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 […]

The average UK house price is predicted to fall by 10% in 2023, real estate firm Savills says. It points out that prices have risen by 24% since March 2020, but as the Bank of England base rate is forecast to rise to 4.0% at some point, this will have a serious knock-on effect. The […]

Demand across the lettings market is high and continues to push rents up, the latest surveyors’ report reveals. RICS says that tenant demand continues to rise at a ‘solid pace’, with a net balance of +46% of survey participants noting an increase in October. However, landlord instructions fell once again with a net balance of […]

Hello, I am being forced to sell my rental property to a developer because of a big development including my property. I will need to buy another property to rent as I rely on the income. Other countries allow CGT to be held over to the next property but the UK currently don’t. If the […]

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has stepped in to look at the purchase of student accommodation provider Student Roost by GIC and Greystar. The CMA fears that the move could lead to higher rent and lower quality housing for students in Birmingham. In their initial assessment, the CMA looked at how the proposed deal […]

The average rent bill could rocket to hit £2,269 a month if prices rise in line with the hikes already being seen across other living costs, a specialist rental platform warns. A market analysis from Ocasa shows that with the cost of living on the rise, there are lots of factors impacting the lives of […]

The disputes between landlords and tenants that end in bitter court action could be easily avoided by a thorough, professional independent inventory. That’s the claim from the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC) which say that a qualified impartial inventory clerk, with no potential for bias, can offer protection and confidence to both parties when […]

Propertymark has responded to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) consultation on the Decent Homes Standard in England by offering clarity on how to deliver greater parity between the social and private rented sectors. The organisation says that its response will help ensure landlords who do not treat their tenants fairly are […]

Home buyers are spending an average of 15.5% more for an energy-efficient property, research reveals. The findings from Santander show that four in five estate agents (79%) are predicting a big rise in buyers wanting homes with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or above. And nearly three-quarters (70%) of agents have seen […]