Halifax, the UK’s leading mortgage lender, is forecasting a steeper drop in house prices for 2024 than was seen this year, ranging from 2% to 4%. In 2023, the average house price was £283,615, only 1% lower than 2022, despite the impact of higher interest rates on the property market. Now Kim Kinnaird, the director […]

Paragon Bank has unveiled new five-year fixed-rate buy to let mortgages with attractive features for landlords. The products have no fees and competitive rates starting from 5.80%, and £750 cashback on some options. The mortgages are available for up to 70% loan-to-value (LTV) and cater to different types of properties. Green mortgage offers the lowest […]

Hello, Our tenant of nearly 2 years has asked if we’d consider selling to them under shared ownership. The AST ends in May ’24. The split would be 51/49 in our favour and they would continue to live in the house and pay rent pro rata. I’m aware of a Gov.uk document that gives guidance […]

There has been a significant increase in the number of renters on high salaries being asked to provide guarantors, a survey reveals. The findings from the RentTech platform Goodlord come from analysing 783,000 tenants who submitted a tenancy application between January and September in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Of these tenants, 138,949 were asked […]

Rents in London have increased by 8% year-on-year, with the average rent now at £582, Foxtons reveals. The estate agent also highlights that despite the year-on-year increase, the average rent price decreased by 3% in November. Foxtons has analysed Zoopla data and found that the capital saw a 13% rise in new instructions compared to […]

At least 309,000 people in England will spend Christmas without a home, including nearly 140,000 children – which Shelter says is an ‘outrage’ as it launches a new fundraising drive. Shelter is a campaigning charity offering advice and information to tenants and pushes for policy changes by the government. It doesn’t provide homes for those […]

One firm of chartered surveyors and auctioneers has revealed it has seen a 300% increase in instructions to sell residential buy to let properties in the past five months. Manchester-based Landwood Group attributes the trend to the challenging conditions faced by BTL investors. It points to punitive tax changes, high mortgage interest rates, increasing red […]

The Bank of England has held firm as interest rates remain unchanged at 5.25%. The decision, which was widely expected by financial markets, means borrowing costs will remain at their highest level for 15 years. The Bank had previously raised rates 14 times in a row to tame inflation but has left the last two […]

An independent councillor who referred to private landlords as ‘entitled parasites’ on social media has had complaints against him thrown out by an ethics watchdog, the Edinburgh Evening News reports. Coun Ross McKenzie made the comments during a discussion about new short-term let regulations – angering three landlords who filed complaints to the ethical standards […]

Wirral council has announced plans to extend and introduce selective licensing schemes for private sector landlords in four areas of the borough, targeting parts of Birkenhead and Wallasey. The schemes, which will run from 2024 to 2029, affect four areas – Birkenhead West, Seacombe St Pauls, Bidston and St James West, and Egremont North. The […]

Rents are expected to rise by almost 4% in the next year as the supply of homes to rent dwindles, the latest RICS UK Residential survey reveals. RICS also reveals that tenant demand is still increasing – but at a slower pace than before. The research highlights that tenant demand fell in London and the […]

Hi folks, Hope you all are well. My tenant has incurred rent arrears of nearly £4000 now. He keeps saying he will pay but never delivers the promise. I’ve served Section 21 and the Court possession order as a last resort. Wondering if a lawyer is required or compulsory for lodging a possession order to […]

House prices in November took a downward shift with a decrease of 4.6%. According to Acadata House Price Index, completed home transactions using cash or mortgages in England and Wales are at their lowest level in 17 years. The dramatic drop follows 15 months of gradual decline, from a peak growth rate of +12.7% in […]

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has expelled two companies for failing to pay compensation to consumers. This year, 13 companies have been expelled from the scheme, down from 18 last year. Now the TPO’s Compliance Committee has ruled that the London-based Prinsegate Chartered Surveyors and Monsoon Properties should be excluded from the scheme. ‘Encouraging to see […]

A new guide to address the issue of damp and mould in privately rented homes has been unveiled to help landlords, agents and tenants. It is the creation of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) and the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) and provides essential information to better understand and address this common issue. The ‘Mould […]

Hello, I have 5 tenants in an HMO on a joint tenancy with one non payer who is refusing to communicate. What is the correct procedure to deal with her? Do I have to issue a section 21 to all tenants on that tenancy and then offer a new tenancy to the other tenants who […]

I posed the question “What is a Family Investment Company?” to Chat GPT recently and was pleasantly surprised with the accuracy of its response, as follows: – “A family investment company (FIC) is a private limited company that is established by a family or group of individuals to manage and control their collective wealth. The […]

The government’s Renters (Reform) Bill will fail without proper financial support of local authorities to deliver it, MPs have warned. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Private Rented Sector has published a report on the Bill which will see a new decent homes standard for the private rented sector (PRS) being introduced and the […]

Hello, I have a tenant in her seventies who is in many ways a model tenant. She lives alone in my property. Owing to a family crisis, her 31 year old grandson is staying with her. He has been there a few weeks and I cannot see the situation changing any time soon. I do […]

Hello, with so many people finding themselves homeless being housed in B&Bs, I was wondering if they are required to pay towards the cost at all. Or do the local councils cover the entire cost? I am genuinely interested as it is a part of the current housing crisis that nobody talks about. For information, […]

The UK’s private rental sector (PRS) is showing signs of slowing down as the festive season approaches, but one expert is predicting a strong recovery in 2024. Nicky Stevenson, the managing director of Fine & Country, says the market is under pressure and expects a resurgence in rental growth next year, supported by positive indicators […]