The government has announced that court fees for landlords will rise this week. However, fees for tenants to challenge a rent increase will remain frozen at £47. The news comes as the government claims the justice system “is well prepared” to handle the Renters’ Rights Act. Rise due to inflation Annual price rises linked to […]

Students remain the main target for HMO landlords, but they are far from the only group in landlords’ sights, research reveals. Paragon Bank found that 92% of landlords actively prepare or present their rental properties to attract a particular type of tenant. It adds that 36% of landlords operating houses in multiple occupation target students, […]

Rent controls could save the average private tenant in England £2,400 a year, according to a report welcomed by Green Party leader Zack Polanski. The report, published by the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, argues that controlling rents could reduce housing benefit spending while improving affordability for lower-income households. It was written by […]

We have seen tenant bodies jumping up and down, demanding, lobbying and creating over grievances with landlords. They have achieved major reform but it appears the results are so detrimental to tenants, they are already calling for more major reform. When you try and put a fire out by pouring liquid on it, if you […]

An association has warned the use of temporary accommodation is becoming “financially unsustainable” as they call on the next Prime Minister to offer long-term solutions. Data by the Local Government Association (LGA) reveals council spending on housing homeless families in temporary accommodation has surged by more than 1,000% over 13 years. Councils have spent more […]

Landlords operating HMOs in one city are being warned that unlicensed properties and safety breaches are now firmly in the sights of council enforcement teams. Coventry City Council’s Safer Housing and Communities team carried out a series of targeted visits across the city, alongside police and immigration officers. They uncovered multiple suspected unlicensed houses in […]

Investors are turning to commercial property rather than residential property due to government regulation, claims an industry body. According to NAEA Commercial Propertymark’s Advisory Panel, increasing taxes and regulations are prompting investors to consider commercial property. The news comes as the Renters’ Rights Act came into force in the private rented sector on 1 May […]

With the UK’s heatwave set to continue, estate agents are urging landlords and tenants to take action as homes heat up with the scorching temperatures. Estate agents are calling on landlords to check ventilation and airflow systems and for tenants to use fans safely and efficiently. The news comes as London Mayor Sadiq Khan unveiled […]

Rents continue to rise across the UK as renters struggle with affordability, according to new data. Figures by SpareRoom reveal renting a room in the UK now costs £761 per month on average, a 0.5% increase on the previous year. Across the UK, rents have risen almost 7% in the past three years. Year-on-year rent […]

One in three pensioners could be renting by 2044 as falling homeownership leaves more retirees facing housing costs in later life, according to a new report. Research from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) warns the number of pensioners renting is set to more than triple over the next […]

The government has claimed shared owners who are unable to sell their homes due to building safety issues should be allowed to sublet their properties. Shared ownership leaseholders are people who have bought a share of their home through a shared ownership scheme while paying rent on the remaining share owned by a housing provider. […]

For the first time in seven years, landlord purchases exceeded landlord sales as 12-month re-letting ban deters landlords from selling, according to new research. Data from Hamptons reveals the share of homes listed for sale that were previously rented dropped to 9.2% nationally in June, down from 11.3% last year and below the 2021-2022 peak. […]

2,096 landlords completed our second quarterly Property118 landlord survey. If you were one of them, Thank You. Following the record-breaking response to our Q1 survey earlier this year, this second quarter gives us something we have never had before: a like-for-like comparison. For the first time we can show not just what landlords think, but […]

Paragon Bank, Landbay, Shawbrook, Coventry for intermediaries and Accord Mortgages have all announced changes across landlord or property investor ranges. The changes cover Bank Base Rate trackers, five-year fixes, commercial bridging and limited company buy to let products. Paragon Bank has expanded its BTL Bank Base Rate tracker range with new two-year options and a […]

I’ve been thrown into a flat spin once again after reading that those poor sods who are already caught up in the MTD sh*tsh*w are fast approaching their first submission date and, knowing that will be me too in 2027, I was reminded that I have done nothing about getting myself ready for it I […]

The government’s own housing data has raised questions about the political case used to justify sweeping reform of the private rented sector. The latest English Housing Survey covers the period before the Renters’ Rights Act’s main tenancy changes came into force on 1 May 2026. It is now the official pre-Act benchmark for the sector. […]

Research reveals that 69% of private renters in England have either never heard of the Renters’ Rights Act or are don’t know what it means. The TDS Charitable Foundation’s survey was carried out before the Act’s implementation began on 1 May. Only 32% said they had heard of the legislation and understood at least some […]

Landlords are seeing rent levels move in different directions across the UK, while the salary needed to secure an average-priced home has fallen in most regions over the past year. Propertymark says London recorded one of the sharpest affordability shifts in June, despite rents rising month-on-month. The representative annual salary needed to secure the average-priced […]

The government has announced a crackdown on social housing fraud, with offenders facing fines and up to two years in prison. Under a first-of-its-kind data-sharing agreement between Airbnb and the Cabinet Office, people illegally subletting social housing through the platform will be identified and could be evicted from their properties. The news comes as the […]

The North and South stamp duty divide is widening, with fewer than one in ten buyers in the North paying stamp duty, according to new research. Data from Zoopla reveals that nearly 80% of London first-time buyers pay stamp duty, compared with fewer than one in ten across the North of England. Stamp duty is […]

Wage gaps in flatshares intensify as rising rents force higher earners to house share, according to new data. Figures from SpareRoom reveal that one in five (20%) UK flatmates estimate that the pay gap between the highest- and lowest-earning person in their household is more than £20,000, while almost one in 10 (9%) believe the […]