Annual house price growth rose 0.8% in March, after taking account of seasonal factors, but the sample period excludes recent COVID-19 related disruption. Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: “Annual house price growth increased to 3% in March, up from 2.3% the previous month – the fastest pace since January 2018 (when annual growth was 3.2%). […]

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak is today (Friday 3 April) taking further action to support firms affected by the coronavirus crisis by bolstering business interruption loans for small businesses. To maximise the support available, the Chancellor is extending the CBILS so that all viable small businesses affected by COVID-19, and not just those unable to secure […]

As The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) grapples with nearly one million new claimants applying for Universal Credit following the outbreak of COVID-19, Caridon Landlord Solutions, part of Caridon Group, says landlords should educate themselves on the Universal Credit system now so that they can support their tenants and both mitigate the risk of […]

I let a property to a couple about 5 months ago on a 12 month AST in February the couple split up and the man left,only to return weeks later and smash most of the downstairs windows. The police got involved and advised she seek alternative housing until he’d been arrested, which he was and […]

I have had trouble getting information out of British Gas concerning Gas safety certificates under the covid-19 restrictions. Their website had nothing on it. I have now had a reply to a tweet, and they will still be providing the service and in fact had engineers available the same day! Martin  

Private landlords in the UK have been left in dire straits not only by the coronavirus, but by the Government’s abysmal response to it. Whilst the Government has mentioned in its legislation that tenants must keep paying their rent, in its public pronouncements it has given a very different message – talking about landlords being […]

THE country’s biggest landlord associations have officially merged, with a new Chair announced today. Jodi Berg OBE will head the newly created National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) formed by the merger of the National Landlords Association and Residential Landlords Association. Jodi (see main pic) has spent 30 years working within the management of public and […]

My tenant has given her 1 months notice to end her unfurnished room tenancy on 30th April. The property is a 2 person flat-share in South London and she is currently in lockdown in Wales. I am in Gloucestershire. I will offer to not charge rent from 1st May until I have vacant possession and […]

Are you bored and fed up, stuck at home during the Coronavirus lockdown? If so – why not join our Lockdown Learning Project. Every week we will be featuring a free (or very low cost) training course: Some will be online video courses. Some will be primarily text based perhaps with a few videos or […]

Right to rent checks have been adapted to make it easier for landlords to carry them out during the coronavirus outbreak, the Home Secretary announced Monday 30th March. Effective immediately, the temporary changes will mean the Home Office will not require landlords  to see original documents and will allow checks to be undertaken over video […]

The Good News Brooklands Commercial Finance is fully operational and assisting Property 118 clients in these unprecedented times. We are currently working with lenders that have replaced their requirement for physical valuations with remote valuations plus they are passing on the full 0.65% base rate drop on their variable rates. Maximum LTVs on owner occupied […]

Janet and John have spent their time in isolation considering the impact of Covid-19 on their rental property business. They are predicting that in the 2020/21 tax year their rental income will reduce by approximately one third. This has already started happening with the inability to rent properties recently vacated and which they had been […]

Contrary to the FT front-page headline “Banks seek to freeze property market as credit and virus fears hinder moves” (March 27), banks have not been pressurising the government to freeze the housing market. However there is no doubt that with the land registries in Scotland and Northern Ireland currently closed and valuations and viewings unable […]

The Cabinet Secretary, with the approval of the Prime Minister, has approved the appointment of Jeremy Pocklington as the new Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Jeremy succeeds Dame Melanie Dawes who left the Civil Service in February, and has been acting Permanent Secretary since her departure. Secretary of […]

The Scottish Government has announced that they have taken the decision not to introduce the Energy Efficiency (Domestic Private Rented Property) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, which had been due to come into force on 1 April 2020. SLE wrote an open letter to Kevin Stewart, the Scottish Government’s Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, expressing […]

What are lodgers’ rights at the moment? Can their landlords give them a weeks notice as usual, and throw them out onto the streets with nowhere to go? The council isn’t even open! Can someone who knows please clarify this? Thank you. Marie

Hi. I’m sure this is a problem faced by many student let landlords, caused by the current climate. Many universities with on campus accommodation have released students from their contracts 3 months early as Unis are closed, so a lot of the students moved back home to study online. However, students who have signed contracts […]

The Government has finally released on Saturday its full pieced together non-statutory guidance for landlords and tenants during the Coronavirus emergency. Click here for the full 21 page document from MHCLG. The Coronavirus Act 2020 is confirmed to remain in force until 30th September. 1. Rent, mortgage payments and notices seeking possession The purpose of […]

I think the latest TV advert for Shelter is disgusting. Once again giving the impression that they provide housing and once again having a pop at landlords. This time saying a tenant had called and said their landlord had asked them to leave the property in case they got Corona Virus. They really do make […]

Open for new business and with Rent Guarantee Insurance that WILL pay out! Today I have been speaking with Chris Sheldon, the Managing Director of LettingSupermarket.com, to review the company’s business model during these difficult and worrying times for many. We stripped out all new letting income for the rest of the year, together with […]

To help home movers impacted by Covid-19, mortgage providers will give customers who have exchanged contracts the option to extend their mortgage offer for up to three months to enable them to move at a later date. Stephen Jones, Chief Executive of UK Finance, said: “Lenders recognise that many people looking to move into their […]