The housing cost that almost nobody expected. In 2018, Property118 contributor, the now late David Knox FCA, writing under the pseudonym Appalled Landlord, examined a statistic that seemed extraordinary at the time. Manchester City Council’s spending on temporary accommodation had risen from roughly £2.25 million to almost £13 million in just five years. The increase, […]

Ahead of the Scottish elections, the SNP has pledged tenants will get first refusal if a landlord puts their home up for sale. Under the proposed plans, when a landlord puts the property on the market, renters in Scotland would be given a period of exclusivity to purchase it “at a fair market rate”. The […]

With the Renters’ Rights Act coming into force on 1 May 2026, landlords are facing the biggest legal changes in a generation. I’m finding that many landlords still aren’t entirely clear what they need to do and more importantly, what they need to do now to stay compliant and avoid problems later. Over the past […]

A council failed to contact a landlord or assess whether tenants should remain in a rented property during eviction proceedings, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The case centres on Canterbury City Council after a private landlord, known as Mr X, served a Section 21 notice in February 2024 so he could […]

Hello Property118 readers: I’m William Harford. I co-founded Harthing with Neil Carthy and Adam Saul. We’ve built a property management platform specifically designed for landlords with small portfolios that they’re self-managing, and are trying to keep up with the endless stream of new regulations and tax requirements www.harthing.co.uk. Between us, we have over 50 years […]

Landlords have been slammed by the Housing Secretary Steve Reed for evicting tenants before the Renters’ Rights Act takes effect. From 1 May, the Act will mean Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions will be banned. But that hasn’t stopped Mr Reed from hitting out at landlords after tenant campaign group Acorn claimed last week that landlords […]

The government claims awareness and communication around the Renters’ Rights Act have been successful among landlords. In response to a written parliamentary question, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said the multi-platform campaign has achieved strong engagement. The news comes ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act coming into force on 1 May 2026. Strong engagement and a […]

A growing disconnect is emerging within the structure of UK property ownership. According to the Property118 Landlord Sentiment Survey Q1 2026, most landlords continue to hold property in their personal names, even though many now indicate a preference for company ownership going forward. Based on 2,380 completed responses, 61% of landlords currently own their properties […]

The Property Ombudsman has expelled six letting agents after they failed to pay landlord clients, and a tenant, the compensation it ordered to be paid following upheld complaints. The decision came after a review by the scheme’s compliance committee, which found each business had breached membership rules by ignoring binding awards. The chief ombudsman, Lesley […]

Hi, I’ve recently agreed to purchase a studio flat with a pre-auction offer. I paid the auction fees of £7,800 and a 5k deposit (non returnable). The sales details state a service charge of £1,400 annually. However, now I’ve received the final purchase statement from my solicitor, it says the service charge is £5,000 annually! […]

Hi, I own a ground-floor flat where all owners have their own parking space. I rent it out. It’s a shared freehold, and I’m a director of the management company set up to run the block. Most flats are on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Built in 2007 and 11 flats in total. Is it […]

As a single property landlord who lives a fair distance from my property. I am heavily reliant on the letting agent to find suitable contractors for jobs at my property. A prime example involved a staircase handrail, which was to be moved to the opposite side of the stairs and repainted. The letting agent informed […]

Many landlords only start thinking about this when they are already in their 60’s and above, and by then, some of the options are already close to closing. The recent Property118 landlord survey revealed that many established landlords have very low LTV’s across their rental property portfolios, and some have no borrowing at all, but […]

Like it or not, the Renters Rights Act is just weeks away now, so for those of us who have not already completely sold up, we need to take this seriously. The Renters’ Rights Act has left landlords feeling betrayed, exposed, and, in many cases, trapped, but there is a way for landlords to reduce […]

Just one month from now, the Renters’ Rights Act will be in full force, Section 21 will be gone and civil penalties of up to £40,000 will be live. It’s no surprise, therefore that according to the Property118 Landlord Sentiment Survey, 57% of landlords plan to sell or exit entirely within the next year. For every […]

Letting agents handling thousands of HMO rooms on behalf of landlords across the country were abruptly locked out of SpareRoom last week after the platform suspended dozens of professional accounts without warning. The platform said their use of automation tools is a breach of its terms. Emails sent to affected users said accounts would remain […]

Nottingham Building Society has extended its maximum buy to let mortgage term to 40 years and opened lending to first-time landlords, reshaping its criteria in several areas at once. The previous 35-year cap has been lifted, with the mutual pointing to greater flexibility for landlords structuring borrowing, particularly where longer terms influence affordability and repayment […]

Charities claim an eviction surge is under way as landlords rush to evict tenants before the Renters’ Rights Act takes effect. Tenant group Acorn told the Guardian that Section 21 evictions accounted for one in five reports from members in October, rising to nearly one in three by January. The news comes ahead the Renters’ […]

A property expert has warned that new landlords are not entering the market due to rising borrowing costs. Nick Neale, chief executive of online estate agents Emoov, said mortgage rate uncertainty has impacted landlords’ confidence in entering the market. The news comes as the Bank of England has warned the UK economic outlook has “deteriorated.” […]

More than half of people in Scotland (54%) live in areas with failing homelessness services, new research by Shelter Scotland claims. Data by the charity reveals 2.9 million people in Scotland live in an area where the local authority does not have a fully functioning homelessness service, meaning they are not guaranteed access to housing […]

A widely held assumption about the private rented sector is that landlords are highly leveraged and therefore vulnerable to interest rate movements. The latest data suggests a different picture. According to the Property118 Landlord Sentiment Survey Q1 2026, most landlords are now operating with relatively low levels of borrowing. Based on 2,380 completed responses, a […]