The Social Housing Regulation Bill has now become law in what is being hailed as landmark legislation in the sector. The Bill received Royal Assent last week and sets out new reforms for social housing landlords. According to the English Housing Survey 2021-2022, there are nine million people in England who live in social homes […]

The buy to let market is booming as landlords enjoy higher returns on their properties, according to a new report by Fleet Mortgages. The lender’s Buy to Let Rental Barometer, which tracks rental yields in different regions of England and Wales, shows that the average yield for both countries increased from 5.6% in the second […]

Strikes, rocketing-interest rates and high demand for housing. You would be forgiven for thinking that we were back in the 1970s! Fashion may have changed drastically since then but with housing affordability at its worst in decades, renters and homeowners now face heading back to the past. This Property118 investigation turns back the clock to […]

Let’s face it, the debate surrounding Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions in the UK has become increasingly contentious, with media outlets and tenant activist groups condemning landlords for our supposedly arbitrary use of this legal provision. However, it is crucial to shed light on the other side of the story and explore why we opt for […]

Tenants are feeling the squeeze as new rents outside of London have hit a new record high of £1,231 – that’s 33% or £300 more than pre-pandemic 2019. Renters in London are now forking out £2,567 for a new tenancy with rents 28% or £559 higher than in 2019. Data from Rightmove also reveals that […]

Hello, under the Renters Reform Bill, it states that a landlord cannot reasonably refuse a request for a pet from a tenant. Is there any provision for landlords that are allergic to dogs/cats for health reasons to still be allowed to refuse a pet? This might seem a petty question but we once had a […]

Hello, my London Borough is keen on licensing all HMOs. I live in a four-bedroom (now four-bathroom) house on my own; there are two living rooms and a year-round conservatory but only one shared kitchen. The local authority has said in the past that I don’t need to be registered if I have two lodgers […]

Demand still remains strong in London, according to new data. Latest figures from Foxtons Lettings Index reveal that applicant demand rose 19% from May to June this year. The letting agents say London enters the peak lettings season usually in August and September. Central London continued to have the highest average weekly rent Foxtons found […]

A new consultation has been launched for landlords and industry professionals to give their thoughts on how to make energy-efficiency improvements to properties. RICS has launched a consultation which will be aimed at helping surveyors provide useful retrofitting advice. The organisation believes part of the reason why consumers aren’t retrofitting their homes is that they […]

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is demanding that he be handed powers to tackle London’s rented home supply which is being ‘decimated’ by short-term lets. Fuelled by the likes of Airbnb, the capital has seen an explosion in short-term lets in recent years. Figures show that there were 81,272 properties on the Airbnb platform […]

The UK’s renters have seen average rent prices rocket by 5.1% in the year to June, the highest annual increase since the records began in January 2016. The rise was even steeper in Wales and Scotland, where rents jumped by 6.7% and 6.2% respectively. And. according to the latest data from the Office for National […]

Hello, I own a couple of semi-detached properties on a housing estate built in the mid-70s all of which have an EPC rating of D. All properties have modern double glazing, adequate loft insulation, LED lights, and a modern combi gas boiler with TRVs on radiators. To achieve a C it would require cavity wall […]

Hello, a tenant wants to exchange a (working) electric cooker with a gas cooker. She has says she will pay to have it installed and the necessary certification. A couple of points, would it become her responsibility to maintain it (and replace if necessary) and also provide annual gas safety certification? Grateful for any thoughts […]

In the face of economic uncertainty, many professional landlords and investors are continuing to grow their property portfolios, according to one estate agent. Local estate agents in Leeds HOP say they have agreed to more than £1.5 million worth of investment sales in the area. The estate agents say Leeds is becoming an investment hotspot […]

The UK’s house prices grew by 1.9% year-on-year in May – a slowdown from the 3.2% growth recorded in April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports. The average house price was £286,000, up by £6,000 a year ago, but down by £7,000 from the peak reached in September 2022. According to the ONS, house […]

Growing demand and low supply leaves renters in limbo, according to new data. The latest figures from Propertymark’s Housing Insight report reveal in June this year an average of 13 new prospective tenants registered per available property over the month. A 57% increase in the mismatch between supply and demand compared to June 2022. According […]

First, it was a claim by Generation Rent that families are being evicted every 15 minutes – but now Shelter has gone one better by saying a family is evicted every EIGHT minutes in England. The charity says it has calculated the figure by using the number of families living in the private rented sector […]

Energy efficiency improvement costs for some private rented sector homes could cost nearly £15,000. The English Housing Survey for 2021-2022 reveals 19% of PRS homes could cost between £10,000 and £15,000 to improve to at least an EPC rating of C. A further 5% of homes could require £15,000 or more to improve their energy […]

Landlords in the private rented sector and local councils are being urged by the government to help house Afghan refugees who are living in hotels and costing taxpayers £1m every day. Speaking in Parliament, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Johnny Mercer called on local authorities to make use of the Government’s £285 million package of […]

Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) across the South West have united to lobby landlords and letting agents to identify and report suspected cannabis farms. The PCCs from Wiltshire, Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset and Gloucestershire have also contacted national bodies for landlords and agents in a bid to raise awareness. They say they […]

Worried landlords should consider inventories as a defence should the Renters (Reform) Bill become law and tenants get a legal right to keep a pet in their home, one expert says. Daniel Evans, the chair of the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC), says that tenants will only need written permission from a landlord – […]