Hi, I’ve just had this in a letter from our letting agents… “Renewing your EPC isn’t legally required at this point, however, there have been cases where courts have queried an out-of-date EPC during possession proceedings, with possession not being granted or delayed, due to the EPC being out of date.” Has anyone any knowledge of […]

A growing number of UK homeowners working overseas are finding themselves grappling with skyrocketing mortgage rates when renting out their properties, the Financial Times reports. The newspaper says that these individuals are often required by lenders to switch from standard residential loans to ‘consumer buy-to-let mortgages’ – usually at higher interest rates. In recent months, […]

Landlords are being warned that the proposed Renters’ Reform Bill means understanding the new rent review procedure or risk not imposing a rent rise, an expert warns. Lucian Cook, the head of residential research at Savills, says that while the new law will safeguard landlord investments, it will also mean taking a fresh approach to […]

Hello, A friend of mine lives in a block of three flats. The communal front door does not have any locking system which seems unbelievable to me these days. She and one of the other owners would like an entryphone system fitted for security reasons. The third owner is against the idea but doesn’t say why […]

Devious criminal landlords are allegedly employing fake security personnel who are masquerading as court bailiffs to forcibly remove families from their rented homes, one charity says. Safer Renting, a tenancy relations service, reveals that these landlords are increasingly resorting to a new way to evict tenants without obtaining a court order. The alarming revelation coincides […]

Fleet Mortgages has launched an array of two- and five-year fixed-rate mortgages across its three core ranges – standard, limited company and HMO/MUB. The buy-to-let specialist lender says that for borrowers seeking a two-year fixed-rate mortgage up to 75% LTV, it offers rates of 5.69% for standard and limited company applicants and 5.79% for HMO/MUB […]

Hello, I have a Victorian building that is three storeys and has eight flats and was converted many decades ago.  The building has three skylights on the roof, which is the ceiling (flat roof) for two flats. These are fixed non-vented (not windows per se), and are integrated into the roof. The roof is being […]

Hello, We own a leasehold flat with a designated parking space in an underground car park. The property has been let out to the same tenant for 13 years. They never used the parking space and we never had cause to go to it. The tenant has now moved out and upon checking the space, […]

Hi everyone, I recently bought an auction property with a tenant in situ. We have tenancy agreement but it doesn’t give too much info. We requested tenant details from our solicitor but nothing. Letting agent didn’t give tenant details. We found tenant details from the buyer’s solicitor. Our solicitor prepared a rent authority – the […]

Hello, last September I purchased the second flat in a converted Victorian house for which I already owned the first flat and the freehold. For whatever reason, I was obliged to merge the leasehold on the second flat with the freehold in order to obtain a loan to buy it. The second flat was uninhabitable […]

Landlords and tenants in the UK have witnessed average rent costs for a new tenancy rocketing by 10% year-on-year, reaching £1,213, research reveals. The Homelet rental index for May also reveals that the monthly rise in rent last month was 1.2%. The data highlights that a surge in rental prices is evident across most regions […]

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has launched an investigation into the tax affairs of Airbnb hosts, covering six years’ worth of income, it has been revealed. The popular online holiday let platform has been compelled to disclose comprehensive earnings data of all its users to HMRC, as part of an effort to uncover any unpaid […]

The Renters (Reform) Bill is the primary concern for letting agents with a flood of worried calls to an industry hotline, a webinar reveals. The event was co-hosted by HF Assist, a dedicated support service for agents, and PayProp, a leading client accounting platform. Attendees were told that the new Bill surpasses concerns about eviction […]

The Scottish government looks set to extend its rent cap for another six months in the private rented sector in a bid to ‘support tenants’. That would mean landlords will be restricted to rent rises of 3% and the moratorium on evictions continues. Tenants’ Rights Minister Patrick Harvie says the provisions of the Cost of […]

We all know that the UK is facing a housing crisis, and the blame for this is usually placed at the feet of landlords in the private rented sector (PRS). That’s despite private landlords providing quality accommodation for millions of tenants. The other issue is that the public and media tend to confuse poor social […]

A leading Wall Street investment bank has issued a warning that the Bank of England will need to raise interest rates to their highest level in more than 15 years to combat persistent inflation. According to researchers at Goldman Sachs, inflation is expected to remain above the central bank’s 2% target until at least 2026 […]

The most economical cities for first-time homebuyers in the UK have been revealed – and it offers valuable insights for property investors. The research from Rightmove reveals that Bradford is the most affordable city for first-time buyers. Homes there have an average monthly mortgage payment of just £521. The property platform says the typical property […]

There has been a 58% drop in property sales across England and Wales in the past year, research reveals. The findings from estate agents Nested compare the first quarter of this year to the same period last year. And by analysing the property sold price data from the Land Registry it found that 76,489 properties […]

Rent prices across England increased for the fifth consecutive month in May, signalling a strong market demand as the summer season approaches – typically the busiest period for the sector. Goodlord’s rental index reveals that of the eight regions monitored, six experienced rising rents last month. And the void periods also show that tenant demand […]

May has brought more bad news for some landlords with the Nationwide Building Society reporting a 3.4% drop in house prices in the year to May ’23 and interest rates that are expected to rise to 5.5.% later this year. Landlords with a long-term outlook, high-yield properties, and/or either no mortgage or fixed-price mortgages, may […]

House prices have fallen by 3.4% in the year to May – which is a bigger decline than the drop of 2.7% seen the month before, Nationwide reveals. The data also shows that prices edged down by 0.1% last month, taking the average property price to £260,736. The building society says that mortgage interest rates […]