A Dunfermline couple and their landlord are celebrating today after finding out that their tenancy deposit was the 500,000th protected by SafeDeposits Scotland. Carla Dow and Craig Taylor, who recently moved in to their first home together, were shocked to find out their deposit was the half-millionth registered with the scheme.  The couple were presented […]

Opinion Research Services was commissioned by MHCLG to carry out a review of selective licensing and carried out in-depth research and consultations with stakeholders from across the sector. The report finds that selective licensing is an effective tool when implemented properly, and identifies a range of areas where the operation or implementation of selective licensing […]

I would like some advice about the timing for renewal of 6 month leases. I have set up a 6 month lease for 2 separate tenants renting an en-suite room each in our flat. (We keep a 3rd en-suite room there for ourselves when we are in the city and share the kitchen with the […]

Ben Beadle is to be the chief executive of the new National Residential Landlords Association, formed from the merger of the National Landlords Association and the Residential Landlords Association. The NRLA will launch in January 2020. Ben is currently Director of Operations at Touchstone, part of the Places for People housing group. Previously he was Managing […]

A huge number of landlords have never sought professional advice to identify the optimal business structure to meet their goals. In our experience, the most common gaps in landlords business plans relate to considering business continuity, legacy planning, protecting their assets from ‘gold-digger spouses’ of their children and the optimal tax structure for income tax, […]

More than 8m people in England, approximately 1 in 7, are living in an unaffordable, insecure or unsuitable homes, according to the first ever ‘state of the nation’ report on the housing crisis, released by the National Housing Federation. The research shows that 8.4m people are hit by the broken housing market, capturing the true […]

Flipping is back with a vengeance. It is quite legal and involves a house purchaser completing the purchase of house, moving in, then putting the house back on the market often for profit. I have seen examples of 40% profit and accept that is achievable. It is trading in the “futures market”. I note that […]

I’m looking to get into property investment. Buying the property and renting it out. I am trying to learn everything as I can about HMO rules, but I am not sure if I really understand article 4 for HMO, has it made life difficult for the HMO landlord? I would like to know everything about […]

Having just seen on the forum, a worrying question answered with a successful and direct approach into the government’s housing sector team, where can we find ways to approach the correct department to lobby for any change to section 24 of the Finance Act? By now lots of us have had to submit 2 returns. […]

The proportion of landlords who believe tenant demand is ‘growing or booming’ has increased to the highest level in almost a year, according to Paragon’s latest PRS Trends Report for Q3 2019 At 29%, the proportion of landlords saying tenant demand is growing or booming reverses a substantial drop in Q1 2019 (21%) and returns […]

Five projects along the Great British Coast have been awarded over £10 million from the government’s Coastal Communities Fund. These include projects in Cumbria, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Kent and Suffolk to create jobs, boost tourism, improve transport and protect coastal heritage sites. The Coastal Communities Fund projects announced today are forecast to support nearly 1,000 jobs […]

Extensions and loft conversions can add both value and extra space to your property, but what can you do when things don’t quite go to plan? There are ways to mitigate the risk of hiring a cowboy builder, recommendations include the following: Ask for several references Look them up on Companies House Check review sites […]

Maybe I haven’t read previous articles thoroughly, but I’ve just learned that this Government does not intend for new Tenancy Reforms to apply retrospectively. See reply below from Mark Lambert. His answer was a blanket answer & did not address my specific concern, but I was at the very least pleased to learn they do […]

I have just acquired a small shop and wondered if anyone has advice on Commercial contracts? Up to now I have only rented residential flats or houses. What about deposits? To try and encourage a longer lease I am discounting the rent if the tenant leases for 2 years or more. How do I detail […]

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today voted unanimously to maintain the Bank Base Rate at 0.75%. This is largely because inflationary pressures have dropped below the medium term target of 2% with August’s CPI at 1.7%, down from 2.1% in July and increased volatility in exchange rates with Sterling recently recovering […]

Below is a Press release by Shelter and displays why they should be working with landlords rather than against to build up the trust tenants may need in the future. Shelter: With little or no savings to fall back on, 45% of private renters in England could not afford to pay their rent for more than a month if they lost their job, new research from Shelter shows. Surviving from one […]

Leading tenant eviction company, Landlord Action, says that as many as 50% of Section 21 cases they handle are as a result of tenants wanting to be re-housed by the council. They believe the abolition of Section 21, and subsequent expansion of Section 8, could put thousands of tenants at greater risk of receiving a […]

ONS UK House Price Index: July 2019: Monthly house price inflation in the UK, calculated using data from HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, and Land and Property Services Northern Ireland. Average house prices in the UK increased by 0.7% in the year to July 2019, down from 1.4% in June 2019 (Figure 1). This […]

I am in the process of evicting a tenant with a Section 21. The council told the tenant to stay put after the Section 21 expiry date (typical), so forcing me to pay up £355 to send it all off to court to progress to possession. My question is: Getting the £355 costs from the […]

Assuming the Liberal Democrats ever get near government again, their members have voted for the policy proposal of banning Section 21 at their party conference in Bournemouth. This policy will presumably feature in next Lib Den manifesto and may or may not have time to be updated following the government consultation that is due to […]

Following meetings held today, members of the National Landlords Association (NLA) and the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) have voted for the two organisations to unite to form the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA). The new organisation will have a membership of more than 80,000 landlords making it by far the largest organisation in the sector. […]