The rental sector has long been a leading target for fraudsters, criminals and money launderers with previous research estimating that 5% of all rental stock is being let to criminals. Ocasa, the specialist rental platform, says that equates to 279,497 properties. Based on the current average house price, this means that £82.7 billion worth of […]

Hello, We have an awkward freeloader who’s stopped paying. If it takes 6-12 months to evict him we will have a lot of unpaid rent (Yes, we can sue, but CCJ’s may go nowhere with a “paper” debtor), plus legal/court fees, plus whatever state he leaves our property in. It might be worth considering paying […]

Landlord and agent fears over controversial Government proposals for the private rental sector (PRS) would be eased by the adoption of a rigorous, professional inventory policy, says one industry boss. The chief executive of No Letting Go, Nick Lyons, said: “These proposals are wide-ranging, and they do benefit tenants but, in the end, we all […]

With residential landlords facing the prospect of meeting an EPC rating of C by 2025 for their rental properties, comes news from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) that EPCs are no longer fit for purpose and ‘need improvement’. In a report, the organisation says that a shakeup is necessary if the UK wants […]

The average rent on a newly let home in Great Britain rose to £1,204 per month in October, up £80 or 7.1% year-on-year, costing the average tenant an extra £960 each year, data reveals. The findings from Hamptons show that rents in five regions have nudged into the next £100 price band this year, with […]

The landlord association iHowz has written to three Government ministers urging them to publish the new domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) rules so landlords can prepare to meet them in good time. The organisation says it is worried that the new version of the EPC and accompanying Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) will be published […]

We’ve filmed a fair few episodes of The Property Tax Show now and as expected we have a ton of questions flooding in. 01:04 – Should I Register For VAT To Reclaim VAT On My Purchase? 02:04 Do I Need To Revalue My Property Every Year For My Accountant? 04:52 Can The Setup Costs Of A Smart […]

Finally had enough of a bad tenant – constantly behind on his rent. I issued him with a Section 21 notice in December 2021. Naturally, he ignored the deadline to leave by mid-February 2022. He took me to court for wrongful eviction. His free legal aid for the day looked at the tenancy agreement. It […]

With rumours that the Government might be about to increase council tax bills in its Autumn Statement comes news that hard-up tenants are already paying council tax equivalent to 37.5% of their rent. Ocasa, the specialist rental platform, says that the cost of the average council tax bill in England is equivalent to 17.7% of […]

Dear fellow Property 118 members, Although we have a couple of residential properties, this unpaid tenant’s utility bill refers to a commercial property day nursery tenancy issue, but could equally apply to an AST, I believe. The nursery suddenly advised us they had ceased trading, cleared the building, and are now effectively asking to hand back […]

All new tenancies in Wales from 1 December will have a statutory six-month no-fault notice period, while existing tenancies that convert to occupation contracts will see the extension under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 take effect from 1 June next year. The move follows a consultation that led to 1,400 responses and 90% of […]

Hello, The 6 year rule? From the date of contract on an ex-tenant who is claiming compensation of £4-12k on 7.5 years on a tenancy that has now ended. They left on their own accord. What should a landlord do after receiving a letter from the ex-tenant’s solicitor with threats? Thank you, Sue

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called for an emergency private renting summit – but landlords aren’t invited. He will bring together private renters, charities, advocacy groups and politicians to call on the Government to urgently tackle London’s spiralling rental crisis. The call comes after a survey reveals that 40% of Londoners think they […]

Hello, This is another of those strange anomalies/priorities which make little sense. We pick up thousands of asylum seekers in boats crossing the channel and some have no right to be here. We’ve all seen reports of the overcrowded centres where they start, but what about the luxury hotels that they are sometimes housed in? […]

HMRC is targeting residential landlords in its latest ‘nudge campaign’ that it suspects are not declaring their full rental income, warns tax advisers Kreston Reeves. The campaign comes in advance of Jeremy Hunt’s first Autumn Statement and rumours of a further attack on residential landlords with higher rates of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on property […]

The average price of a property in the UK fell by 1.1% or £4,159 in October, data from Rightmove reveals. And despite the weight of financial uncertainty, the fall is in line with the average 1.1% drop recorded in November during the pre-pandemic years of 2015-2019. Rightmove says that the proportion of properties seeing a […]

It’s a good job I was sitting down when I read a striking story on Property118 this week because it would normally have knocked me off my feet otherwise. Was it, I hear you ask, the Government announcing that their Rent Reform white paper is nonsense and will be ditched? Nope. Was it the prospect […]

Landlord repossession claims have reached a record level with increases being seen in all regions of England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) reveals. The MoJ says that landlord possession actions have increased significantly in the three months to the end of September. When compared to the same quarter last year, landlord possession claims […]

Hello, I have recently sold a tenanted property and the completion date is a week away. Does anyone have any experience of handover of details/rent accounts to the new owner, especially in regard to UC recipients? All tenants have UC paid directly to me, but if they list a change of circumstance as a result […]

A tenant who tried to sell the house he rented without his landlord’s knowledge has been jailed. Andrew Smith, 41, was only caught out in his ‘truly brazen crime’ when a prospective buyer conducted a drain survey at the property. Smith claimed he was moving to the area for work when he began renting the […]

Rental value growth is predicted to outpace property price growth over the next five years, says one leading property expert. Nicky Stevenson, the managing director of Fine & Country UK, says that a shortage of stock, increased borrowing costs, and economic pressures are underpinning the market. She said: “Rental records continue to topple month-on-month across […]