Last week the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called for powers to implement rent controls. Responding to this call, RLA policy director David Smith said: “Rent controls are meaningless if Londoners can’t find a home to live in. Rent controls will lead to a drop in investment and increasing supply should be the Mayor’s priority. […]

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has launched a consultation, proposing to allow tenants to view the Rogue Landlords Database and extend the list of offences qualifying a landlord for inclusion on the list. Chris Norris, Director of Policy and Practice at the NLA, says: “It’s all well and good to open […]

David Cox, Chief Executive, ARLA Propertymark comments on the amendments to the Section 8 eviction process and consultation on abolishing Section 21: “At a time when the industry is facing many challenges and changes the Government cannot underestimate the impact the removal of Section 21 will have on landlord confidence. Strengthening Section 8 is essential, and it […]

The discussions revolved around a number of key issues impacting the BTL market and a common thread that kept appearing was the need for landlords to get good quality tax advice. This article covers the first of a series of 4 discussions around today’s BTL market. Withdrawal of Interest relief Up until 2016/17 tax year […]

The Office of National Statistics has released the English Housing Survey 2017 to 2018: private rented sector. Report on the characteristics and circumstances of private renters in England. Click here to download the full report. The Finding of the report concluded: The majority of private renters are satisfied with their accommodation and tenure, though not […]

There is a potential loophole on landlords insurance. This is that most, perhaps all, policies now available exclude cover for any damage caused by illegal activities. This leaves an uncomfortable situation where if, for example, your buy-to-let house was burned down by a tenant and it was discovered that some form of illegal activity had […]

Arranged this loan over a year ago and have rented the property until recently, but sadly our elderly tenant died. The property was found to be in excellent condition, so much so, that we are thinking of taking it over as a second home and to cease any future rentals. We have always kept all […]

We just moved out of our flat in London owned by my partner. I suggested I could Airbnb it for him through my Ltd company as his agent as he does not want to rent it out permanently to strangers. As we are not married, how would HMRC view this arrangement of me doing all […]

The National Landlords Association (NLA) has welcomed the report by the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group. The report, released today, makes recommendations to the Government on the practical implementation of formal independent regulation of property agents, with the view to improving consumers’ experiences. The report covers letting, managing and sales agents, along with residential […]

Has anyone read this? ‘Poor tenants pay for landlords to live like kings‘ I guess not, as you will all be too busy stuffing your faces with caviar whilst spilling champagne in the back of your Bentley. I need to get in touch with this guy to find out where the tax breaks are because […]

I have just received a letter from Eon saying they have “issued a safety warning notice stating that the boiler is unsafe to use” in a house I rent out. They wanted to shut the boiler down, but the tenant (a very good one) refused to accept the notice or allow them to shut it […]

II was recently speaking to a Debt Collector. He was a nice chap, but there was one flaw. The Debt Collector had not put the subject property on the letter and I did not have a clue which address it was. He was pursuing a Utility Bill. I asked him which property it was and […]

When buying a shared ownership property, the lease I thought I was buying into was 125 years. This was the paperwork received from the solicitor. The property was purchased in 2008. 11 years down the line and having recently decided to sell the property it now appears the housing association are saying there is only […]

Mark Hayward, Chief Executive, NAEA Propertymark and David Cox, Chief Executive, ARLA Propertymark comment on the final report from the Regulation of Property Agents (ROPA) working group: “This is a significant moment for those in the property industry and a huge leap forward in stamping out bad practice. We have long called for Government intervention […]

Property Investor Partnership is delighted to have secured four, 2 bedroom houses in Leeds, for the discounted price of £152,995. These properties have been discounted by 10% off current list prices and also include flooring, turf and white goods in our discounted price. According to our rental partner, Leef Property Management, these properties will achieve fantastic rental […]

Research from Moneyfacts.co.uk shows that the average two-year fixed and tracker mortgage rates have remained unchanged since the beginning of June. The lack of rate change this month comes despite SWAP rates (a derivative market lenders use to hedge themselves against interest rate fluctuation) falling noticeably since the beginning of May this year. The two-year […]

Recently we have had quite a few incidents with various agents performing disappointingly. Such as delaying a few months in paying rents, changing tenants without prior notice to us landlords. I’m wondering what rights we have as landlords to fire our agents? Can we do it midway in a tenancy agreement? How should we go […]

We have in Britain the lowest unemployment since 1953 and Shelter have poorly judged the mood of the Public. In case Polly Neate has not realised the underlying problem is one of insufficient houses. It is a Government Housing Programme that is needed, not boys playing with Lego! Polly Neate earns an over £100,000 salary. […]

Dear all, just need some guidance. In summary we gave our house to a rent guarantee company back in 2018. It has turned out to be a big mistake as we have received very poor service and most recently they have stopped paying us rent. We were informed that it would be let to a […]

My council have invented a ‘zero tolerance’ policy in relation to enforcement of housing standards. They are saying that effectively they can fine up to 30k PER ‘OFFENCE’ and will be an ‘on the spot’ type of fine whereby the landlord will not be given any chance whatsoever to put the situation right, they will […]

The freeholder of this residential block of 8 flats over commercial units (that exceeds 25% rules) have breached their covenants many times. The freeholders have given a long lease to their own LTD X (same shareholders) for the residential site of 8 flats and a court yard for parking. 5 of these flats have now […]