Tenants are being quizzed on the tax status of their landlords by HMRC.1 An HMRC fact finding letter goes on to suggest tenants may have to take tax off their own rental payments to ensure the correct tax is paid if their landlord is not resident in the UK and is not registered under the […]

The Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, appears to have dropped his proposals for giving tenants of private rental properties the ‘Right to Buy’ at a central government imposed discount termed as a ‘fair price’. McDonnell has told the FT he now thinks the policy would be unworkable and that it would not be included in the […]

I have had the misfortune to deal with rogue bathroom fitter, he asked for 50% deposit and when the time came to do the work he said he was hospitalised, then I found out 3 weeks he had actually found full time employment and did not have time to complete my job. He has stupid […]

For Landlords who don’t already know Nottingham Council has increased its licensing fee to a whopping £890 and tenants you really need to start standing up and shouting! There will be no houses left to rent soon. They are charging £890 per house and an inspection only costs £77 and out of 32,000 houses they […]

Nottingham landlord licensing scheme has so far managed to issue full licences to fewer than 3% of the applications received. In August 2018, Nottingham City Council introduced a Selective Licensing Scheme across many parts of the city as a key part of its efforts to address the quality and management of private rented housing. Figures […]

HOMELET’s Rental Index figures for October 2019 have been released. The headlines from this month’s report are: The average rent in the UK is now £953, up by 2.7% on the same time last year When London is excluded, the average rent in the UK is now £788, this is up by 2.6% on last […]

Shelter press release: The government has released new figures on the amount being spent by local councils on temporary accommodation for homeless households in England in 2018/19. They show: – Councils spent £1.1 billion on temporary accommodation for homeless households between April 2018 and March 2019. This has increased by 9% in the last year […]

New figures showing that landlords face a growing amount of time in getting judgement on repossession cases from the courts are boosting calls for the urgent need for dedicated housing courts to be established. Government statistics published today show that it now takes private landlords an average of 22.6 weeks from making a claim to […]

I have 3 flats in the West Midlands area which are managed for me under “full management” by “Shoddy Ltd”. I would like to appoint a new managing agent and hence would like to terminate Shoddy Ltd’s services. When I informed Shoddy Ltd, they advised me that they had changed their terms and conditions the […]

Aldermore Specialist Bank, has launched a new 5 year fixed remortgage product for individual and company landlords with single residential investment properties. The move is to help landlords looking for long-term stability when managing their portfolios. The product is now available: 75% loan-to-value (LTV), 5 year fixed initial rate 3.68%, with a product fee of […]

Looking into the mine field of the consequences of the new tenant fees act. I have several HMO’s with 4 or 5 tenants all on a single joint contract (ie. a shared house scenario). Generally about once a year, at a point the contract has become periodic, a tenant will want to move out and […]

Some of the so-called housing charities like to say that tenants must be protected, that they have no security in the private rented sector, that they can be asked to leave at a moment’s notice, on a whim from the landlord. Nothing could be further from the truth. Landlords must always give at least two […]

The Belvoir Q3 2019 rental index reveals interesting new rental trends, confirming a cultural shift towards more families renting, an increase in lengths of tenancies and continued stock shortages that may be further impacted by proposals to abolish Section 21. “The Q3 rental index, which analyses advertised and actual rents across the network, is prepared […]

Proposals by the Mayor of London to introduce rent controls have been dealt a critical blow as figures show rents across the capital falling in real terms. According to Office for National Statistics data published today, in the 12 months to October 2019 private sector rents in the capital increased by an average of 0.9%. […]

The nightmare scenario caused by the gas safety certificate scandal, and not ever being able to serve a section 21 if it was not given to the tenant at the outset of the tenancy, is already here people and it’s gonna come for a lot of older tenancies. I’m already in this position! Landlord Action […]

Marks Out Of Tenancy is a new landlord and property review website for tenants that can also be used as a resource for local authorities to clamp down on unlicensed properties, undeclared HMOs, properties in disrepair and criminal landlords. Nottingham City Council’s safer housing service’s strategic housing manager, Paul Greevy, said: “Sometimes the plates come […]

Email to Dash accreditation list: Licensing is forcing tenants into homelessness. Linda, Tell Licensing I’d like full refunds please, I don’t want the houses any more. Tell em I’m in Mexico for a month. All houses running fine. Full access to builder’s. However now licensing is here there is a problem. Housing Aid, can you start […]

Despite offering opportunities for letting agencies and landlords, the fast-growing short-term lettings market could benefit from regulation, according to PayProp. The professionalisation of short lets, akin to that seen in traditional lettings, is needed to provide the necessary protection for all stakeholders.  Regulating the fledgling market would reduce the number of negative experiences and allow […]

Safeagent, a not for profit accreditation scheme for lettings and management agents, has released it’s own manifesto of policies for political parties to consider promising the Private Rental Sector going into the December general election. Click here to download the full document. Isobel Thomson, safeagent CEO, said: “With 20% of all households now living in […]

The proportion of homes in Great Britain let by overseas based landlords rose to 11% during the first 10 months of 2019, up from 7% (a record low) during the same period last year. This is the first year-on-year increase since our records began in 2010 when 14% of homes were let by non-UK based […]

Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers will be presenting an overview of several landlords tax strategies at the pin Berkshire Meeting property networking event Monday 18th November 2019. The event will start at 6:00pm until 9:00pm and will be free for guests of Mark Smith that have not previously […]