A frustrated landlord has criticised Nottingham’s selective licensing scheme and called it a “stealth tax on landlords”. Nottingham City Council introduced the controversial scheme in 2018 to, it claimed, improve the quality of housing in the Private Rental Sector (PRS). Since then, landlords across the city have grappled with the scheme’s implications. No property inspections […]

The average rent price in the UK has risen by almost 10% in a year, according to the latest HomeLet rental index. The report shows that every region in the country has seen an annual increase in rent prices, with Scotland leading the surge. The index is based on data from more than 500,000 tenancies […]

The recent Parliamentary debate by MPs of the Renters (Reform) Bill has highlighted the plight of student renters and private landlords, one rent guarantor service says. Paul Blomfield, the MP for Sheffield Central, told MPs that 45% of students live in the private rented sector (PRS), which amounts to 600,000 young people across England and […]

Edinburgh has become the first city council in Scotland to declare a housing emergency, as it faces a ‘crisis’ in both the public and private renting sectors. The declaration was made after a motion by the council’s housing convener, Jane Meagher, who highlighted the ‘severe challenges’ of providing affordable and adequate accommodation for the city’s […]

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 6 to 3 to maintain the Bank Base Rate at 5.25%. Despite the Fed freezing the US rate yesterday, three MPC members still voted to increase the Base Rate by 0.25%. The latest MPC forecast market-implied path for rates was adjusted down to maintain at around […]

UK interest rates have been left unchanged at 5.25% by the Bank of England in a move economists had expected. The Bank had previously raised rates 14 times in a row to tame inflation, leading to increases in mortgage payments but also higher savings rates. Its Monetary Policy Committee, which decides the rates, voted by […]

London is facing a rough sleeping crisis as new data shows that the number of people sleeping on the streets has reached a record high. According to the latest figures from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN), 4,068 people were counted sleeping rough in London between July and September 2023. This is a 12% […]

If you are a landlord or investor looking for a high-yield property investment in London, you may want to consider buying a house in multiple occupation (HMO). However, you may also face some difficulties in finding one, as a new study shows that London HMOs are rarely put up for sale. According to Octane Capital, […]

Last week Housing Secretary Michael Gove stated that he had been in discussions with HM Treasury to investigate the possibility of providing additional tax incentives for landlords. Mr Gove was asked at the NRLA conference whether the mortgage interest relief removed by George Osborne in 2015 would be reinstated. Mr Gove said: “I do recognise […]

Not sure what’s in the Renters’ Reform Bill? We’ve rounded up everything you need to know about the long-awaited bill below and will continue to keep updating the guide as we get more clarification. The government claim the reforms will help 11 million tenants across England benefit from “safer, fairer and higher quality homes thanks […]

The number of unincorporated landlords in the UK’s private rented sector (PRS) has increased to 2.82 million in 2021 to 2022, according to new data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The data, based on Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) returns, shows that unincorporated landlords declared a total of £48.87 billion in property income from 2021 […]

A new lettings agency has been launched by a council to work with private landlords and help homeless families find permanent homes. GBC Lettings is part of Gravesham Borough Council’s response to the rising number of local households living in temporary accommodation, which has reached more than 200. The council says high interest rates and […]

Many landlords are thinking about selling up due to additional stress, costs and additional taxes that landlords now face. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Anyone taking a long-term view on property investing will understand all the benefits and do very well, however, can everyone weather the storm? Listen to this lively podcast hosted […]

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has appealed to the Renters’ Reform Coalition, a group of organisations that push for tenants’ rights, to work together on improving the private rented sector (PRS). The NRLA has sent an open letter to the coalition’s leading members, including Crisis, Citizens Advice, Generation Rent, Shelter and others. The letter […]

Across the United Kingdom, the rental sector is experiencing an extraordinary growth trajectory. From as it stood at around 2.8 million households in 2007, the number of private renters in the UK has surged to over 4.5 million. With a changing demographic and an increasing preference towards flexibility over home ownership, the lettings industry has […]

Hi, Housing asylum seekers in hotels was a very unpopular move with the public. Now the Government have announced they will be moving them out to alternative accommodation. They can’t all be going to the Bibby Stockholm Barge, so where are they going? According to Hansard “Draft Houses in Multiple Occupation (Asylum-Seeker Accommodation) (England) Regulations […]

Hi all, I’m looking for some help, please. I read somewhere that when sending/taking the N325 to the county court certain documents have to be attached to the form, but I cannot find anything more about this. Is there a way to speed up the process? I have sent an email to the court, but […]

UK house prices rose by 0.9% in October – but the annual rate of house price growth remained negative at -3.3%, the latest figures from Nationwide reveal. The average UK house price is still lower than it was a year ago and now stands at £259,423. Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, attributed the monthly increase […]

Average rents in Scotland for new tenancies have risen by double digits for the fourth consecutive quarter, reaching up to 19% year-on-year growth in some regions, research reveals. The findings from Citylets point to the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 which introduced caps on rent increases within tenancies as the reason for […]

Landlords looking to buy or remortgage properties can benefit from lower rates and more choices from Landbay. That’s because the specialist buy to let lender has made more than 80 changes to its product range, including rate reductions of up to 0.20% across various products. Landbay offers products for standard properties, small houses in multiple […]

The lettings market in England experienced a post-summer slump in October, with rents on new tenancies falling by 11% and voids increasing by 29%, according to the latest Goodlord Rental Index. The report, which tracks key indicators of the rental sector across seven regions in England, shows that the average rent for a new tenancy […]