The number of houses on sale in England has rocketed by 15% since the start of the year as sellers struggle to find buyers, a study reveals. According to the House Buyer Bureau, the oversaturated market has 720,540 properties currently listed for sale. That’s an annual growth of 9% and a 15% rise from the […]

House prices in June saw a modest rise of just 0.1% – but year-on-year prices are down 3.5%, Nationwide says. The current average home price stands at £262,239. First-time buyers are struggling as they need to put down 55% of their gross annual income as a deposit – a slight improvement from late 2022, when […]

Hello, we own the freehold of a maisonette building made up of eight flats and we also own the leasehold of the first-floor flat. The ground floor flat is completely self-contained and includes both the front and back gardens. There is a hole in the roof and rain is coming into the loft and our […]

Hello, I am the leaseholder and I am having issues with the freeholder who rents out the flat above. The tenants are noisy because of the wooden floors and there have been two leaks which have caused damage to my flat downstairs. The freeholder pays a letting agent to manage the property upstairs. In terms […]

Hello, my wife and I bought a property, the completion date was January 2023. We bought with a tenant in situ who since April has been in rent arrears and is refusing to leave after section 21 and 8 has been issued. The solicitor is about to issue an accelerated possession order but has requested […]

The potential rise in evictions means the government must immediately introduce the Labour Party’s Private Renters’ Charter to help protect tenants. Labour’s call follows Shadow housing secretary, Lisa Nandy, announcing that Labour would not introduce a rent freeze – despite her support of the move last September. Key stipulations of the charter include putting an […]

Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales, has rejected the idea of implementing a rent freeze in the country. That’s despite his government launching a consultation on introducing rent controls in Wales earlier this month. This week, Mr Drakeford was asked by Peredur Owen Griffiths, a Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd, about his government’s […]

A rental index reveals that England’s rental market has caught fire, with rents rising for the sixth straight month in June and voids plunging. The latest data from Goodlord points to an ever-increasing demand for rental properties – as the peak season for lettings approaches. The survey found that seven out of the eight regions […]

Hello, builders next door have commenced building work without planning approval yet an application has been submitted. No party wall notices were issued and no neighbour consultation was done. The rear extension to the mid-terrace is 6m long. Is this acceptable under permitted development rights as there is only 3m remaining to the rear garden […]

Landlords and homeowners are facing steep costs to upgrade their properties to meet potential Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings – with an average price tag of £13,981. According to mortgage data firm Dashly, homeowners in Greater London will feel even more of a financial pinch with an average cost of £14,589 to make the necessary […]

Hello, we are all required to improve our properties so as to adhere to standards set by the government in regard to insulation etc. This is not a bad thing but it does mean a significant reduction of airflow around the home. Consequently, there is less air available to dry out areas around the house […]

Lisa Nandy, Labour Party’s shadow housing secretary, has rejected calls for rent controls – despite saying at the Labour Party conference last autumn that she supported them. Now, she believes that rent controls are a ‘sticking plaster on our deep-seated problems’. Ms Nandy also expressed concerns that such a policy could result in increased homelessness. […]

Despite a slight nationwide drop in rental interest, the Midlands is emerging as an exception to the trend, a rental demand index reveals. The latest findings from Barrows and Forrester highlight that Dorset is the current epicentre of the rental market, with Herefordshire showing the highest growth rate over the last quarter. The index from […]

Hi everyone, my family own several leasehold flats and in each case the leases allow the freeholder to arrange building insurance and to recharge this to the leaseholders. Every time the property is valued by an RICS surveyor the insurance value has increased way beyond inflation and has now reached ridiculous levels so that the […]

People receiving housing benefits or Universal Credit can afford just one in 20 private rental homes, according to new figures. Research by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) reveals since the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) freeze, the proportion of new private rental properties on Zoopla that would be covered by LHA has plummeted from 23% […]

Hello, I have a five-bed eco house on the South Coast we recently put up for sale when our last tenants left. Unfortunately, then the market nose-dived and there has been no interest. The agents tell me this is the case with all of the more expensive properties in the area. Now, not only are […]

Landlords are increasingly investing in energy-efficient properties that have an EPC rating of C or higher, a study reveals. Rightmove says that since January 2019, there has been a 16% increase in the number of rental properties entering the private rental sector with an EPC rating between A and C. Those homes had previously been […]

The Social Housing Regulation Bill is set to become law after passing through both Houses and is awaiting Royal Assent. The Bill includes Awaab’s law, which will require social housing landlords to fix reported health hazards such as mould within strict time limits. The toddler died in Rochdale from a respiratory condition that had been […]

This week the NRLA reported that one in three landlords are going to trim down their portfolios. A whopping 33% of landlords are currently selling throughout the UK. Of that 33%, most landlords agreed that they would be willing to take 80% of the value just to get rid of them because mortgage payments are […]

Buy to let mortgage brokers are predicting a big rise in limited company lending for BTL landlords in the coming year, a survey reveals. According to Paragon Bank, 49% of brokers expect to handle a larger volume of buy-to-let mortgages for portfolio landlords who operate through limited companies. In addition, 38% of intermediaries foresee an […]

Local authorities in England have raised concerns about the need for additional staff and funding to effectively enforce the proposed banning of Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions in the Renters Reform Bill. The legislation is making its way through Parliament and responsibility for enforcing the ban will fall on councils. But they are already expressing concerns […]