Hi, I just wondered if anyone knows if I still need to file a notice of Coronavirus impact on tenants after completing the N5b form? I can’t find any up-to-date information on the government website. Thanks, Neil

A controversial law to bring in a rent freeze and a ban on evictions in Scotland until March next year has been passed. The Scottish government refers to the temporary new law as a ‘tenant protection bill’ and it will now see tenants being protected from rent rises and evictions during the cost-of-living crisis. The […]

I scoured the Conservation Party’s agenda – all 120 pages of it – for their conference in Birmingham this week, and did I find any mention of the ‘housing crisis’ that we are suffering from? You know the one. Awful landlords putting up rents, pushing families onto the streets – running dilapidated properties and telling […]

The UK’s house prices fell slightly in September and the market is showing signs of cooling, Halifax reports. The latest house price index shows that prices dropped by -0.1% with house buyers worried about rising mortgage interest rates. However, the annual rate of growth fell +9.9% – down from August’s figure of +11.4%. Halifax says […]

Scotland faces a shortage of homes to rent with landlords selling up and more will follow with the introduction of rent controls, a committee was told. Timothy Douglas, Propertymark’s head of policy and campaigns, was giving evidence to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee of the Scottish Parliament when he warned of the impact […]

With just a handful of BTL mortgages available currently, buy to let landlords will struggle to find fixed-rate mortgages, finance experts are telling media outlets. And one mortgage adviser says that as stress test rates remain high, these will be ‘the death of buy to let’. FT Advisor says that mortgage brokers are surprised with […]

Landlords and the public are being urged to take part in a consultation that would see the extension of a city’s selective licensing scheme. There are currently seven areas with licensing in operation, but this would extend to eight new areas in five council wards. Landlords would have to pay £800 – which is broken […]

The Prime Minister has failed to calm growing concern about the turbulence in the housing market, a leading property association has warned. The National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) said she had ‘missed an opportunity’ in her speech to the Conservative Conference in Birmingham to address the fears many people have about their chances of […]

Hello, Can someone please clarify what is going to happen to the S21? I understand that it is going to be abolished but what does this mean for landlords? Does this mean that if the tenant always pays their rent and is no problem that we would never be able to claim our property back […]

Hello, Our flat in London has failed its EICR with code 2s and 3s. The electrician says it needs a full re-wire. That’s ok (except that it will cost) as the flat’s wiring is maybe 40 yrs old. What I need advice on is what, as landlords, is our position? The managing agent has established […]

Dear all, Our utility is supplied by one main meter divided into 6 flats. Tenants are asking for the government’s £400 credit off the energy bill. How can a landlord with one utility meter give a £400 energy rebate to six tenants with an all-inclusive tenancy contract? Looking forward to suggestions Kind regards, Navin

Hello, My sister gave a property to an agent via guaranteed rent. They are up to date with the payments. After viewing the property, I could see that it was in a state of disrepair. There was a leak in the ceiling and the agent claimed to have fixed and sent a bill to say […]

The latest organisation to call for rent controls in a bid to tackle ‘rocketing rent prices’ is the National Union of Students (NUS). The NUS has just published its Student Cost of Living report and says that the cost-of-living crisis is affecting students. The union is also recommending that the government reforms universal credit and […]

All landlords and agents will know that when renting out a property, repairs are inevitable and now one firm has worked out how much. Towergate Insurance has surveyed the UK’s landlords to find out how much they spend on maintaining and repairing a rental property. They found that, on average, landlords spend £1,088 on maintenance. […]

The latest rental index highlights that rents in the UK are continuing to rise. According to HomeLet, the average rental price for a new tenancy was £1,159 per calendar month in September – a rise of 1.4% from August. The rent price is also 9.2% higher than it was in September 2021. Every region has […]

A leading property organisation has reacted with concern to the Scottish Government’s emergency legislation to introduce a rent freeze and a moratorium on evictions in the country. The Scottish Property Federation (SPF) says its biggest fear is that if passed, the legislation could allow for Scottish Ministers to maintain a rent freeze well beyond the […]

Hello, I have a flat that has modern electric panel wall heaters with thermostats and timer switches which run on standard-rate electricity. The tenant has a direct contract in their name with the electricity supplier. The EPC rating for the flat is D. The local Housing Officer has recently visited the flat and has now […]

Just a day after the Scottish Government unveiled its legislation for introducing a rent freeze, politicians in Wales are calling for the same measure. Plaid Cymru says it has forced the Welsh Government to look again at enacting a rent freeze and a moratorium on evictions. The party’s housing spokesperson, Mabon ap Gwynfor MS, has […]

Landlords with private-rented single-household properties in a London borough will need a license in a bid, the council says, to root out criminal landlords. The Royal Borough of Greenwich has introduced the selective licensing scheme – which went live on 1 October – for PRS properties with just one household in Woolwich Arsenal, Woolwich Common, […]

While landlords in Scotland are worried about the rent freeze and ban on evictions until next March, one leading politician says that ‘good landlords have nothing to fear’. That’s the belief of Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Government’s tenants’ rights minister. He was speaking about the proposals on BBC Good Morning Scotland when […]

The increasing cost of renting is putting a squeeze on rental market affordability for the nation’s tenants, research reveals. The specialist rental platform Ocasa looked at the current cost of renting across each area of England and what percentage of income is required to cover this cost. They then analysed the areas that have seen […]