Getting started in property investment can feel daunting, particularly in today’s mortgage market. First-time landlords face stricter criteria, larger deposit requirements and higher scrutiny from lenders compared with experienced investors. But with preparation and the right guidance, it is still possible to secure competitive finance and start building a rental portfolio in 2025. Who Counts […]

Landlords often describe the current environment as hostile. That feeling is not irrational. The Renters’ Rights Act introduces penalties of £3,000 to £35,000, new banning order pathways, and a national database that can end a landlord’s career overnight. Councils retain the revenue from civil penalties, which changes the financial incentives behind enforcement. What many landlords […]

The morning sun hits the kitchen window just as the kettle starts to boil. You lean against the counter, phone in hand, scrolling through the usual numbers; rents in, payments out, mortgage balances steady. Everything looks fine. Better than fine, actually. The portfolio has reached the point you always dreamed of. It pays for itself, […]

The envelope sits unopened on the kitchen counter. It isn’t from a lender this time, or a solicitor chasing completion. It’s from your daughter, a printed copy of the loan agreement you helped her draft for her first property venture. You smile. Not the polite smile of approval, but the quiet satisfaction that comes when […]

The first time you drive past one of your old HMOs after handing it over to your children, it feels strange. For years, you knew every inch of that building; the creak of the stairs, the sound of the boiler firing up, the phone calls that always seemed to come at the worst possible time. […]

It started as a casual visit. A friend from church mentioned that a local supported housing charity was struggling to raise funds for a new project, a handful of empty flats that needed renovation before they could be offered to families escaping homelessness. You went to see it out of curiosity. What you found was […]

It’s Sunday morning. The sun filters softly through the kitchen blinds, catching the steam from your coffee. The house is quiet, except for the sound of laughter from the garden. The grandchildren are chasing bubbles, your children are chatting by the fence, and for the first time in decades, everything feels settled. Not idle, not finished, […]

Most landlords appreciate the importance of having a Will. Fewer realise that a Will alone only takes effect once they have died. If illness or accident strikes first, even the most carefully written Will offers no help at all. That is where lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) and wider legacy planning come in. For property […]

A Will decides who inherits when you die, but who acts if you are still alive and cannot? Many landlords overlook this question until it is too late. A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) provides the missing link between your business responsibilities and your family’s ability to manage them when you can no longer do […]

It is one of the smallest phrases in property law, yet it can transform the outcome of your estate. Whether you hold property as joint tenants or tenants in common decides who inherits your share, how it appears in your Will, and what flexibility your family has after you are gone. Many landlords never check […]

Many landlords draft a Will early in life and rarely revisit it. Years later, their circumstances have changed: new properties, refinancing, business partners, children, and sometimes divorce or remarriage. Yet the Will remains the same. In practice, an outdated Will can create as much difficulty as having none at all. A modern Will reflects not […]

Well, the morons running the Labour government really have shown their hand, and it has done so with numbers so large they make a mockery of criminal sentencing. The new penalties revealed by Property118, highlight that the Renters’ Rights Act is not about ‘levelling up’ the playing field between landlord and tenant. In reality, they […]

Across this series, we have explored dozens of mistakes that landlords often make, from deposit protection errors to licensing oversights and safety documentation failures. Each of these stories highlights one truth that experienced landlords already understand: being a landlord is not passive income. It is a business that demands ongoing effort, knowledge and compliance. The […]

Rachel Reeves told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee that she had “narrowed the gap” between earnings from work and income from property, and has refused to rule out new property levies after the Budget, which saw landlords paying more tax. In 2022, I suggested on many landlord forums for EVERY PRS landlord to serve […]

Well said Crusader (whoever you are). I posted the following on another thread, but it’s buried in page three of the comments, so I’m posting it again on your new thread to increase visibility. Just suppose, post Renters’ Right Act becoming fully operational, a landlord has two different tenants apply to rent the same property.  […]

Landlords can’t afford to pay for the proposed EPC rental property upgrades because they don’t earn enough in rent, the National Residential Landlords Association warns. It says that the government’s proposed funding model risks collapsing before it even begins. Ministers want landlords to spend up to £15,000 per property to meet the minimum EPC rating […]

The majority of private renters have had a positive experience in the private rented sector, according to a government survey. The private rented sector tenants research report reveals satisfaction with landlords was higher (70%) than with property management agencies (62%). The survey was conducted in March 2024, with 1,517 renters participating in an online survey. […]

UK housing activity weakened again in November as speculation around the Autumn Budget sapped confidence and pushed key indicators further into negative territory. That’s according to the latest RICS Residential Market Survey with agents reporting another month of falling buyer demand, shrinking instructions and sluggish sales. Many said the political noise ahead of the Budget, […]

The government claim their rental reforms will “reduce demand on the courts,” but industry experts say the opposite is true. In its Renters’ Rights Act guide, the government insists the county courts won’t be overwhelmed because only “well-evidenced possession cases” will go ahead. However, Propertymark and the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) warn the Renters’ […]

The government has announced the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) has been expanded to include air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries. The BUS offers financial grants to landlords and homeowners to replace gas boilers with low-carbon alternatives such as heat pumps and biomass boilers. The news comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in the Autumn Budget […]

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s understandable that many of us are ready to close up shop and leave today’s problems until the New Year. But with just 2 weeks to go, and the news that there might be many more hits to landlords following the Renters’ Rights Act in May, there’s still plenty […]