News of landlords facing longer possession delays and tougher council enforcement during the second half of 2026 has left many wondering whether now is finally the time to leave the private rented sector. Since Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026, there has been a huge increase in the number of landlords searching for […]

A press release landed in my inbox suggesting that a £42,500 prosecution in County Durham demonstrated why landlords should check their properties regularly for signs of pests. That may be one lesson from the case, but it overlooks a much more uncomfortable question for landlords and letting agents. When adult tenants create or choose to […]

The government claims the Breathing Space Scheme offers several safeguards to help landlords. Introduced during the COVID pandemic, the standard scheme offers tenants protection from enforcement action, including eviction, for up to 60 days. The Mental Health Breathing Space Scheme extends protection for tenants receiving mental health crisis treatment, plus an additional 30 days after […]

The political carousel has spun once again to bring Angela Rayner back into government running England’s housing brief. That’s just 10 months after resigning as Housing Secretary for underpaying £40,000 in stamp duty on her own flat, a breach of the ministerial code she was found to have committed ‘despite acting in good faith’, she […]

Labour’s mayoral candidate for Greater Manchester has pledged to introduce rent controls and strengthen the city’s Good Landlord Charter. Under Labour’s manifesto, the party has also promised to limit the number of HMOs and build 50,000 affordable homes by 2039. Manchester’s mayoral election will take place on 30 July, with Bev Craig, the current leader […]

Property investors have good reason to watch leasehold reform closely. Much of the public debate is framed around homeowners, but leasehold is also an investment market. It affects buy-to-let landlords, freehold investors, mixed-use owners, developers, managing agents and lenders. The challenge is to distinguish between what reform changes and what it does not. MHCLG estimated […]

Landlords in Greenwich, Ealing and Hertsmere are facing proposed changes to selective licensing, HMO licensing and shared housing standards. The Royal Borough of Greenwich wants to expand selective licensing from five wards to as many as 18, bringing around 70% of the borough within the scheme. Ealing Council is consulting on extending its borough-wide licensing […]

Fresh uncertainty over a possible rent freeze could deter housing investment just as construction is falling, according to analysis of government figures. The rent freeze proposal has not been officially confirmed, leaving landlords and investors to guess what may emerge. Media briefings this week suggested that new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s cost of living plans […]

Landlords are reporting higher turnover, falling margins and concern over future costs one month after the Renters’ Rights Act took effect. Rental services provider Housing Hand questioned 30 landlords 30 days after the legislation was implemented on 1 May 2026. Of those, 83% said its effect on the rent market had been negative so far. […]

Rent prices are continuing to rise across the UK, but the pace of growth has slowed in most regions, according to new analysis from the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA). The NRLA’s rental prices: a deep dive into current trends blog post reveals that headline rental growth stands at 3.3%, while rental prices have increased […]

Most readers will have seen the coverage of the new £7,000 penalty for Category 1 hazards. What has had far less attention is how the penalty is actually decided once a council officer has been through the property, and what the government’s new landlord and agent guide, published on 23 June 2026, actually asks of […]

The government has hinted that the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Ombudsman could take into account previous cases of inadequate conduct by landlords. In a written parliamentary answer, housing minister Matthew Pennycook claimed the Ombudsman is not designed to ‘punish landlords’ but can consider evidence of repeated poor conduct. The news comes after Peers previously warned […]

The latest agreement between Gleeson Homes and Lloyds Living will deliver another 104 private rental homes across two developments in the Midlands. The properties will be built at Hollinwell Heath in Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Watermills in Apedale, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, with a mixture of two, three and four-bedroom houses intended to appeal mainly to couples and families. […]

Average private rents across the UK rose by 3.3% to £1,388 a month in the year to June, while house price growth in England slowed sharply, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports. The annual increase in rent was unchanged from May, with tenants in England paying an average of £1,446 a month, up 3.4%. […]

Landlords across Slough could face new licensing fees and conditions under proposals covering nearly 17,000 privately let homes. Slough Borough Council has opened a 10-week consultation on selective and additional licensing schemes that would extend across the borough. Selective licensing would apply to privately let properties occupied by one person, a single family or no […]

Annual house price growth has become the exception rather than the rule, with fewer than one in seven homes rising in value in each of the past five years. That’s according to Zoopla, which found that 14% of homes, equivalent to 4.2 million properties out of 30 million, recorded consecutive annual increases between June 2021 […]

Landlords have been offered more buy to let borrowing options after four specialist lenders announced changes to their mortgage ranges and lending criteria. Fleet Mortgages has broadened its criteria for joint applications involving foreign nationals, while YBS Commercial Mortgages has launched a tracker mortgage for larger multi-unit freehold blocks. Hampshire Trust Bank has introduced lower […]

Hello, Yesterday, I received an invitation to go online and try out the ‘dummy’ version of the new Landlord Database. Already having a one Gov I.D it was easy enough to register as a landlord. The problem came when I started trying to register my properties, in particular gas and electrical certificates. I don’t hold […]

To the Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Dear Commissioners, We are writing to ask HMRC to revisit one sentence in paragraph CG65715 of the Capital Gains Manual, which deals with the meaning of “business” for the purposes of incorporation relief under section 162 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992. The sentence […]

Landlords could face a rent freeze as Andy Burnham considers urgent measures designed to give households relief from the cost-of-living crisis. The new Prime Minister confirmed that rent freezes were among several options being examined with the Treasury, alongside lower energy bills and caps on bus fares. However, while speaking with reports after his Downing […]

Andy Burnham could hardly have chosen a more appropriate housing priority for his first days as Prime Minister. His Government has announced an urgent national drive to end rough sleeping, supported by an additional £340 million, while he has also promised a substantial increase in council housebuilding. That commitment deserves support. Nobody should have to […]