Propertymark members say they are concerned about landlords ‘choosing to exit the sector’ despite a surge in tenant demand. The organisation’s latest Housing Insight Report shows that tenant registrations grew from 82 in March, to 90 in April 2024. There are now nine new applicants being registered for each available property – but supply is […]

Despite a national average UK house price rise of 1.8%, research reveals that nearly half (48%) of local authority areas have seen house prices fall over the past year. The analysis by Open Property Group reveals the biggest drops over the past year were concentrated in London and the South East. However, the City of […]

A recent article in The Times, using research from Savills, argued that renting out property in the last 10 years has become less profitable for landlords. Among the reasons given was the price of property increasing from £161,404 to £236,311 – and the average deposit size nearly doubling. Also, stamp duty has gone from 1% […]

Landlords are showing renewed confidence in the buy to let market, with 44% intending to purchase property in the next year, a survey reveals. The findings from Landbay show this is a big jump from 32% of landlords planning to do so in a previous survey. Building a property portfolio is the primary motivator for […]

After seeing five years of hard work in shaping the Renters (Reform) Bill for the private rented sector (PRS) evaporate when the general election was called, the next government must work ‘from scratch’ on a new law. That’s the verdict of Ben Beadle, the chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) writing to […]

Rightmove has outlined a series of urgent priorities it wants to see from the incoming government, including sustainable housing policies and action to force landlords to improve the EPC rating of their properties. The property portal questioned more than 14,000 homeowners and renters – and found most people wanted long-term solutions to a range of […]

Hi, I am a private individual who owns an HMO in the North of England. After a long list of complaints including photographs and video’s documenting the state of said property, which were sent over to said letting agent who just essentially dismissed all the points. I have terminated the contract with the lettings agency. […]

Landlords wanting higher yields are increasingly looking towards semi-commercial properties for investment, research reveals. Shawbrook Bank says that applications for new purchases are nearly double this year compared with 2023. Using its internal data, applications for semi-commercial properties reached 24% in the first half of 2024, up from just 13% in all of 2023. Shawbrook […]

Hi, I have a one bed top floor flat in a converted Victorian house I rent out. The roof has caused many leaks over the past 6 years that I have owned the flat, the Freeholders have always ‘patched it up’ and clearly it doesn’t work. They have obtained several quotes to replace the flat […]

The demand for rented properties in Britain is driving a surge in rents across the board, according to new research by Zero Deposit. The tenancy deposit alternative provider has analysed data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), revealing a national average rent increase of 9.1% over the last year. This growth, however, varies regionally […]

Hi, we have a BTL in an ex-local authority building where the council is the Freeholder. Since 2019 there have been spates of water ingress/floods from the bathroom of flat above culminating in 7 floods through our bathroom ceiling in the last 5 weeks. The flat above houses a single mother who is a council […]

This is purely hypothetical at the moment but just imagine what could happen when Labour introduce their own version of the Renters Reform Bill. Imagine a scenario. Labour have got in to 10 Downing Street, and Angela Rayner decides that all private renters should benefit to the same extent as she has, and landlords can […]

A report by PwC shines a light on the significant contribution of small and medium-sized landlords in England and Wales to the UK economy. It was commissioned by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) and Paragon Bank, and it estimates the economic impact of landlords at a staggering £45 billion annually. This economic contribution, measured […]

Hi, I’m hoping someone can advise me on an issue encountered with a Section 21 I have served. The tenant has instructed a solicitor, and this solicitor has stated that the S.21 is not valid because I “have demanded and received prohibited payments under the Tenant Fees Act 2019”. After reviewing my accounts, I found […]

Molo Finance has reduced the interest rates on its buy to let products for UK residents with reductions of up to 33 basis points. This, the digital mortgage lender says, will make its BTL mortgages more attractive to landlords. For standard buy to let properties with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of up to 75%, Molo […]

Social housing tenants enjoy rents that are 60% cheaper than private rented sector (PRS) tenants are paying, Shelter says. The charity says the difference is £828 per month, on average, and is calling on all political parties to build more affordable social homes. It says that tenants in London would be £1,400 better off, while […]

Rents in England have hit a new high with the average cost of renting a property now £1,183 – a rise of 1.4% compared to April’s figure of £1,166. That’s according to the latest rental index from Goodlord which says this is also the highest rent average recorded since October 2023, when rents were £1,190. […]

Hi, can anyone recommend a company that does buildings insurance for an empty property that I’m going to sell? I’ve looked at a few and they just seem to cover fire but not water leaks. Obviously I’m not expecting either of these, but if I’m paying for insurance, they would seem to be the main […]

Hello, I am in a bit of a pickle and looking for advice and guidance from Property118 members. I leased my flat to my tenant in July 2013, initially on a 6-month tenancy, which subsequently evolved into a periodic tenancy. My tenant left my flat at the end of April 2024. Unfortunately, I forgot to […]

Bridging is one of those things that people sometimes struggle to understand how it works. Especially those new to this business. Simply put, it’s a mortgage to use on an unmortgageable property! If you are not able to put a normal mortgage on a property due to its state of repair or sale terms, but […]

The property market has been uncertain for a while, and with an election upcoming, and the new government that brings in tow, there’s no surprise that landlords are looking to sell, fast. Whether that’s to cash in to get the highest prices now for their portfolios, or to downsize and tidy up portfolios so the […]