A member of the House of Lords has accused the Labour government of “discriminating against tenants” through its deal with Serco to house asylum seekers. The Home Office recently announced an arrangement with the contractor Serco to secure private rented properties for asylum seekers. The deal guarantees landlords five-year leases at full rent, funded by […]

Paragon Bank and Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) have introduced mortgage products tailored to landlords seeking financing and flexible lending options. These offerings cater to diverse investment strategies, from single residential properties to mixed-use assets. Paragon has rolled out a limited-edition five-year fixed-rate BTL mortgage, boasting its most competitive rate since August 2022. Starting at 4.29%, […]

Hi, Folks, Over the last few years I have sold most of my rental properties situated in the suburbs of Birmingham. I am now left with two, twenty year old apartments in the same building which are both up for sale. The ground rent had its ten year review last year calculated under the price […]

The pace of UK house price increases slowed in April, with the annual growth rate dropping to 3.4% from 3.9% in March, Nationwide reveals. Its latest data shows that property values fell by 0.6%, from March with the average home now priced at £270,752. The slowdown follows adjustments to stamp duty introduced at the beginning […]

Angela Rayner, the deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, reportedly “threatened to resign” over Labour’s flagship pledge to build 1.5 million homes, describing it as an “impossible target,” according to the Daily Mail. The claim appears in the updated edition of Red Flag, Lord Ashcroft’s biography of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which alleges that it […]

Nearly two-fifths (38%) of UK renters point to the hefty deposit required for a home as a major obstacle to owning property, according to Barclays Property Insights. Beyond this, tenants say that additional expenses such as stamp duty, legal fees and property surveys significantly inflate the cost of purchasing a home. Recent buyers report spending […]

A looming shortage of rental properties threatens the private rented sector as a significant portion of landlords prepare to offload their investments, a study reveals. The news comes just a day after the peer Lord John Bird claimed that fears of a landlord exodus are ‘unfounded’. According to a study by Pegasus Insight, 37% of […]

It might go against the mainstream media narrative, but a survey has found that 66% of renters enjoy a constructive and amicable relationship with their landlord. The findings from Aldermore highlight robust communication channels, with 77% of tenants reporting effective dialogue with their landlords. Only 13% described their relationship as unfavourable, while the remainder viewed […]

A leading independent peer says that fears of a landlord exodus are ‘unfounded’ and he is calling for the landlord-tenant scales of power to be rebalanced ‘urgently’. Lord John Bird, the founder of Big Issue and a crossbench peer, was speaking out after Rightmove data highlights more rented homes are coming to the market. He […]

Hello, my current tenant at my last and only let property is leaving to buy a property and for various reasons I can’t sell. When she was talking to a friend, she learned that her friend’s daughter is looking to move to the village to be close to her family. My tenant showed her the […]

Ariane Burgess, a Scottish Green MSP, has introduced an amendment to the Housing (Scotland) Bill, empowering tenants to withhold rent if landlords fail to address property maintenance within 30 days of notification. She says the measure aims to ensure private rented homes meet safe living standards. The proposal targets urgent issues like damp, mould, faulty […]

Landlords are struggling with eviction delays of more than eight months, amid warnings that the Renters’ Rights Bill will make matters worse, The Telegraph claims. According to government data, private landlords faced an average wait of around eight months to repossess a property in the final quarter of last year, with the average wait over […]

Rent controls are to blame for the plummet in build-to-rent construction (BtR), claims industry body. According to an analysis by the Scottish Property Federation and Savills, the number of BtR homes under construction across Scotland has plunged by 26% in the past 12 months. Rent controls ended in March this year, which limited increases to […]

Rents across the UK have surged to new highs with the average advertised rent for properties outside London climbing to £1,349 this quarter, Rightmove reveals. The property platform says that prices in the capital have edged up by a modest £3, or 0.1%, to £2,698, marking a 14th consecutive record. Despite these highs, the growth […]

The property market is experiencing a cooling in house price rises, with annual growth dropping to 1.6% in March from 1.9% at the close of 2024, research reveals. According to Zoopla’s latest house price index, the market remains resilient, despite the slowdown. There was a 6% rise in agreed sales compared to last year, driven […]

In a bid to address the escalating number of migrants crossing the Channel, the Home Office has intensified efforts to secure private rental properties for asylum seekers on lucrative tenancy deals. The initiative, led by contractor Serco, offers landlords guaranteed five-year leases at full rent, funded by taxpayers, to accommodate the growing number of arrivals. […]

Hi, in March 2024, I was granted Power of Attorney for my 83-year-old friend with dementia. I later discovered that her tenant next door had not been paying rent to her. I believe it is because the tenant realised my lovely 83yr old wouldn’t be able to spot the fact no rent was going in […]

Hi, I own a single tenanted unit in a block of 30 flats where 90+% of the leaseholders also own a share of the freehold. The building roof is leaking and requires significant urgent remedial work, as some flats are now so damaged that the residents have been forced to move out. Many of the […]

The house in multiple occupation (HMO) sector across England and Wales is worth £78 billion and yields an impressive £6.3 billion in rent annually. That’s according to HMO management platform, COHO, which has analysed Office for National Statistics data. It estimates there are 182,554 HMO properties and 74% of these are classified as ‘small’ HMOs, […]

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has raised the alarm over government proposals that could shrink the availability of student accommodation. It warns that could potentially drive up rents and unsettle the annual rental cycle for university students. During the Committee Stage of the Renters’ Rights Bill, Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, the House of Lords’ […]

A new report by consumer group Which? reveals insurers are rejecting weather-related claims such as storms and floods – and that’s making it harder for landlords to find this type of insurance. The consumer group says home insurance policies are using potentially unfair definitions of storms and floods to reject claims made by customers who […]