HMOs in Southend face a crackdown as the council considers proposals to limit landlords’ future applications.
Upcoming changes to EPCs next month could end up costing landlords more and see properties downgraded if they don’t have energy upgrade documents, it has been claimed.
It is not unusual to hearletting agents and their landlord clients complaining that operating within theprivate rented sector is has become increasingly tangled with red tape.
The public has been warned to be vigilant following a new report that shows the number of people relieved of their savings by ‘investment scams’ has increased by value for the first time since 2021, reaching £144 million.
The borough council’s planning committee will vote on whether to introduce an Article 4 direction next week.
A West Sussex landlord has been prevented from letting out HMOs after he admitted operating an unlicensed property.
Despite Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s insistence that rents hadn’t increased when standards were raised during previous initiatives, Justice Minister Sarah Sackman has now said there are grounds for “higher market rents”.
A tenant has built up more than £10,000 in rent arrears after the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) refused to accept her landlord’s word that the rent had increased.
Report from digital planning portal suggests public fight-back against HMOs and higher taxes for landlords are beginning to bite.
Uninhabitable Premises. My tenanted property is flooded. What are my legal obligations in this situation? Am I obliged to re-house my tenant? Must my tenant continue to pay rent?Landlords are under a general obligation to supply property in tenant able condition for the tenant to i
Question: Tenant Blacklists. I've had a very bad experience with a tenant and would like to put him on a black list so that other landlords don't have the same experience that I've had. How do I go about this?Answer: We often get asked this question.Although there have been several attempts by di
Sub-letting leasehold - I want to rent out my leasehold flat but the managing agent says the freeholder wont allow it. I know that other flats in the block are rented out, so what can I do? Landlords usually prohibit sub-letting to safeguard the interest.Landlords usually prohibit sub-letting
What are the implications of renting to a 17 year old or someone who is under the age of 18? We have an application from a 17-year old that is keen to rent but Im not sure this would be legal?</h2> Many landlords and housing providers would be concerned and therefore refuse to let to
Question - Rent Review - my landlord is asking for far more rent than I expected on review. Am I obliged to pay this?Answer - Commercial leases are contractual - the parties agree to and are bound by its clauses and that includes rent review provisions.The rent review process is a way of periodic
Re-selling Energy - As a landlord am I able to make a profit by re-selling electricity or gas?</h2>Resale of Gas and ElectricityThe maximum amount that Residential Landlords or resellers� are permitted to charge for gas or electricity is the amount they
Providing a Reference - I have been asked to provide a reference for one of my tenants who is moving on. What is my legal position in this and am I putting myself at risk if I say he was a bad tenant?</h2> Referencing (seeking verification of a tenants past performance) is an increasi
Polystyrene Ceiling Tiles - is it legal to have these tiles in the kitchen of a rental property?</h2> There are currently no regulations specifically banning the use of polystyrene ceiling tiles in existing rented property.However, it is unlikely that local authority fire officers and en
Misrepresentation - We recently rented out our rural cottage to a couple. As they wanted to use their computers I said it was possible to get high-speed broad-band. I thought this would be possible but it seems it is not at this time. The couple are now claiming that I misled them and that
Landlords are to wait many more months to find out the details of Government proposals to raise the minimum Energy Performance Certificate for rented properties. Energy minister Andrew Bowie (main picture) has admitted during a Lords debate that progress h
Lloyds has grown its rental portfolio to 1,000 properties and has another 700 in the pipeline as it bids to become one of the UKs biggest landlords, albeit far off its original objectives. The bank has some way to go if the publicly-owned institution is to meet its target of
A landlord in Norfolk has payed fines totalling �40,000 after he was found to have housed tenants in a way that put tenants at risk. Issues were reported at the Watton property (pictured) to Breckland Council last year, which prompted an inspection by officers who found a block
An Upper Tribunal has slashed a landlords Rent Repayment Order by �16,000 after taking pity during an appeal hearing on her precarious financial position�. A First Tier Property Tribunal https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6239f607e90e07799cd3de67/LO
The Bank of England has this lunchtime raised its base rate by 0.5% as the venerable institution fights to bring down inflation, which yesterday was revealed to be sticking stubbornly at 8.7%, way above the bank's target of 2%. Commentators and mortgage holders alike had hoped t
Welsh Minister for Climate Change Julie James has backed the NRLAs call for a review of property taxation in the PRS. Speaking at thehttps://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/breaking-landlords-tell-housing-minister-face-to-face-that-sector-needs-support/" <strong i
The Treasury has confirmed that it will not introduce tax relief on mortgage interest payments for either homeowners or landlords despite the ongoing mortgage cost crisis. As we https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/mortgages-landlord-tells-bbc-how-payments-have-tripled-o
JLL's latest report highlights the rapid growth of institutional Build-to-Rent (BTR) in the UK, with over 82,000 homes completed and rising demand.
Suzy Hershman (main picture), Resolution Department Lead at HFIS, examines a shocking case her team dealt with recently and highlights what landlords can learn from it . The case</h4>A landlord with a four-bedroom property i
Multi-millionaire landlord Judith Wilson (main picture, inset) has been hit with a �166,000 court bill after losing a legal battle against Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. Wilson, wife of the controversial Fergus, who was once dubbed Britains
Treat tenants like customers and stop thinking about profit if you want to make a success of property investing - thats the advice of lettings and landlord professional Tom Soane, who boasts that its made him the 'best landlord in the UK'. Your property is a product, te
Councils have been given three months longer to launch selective licencing schemes, new Government guidance has revealed. An update to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities advice to local authorities considering or planning a selective licencing scheme has
More than 1 in 10 (11%) homes for sale on Zoopla are former rental properties after private landlords faced with tax changes and higher borrowing costs have rationalised their portfolios or quit the market. Before the pandemic, half of these homes for sale returned to th
Paul Bradley, a landlord with a single rental property in North London, has told the BBC how the ongoing mortgage crisis has seen his monthly interest-only loan payments triple over the past 12 months. His case illustrates vividly the significant challenges that the approximatel
Rising cost of living causes tenant referencing pass rates to drop from 35% to 25%, increasing rental risk for landlords, reports Housing Hand.
With interest rates rising and this reflected in mortgage rates, landlords are being forced to contemplate rent increases. If you go down this road you need to be aware and follow the rules.
A Labour MP has called on the government to extend notice periods from two to four months to prevent landlords from unjustly evicting tenants. <figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type- " data-rt-type="" data-rt-align=""><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63bef2f3c329eff8e3
Only one-third of Oxfords private rental properties have been registered for its city-wide selective licensing scheme and could soon face steeper fees or a hefty fine. The scheme, which launched last September, has received more than 10,500 licence applications from the 3
An https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/braverman-under-pressure-to-reverse-outrageous-new-hmo-rules-for-asylum-seekers/" HMO landlord says desperate new tenants are moving in hours after the previous tenants leave due to a dearth of available properties. In he
A letting agent who ripped off dozens of landlord clients has been banned from being a company director for eight years. https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/letting-agent-who-stole-80000-from-dozens-of-landlords-admits-fraud/" Frank Smart , 46, the owner of Sma
With interest rates rising and this reflected in mortgage rates, landlords are being forced to contemplate rent increases. If you go down this road you need to be aware and follow the rules.As landlord you can't legally increase your rent whenever you like, or by any amount you see fit. You need
In a market where interest rates are sky high, tax bills are extortionate and mortgage payments are higher than rents, coupled with a backlog of refurb costs and difficult tenant situations, landlords are rushing to cash in and sell their property portfolios. If you were a landl
With one in five households now renting, the private rented sector is an essential part of the housing market. As the government has reduced its housebuilding strategy for all local authorities from mandatory to advisory, with some councils scrapping targets all together, the ho
A European lettings portal has launched in the UK aimed at globe-trotting students and young professionals. Rotterdam-based https://housinganywhere.com/" HousingAnywhere , which specialises in mid- to long-term rentals, now covers London,
Over the last 15 years, the HMO market has been transformed and there has been a boom. The reason for the boom was, quite simply, that HMOs could generate far better returns than single home lets. But as the market grew, regulations tightened. On top of the extra du
