Renters wield more political power due to the surge in private renting, according to an activist group. According to a survey by Generation Rent, analysis of the census reveals that 194 constituencies in England have populations containing 20% or more private renters, up from 114 in 2011. At the time of the 2021 Census, the […]

Hello all, I’m seeking advice. Where an AST is due to expire in March 2024 is it possible/acceptable to provide the tenant with a new fixed term (eg. 6 months covering March to September 2024) in January 2024? ie. a bit early! I wanted to be sure this creates no issues regarding the current fixed […]

Landlords are more confident about their letting businesses and the private rental sector (PRS) after the government scrapped plans to introduce mandatory energy performance certificate (EPC) levels, a report reveals. The findings from Foundation Home Loans are based on 785 online interviews with landlords and they reveal that landlords are expecting higher rental yields and […]

The North of England has seen a surge of investors buying second homes compared to the rest of England. According to estate agents Benham and Reeves, buy-to-let landlords are targeting these regions in search of better yields. Benham and Reeves analysed the volume of additional dwellings purchased between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 financial years across […]

More than half of tenants in England would like to have their utilities included in their rent, but just 12% of rental properties on the market offer this convenience, a survey reveals. Zero Deposit, a tenancy deposit alternative company, asked more than 2,400 tenants about their preferences and stress levels regarding bills when renting. The […]

The Housing Ombudsman has revealed that it issued 52 orders to social housing landlords for failing to handle complaints properly in the last quarter. This is the highest number since the Ombudsman started publishing its reports in 2021. The orders, known as Complaint Handling Failure Orders (CHFOs), are given to social housing landlords who do […]

With the government’s Autumn Statement tomorrow, the property sector is keenly awaiting the Chancellor’s key announcements. Many in the sector are hoping housing will be at the front of the agenda and some tax cuts for landlords will be on the cards. Some in the property sector also hope the Chancellor will abolish Section 24. […]

Hello, I think we have seen cash strapped councils trying plenty of tactics to raise much-needed funds, the most obvious being the selective licensing scheme. What I have been invoiced for this month though, is new to me. My ground rent invoice this year was more than double what I was expecting (Ground rent = […]

Hi. I was looking at buying another two properties to add to the 3 I already have. The latest mortgage quotes I received mean that even if I go ahead and buy two more properties, I will be worse off with 5 properties due to the current interest rates. I’ve decided to use the savings […]

Landlords in the UK have seen a strong rebound in their confidence levels in the third quarter of 2023, according to a survey. The findings from Paragon Bank, which involved nearly 800 landlords, found that all aspects of landlord confidence improved compared to the second quarter, driven by more stable market and economic conditions. The […]

Despite inflationary pressures and rising interest rates, the UK’s portfolio landlords – those with five or more rental properties – are not deterred from growing their property holdings, research reveals. Shawbrook Bank surveyed more than 1,000 residential landlords and found that 88% of portfolio landlords had grown their portfolios in the past six months. Of […]

Renting in London is still the most expensive in England, but the capital has also seen the biggest improvement in rental affordability over the last five years, according to a new analysis. Estate and letting agents Benham and Reeves have analysed data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on rents and incomes across different […]

Angela Rayner says that if Labour wins the next General Election, she will ban Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions on the first day of taking office, without any conditions or delays. Labour’s deputy leader and shadow secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, has outlined her ambitious plans for housing reform in an interview […]

Hi everyone, I really need some help and would appreciate any kind of advice or suggestions. So, I have tenants; a husband, wife and their 2 children (1 of which is now 18) who have been living at my property since 2013. It was initially done through an estate agent but after a couple of […]

Hi All, I wondered if anyone has experience of this or some advice please. Through the letting agent I gave notice in July for the termination of the AST, they were due to vacate on the 18th Oct 2023. The letting agent is fully managing the house, and has provided most of the documents we […]

Hi All. A bit of a long story. Apologies! I have a fully managed property and took out rent and legal cover through the estate agents. My tenant was fine for the first 9 months paying on time, but then started to fall behind, despite promises to put things right. My agents then decided to change […]

Landbay, the BTL powerhouse taking on the bigger lenders in the fold have released a 4.75% mortgage rate! This is undercutting a huge amount of other products currently available and will see them edge forward into mainstream even more. At a time when swap rates are high, they are not going to be making money […]

Rachel Maclean, the former housing minister, was sacked over a Tweet that laid bare groundbreaking leasehold reforms set to be unveiled in the King’s Speech. According to Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, Ms Maclean was axed over leaking the government’s plans for leasehold reforms on X (formerly Twitter) before the King’s Speech on the 7th […]

The London Mayor has launched a new initiative to convert private housing into council homes. Sadiq Khan aims to build an additional 10,000 council homes in the capital in the next decade. London is experiencing a housing crisis with more than 170,000 Londoners currently living in insecure temporary accommodation. Council housing at heart of plan […]

The housing market in England and Wales suffered a blow in October as the average house price fell by 4.1%, or £15,700 to £362,777, according to the latest data from e.surv Acadata house price index. This is the biggest monthly decline since August 2009, when the market was recovering from the banking crisis of 2007/2010. […]

Until the recent interest rate rises started to bite into cashflow, many larger portfolio landlords had taken the decision to pay the extra tax resulting from the Section 24 restrictions on finance cost relief as opposed to restructuring their business. It might be said that the level of pain they were enduring from Section 24 […]