Higher mortgage rates and cost of living pressures have caused house prices to fall in four out of five local markets in the UK, Zoopla reports. According to its latest House Price Index, annual house price growth has slowed from +9.2% a year ago to -1.1% today, the most dramatic slowdown since 2009. House price […]

The Housing Ombudsman has been slammed by a legal expert after it handed out a fine of £66,441 for poor housing – an average of £2,000 per case – when a landlord in the private rented sector would have been fined more than £2 MILLION for the same offences. The Ombudsman highlighted a range of […]

Investing in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) can be more profitable than non-HMO’s with landlords enjoying nearly DOUBLE the average yield, research reveals. Octane Capital, a specialist property lending company, analysed the cost and return of converting a four-bedroom property into an HMO across England. The research found that the average house price in England […]

The Government’s plans for the private rented sector (PRS) have been criticised by a leading industry figure as confusing and chaotic. Daniel Evans, the chair of the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC), said the Renters (Reform) Bill, which aims to overhaul the PRS, was ‘like a half-baked cake’. The Bill will scrap Section 21 […]

More than 180 tenants of a social housing trust have been overcharged by nearly £500,000, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) says. Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) has admitted its failure to set rents correctly and vowed to reimburse the affected residents. The trust, which owns around 2,600 homes in York, Leeds, Scarborough and Hartlepool, […]

An association is demanding the government give more legal aid to tenants facing eviction. The Law Society warns tenants on low incomes will be unable to afford legal advice if they face eviction. The association is urging the government to invest in the legal aid system and the courts. Access to housing legal aid becomes […]

Nearly a third (32%) of buy to let landlords are planning to buy more property in the next 12 months, despite the challenges posed by higher interest rates, a survey reveals. The research from Landbay also reveals that 43% of landlords are not intending to buy any more property soon. The main reasons for this […]

Students are struggling as soaring rents outpace average maintenance loan, according to new research. A survey by student housing charity Unipol and Higher Education Policy Institute reveals rents for student accommodation have increased by nearly 15% over the past two years. Bristol has the UK’s highest average annual rent at £9,200 per year outside of […]

Hello, S21 has been issued and now in accelerated stage. Awaiting a date from judge. Council has just contacted me about tenant asking the following… When did tenant move into the above address? How much is the rent at the above address? Why has tenant been served with notice to leave his/her accommodation? Did tenant […]

Hello, I have a tenant who on the 25th Oct informed me she would be leaving on the 31st Oct 2023. She is on an AST that started on the 1st May 2023 and would be due to roll over on the 1st Nov 2023. The tenant pays their rent per month and is up […]

Michael Gove, the Housing Secretary, has expressed his opposition to rent controls at the National Residential Landlords Association’s (NRLA) national conference. The event was held on the day after MPs debated the Renters (Reform) Bill, which aims to end so-called ‘no-fault’ evictions by abolishing section 21 notices. Mr Gove said that he recognised ‘the invaluable […]

Hello, my daughter and I are in a long-running dispute with Student Finance England regarding income assessment and Student Maintenance Loan. I am asking whether any other landlords have experienced this issue and possible solutions. The issue is that they are taking our Gross S24 Income (artificially inflated rental income including finance costs) rather than […]

Hello, Does anyone know how to find out the detailed crime stats for an area (postcode or actual road)? I am trying to pull together info to prove that selective licencing (SL) has been granted by the Secretary of State, but on the basis that the info presented by the council is factually incorrect and that […]

London’s buy to let investors are turning their backs on the capital and looking for opportunities in the North of England, the Telegraph reports. According to estate agency Hamptons, two-thirds of London landlords who bought properties this year did so outside the capital, compared to just one-third 10 years ago. The North of England has […]

The Liberal Democrats have challenged Conservative MPs who are landlords to reveal if they have ever evicted tenants without a reason. The party wants more transparency from the Tory MPs who may oppose the Renters (Reform) Bill, which aims to ban Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions in England. The Bill was introduced in the Commons for […]

Hello, on the advice of an eviction specialist I have issued my “tenant ” with a notice to quit. She is not a resident and is using the property for Airbnb now on an assumed tenancy at will – commercial property. I thought that once the notice period had ended I could take possession but […]

More homeowners are turning to auctions to sell their properties quickly in a slowing housing market, but they may face lower demand from buyers, research reveals. According to a report by House Buyer Bureau, 2.3% of all homes on the market are heading to auction, up from 1.7% a year ago. This means that almost […]

Lloyds has warned that the UK’s house prices will continue to fall until 2025 as the economy faces higher interest rates for longer. The UK’s biggest mortgage lender said it expects house prices to decline by 4.7% this year and by 2.4% in 2024, before recovering slightly by 2.3% in 2025. The banking group, which […]

Hello, I have a bailiff’s eviction coming up sometime soon, my first and last. Has anyone actually had the experience of being present on the day that their tenant was evicted? If so, what happened? Was the tenant prepared for this? Were they actually at home? Did the tenant go willingly? Did he/she leave loads […]

We still await a defence from DN on the articles on whether the Substantial Incorporation Structure (SIS) is tax avoidance, and on incorporation relief. All we have had so far is social media comments to say the rest of the tax profession agrees with him, including the author of the leading text on CGT. No […]

The Renters (Reform) Bill’s second reading has been passed without a vote which has prompted various leading figures in the property sector to offer an opinion on what comes next. One of the big issues is that the government’s planned abolition of section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions will not happen until the court system has been […]