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
A recent RICS survey finds that interest rate hikes and cost of living pressures are beginning to weigh on sentiment. Credit conditions have deteriorated to such an extent that 43% of respondents to the RICS survey felt we're in early downturn.� Investor sentiment is steady, but the ma
Landlords and the wider rented sector face more uncertainty after it was announced this morning that housing minister Lucy Frazer, who has only been in post since October last year, is to become secretary of state at the new department of Culture, Media and Sport. In private at
The Tories should take the blame for the landlord exodus and crisis-hit private rental sector, according to one leading investment guru. Financial columnist and author Matthew Lynn says that for the last decade, the party has been in an all-out war against buy-to-let landlords,
A rogue Liverpool landlord has been fined £30,000 for failing to get licences for two student HMOs three years after it was fined 45,000 for similar offences. Trophy Homes, which claims to operate within the 'luxury' student, co-living and general rental sectors, admitted
Bank of England warns landlord exodus from rental sector as taxes and policies drive investors away, worsening housing supply crisis.
The future of new rented accommodation in the UK will be developments where all facilities including transport, shops and services including schools are all within 15 minutes of a tenants property, it has been claimed. This comment was made during a https://www.savil
Landlords are calling on the Government to review how they are taxed after new figures reveal the devastating impact higher levies are having on the private rented sector. The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) says new research conducted on its behalf by co
Two out of three HMO landlords in Portsmouth plan to call it quits this year, largely prompted by the launch of an additional licensing scheme in September. Portsmouth & District Private Landlords Associations survey found that this would mean a loss of 348 rooms which, e
A Government investigation into damp and mould in the social housing sector has disclosed initial findings which show a significant number of homes in the social sector are affected by this problem. On Thursday (2 February) the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) published a <a hr
The property industrys Rumble with the Agents charity event is to host its eighth evening of boxing and fund-raising in North London on Thursday 22nd June, it has been announced. <figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type- " data-rt-type="" dat
Two landlords have been handed suspended jail sentences for abusing a Covid Bounce Back Loan then dissolving their company to avoid paying it back.
Landlords looking to rent their properties out via short lets now have more choice after British platform UnderTheDoormat announced it has merged with European counterpart Veeve.
Monthly interest costs have soared by 283% since 2021 for landlords using interest-only mortgages, while those making a full monthly repayment have seen the monthly cost of their mortgage climb by 71%.
This article discusses the implications for landlords of capital gains tax (CGT), a tax avoidance scheme and it sets out a brief summary of property tax rules.
Landlords urged to renew Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICRs) in 2024 to avoid delays and potential fines as demand surges in 2025.
Scottish ministers could decide to strike letting agent Belvoir Perth from the country's letting register after it ignored a tribunal order to pay out compensation.
Controversial property educator Samuel Leeds has insisted that his latest online video – breaking through a door with a chainsaw – wasn’t illegal and aimed to highlight private landlords’ predicament.
The Law Society of England and Wales has called for more housing legal aid to help those tenants facing eviction or repossession.
Warwick Council has handed out its first banning order, to rogue landlord Grzegorz Surminski who sub-let a dangerous and unlicensed HMO.
A landlord has failed in a bid to overturn his banning order on the grounds that his convictions were spent by the time it was imposed by a First Tier Property Tribunal.
Nottingham council has launched a city-wide ‘good landlord’ accreditation scheme and offered those who join the scheme a 10% reduction on fees for its private sector licencing schemes.
A director of the Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) who defrauded her elderly landlord out of £30,000 has been jailed for six months.
Two selective licencing schemes operated by Wirral Council in and around Birkenhead have been renewed with a further two schemes about to be launched following a consultation.
Landlords in Brighton and Hove face a £500 charge if they are handed an improvement notice, as part of a council crackdown on failing properties.
One of the key arguments used by housing campaigners to criticise the private rented sector and its landlords has been contradicted by the latest English Housing Survey.
A tenant who stole almost £2,000 of furnishings from his elderly landlord has been handed a suspended jail sentence
A cross-party group of MPs and peers has warned that the government needs to get its Renters Reform Bill right if it is to avoid exacerbating the housing crisis.
US based CoStar, a force to be reckoned with in property, has completed a takeover of UK property portal, OnTheMarket.com
Three students have threatened to take their landlord to tribunal for allegedly flouting eviction ban regulations which meant they were forced out of their flat while studying for exams.
A rogue landlord who used a fake name to evade the law has been handed a whopping £485,000 in fines after he was found illegally renting out a large shed as five flats.
US bank predicts turnaround in UK property market - inflation down to 3 per cent in two years
Landlords in one of London’s biggest boroughs face a new selective schemes following a consultation launched by Lambeth council.
More landlords to be priced out of BTL as rent increases slow from their peak
An SNP MP has made another attempt to prevent PRS landlords from evicting benefit tenants who are in arrears.
A property start-up hoping to the next big thing in the student housing market is looking for a £5 million cash injection to help it launch across four more cities.
