The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Generation Rent have smeared private landlords in a demand for an immediate Government crackdown on those who provide homes for tenants on housing benefit. Mr Khan says it is ‘a scandal’ that billions of pounds is being paid in rent to private landlords who he alleges are letting […]

From a lack of affordable homes to rising rents, Scotland is facing a housing crisis that affects everyone. Growing numbers of businesses cannot open due to a lack of staff, whilst 30,000 people in Scotland are stuck on social housing lists waiting for a home. Landlords in Scotland are leaving the sector in their droves […]

Property118 Founder, Mark Alexander and Hon. Legal Counsel for Property118, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers, will be presenting in person an overview of several landlord tax strategies at the Baker Street Property Meet this Wednesday. Are you looking for ways to structure your property business in the most tax-efficient way to minimise […]

The cost for landlords to upgrade their rental properties to meet a minimum EPC rating of C by an expected deadline of 2028 will see two-thirds (59%) sell up and leave the sector. That’s according to the Mortgage Advice Bureau which says that more clarity regarding the help that is available to landlords is needed. […]

Hello, I own my leasehold flat in a block of 14 apartments. The management company has hiked the service charge from £2,500 to £6,500 pa. There is some work to be done on the garden due to land slip but we’ve had no section 20 notice. Do we have to pay this in advance of […]

Every social housing tenant is to receive ‘Watchdog’ style training on how to hold their landlords to account as part of a new scheme. From free advice on addressing damp and mould to webinars on how to complain about anti-social behaviour, the government-funded training programme will share information like that handed out by TV shows […]

Are you a landlord who rents to students or used to rent out to students? Then, Alexa Phillips, the personal finance reporter for the Telegraph would like to speak with you. Alexa would like to talk to Property118 readers about: What are the challenges facing landlords renting to students? Are there onerous licencing rules in […]

Hello, The rent from services like AirBnB are far higher than regular rentals. I estimated I’d only need to have my property occupied for around 1/3 of the year to make the same rent that I’d get for longer term rents. But, the costs are higher – regular cleaning, provision of towels/sheets etc, providing and […]

Hi, in the last few years, I have stopped taking tenancy deposits in the fear of breach of compliance. Nonetheless, as a result of adopting to aforesaid practice, I have had instances, where tenants abandoned properties or left properties without giving any valid notice or they have left the property with piled-up rubbish. I have […]

Lloyds Bank says that because landlords offer ‘poor and exclusionary practices’, they are teaming up with the homeless charity Crisis to start a new lettings agency. It says the new venture ‘will be fair for tenants and fair for landlords’. The bank says that homeless people won’t be asked to provide rent in advance, and […]

Hello, I see information that states landlords must improve their let properties to EPC C levels by 2025 and then I see it is changed to 2028 and then I see that it hasn’t actually been determined. Does anyone have the actual facts on this matter please? If we do need to ensure all our […]

We often see the term ‘rogue landlord’ bandied about, but a story last week got me thinking: When is a rogue landlord, not a rogue landlord?’ It would appear that most people would think it was a term to describe a landlord who let a home without a roof, didn’t fix a leaking gas pipe […]

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has hit out after the government revealed it has not tried to calculate how many people cannot pay their rent because of the freeze on housing benefit rates. The admission has been made by the Work and Pensions Minister, Mims Davies, in response to a parliamentary question. The news […]

Hi, I’ve inherited a house from my stepmother and I’m considering letting it. I’m a higher-rate tax payer and as I’d rather not hand over 40% of all my rent to the tax man, I’d like to use a Limited company to ‘own’ the property, but, I think I may have to pay stamp duty […]

Claims that landlords are misusing section 21 notices – the ‘no fault’ eviction process – are unfounded, one firm says. Estate agents Leaders Romans Group (LRG) says it has carried out research and found that Section 21 is rarely overused, and even more rarely misused. The firm says that a controversial change being planned in […]

Hello, I have a nice studio flat in Balham and am trying to find a decent agent to show the flat and find a single professional to let it. Management is not needed. The agents have boilerplate one-sided contracts that I can’t sign. I would like to create a decent but simple contract that would […]

Landlords haven’t yet passed on their rising mortgage costs to tenants, but that could be about to change, research reveals. Estate and letting agents Barrows and Forrester warn that tenants could be facing a sharp increase in their rent bills as landlords battle soaring buy-to-let mortgage costs. The firm has analysed the average monthly cost […]

We’ve heard it all too often, you come to the end of the tenancy and the rent arrears and dilapidations exceed the deposit held.  You’ve now got to claim the full deposit through the ADR procedure and you are either left out of pocket or have to pursue the tenant through the courts for the […]

Most BTL investor sales are from those landlords who were among the first to invest after buy to let mortgages were launched in 1996, research reveals. The findings from Hamptons show that landlords are now retiring and selling up in increasing numbers – and the number will rise over the coming years. The estate and […]

A clampdown on landlords who are renting out homes with worst performing energy efficiency ratings could be facing £5,000 fines, one council says. The move will see landlords in Shropshire being issued with a Compliance Notice to improve the energy efficiency of the worst-performing privately rented homes in the county. From 1 April 2020, landlords […]

Renters in London will be the worst hit by the government’s proposed energy performance certificate (EPC) laws, research reveals. That’s the view of data science firm Outra which says that tenants will have to leave unlettable properties if the government imposes a minimum EPC rating of C by 2028. There’s also a risk that landlords […]