Urgent regulation of the spray foam industry is needed to prevent making thousands of homes un-mortgagable, warn leading property groups. Sprayed polyurethane expanding foams are often used in lofts, either to stabilise a failing roof covering or to provide extra insulation. But
Portsmouths HMOs are in the firing line again as growing numbers are being referred to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to have their council tax bands reassessed. Rather than paying tax on the whole property, each room can be classified as a band A at a cost of �1,200, wit
A severely disabled tenant and his family have barricaded themselves into their home in a bid to prevent a controversial eviction. Quadriplegic Harvey Cowe, 62, and his wife Sheree, 55, have lived at the house in Brittany Road, Hove, for 25 years after Brighton & Hove C
A leading letting agent has criticised the reasoning behind the UKs ever-growing list of selective licensing schemes. Selective licensing covers all rented property in a given area or council borough and landlords are required to pay a five-yearly fee of between �500 and �9
Landlords in Bristol will soon be required to gain planning permission to convert properties into HMOs in three key areas, it has been revealed. South Gloucestershire Council is to bring in Article 4 directions in the Bristol neighbourhoods of Stoke Park and Cheswick and parts o
Londons mayor Sadiq Khan has urged private landlords who are planning to exit the private rented market to sell their properties to local councils instead of other landlords. Khan made the comments within a self-congratulatory statement on his website l
A landlord in London must now pay �40,000 after losing his appeal against his fine for breaching Mandatory HMO licensing conditions at a bedsit property above a pub. Earlier this year Islington council brought a prosecution against Mohammed Shahid for fai
For years now, what would appear to have been successive waves of anti-landlord legislation have been bearing down on buy to let, but will this change under a new prime minister? From George Osborne to Rishi Sunack, the Treasury, it would seem, has been milking the buy to let la
The next chapter in the troubling story of property guru Glenn Armstrong has begun after court records have revealed that the infamous �3m seven-bedroom trophy mansion he often used within his marketing effort has been repossessed by bailiffs. The 62-year-olds now form
Ben Beadle critiques Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss for neglecting landlord concerns, urging focus on supply crisis and policy clarity.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called on the next Tory PM to force landlords to pay tenants moving costs when asking them to move out of a property where the renter is not at fault. His comments were made during a debate within the London Assembly on housing issues in the capita
A landlord has been unwittingly drawn into a heated debate over the looming changes to the Welsh private rented sector. The country's Government recently delayed its planned reforms that will alter how tenancies, properties and evictions are managed, similar in many ways to the
Wannabe Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced that, if elected next month, she will introduce measures to enable tenants within the private rented sector to record their rent with the UK's credit reference agencies. This will both help tenants get on the property ladder via imp
A landlord in East London is to pay two of her former tenants just over �12,000 after a rent repayment order (RRO) tribunal judge said she had at times bullied the pair and verged on threatening behaviour. Judge Shepherd awarded
A challenger utilities provider has claimed that HMO landlords can solve their tenants mounting bill payment challenges by using tech. Glide, which has a fast-spreading network of its own broadband cables around the UK but also offers bundled utility deals to homeowners and t
Leeds has the highest number of student properties in the UK, according to new research. Website money.co.uk analysed the biggest university towns and cities, giving Leeds, which has five universities and one of the biggest student populations, the top spot with 16,225, followed
Leaseholders can now check their eligibility for a share of the �4.5 billion Building Safety Fund, which has reopened to take new applications.� � Those living in buildings over 18m with cladding issues can apply for a share of the fund. However, the DLUHC tel
Barnet Council is reintroducing borough-wide HMO licensing in a bid to improve property standards despite less than impressive figures in its previous additional licensing scheme. According to one of the respondents in the consultation report, only 32% of licensable properties h
Bank of England cuts base rate to 5%, offering relief to landlords with buy-to-let mortgages nearing the end of fixed-rate deals.
Encouraging landlords to rent out more homes will not solve the housing crisis, it has been claimed.
A rogue landlord who was also a letting agent in Essex has been banned from being a landlord in England for three years.
A big council in the East Midlands has revealed plans to extend and widen its additional licencing scheme for HMOs.
Labour has moved to make good on its manifesto promise to reform and improve the Right to Buy scheme which, under the Tories, saw the number of publicly-funded affordable rented homes in England shrink dramatically.
Councils are failing in more ways than one. When it comes to complaints from their tenants, repairs and maintaining safety standards, councils are not performing
An HMO landlord has lost his appeal against an improvement notice ordering him to update a 'paddle staircase'.
The number of short lets in Scotland fell last year as the sector felt the impact of its licensing scheme clampdown.
One in five private renters had to provide a guarantor when moving into their current property - equating to 940,000 households - according to the latest English Housing Survey.
The Government has promised to fix significant glitches that have been reported within its e-VISAs system, which is used by landlords and letting agents to verify the Right to Rent status of prospective tenants.
Lodgers’ rental costs could revert to 2017 levels if just 1% of the UK’s 26 million spare rooms were rented, according to flat sharing site SpareRoom.
Blackpool council has received the go-ahead to start selective licencing in eight inner wards despite worries among some landlords about the consultation process that preceded the decision.
Scotland’s animal welfare organisations have called on MSPs to support stronger protections for pet owners in the private and social rental sectors ahead of a crucial debate in Holyrood.
Celebrating 10 years and 20,000+ members, Property Redress rebrands with a new site and tools for faster, easier dispute resolution.
Small, proactive steps can make a big difference, keeping tenants comfortable and protecting buildings from problematic mould and damp.
There are optimistic signs, says Shawbrook Bank. Their data on the commercial property market shows a rebound
Accidental landlords are a dying breed, according to one mortgage expert, who blames government policy for their eventual demise.
The Government is to make it unlawful for landlords and agents to ask prospective tenants for large sums of rent in advance, housing minister Matthew Pennycook has confirmed.
A leading property lawyer has poured scorn on government estimates that the Renters’ Rights Bill will cost landlords £12 per rented property each year.
Landlords with holiday let properties in Wales will soon have to register their properties and collect a £1.25 per person, per night fee from clients.
West Northamptonshire Council has given the go-ahead for an extended additional licensing scheme in Northampton.
A big council in London has called on letting agents to stop pitting tenants against one other in “exploitative” bidding wars within the borough.
Keir Starmer got into hot water recently after saying landlords did not ‘work’ for their income, but Scotland’s housing minister has taken a very different approach.
Airbnb has teamed up with global landlord Greystar to allow tenants in three London apartment blocks to rent out their homes.
More than 100 local councils in England and Wales have not prosecuted any rogue landlords in the last five years despite getting thousands of complaints.
Ever since the government announced its new inheritance tax rules, there has been intense debate about how many people will be affected
The NRLA has insisted that its evidence around the Renters’ Rights Bill was not “alarmist” nor due to “fundamental opposition” to proposed changes as claimed by housing minister Matthew Pennycook.
Higher market rents is the most common reason given by landlords for a rent hike, affecting 20% of private renters, according to new research by Generation Rent.
Irish landlords are facing rent controls after one of the three main parties running for election next Friday (29th November) promised to ‘cut rents’ as the cost of living continues to be an issue.
Preventing landlords from raising rents in between tenancies is an idea - like rent controls - that simply “could not survive contact with reality”, says Scotland’s landlord body.
Landlords who have properties within ‘problem’ leasehold blocks have been given some good news following housing minister Matthew Pennycook confirmation that Labour will ‘end leasehold’ and make commonhold the ‘default’ tenure before the end of this parliament.
Smaller landlords are being forced out of the private rental sector in favour of corporate limited companies – and tenants will be the losers, according to one landlord who’s quitting.
Three rogue landlords have been fined a total of £403,079 for operating a network of unlicensed and unsafe HMOs, labelled “an orchestrated system of neglect for financial gain”.
New LandlordZONE podcast features Suzanne Smith sharing her journey from lawyer to full-time portfolio landlord.
