Page 16 – Property118

Potential pitfalls when inheriting rental properties

29th May 2026

You have a limited company owning rental properties and are due to inherit rental properties from your parents? Read on. How your parents structure their will should be influenced by your future plans for those properties. Get it wrong and you could face an unexpected tax bill. The starting point is simple: Do you plan […]

Knight in crusader armour holding a sword, symbolising landlords battling rising PRS pressures and regulation.

The RRA trap: Why decent landlords are about to get a £7,000 wake-up call

29th May 2026

Following on from last week’s theory about the purging of small landlords from the private rented sector (PRS), here comes the first trap. It’s obvious that many landlords don’t engage closely with the sector since best estimates put the number of private landlords in England at around 2.6 million, but a significant chunk will not […]

Worried landlord holding model house near Parliament, reflecting UK rental market uncertainty

Private rented sector key to solving London housing crisis – NRLA

29th May 2026

Piecemeal legislation needs to end to tackle London’s housing crisis, claims a landlord group. Speaking at the London Housing Conference, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), Ben Beadle, claimed investment in the private rented sector is key to tackling the housing crisis. The news comes as the government have announced emergency measures […]

Group of tenants engaging in anti-social behaviour in a residential area

Labour MP questions landlord role in tackling tenant anti-social behaviour

29th May 2026

A Labour MP has suggested landlords should take a greater role in tackling anti-social behaviour caused by tenants. In a Parliamentary written question, Connor Naismith MP asked whether the government was taking steps “to make private landlords responsible for dealing with anti-social behaviour caused by their tenants”. In response, housing minister Matthew Pennycook confirmed under […]

Nottingham housing licensing graphic showing terraced homes, inspection paperwork and figures of £114.9m social value and £4.62 returned per £1 invested.

Nottingham’s landlord licensing creates £114.9m in ‘social value’?

29th May 2026

Nottingham’s landlord licensing schemes have created £114.9m in social value over five years, according to the first evaluation published by the city council of their wider impact. The calculation reveals that £4.62 was returned for every £1 invested between 2020 and 2024. The independent study examined £24.9m invested in the city’s licensing schemes, assessing their […]

“Housing crisis” text over Scottish flag representing Scotland’s rental sector debate

Shelter Scotland and IKEA launch tool to expose housing crisis

29th May 2026

A housing charity and a retailer have teamed up to tackle Scotland’s housing crisis. In a new partnership, Shelter Scotland and IKEA have launched a digital interactive tool that allows the public to provide MSPs with a local snapshot of the housing emergency and its impact. The news comes as John Swinney, leader of the […]

Red-brick buy to let property with mortgage paperwork, keys and a graphic showing falling mortgage rates.

New buy to let deals unveiled by four lenders

29th May 2026

Four buy to let lenders have announced a raft of mortgage changes including a 4.19% two-year tracker and a 4.74% limited-edition five-year fix. Commercial cases are in the mix too as InterBay cuts owner-occupier rates by up to 40 basis points, while Coventry for intermediaries has reduced selected BTL rates by up to 16 basis […]

London terraced homes with a For Sale sign and skyline behind, overlaid with an upward graph reading ‘House prices rise, Q1 2026’.

UK house prices rise after falls

29th May 2026

Average UK house prices returned to quarterly growth at the start of 2026, rising 0.3% to £305,092, research reveals. Benham and Reeves’ Property Market Index Review, which combines data from Halifax, Nationwide and Rightmove recorded the increase in the first quarter after a 0.5% fall in Q4 2025. Prices across the UK were 0.7% higher […]

Renters’ Rights Act information sheet with penalty and deadline warnings for landlords

Renters’ Rights Act information sheet deadline warning issued to landlords

28th May 2026

Landlords must issue the Renters’ Rights Act information by the end of this week or face a £7,000 fine. The government explain a copy of the information sheet must be given to every tenant named on the tenancy agreement. The government have warned if landlords do not provide the information sheet to tenants before 31 […]

Microphone and notepad on a desk representing a media interview about the UK housing market

The Telegraph wants to speak to landlords who are having trouble selling their homes

28th May 2026

Hello, my name is Melissa Lawford, and I’m the economics correspondent at The Telegraph. I’m writing an essay about what a potential housing market downturn will mean for the wider UK economy. I’m particularly keen to speak to buy-to-let landlords who are trying to exit the market but who are having trouble selling their homes. […]

Row of UK terraced houses with a To Let sign, pram, bicycle and children’s toys outside a family home.

Landlords face family rent shift as PRS houses 3.2m children

28th May 2026

Landlords are now housing a generation of young families for longer, as the number of children living in privately rented homes has tripled since the turn of the century. The Resolution Foundation said 3.2 million children were living in the private rented sector (PRS) in 2024-25. That compares with 1.1 million in 2000-01, with one […]

Wooden figures illustrating conflict over ground rents and leasehold reform

Government committee urges faster leasehold reform

28th May 2026

The Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) committee has scrutinised the government’s draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, saying it needs to go further. In response to the bill, the committee welcomed protections for leaseholders but warned that key recommendations previously made by the Law Commission are missing from the draft legislation. The findings come […]

Terraced homes with a sold board, house keys and paperwork in the foreground, against a London skyline with upward arrows showing rising prices.

First-time buyers seeking pricier homes pushes up house price inflation

28th May 2026

First-time buyers are searching for homes priced £10,000 above last year’s level, even as fewer of them are making enquiries, Zoopla figures show. In London, the average home targeted by a first-time buyer has crossed £500,000 for the first time, reaching £502,250. That’s despite average prices across the capital remaining unchanged year on year. The […]

Tenant screening paperwork and house keys on a clipboard outside a terraced home with an unbranded letting sign.

Renters’ Rights Act may shut out ‘riskier’ tenants – NRLA

28th May 2026

Renters with poor credit records, unpredictable earnings or having nobody willing to act as a rent guarantor could face a tougher search for a home, the NRLA says. It has carried out research which found that 78% of landlords said the Renters’ Rights Act was likely to make them more selective when choosing tenants. The […]

Older couple walking through a bright modern home, illustrating later-life renting trends

Older renters in private rented sector face shrinking supply of suitable homes

28th May 2026

Nearly 867,000 households in England’s private rented sector include someone aged 55 or over, as rising demand coincides with a shrinking supply of homes, according to a new report. Research from Propertymark reveals demand for housing suitable for older people will continue to increase over the next decade as the population ages. The industry body […]

PRS database enforcement checks for landlords under the Renters’ Rights Act

Government confirms councils will use PRS database for landlord enforcement

27th May 2026

The government has confirmed it is working with councils to support the use of information from the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Database in carrying out enforcement action against landlords. In response to a parliamentary written question, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Housing, Baroness Taylor of Stevenage said the database will collect a range of information as part […]

Worried leaseholders weigh financial risks around expiring leases and ground rent reforms in the UK housing market.

Campaigners demand urgent reform as leaseholders warned over financial risk

27th May 2026

Leaseholders are being forced to gamble as campaigners urge the government to act now. The National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) says the latest figures on leasehold dwellings show leaseholders are facing a “cliff edge”. The NLC is calling on the government to cap ground rent at £250 immediately, rather than waiting two years, and to accelerate […]

UK house prices rise across most regions while London property values decline by 3.6% in April

House prices rise 1.7% as London values fall

27th May 2026

House prices are rising in most parts of Britain, but the latest figures show London moving in the opposite direction. The e.surv House Price Index for April puts the average house price at £327,800, up 1.7% year on year. Prices rose by 0.2% over the month and 0.3% over the quarter, with the strongest annual […]

Empty cabinet chair with housing policy folder at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh

Scottish government drops dedicated housing secretary role in cabinet

27th May 2026

The housing sector has reacted to the Scottish government’s new cabinet after it scrapped the standalone housing secretary post. Shirley-Anne Somerville was appointed Housing and Social Justice Secretary after John Swinney was re-elected as First Minister. A housing charity has criticised the SNP’s decision to merge the housing brief into a wider portfolio, arguing that […]

Letting agent reviewing outdated tenancy terms on a computer to comply with the Renters’ Rights Act

Letting agents urged to fix outdated website content under Renters’ Rights Act

27th May 2026

An industry body has urged letting agents to review outdated online content to remain compliant with the Renters’ Rights Act. Propertymark says that with the first phase of the Renters’ Rights Act now in force, agents should audit all published consumer information, legal statements, terms and conditions, and guidance hosted on their websites. The industry […]

Landlord reviews buy to let mortgage figures on a desk with a laptop, calculator, house keys and images of UK homes and holiday lets.

Buy to let lenders widen landlords’ finance options

27th May 2026

Landlords arranging larger loans, borrowing for improvement work or buying through a limited company have new buy to let products and revised finance routes to consider. Buckinghamshire Building Society, Paragon Bank and ModaMortgages have each announced changes to their landlord ranges, while Moneyfactscompare.co.uk has selected a reduced-rate Leeds Building Society five-year fix in its latest […]