Rental demand has eased, but affordability constraints and supply issues remain, according to a new report. A report by management platform Hello Neighbour on what drives UK rent prices ten years of evidence, says rents will increasingly depend on what tenants can afford and how often existing rental homes return to the market, rather than […]

The government has hinted at legislation to protect domestic abuse victims from being denied social housing due to rent arrears. Currently, victims of domestic abuse can be disqualified from getting a social home if they are in rent arrears. Under the Social Housing Bill, social housing landlords would also have powers to evict perpetrators rather […]

Rising rents are leaving families struggling to reach a minimum acceptable standard of living when renting privately, claims a new report. Research by the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough University has found that many households are unable to afford the income needed to achieve a minimum acceptable standard of living in […]

The government claims its proposed EPC reforms will be “sensitive to the characteristics of each property”. In answer to a written parliamentary question, energy minister Martin McCluskey claims the government has designed an “enhanced exemptions regime”. The government has proposed all private rented properties will need to meet EPC C targets by 2030. Landlords are […]

An industry body has warned licensing schemes must be “proportionate” rather than create unnecessary duplication. Propertymark has warned landlords and letting agents of the financial consequences they could face if they fail to licence a property. The warning comes as North East Lincolnshire Council has announced landlords face a £200 charge for missing the selective […]

The Housing Secretary has admitted there is only a “slim chance” the government will meet its target of building 1.5 million homes by the next Parliament. Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Angela Rayner blamed “headwinds”, including the war in Iran and rising construction costs, for making it increasingly difficult to deliver the pledge before […]

Private rented sector homes should have regular damp and mould inspections with certificates uploaded to the PRS Database, claims a Labour member. Founder of Fairer Housing CIC and Labour party member Jacky Peacock has called on the government to introduce a legal requirement for landlords to arrange regular inspections of private rented homes for damp […]

Dear tenants, The government has just brought in yet another charge, a £65-a-year fee for each property to be registered on the PRS Database. That means you’ll need a rent increase of around £6 per month just to cover it. All the information needed for the property database, the council already has for selective licensing. […]

The cost of taking on a new rented home rose at its fastest rate for nearly two years in August, with rents across Great Britain rising by 2.4% over 12 months. Hamptons says the average new let rent reached £1,419, as the annual rate of growth increased for a tenth consecutive month. Outside London, rents […]

Article by Vanessa Griffiths, ALEP Member Leaseholders frequently ask whether they should enfranchise now or wait until legislation (both the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and the soon-to-be-published Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill) are finalised. When I look at the question from the point of view of a leaseholder with a shortening lease, there […]

The government were warned that the Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) would cause damage. We are already seeing the damage, and the remedy in the form of rent caps are destined to fail. The elephant is still in the room. There’s an elephant in the room, But politicians look away, They blame the landlord, write new […]

The majority of property sold in the UK is sold by estate agents using a private treaty sale, but recently a growing number of sellers have been using auctions. Auction House recently reported a 70% year-on-year increase in tenanted properties sold through its weekly online auctions in April, while the wider auction market has also […]

A landlord association has urged the Chancellor to support landlords for the upcoming Autumn Budget. The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has written a budget submission to the government calling for a tax system that supports the private rented sector. The association is also urging the government to unfreeze Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates. Proposed […]

Weak landlord investment will see rents rise by between 4% and 5% by the year-end because the supply of rental homes has fallen for the first time in three years, Zoopla reveals. It says that the number of available homes began dropping in May to reverse a supply recovery which had helped slow rent rises […]

Hi, We have a company-let agreement with a rent-to-rent/guaranteed-rent operator. The contractual term has expired but the operator has not returned vacant possession because some of its sub-occupiers remain. The operator is now saying that because of the Renters’ Rights Act changes that we, as superior landlord, must obtain possession against the operator and occupiers, […]

A government minister claims rising rents are among the factors contributing to homelessness and rough sleeping. In a written parliamentary answer, Homelessness Minister Florence Eshalomi said poverty, housing availability and affordability were among the “root causes” of homelessness and rough sleeping. The news comes as the government unveiled plans to get rough sleepers off the […]

Linking energy-efficiency support for private rented homes to tenants’ income risks leaving Northern Ireland’s least efficient properties behind. That’s the view of Propertymark, which responded to the Northern Ireland Government’s Department for Communities consultation on the proposed £150 million Warm Healthy Homes Fund. The fund is set to replace the Affordable Warmth Scheme, targeting lower-income […]

I originally allowed my ex-sister-in-law to use my property I was refurbishing as she became homeless with her children. Now I can’t get her out and need help. She has refused me access to the premises for the last 18 months and systematically destroyed the interior. I finally had the spare cash to go through […]

There is money to be made from telling landlords that their previous adviser got it wrong. There can be fees for reviewing the arrangement, fees for replacing it and fees for pursuing a claim. That commercial reality deserves as much scrutiny as the advice being criticised. If you are the landlord receiving that warning, the […]

A new First-tier Tribunal decision has caught my attention because, although it has nothing directly to do with landlords or HMRC’s Spotlight 63, it considers something that sits very close to the heart of the Hybrid LLP debate: Can an LLP and a connected limited company genuinely form part of one larger commercial undertaking, even […]

There is something almost insulting about being told by the government that £65 is not much money. It is apparently small enough for it to describe its new annual PRS database charge as ‘fair and sustainable’, yet not important enough to mention in the official announcement’s section headed ‘What landlords need to know’. Funny that. […]