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House prices fall for the first time in a year

5th August 2022

The UK’s house prices fell slightly by 0.1% in July compared with June – that’s the first fall seen since June 2021, according to Halifax. The lender says that the average home price in July was £293,221 and they are warning that house prices could fall further after the Bank of England raised interest rates […]

The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks

Rental reform should not be distracted by leadership race

5th August 2022

Rental reform should be the focus of any debate about property in the leadership race to find the next Prime Minister, the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC) says. The AIIC’s chair, Daniel Evans, said: “The latest chaos to surround Westminster could overshadow and delay the introduction of rental reform, leaving the lettings sector in […]

Sadiq Khan in London with city skyline in the background.

Sadiq Khan wants landlords to pay ‘tenant relocation payments’

4th August 2022

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is urging the next Prime Minister to bring in ‘tenant relocation payments’ when a renter is being moved through no fault of their own. He made the comments to the London Assembly during a debate on the Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper that has been published by the government. The […]

Outer London’s landlords report a surge in demand

4th August 2022

The proportion of landlords operating in Outer London who have reported increasing demand from tenants has surged since the previous quarter, Paragon Bank reports. The bank says that it has carried out research that reveals in the first quarter of 2022, 79% of landlords who let homes in Outer London indicated that they had seen […]

The Hawks increase interest rates by 0.5%

4th August 2022

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted by a majority of 8 – 1 in favour of the Hawks to increase interest rates by 0.5% this month to a Base Rate of 1.75%. This is justified by a near doubling in wholesale gas prices since May, other global commodity price increases and global […]

Insurer reveals most bizarre landlord insurance claims

4th August 2022

When landlords need to claim against their insurance, the reasons can be mundane – or simply bizarre, as one landlord insurance firm has revealed. Total Landlord Insurance has released details of six of its most unusual claims. Melissa Choules, a claims specialist with the firm, said: “Sometimes, real life is stranger than fiction and as […]

Lighbulb energy bulb inclusive-bills

Shelter warns over landlords keeping a tenant’s £400 energy payment

4th August 2022

The housing charity Shelter is warning that the government’s £400 energy rebate may see tenants missing out if their rent includes energy bills because the cash will be paid to the landlord. They say that tenants are at the ‘mercy of the landlord’ on whether they receive the financial support. Shelter’s chief executive, Polly Neate, […]

Green mortgage search and filter introduced by Moneyfacts Analyser

3rd August 2022

Moneyfacts Analyser has been updated so users will now be able to search and filter for ‘green’ residential and buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages. Currently, the system will provide details for 525 residential mortgages and 302 BTL mortgages in the green mortgage market. Green mortgages are gaining popularity with several lenders launching mortgages aimed at lending on […]

New tenancy rent rise

PRS is ‘unsustainable’ as rents reach record high

3rd August 2022

Fears have been raised that landlords could be pushed out of the market if tenants cannot afford to pay fast-rising rents with rising living costs. HomeLet has released data that shows that every UK region has seen monthly and annual rent price growth. The highest rent is in the capital where the average rent is […]

Assured Shorthold Tenancy with break clause vs Two-year Fixed Tenancy?

3rd August 2022

We are private landlords by default. For the past 5 years we have had a couple rent our property under an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement which includes a usual break clause. We are now looking to renew the tenancy agreement for another two years, but the letting agent suggests that we enter into a two-year […]

My own personal holiday home in Spain?

3rd August 2022

Hi, I understand that it’s best to consult a specialist lawyer but I thought I’d ask in case others are in the same position. I have properties in the U.K. in my personal name and am a higher-rate taxpayer. All the properties have mortgages secured against them. I am about to complete on a holiday […]

student life - rising student rents - property118.com

Fears over student accommodation supply and rising student rents

3rd August 2022

The UK’s leading student accommodation search engine says the supply of HMO student accommodation (Houses of Multiple Occupation) will be compromised under planned changes to tenancies as part of The Renters Reform Bill. This will, Accommodationforstudents.com says, result in fewer accommodation choices and higher rents for students. Currently, the UK student housing market offers students […]

house prices rise

UK house prices rise by 8.3% says Zoopla

3rd August 2022

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s news from Nationwide that house prices had rocketed in value by 11% over the past year, comes news from Zoopla that offers a different figure. The property website says that the UK’s house prices have risen by 8.3% in the last 12 months, bringing the average home price to […]

rental market record high rents record low voids

Voids hit record low – but rents hit record high

2nd August 2022

We didn’t just see record-breaking temperatures in July, there was also a surge in high-value student lets to help average rental costs and void periods to break records, according to Goodlord’s latest rental index. The figures show that the lettings market continues to gather steam and, thanks to a higher-than-average demand for student lets, average […]

Tenth monthly house price rise keeps growth in double digits

2nd August 2022

Despite the UK’s cost of living crisis, lower affordability and high inflation, annual house prices reached double-digit growth in July, Nationwide has revealed. However, one leading estate agent is predicting that the figures are pointing to an ‘apocalyptic, once-in-a-generation crash’. Mortgage lender Nationwide says that the annual rate of increase in July reached 11%, that’s […]

BTL lenders asking for EPC C or above?

2nd August 2022

Just a heads up for everyone – I’ve recently remortgaged to fixed rate products due to the continual increase of the Bank of England Base Rate and, no doubt more to come on the 4th of August! In every instance, the mortgage lender has stipulated the EPC rating must be C or above in order […]

Landlord responsibility to notify LA of new tenancy?

2nd August 2022

Can anyone advise, please? I had a new tenant move in some time ago. I advised the tenant that he had 4 weeks to notify the Local Authority of his responsibility for Council tax. However, he has only managed to pay for some months’ council tax and not others. Unfortunately, I did not notify the […]

Should Buy To Let Landlords Incorporate Their Property Portfolio?

1st August 2022

Property Investors holding their Buy To Let Properties in their own name, are going to be purged over the next 5 years due to interest rates and inflation. In this video, Alex Norian from Property118 and I will tell you how you can protect yourself and solve this problem. This is part 1 of our […]

Deed of trust on US holiday let?

1st August 2022

Hello everyone, My wife and I jointly own a holiday let in the USA. We have a small US Dollar mortgage but finance costs have risen sharply which looks set to continue with the Fed currently increasing interest rates on a monthly basis. My wife earns around £7000 pa and I earn in excess of […]

Buildings Insurance Renewal Impossibly High – From £350k to £500k

1st August 2022

I am a director of a Right to Manage (RTM) for a development with 93 units. Our buildings insurance renewal is due on Monday and, true to form, the renewal premium has only just come in. It has gone from £350,000 to £500,000, with the broker claiming that the uplift is due to the re-build […]

Exodus of tenants and buyers leaving London

1st August 2022

The number of Londoners who are buying property outside of the capital has risen by nearly a fifth when compared to pre-pandemic levels – and tenants are joining them, research reveals. According to real estate firm Hamptons, in the first half of this year, Londoners snapped up 40,540 homes outside of the city, which is […]