More London tenants are choosing to stay put, with renewal activity climbing while available rental stock across the capital continues to contract. Chestertons reports that tenancy renewals rose 16.2% month-on-month in February. That suggests a growing share of tenants are remaining in their existing homes rather than moving, the firm says. New landlord instructions increased […]

The government has claimed it is offering support to landlords ahead of the introduction of Making Tax Digital, despite a slow uptake in registrations. As previously reported by Property118, with less than a month to go until Making Tax Digital comes into force, only around 5% of taxpayers, including landlords, have signed up. Under the […]

Analysis of why Scotland’s private rented sector stopped expanding and what rent controls, taxation and regulation may mean for housing supply.

Temporary accommodation in Scotland has reached record levels. What changed in the housing system and why councils are spending £100m+ a year.

Annual rent growth for newly agreed tenancies has returned to positive territory after seven months of declines, new figures from Hamptons show. Average monthly rents for newly let homes in Great Britain reached £1,368 in February. That is 0.6% higher than the same month last year and ends a run of annual falls stretching back […]

Average asking prices for newly listed homes rose by 0.8% in March, climbing £3,023 to £371,042 as the spring selling season begins. Rightmove says the increase follows an unusually flat February and that March normally brings a lift in asking prices. However, the pace of house price growth is modest and is now close to […]

Hello, Will I become liable for Making Tax Digital (MTD) if I rent out instead of selling my property? As I’m now in my 70’s and finding, just about everything, too complicated, I decided to sell 2 properties to stay under the 50K MTD limit but I’ve hit a problem and just don’t know which […]

Ten years after the second home stamp duty surcharge was introduced, research from Hamptons suggests the PRS is 2.2 million homes smaller than it might otherwise have been. The surcharge came into force on 1 April 2016 for additional property purchases in England and Scotland, adding an extra 3% tax to landlord transactions. It marked […]

The Scottish government has announced it will provide £9 million in extra funding to tackle the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) freeze. During the Autumn Budget in England, ministers announced that LHA rates will remain frozen for a second consecutive year in 2026/27. The funding from the Scottish government comes as they announce a series of […]

Buy to let mortgage searches by advisors remained robust in February as landlords continued to review borrowing arrangements, even as purchase activity eased slightly. Figures from Twenty7tec’s latest Mortgage Market Snapshot show advisers carried out 291,468 buy to let searches during the month. That was 4% lower than January, although still 2% higher than the […]

An open letter to Shelter Scotland: if you want to work with landlords, let’s start with the evidence In a recent interview, Shelter’s new chief executive suggested the organisation is ready to work more closely with private landlords to address the housing crisis. LINK She said the housing sector would need to “work as a […]

I’m among the many landlords across England who are watching the clock tick down to May 1 with keen interest for when Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions end under the Renters’ Rights Act. And no, it’s not so I can gloat when tenant evictions, apparently the ‘main cause of homelessness’ schtick we are constantly bombarded with, […]

Landlords looking to refinance or arrange new buy to let borrowing are facing shrinking mortgage choice and higher rates as lenders respond to market volatility linked to the Iranian conflict. Figures from Moneyfactscompare.co.uk, produced for Property118.com, show the number of buy to let mortgage products fell from 5,660 on 1 March to 5,081 by 12 […]

Landlords planning to sell a property directly to the tenant already living in it could find the process easier after new mortgage criteria were introduced to support discounted sales. Nottingham Building Society has updated its lending rules to allow concessionary purchases from landlords. This will enable a landlord to sell a home to the sitting […]

Propertymark has published housing manifestos for the Scottish and Welsh elections in May, setting out proposals it says are intended to address pressures affecting landlords, renters, buyers and sellers. The organisation says the plans draw on the experience of property professionals working across the market. The plans focus on issues including housing supply, affordability, environmental […]

Landlords preparing for the Renters’ Rights Act may need to rethink how they keep track of property condition once fixed-term tenancies disappear, research reveals. The findings from Inventory Base suggest many landlords plan only limited inspections after the shift to indefinite periodic tenancies. The survey of 800 landlords indicates that 46% expect to inspect their […]

A tenant group has slammed the government over the fees tenants must pay to access rent tribunals. A story in the Mirror claims the Renters’ Reform Coalition has written to Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook, claiming tribunals will be the only way tenants can challenge rent rises and the fees will “undermine security for millions of […]

Sharp rises in room rents across major UK cities are affecting affordability for tenants and shaping demand as a result. Research from flatshare site SpareRoom shows Belfast recorded the steepest increase among the UK’s 20 largest cities over the past five years. Average room rents in the Northern Irish capital climbed 53.2% between Q4 2020 […]

All tenants must have a new tenancy agreement and be given a copy of the ‘Information for tenants ‘ booklet. That’s fine, but my registered rents – Fair rents tenants have completely different rules. >> https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fair-rents I cannot put up the rent yearly. The rent is decided by the fair rent office and has to […]

April 2017 marked the beginning of one of the most consequential fiscal shifts in modern private renting. Section 24, the restriction on mortgage interest relief for individual landlords, was phased in over four years. It was presented as a fairness measure. Nearly a decade on, the deeper question is whether it achieved its wider economic […]

Hello, As an informative. I’m 73 and (hand) wrote a letter (a bit scrawly on unlined paper!) to HMRC. I mentioned my age, that my memory was not so good, I’m a bit doddery on my feet and not au fait with software although I can manage a basic spread sheet. I also said I […]