The MortgageStrategy recently ran an article examining data from TwentyEA showing the average time it takes to sell a UK home has jumped to 65 days and the average property exchanges have risen to 139 days, making a total of 204 days (almost 7 months) to sell and complete an average house – see Home […]

Hello, After a S21 notice, I now have my Order for Possession from the court. Bailiffs are awaited. The tenants have now stopped paying the rent. They got progressively worse at paying until I got a managed payment to the landlord (MPLT) for Universal Credit. Their claim got interrupted for some reason so I’ve lost […]

Hello, I have an HMO with some fantastic tenants (it will be a travesty if the continued anti-landlord policy campaign continues and I have to sell up and walk away, but I digress). One is leaving and the remaining would like to choose the replacement. I am happy to allow them to do a first […]

Hello, Our tenants’ daughter is autistic and they have requested permission to install a ceiling hook for a sensory swing. We sympathise with their difficult circumstances but would like some help please with a few liability queries as landlords. Do we have to agree to this? If we agree to this what is our liability […]

With rents at record highs and an ongoing cost of living crisis, renters are starting to feel the effects and are now putting their personal and professional lives on hold, research reveals. The findings from SpareRoom highlight that with demand and rents at an all-time high, and the supply of homes to rent at a […]

Hello, We’re just waiting for the Renters Reform Bill to pass and Section 21 to be abolished for no fault evictions. When this happens, what will the position be if/when council planners refuse an application for a Lawful Development Certificate to formalise permission for a property to be used as an HMO? Specifically, when permission […]

Growing numbers of renters are deciding to up sticks and leave the UK’s cities to find a cheaper place to live or to get more for their money, research reveals. The findings from Rightmove found that in 10 cities, 42% of tenants are now looking to move out of the city they currently live in. […]

We are delighted to be able to share a valuable gift with you this weekend. Last week Simon Zutshi, Author of Property Magic, and founder of the property investors network launched his brand new six-module online Home Study programme, the Ultimate Deal Sourcer Training Home Study coaching programme, for which enrolment closed yesterday. Simon is […]

An updated How to Rent Guide will be published tomorrow (Friday), and this version is the one that must be issued by landlords and letting agents to new tenants and those renewing contracts. The guide is the checklist for renting in England and should landlords and agents not issue the correct and current version, it […]

Private landlords and agents are being offered hate crime and anti-racism training so they can offer ‘appropriate support’ to their tenants, the BBC reports. The training is being offered by the Welsh government as part of the continuous professional development of landlords they need to be a licensed landlord. The training will begin later this […]

The Rental Mediation Service pilot to enable landlords and tenants to access a free independent offering during the landlord possession process has flopped, it has been revealed. Between February to October 2021, there were just 22 referrals out of a potential 3,000 cases – or just 0.73%. The Rental Mediation Service, a joint pilot project […]

Hello, I have a tenant with six months rent arrears on Universal Credit. I have filled in an online form for direct payment from UC but this was rejected. These were the possible reasons they gave for the rejection but they did not tell me specifically: 1) tenant not on UC or housing benefit 2) wrong […]

Homeowners are nearly £500 better off a year than a renter, research from Halifax reveals It says that the monthly cost of owning a home for first-time buyers is now £971, on average. That is £42 or 4% cheaper than the cost of renting an equivalent property. Owning vs Renting Review looked at the housing […]

Hi everyone, We took our Freehold Landlord to the small claims court for £3k and then it was transferred to the first-tier tribunal The Freeholder lost and was made to refund us £2520 in service charge overpayments we had made. His solicitors made no application for costs, and neither did we, we just thought it […]

It was a Budget to forget after the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt appeared to have forgotten landlords, tenants and the private rented sector (PRS) in general. Despite hopes that there would be an announcement how the PRS is taxed – which might help the 30% of landlords who say they are planning to sell up in […]

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, let landlords sink or swim on their own with no direct assistance for landlords in his Budget announced today. Unlike £63 million of funds for swimming pools, but excluding the PM’s that required an upgrade for the local grid. The good news is the Office for Budget Responsibility […]

Hello – my tenant was served a section 21 and has now decided to defend it to gain time even though our grounds for serving the notice are to sell the property. We cannot remortgage because the rent is so low and the property has decreased in value and we cannot sell with the tenant […]

Thirty-nine of the country’s biggest housebuilders have signed up to the developer remediation contract – which will see the removal of dangerous cladding. The move will also bring relief for thousands of landlords, leaseholders and tenants as the developers have committed to fixing unsafe buildings they have developed or refurbished. The signatories represent a substantial […]

Generation Rent, the tenants’ activist group, says that plans for ‘Awaab’s Law’ to clamp down on poor living conditions in social housing should be extended to the private sector. The organisation says it has used Freedom of Information requests to ask 115 councils in England – representing 64% of the private tenant population – about […]

After the previous article published on Property 118 regarding Capital Allowances (LINK HERE), it has become apparent that many property owners are currently missing out on significant tax savings, by failing to claim capital allowances on embedded items within their commercial properties, which were purchased either before 2014 or within the last 2 years. This […]

Hello, Three weeks ago I instructed my managing agent to serve a Section 21 notice on my tenants. I have been emailed by my agent stating that the tenants have asked that no viewings go ahead until the move out date. The agent has emailed the tenants stating that their request is a breach of […]