Hello, After reading the Renters Reform Bill, try as I might, I can’t find any provision for landlords like me who wish to convert some of their portfolio to HMO’s. My understanding is possession could only be gained for “serious arrears”, save of property or tenant giving up the tenancy. So, as from what I […]

Homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage bills will be able to switch to interest-only deals without a formal repayment plan under new plans to help borrowers through the cost of living crisis. The planned FCA guidance advises lenders to let homeowners at risk of payment shortfalls switch to an interest-only loan without an agreed repayment strategy. Borrowers […]

The Local Borough Council introduced changes to the government’s housing 2004 scheme at end of last year. We initially had potential issues with a 3-bed ground-floor flat however within several months they gave notice and moved. (Current tenant well inside rules). My question here is having read many times the regulations I still cannot be […]

Hello all, a scenario I have not come across before has arisen. I have for sale a large converted Victorian house consisting of 1 x 1 bed and 3 x studio flats. It is fully tenanted with good LHA tenants faultlessly paying rent etc. The property has been on the market for a fortnight and […]

Hello, I have just finished renovating my first holiday let. I am 20 years into BTL, so understand what I can and cannot claim in this area. But HL’s are new and I am reading about them, but it is still a little unclear. Please do not say go and ask an accountant. There would […]

House prices in the UK have continued to fall but rents, fuelled by falling supply and increasing demand, have risen, a survey by RICS reveals. According to the organisation’s Residential Survey for November, its members report that the flow of new homes to rent continues to dwindle – there was a net balance of -27% […]

In Britain’s fastest-moving rental markets, up to 30% of homes are being snapped up by eager tenants within two weeks of being listed, research reveals. Market analysis from Ocasa, the specialist rental platform, found that high demand continues to drive up rental values. The firm points out that Britain’s rental market ‘has flown under the […]

A city council that introduced a selective licensing scheme in April has been deluged with 31,000 applications from landlords – but has only issued 104 licenses so far. This has prompted the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) to condemn the scheme as a ‘waste of time’. And, the NRLA has calculated, it will take council […]

Paragon Bank has revealed that it has increased its full-year buy-to-let lending by 18.2% to £1.9 billion on the back of strong demand from professional landlords. The company says that by focussing on specialist BTL lending, in the year to 30 September accounted for 98% of its new mortgage originations. Specialist lending is classed as […]

Hello, As we’ve now entered a tougher period for the prospect of increased rent arrears, what do fellow members feel about stipulating that all enquirers, for example to a self managing platform like Openrent, are to have the necessary resources to put the landlord into a positive cashflow position in advance? Then repeated six monthly […]

The UK’s house prices slipped by 2.3% in November which is the biggest monthly fall since October 2008, the Halifax house price index reveals. The bank’s figures show that the annual rate of house price growth has fallen from October’s 8.2% to 4.7% in November. Halifax says that the average UK house price has fallen […]

The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has been forced to drop mandatory housebuilding targets in a bid to see off a backbench rebellion from Tory MPs. That would see demand remaining strong for the private rented sector (PRS) and Labour says the move shows the Prime Minister is ‘weak’. The move follows a threat from up […]

Buy-to-let landlords are not only facing a tougher time securing finance with fewer mortgages and rising rates, but interest-only BTL mortgages have rocketed by 286.4%. That’s according to specialist property lending experts, Octane Capital, who have analysed the mortgage market for landlords and how this impacts tenants. The firm points out that news coverage of […]

During the meeting, we will have a presentation from Mike Bristow, CEO and Co-Founder of CrowdProperty talking about property development in the 2023 Market. We will then continue on the theme of how you as property investors can move forward in times of uncertainty with an exciting property industry expert guest panel. Mark Alexander, Founder […]

A bid by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) to highlight how private rented student accommodation would be affected by a move to periodic tenancies has been criticised by the National Union of Students. The condemnation of the landlords’ organisation comes after it had written to 22 student unions to explain what will happen under […]

I wanted to share a recent experience I’ve had with Precise Mortgages, which other borrowers/prospective borrowers/IFAs may find of interest. 5 years ago I bought a BTL property with a 75% loan from Precise Mortgages, fixed for 5 years at 3.39%, through our SPV limited company. The product was coming to the end of its […]

Greenwich had an Additional HMO licensing scheme from 1st October 2017 to 30 Sept 2022. No review of the success or failure of that scheme has been published. Despite that they are consulting on a new scheme click here If the first scheme was so successful why would a further scheme be needed? If it […]

Hello, I have a joint tenancy – a couple now splitting up – and one of them has left the house and no longer wants to be on the agreement, since they have to rent somewhere else. Their split was on good terms, and they have been excellent tenants so far (for three years or […]

The Settlers Court supreme court judgement is we believe totally unfair and unreasonable. This decision enables RTM (Right to Manage) companies to only manage their building and not any common parts i.e. gardens etc. This takes away a key reason for RTM to manage their building and surrounding areas some of which may not be […]

A bitter pay dispute has seen more than 600 workers at Shelter start two weeks of strike action. A union rep has condemned the charity’s management as ‘heartless and hypocritical’. Staff at the housing and homeless charity are fighting for a better pay deal than the 3% that Shelter has imposed. Workers complain that their […]

A frustrated landlord has hit out after a council revealed that the housing crisis in their city is so bad that 8,000 households are waiting for a home – but they won’t engage with local landlords to help resolve the issue. Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, the council’s portfolio holder for housing, Toby Neal, said that […]