I recently advised the council tax department of a change in tenants at a two-bed flat I own. Normally that’s the last I hear from the council as the tenants sort out the council tax as per the tenancy agreement. The tenants are students so they claim an exemption. This time though the council have […]

Hometrack has released its latest index for the second quarter of 2020 with analysis showing diverging trends in supply and demand of rental property between London and the rest of the UK. Average rents across the country dropped by -0.3% in June, and by -0.8% in the second quarter 2020, taking the annual growth in […]

The Government with help from the big six energy companies has released funding for free energy-saving measures for home-owners, landlords and the benefit of tenants to include the installation of: Electric heaters, Electric Heating systems, Gas boilers, Gas central heating systems, Cavity wall insulation (new beads), Solid wall external and internal insulation, Underfloor insulation and […]

The NRLA are welcoming the news that the Government has accepted many of their recommendations about how the new Green Homes Grant scheme should work. Announced in the Chancellor’s Summer Statement, the scheme will see the Government provide at least two-thirds of the cost of improvement work for homeowners and landlords to make their properties […]

The latest research by Howsy, has revealed that across the UK’s major cities, tenant demand is highest for homes that come unfurnished. Howsy compared the level of stock already snapped up by tenants as a proportion of all stock listed to see which was most in-demand when it came to furnishings and whether it’s worthwhile […]

Please shine some light on the following scenario: 2 strangers were renting out 2-bed flat on a joint AST at £1800 per month. The AST expired on 15 May 19 so my understanding is that it would then turn into the Statutory Periodic tenancy agreement. Due to Covid-19 one of the tenants moved out on […]

I was wondering what would be the status of a property that the owner allowed family members, ie adult offspring, siblings, or nephews/nieces, to live in without any commercial consideration? That is, with no rent payment. I understand this would be a licence to occupy rather than a tenancy. How would the property be treated […]

Has anyone details of the CEO of ROSICNA Mortgages ( bought MX mortgage book). I have checked companies House no listing for this role. Many thanks James Editors note from Rosinca about us page >> Click here INTRODUCING ROSINCA MORTGAGES Rosinca Mortgages is a trading name of Topaz Finance Limited, a business owned by the […]

Landlords who let properties in England, Wales and Scotland can now have joint membership of associations north and south of the border under a new partnership. The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) and Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) are partnering to allow landlords with properties in England, Wales and Scotland to pay a small top-up […]

45,000 new homes and other infrastructure projects were given the green light with nearly £1.3 billion of investment confirmed today by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick. Over 300 successful projects in England are being told they will receive a share of the £900 million Getting Building Fund, which was announced by the Prime Minister in June, […]

We have a prospective tenant that failed the referencing due to a CCJ they apparently didn’t know about (we refunded their holding deposit). We liked them and tried to work with them and offer an olive branch through them finding a suitable guarantor. They accepted and found someone suitable and paid the holding deposit again […]

A tenant has been in situ in a flat since Jan 2020 and from the start (due to alcohol/drug history/ongoing rehab) it was all agreed I would have express permission to talk to DWP and have direct payments. All good. Fast-forward to July – no rent payment. Nothing from the tenant before this point, no […]

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 came into force on 1 June 2020 and will apply to all new tenancies in England from 1 July 2020. Thanks to Bill Stiles from Adept Electrical – http://www.adeptelectrical.co.uk/ for this simple myth-busting session on the new electrical standards. If your electrician has […]

Some tenants left a landlord’s property a year ago with nearly £2,000 in arrears.  The court awarded the £2,000 to the landlord, but the landlord was then asked to go to mediation to come to an agreement about payment. The mediation followed the usual pattern. Instead of the tenants offering a payment plan they accused […]

ARLA Propertymark’s PRS June report for Letting Agents (click here to download) showed the number of tenants experiencing rent rises has increased. 29% of agents reported landlords raising rent compared to only 14% in May. However, this is still the lowest number for the month of June since 2016. Other key findings found the number […]

I know the buyer before my purchase of a property, but there is an issue over Planning Permission, so I need to determine who they purchased it from in 2007 but I’m coming to a dead end as records seemingly (online or otherwise) don’t go back that far, and the last owner is being difficult […]

A friend wants to gift his own residential property to his son and move into a property he has been renting out. The son, however, has some issues and is not willing to accept the gift of the property for the time being. The friend is contemplating gifting the property to his brother, who would […]

The Nationwide House Price index report for July shows annual house price growth recovering by 1.5% and prices up 1.7% month-on-month, after taking account of seasonal factors. Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: “UK house prices rose by 1.7% in July, after taking account of seasonal effects, offsetting the 1.6% fall in June. As a […]

The Bank of England have released their June report for money and credit statistics showing UK household’s net borrowing was £1.8 billion after large repayments in previous months. The increase can all be accounted for by mortgage borrowing with mortgage interest rates broadly remaining unchanged. New mortgage rates were 1.77%, an increase of 0.03% on […]

Hello, I received a very weird legal letter about arrears in council tax. This derives from a period in which an outgoing tenant did not pay council tax (or rent). The situation is this. June 2019 no rent received. I chase, but tenants avoid me. The tenant abandons property with lots of mess. Their month […]

I bought a 4 bed property outright in Derbyshire and I would like to convert it from a c3 to a C2 (see below) I have applied to the council for permission and waiting for a response. However, with the recent Permitted Development relaxation by the government to stimulate building has the law about this […]