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 […]

Paragon’s latest Financial Adviser Confidence Tracking (FACT) Index , based on interviews with 201 mortgage intermediaries, has revealed: – Buy-to-let increases from 15% to 17% of business in Q3 2019 – Intermediaries expect buy-to-let mortgage business to increase by 1% in the next 12 months – Overall mortgage market shows signs of slowdown, with average […]

Hodge is a lender more associated to Residential or Equity Release mortgages, but has recently announced a Portfolio Buy-to-Let product for portfolio landlords, where the portfolio can be held under one loan facility. As per the PRA definition, Portfolio landlords are classed as those with more than 3 mortgaged properties. Each portfolio loan will be […]

I finally got a reply! Here is my original article “A day in court with Shelter and the council’s impartiality?” We got an email about another property of ours: Hi Xxxx I am emailing with regards to the above letter that was sent to Xxxxxx on 14th October 2019. I have just contacted the complainant […]

I wonder if anyone could comment on this case. Two sisters own an unencumbered (mortgage free) leasehold flat with share of the freehold on the residue of a 999-year lease, value approximately £1.2-1.5 million, in London as tenants in common. They are both retired and in their late 60s. To mitigate inheritance tax, they are […]

An article was published in the Daily Telegraph that resurrects the idea the Conservatives should introduce a new Right to Buy from private landlords in their manifesto. It’s not unknown for articles to be floated in the DT to test for a public reaction, and the timing now may not be coincidence. If you’re as […]

There was no Monetary Policy Committee vote in October until today, supposedly post Brexit. Unsurprisingly the MPC voted by 7 to 2 to maintain the Bank rate at 0.75%. The next MPC meeting is now due post general election on the 19th of December. This is when decisions could get a lot more interesting based […]

Devonshire Gardens; a collection of 3-bed end town-houses starting at only £121,396 and with predicted yields of up to 6.7%. Situated in the heart of Blackpool, Devonshire Gardens is a mixed development of 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 bedroom properties built by National developer Belmont Homes.  With open public spaces and allocated parking, Devonshire […]

This is probably a bit of a silly question, but I very new the HMO game and I am refurbishing my property myself (being new to refurbishing a property as well) My question is about bedroom door locks. Are there any special HMO requirements with respect to the type of lock that needs to be […]

The latest Halifax Price Index has just been released showing house prices in October were 0.9% higher than in the same month a year earlier. However, on a monthly basis, house prices fell by 0.1%. In the latest quarter house prices were 0.2% higher than in the preceding three months of May to July. Russell […]

S21 issued to tenant on 1st Aug. (Non payment of top ups)  The tenant applies for Universal Credit for the first time in mid Sept. On 9 Oct I call UC to check status and yes claim had been received and yes tenant has asked that the landlord is paid direct. UC inform me that […]

Good morning everyone, I’m a landlord of a few years standing, with a few properties with mostly OK experiences, but in this instance I’m writing on behalf of a friend who is a tenant in a property that is being sold. She is a good tenant, always pays on time, is on benefit and in […]

Landlord responsibilities have increased tenfold over the last few years as the government has introduced a raft of new legislation designed to protect tenants. The difficulty is that the vast majority of landlords are not seasoned professionals, but rather people who purchased or inherited an extra property and use it to prop up their income. […]

If you’re looking to start or expand your property portfolio, Birmingham is a superb location for your purposes. In this article, the specialists at Property Solvers – experts in selling your home fast – explore the benefits of investing in buy to let property in the city and surrounding areas. We’ll explain the growing attraction […]

Housing Minister Esther McVey MP has announced a new Champion for Modern Methods of Construction as part of the government’s drive to make the UK the global leader in housing standards. Mark Farmer brings 30 years’ experience in construction to the role and will provide independent scrutiny and advice to the Government on how to […]

Recent years have seen a sustained attack on private landlords by the Government and other groups. The relationship between landlords and tenants has also been painted as adversarial by organisations which purport to represent tenants, but who in fact work against their interests. This must be seen in the context of the huge success of […]

The Private Rented Sector is one of the fast-growing markets in housing, and now accounts for over 4.5 million households in the UK, an increase of 63% (1.6 million) from 2007. In times of rising house prices and a new generation who prefer a more flexible approach to living, it is no surprise that more […]

ARLA and NAEA propertymark have released their manifesto “Election 2019: Regulate and reform the housing sector.” Click here to download the full document. The number one call on the wish list is for government to adopt the recommendations of the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group and regulate property agents. This it is hoped will […]

New funding announced by the Government to tackle criminal landlords is welcome, but is nowhere near enough says the country’s leading landlords’ organisation. Ministers have announced that local authorities will be able to access almost £4 million in new funding, as part of what it describes as a “crackdown on criminal landlords” for 2019/20. This […]