Most landlords understand public liability, but fewer appreciate when the law requires employers’ liability (EL). If you directly employ anyone to work on your rental business, you’ll usually need EL by law. Fines for non-compliance are steep, and injury claims from workers can be financially devastating. This article explains when EL is compulsory, the grey […]

Nationwide says that improving affordability last year helped more first-time buyers onto the property ladder. Its latest Housing Affordability Report shows that slower house price growth, rising incomes and lower mortgage costs all played a part. The building society says price rises have remained well below earnings growth while mortgage rates have continued to fall. […]

The property market has rebounded at the start of 2026, with the highest number of homes for sale in eight years, according to new data. Research from property portal Zoopla shows buyer demand has surged, although it remains 10% below levels seen at the start of 2025. However, demand is more than 20% higher than […]

Flats and terraced properties delivered the strongest increases in gross rental yields during 2025, with Wales and the North East leading regional performance. That’s according to lending data from Paragon Bank, which found that gross yields on flats ended the year at 6.33%, up 0.24 percentage points on the same point a year earlier. Terraced […]

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has warned court capacity could be overwhelmed by the Renters’ Rights Act. In a letter to the Justice Select Committee, NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle pointed out that landlords are having to wait weeks for court hearings to regain possession of their properties. With three months to go until […]

We had planned to sell our 4 BTLs when we retired in 2015, but time seems to have slipped by, and we are still trapped with 3 of them. Two of them have been tenanted by the same people since 2006, and the third is currently vacant. With all the nasty stuff coming down the […]

The average asking price of newly listed homes jumped to £368,031 in January, marking a 2.8% rise from December and the biggest January increase ever recorded. According to Rightmove, the £9,893 monthly increase is also the strongest rise seen in any month since June 2015. National prices are now 0.5% above levels seen a year […]

Coventry for Intermediaries has rolled out a new range of buy to let products aimed at landlords investing in energy-efficient homes, offering lower pricing for properties with stronger EPC scores. The new deals are open to both individual and limited company landlords and apply to homes rated A, B or C. The lender says the […]

Rental yields across England and Wales improved in the final quarter of 2025, extending gains seen earlier in the year, data shows. Fleet Mortgages says its research shows that the strength of the yields reinforces the appeal of buy to let investment. The lender’s Q4 Rental Barometer shows average returns rising on both an annual […]

Rents across Great Britain ended 2025 lower than where they began for the first time on record, as softer demand, easing pressures in London and falling investor activity reshaped the lettings market. The findings from Hamptons found that newly agreed rents dropped by 0.7%, marking the first full calendar year decline since its Lettings Index […]

Mortgage activity cooled sharply in December as the year closed, yet figures suggest the market finished 2025 in a firmer position than earlier in the autumn, according to the latest data from Twenty7tec. Buy to let searches dropped 23.06% month on month to 189,902 as advisers and borrowers stepped back over the festive period. However, […]

Zoopla is forecasting that the average UK house price will rise by 1.5% in 2026. It points to Scotland and Northern England for offering the strongest growth prospects fuelled by affordability and demand. The property portal’s analysis shows Scottish markets dominating the national rankings, taking nine of the top 10 positions. Motherwell leads the table, […]

When a buy-to-let mortgage deal comes to an end, landlords face a key decision: should they do a product transfer with their current lender, or a full remortgage to another lender? Both options have advantages and drawbacks. In 2026, with affordability tests still challenging and rates shifting, understanding the trade-offs can save landlords time, money […]

As we hit the middle point of January, data has started to come in about where landlords are selling, and which ones are getting higher prices than anyone else. Whilst landlords still need to be realistic on price, it seems that some areas are starting to perform substantially better than others. Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and […]

The Clash song ‘Should I stay or should I go’ should become the anthem for landlords everywhere because the chasm between Britain’s private landlords and the Westminster bubble has never been wider. On one side stand millions of ordinary people, often pensioners, self-employed workers or families, who have shouldered the nation’s housing burden for decades. […]

A council has admitted it underestimated how many privately rented homes would need a licence under its new selective licensing scheme, forcing it to recruit two more staff members. The authority introduced selective licensing across five areas of its district last September, originally estimating that 1,221 homes would fall within the scheme. That figure was […]

More buy to let lenders are lowering their rates and offers as competition heats up. This week, LendInvest Mortgages has revealed it has completed a £17.3m bridging facility to fund the bulk purchase of 50 residential homes across Hampshire and Dorset. It says this transaction underlines renewed appetite for complex portfolio transactions. The funding supported […]

Social landlords in Scotland are set to gain new powers to keep domestic abuse victims safely in their homes under regulations put before Parliament. The changes will allow landlords, rather than victims, to take legal action to remove an abuser from a tenancy and place it in the survivor’s name. If approved, the regulations will […]

A council admits it has only issued three civil financial penalties of up to £30,000 for unlicensed properties and no rent repayment orders. Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council claims civil financial penalties are difficult to enforce and recover. The news comes after Bradford Council claimed financial penalties are not enough to tackle rogue landlords, as it […]

A landlord association has urged a council to pause its upcoming selective licensing scheme, branding it “unlawful” and claiming evidence was withheld during the consultation process. The Eastern Landlords Association has written to Housing Secretary Steve Reed and Great Yarmouth Borough Council, warning it is prepared to launch legal action. The association has received backing […]

I recently purchased a leasehold flat. During the process, the freeholder incorrectly completed the Leaseholder Property Enquiry(LPE) form, stating asbestos was not present. In fact, it has been established by survey/laboratory confirmation that it exists in an archway that I am financially responsible for. My beef is that by entering n/a on the form LPE, […]