Page 416 – Property118

Tenant only missed one month but needs Section 21?

1st July 2021

A tenant who can’t pay her rent was going to leave (possibly to live with family) but the Local Authority is asking her to get a Section 21 from me. This means starting the eviction process. She says she can’t get UC or any help from the Job Centre until she gets this. She has […]

New Lords Committee launches inquiry on UK housing needs

30th June 2021

A newly created House of Lords Built Environment Committee has launched its first inquiry on the demand for new housing in the UK and how barriers to meeting this demand can be overcome. The focus of the inquiry will be on the key factors shaping the type, tenure and quality of housing needed in the […]

New £10 million Tenancy Hardship Grant for the PRS in Wales

30th June 2021

The Tenancy Hardship Grant is designed to support people who have fallen behind on their rent by more than eight weeks between 1 March 2020 and 30 June 2021. The grant is designed to help people stay in their homes and prevent them losing their tenancies. Minister for Climate Change Julie James, who is responsible […]

Call for Right to Rent clarity

30th June 2021

Landlords and letting agents need more clarity and transparency about the future of Right to Rent checks post-pandemic and post-Brexit, and No Letting Go argues that the government needs to be clearer on what will be involved moving forward for the divisive checks that were first introduced across England in February 2016. Right to Rent and […]

Step towards a fully digital planning system

30th June 2021

MHCLG has launched two new web apps to will help owners improve and extend their properties and are a step towards a fully digital planning system and will save time and money for developers, architects and homeowners by speeding up and simplifying the application process. Many home improvements, such as kitchen extensions and loft conversions, don’t […]

Greedy Rich Landlord raking it in collecting Taxpayers money he’s not entitled to

30th June 2021

It’s official, DWP Universal Credit will keep paying Landlords money they are not entitled to, wasting Taxpayers money. Benefit tenants, here is another reason (of many) why you can’t secure accommodation any more. Shelter, DWP UC will pay me £20,000 over 3 years, making this Greedy Rich Robbing Parasite Landlord even richer. I’m not entitled […]

It’s good to be beside the seaside

30th June 2021

Post Lockdown research by  GetAgent.co.uk, indicates that Great Britain’s historic towns have become the most in-demand buying locations in the country, with higher annual price rises than any other type of British town. In the past year, the average house price in Britain has increased 8.2%, from £234,540 in January 2020, to £253,702 in April […]

Chalk-drawn question mark on blackboard representing a landlord’s query about letting agent responsibility

Buy to leave?

30th June 2021

I am thinking about a Let to Buy mortgage, but rather than looking for a tenant, I am planning to leave our home unoccupied and largely unfinished, seeing it is a flat and insured by the management company. I May need the flat in the future and by not renting, it will be kept in […]

June annual house price growth 13.4%

29th June 2021

The June Nationwide House price index is indicating year-on-year house price growth of 13.4%, the highest level of house price inflation since November 2004. Monthly inflation is 0.7% showing a slight easing from May’s figure of 1.7% and the average price of a house in the UK now stands at £245,432. Nationwide’s Chief Economist, Robert […]

A Quiz For Property Traders

29th June 2021

This quiz will run until the end of July 2021. We will then send a bottle of champagne to the person whose comment we like the most. So, here’s the scenario. A property trader buys a house for £200,000 with cash savings only and immediately flips it achieving a sale price of £300,000. Two years […]

Evictions Post Lockdown – A View on the Landscape from the Sheriff at Shergroup

28th June 2021

There can be no doubt by any property investor or landlord reading this article that the process of evicting tenants has changed as a direct result of this wretched pandemic. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the term “eviction”, it remains the final outcome for a landlord where for the reasons decreed by Parliament, the […]

Previous HMO usage disqualified on a technicality?

28th June 2021

One of our landlords has a licenced HMO located in a restrictive dwelling conversion ward. With an Article 4 Declaration in place, no new planning permission is being given for use as a C4 HMO. Not a problem except that this landlord converted the property into 8 unauthorised studio flats and has now been found […]

Landlord Licensing – What can we do to get our Councils to account to us?

28th June 2021

In Newcastle upon Tyne the local council wish to renew their expiring licensing schemes. After 5 years you would imagine that they would have solved any of the problems that they stated that Landlords were responsible for. Apparently not. I have seen no evidence. In the 5-year period, I have seen no reports on progress […]

.Gov online repair checker for tenants

25th June 2021

The Government has launched an online checker for tenants titled ‘Check how to get repairs done in your rented home.’ Click here to view the page and use the software. The page says: Use this checker to find out: – how to get something fixed by your landlord or letting agent – what to do […]

Tenant left but brother paying rent and arrears?

24th June 2021

My letting agent has just worked out that my tenant (A) returned to Romania last year after catching Covid and is still very unwell. He is not returning to Scotland. His brother (B) has been living in the flat, paying the rent and also paying the rent arrears left by the tenant. We only found […]

Legal obligation to seek help from Council?

24th June 2021

Hypothetical scenario prompted by another post earlier on Property118: After issuing a S21/S8 the tenant becomes ‘at risk of homelessness’. The Local Authority then has a duty to assess this person’s need once the person asks for help. Is the tenant obligated to tell the Local Authority though that they are now at risk of […]

Limited edition rate reduction for Portfolio Landlords

24th June 2021

A Limited-Edition buy-to-let range has now been launched to assist portfolio landlords (landlords with 4 or more properties) with both re-mortgages and new purchases. For single-unit houses and flats, 2 Year Fixed Rates are now starting from 2.75%  and 5 Year Fixed Rates now from 3.10%. For HMOs and Multi-Unit Blocks, 2 Year Fixed Rates […]

Another all time record for properties selling over asking price

24th June 2021

The latest NAEA Propertymark  Housing Report for May indicates that the number of properties selling over the asking price beats the all-time record for the second month in a row. In May, 33% of properties sold for more than the original asking price compared to April when 32% sold for more This is fuelled by […]

Bank of England emblem symbolising decision to hold the Base Rate at 5%

Bank Base Rate remains 0.1% despite short-term inflationary pressures

24th June 2021

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep the Bank Base Rate at 0.1% and by a majority of 8-1 to continue with its existing programme of UK government bond purchases (QE). Global GDP growth and price pressures in advanced economies have increased further than anticipated reflecting strong demand for goods, […]

Property supply to lower end of PRS – Julie Rugg thanks Property118 contributors

24th June 2021

Last year, we sought help from Property118 to make contact with landlords who were willing to help us with our research. We were overwhelmed with responses, and I am here taking the opportunity to thank everyone who got in touch. Our research aimed to understand whether there is a sustainable supply of property to the […]

No landlord should discriminate against tenants because they are in receipt of benefits

24th June 2021

Responding to a new report by the University of York on the supply of private rented housing to tenants in receipt of benefits, a spokesperson for the National Residential Landlords Association said: “No landlord should discriminate against tenants because they are in receipt of benefits. Every tenant’s circumstance is different and so they should be […]