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 landlord has given evidence in the Sebastian Kalinowski murder trial, who died at his home in Huddersfield. Prosecutors allege his mother Agnieszka Kalinowska, 35, and her partner Andrzej Latoszewski, 36, subjected him to a campaign of abuse before his death in August 2021.</p
Houses with off-road parking space will not only command a higher sale price, the rental value will also be boosted as more people buy electric cars. Surge in EV sales The electric vehicle (EV) market is booming, which will inevitably have its impact on property pric
Landlord leaders criticise Renters Reform White Paper, highlighting flaws and concerns over proposed legislation and its impact on the sector.
HMRC has named and shamed 26 property tax dodgers who collectively tried to avoid paying more than �6.7 million. The deliberate tax defrauders earned income from either rental property, property developing or property tax advising, and have all been investigated and fined for e
Government's full renting‑reform White Paper unveiled—bold, controversial changes to landlord rules await Spring's legislation.
Key details of the Governments radical renting reform White Paper have been released this morning by Michael Gove, full details of which are due to be published when his housing minister Eddie Hughes addresses parliament later this morning. In a statement embargoed for midnig
Under the Renters' Rights Bill, tenants can request to keep pets, with landlords required to respond within 28 days and may require pet insurance.
The Government wants to make it a 'duty' for landlords to respond to requests from disabled tenants to make communal spaces outside their homes more accessible. A consultation on the proposals has been launched by equalities minister Kemi Badenoch (main pi
The Application Form You should always use a comprehensive Tenancy Application Form when taking on a new tenant. You need a completed application for each adult tenant in the property.The Tenancy application form is a very important starting point for any residential or comm
End of an AST: Questions: What happens when an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) comes to an end? Will the tenant have to leave or does she need to sign a new agreement? What if a tenant wants to leave early? How long can a periodic tenancy last?When the fixed term (minimum of
Landlords often buy flats which are either Leasehold or Shared Freehold. What are these tenures and what should landlords look out for in these different forms of ownership?Leasehold is one of three forms of tenure (property/land ownership) almost exclusively peculiar to the United Kingdom, thoug
Landlord's Access to Property: Many landlords will have experienced a tenant denying them access to a property - whether for an inspection, viewings or legal duties. Its easy to understand the view of Its my property, I can enter when I want, but unfortunately th
New Rules for Section 21 :Landlords and Agents need to be aware of the changes affecting Section 21 rules and Notices and other changes for the letting of residential properties in England (and in many cases Wales) introduced during 2015 . This article explains the new rules
Many landlords have long suspected that the DCLG approved national calculation methodologies and software programs were seriously flawed when they produced EPC ratings for buildings following energy assessments.So news that new software is being introduced which is claimed to be more accurate is
Serving Notices: Landlords and agents often get confused as to how they should serve Notices on their tenants.Ordinarily it wouldnt matter what method is used, but if you end up in court with a possession or money claim, or some such court action, then what and how you se
Tenant are Consumers: The UK Consumer Protection law applies to letting agents and landlords alike when they advertise a property to let or create a new tenancy. It also applies to most private landlords when they deal with letting agents, unless they operate as a company.
Obtaining Possession Using Section 21 Notices Updated October 2016This article explains how to gain possession of your residential rental property in the most efficient way possible. You may just want your property back for your own use, or to sell, or you may be having prob
Commercial property might be sensible way of diversifying your overall investment portfolio risk
If as many expect Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates are aligned to people’s personal income tax then landlords selling properties would be on average £11,00 worse off, it has been claimed.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has confirmed that Labour has no plans to introduce rent controls in England.
A further sign that landlords are selling up comes from new HMRC figures that reveal an increase in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) revenues for the Government from the sale of residential properties.
A leading lettings agency boss has pinned rising rents and fewer properties to rent squarely on the previous Conservative Government, says its policies have ‘driven away’ landlords.
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.
Millions owed to a lender by businesses which collapsed due to the oversupply of student accommodation in Newcastle are unlikely to be recovered.
A private landlord in Kent has submitted plans for what will be the UK’s largest HMO if the scheme gets the go-ahead.
Flats and smaller houses make the best buy-to-let investment for landlords, having seen the strongest annual increase in average yield compared with other property types during the past 12 months.
Traditional private landlords are rapidly being replaced by pension funds and private equity firms seeking to capitalise on the lucrative build-to-rent sector.
Home REIT, the investment trust marketed as the dream scheme to house 10,000 homeless and needy tenants, and a sure-fire investment alternative in property, is folding with extensive debts and legal claims
A councillor in the North of England has pushed back against unlikely claims that large firms operating HMOs are ‘taking away his town’s family homes’.
Looking to boost your property portfolio? Below are the five factors you must consider before your next property purchase.
A landlord who sub-let an unlicensed HMO, failed to pay thousands of pounds in rent to the owner and illegally evicted a tenant has been handed a £4,872 rent repayment order.
John Lewis has finally received the green light to begin its transformation into a build-to-rent landlord after Bromley Council approved its plans for 353 rental homes.
A new tech start-up using AI to pair tenants with the most suitable rented homes has been launched.
Former housing secretary Robert Jenrick who brought in the controversial 'evictions ban' during Covid has joined the Conservative party leadership race.
