homes and buy-to-lets that they have previously lived in should be aware that as from April 2020 the tax relief period allowed against capital against tax (CGT) will be reduced. As it is a present,when you se
Letting Agent Contracts: One common question asked by landlords is, "how do I terminate my relationship with my letting agent?"For one reason or another, landlords sometimes wish to end their relationship with their letting agent and want to know how to go about it.Requests
General Election: Part of Laboursbid to be elected on 12th December is a raft of taxraising measures aimed at buy-to-let landlords and second homeowners. Jeremy CorbynsLabour party manifesto launch last week outlined a n
Condensation andmould : This time of year,as the temperature drops, both new homes and old homes aresusceptible to the formation of condensation and unsightly mould: newhomes because they are effectively a sealed box, and old homesbecause they often lack ef
The colder weather is here again, its that time of year coming; you feel that cold chill in the air, the snow and ice will soon arrive, and you know its time to get out that winter coat, scarf and gloves.You also know that cold wet weather on the way will test your rental properties and tenant
Portfolio Landlords: Buy to let lender Paragons recent research shows that professionaland larger-scale landlords are still investing and are increasing the size oftheir portfolios through more targeted investments. With an average portfolio
New rules that came into force in March allow https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/landlords-sue-cold-damp-homes-law-tenants-renting-housing-a8776671.html" tenants to sue landlords for issues like cold and damp. A broken heating system or poor ventilation that
Commercial Property : A recent High Court decision in Co-Operative Group Food Ltdv. A&A Shah Properties Ltd (2019) relates to an authorised guaranteeagreement (AGA) dispute, in this case an agreement involving a guarantor of theoutgoing tenant. <p id
The Government has announced its intention to scrap Section 21 notices for eviction in an effort to offer tenants more long-term security.
Commercial: A new set of mandatory rules introduced from 1stApril 2019 and though the document itself is titled a first edition, itsupersedes 3 previous editions published as codes of practice. The RICS (Royal Institution of Ch
Security: Renovating a buy-to-let property can be a great way for landlords to increase the rental income
Abandonment: When times get hard the instances of tenants leaving without notice are known to increase. Doing a runner�, skipping� moonlight flitting� walking away� or gone away� and in the words of the immortal song;
Tenancy Deposits: According to TDS (Tenancy Deposit Scheme) less than 1% (0.85%) of tenancies they handle have resulted in a deposit dispute in the year to March 2018, nevertheless its important to get it right when dealing with tenants' deposits.Cleaning was the most com
Viewpoint by Tom Entwistle As winter approaches outside temperatures drop and the perennial landlords problem of winter condensation and black mould rear their ugly heads again.The question is, how do you know if this is caused by the building or the tenant, or is it a co
