A think tank has claimed that abolishing stamp duty and council tax could help tackle London’s housing crisis. A report by Centre for London argues that reforming property taxes would improve affordability and increase fairness across the housing system. The news comes as an industry body has also claimed that landlords play a key role […]

More than half of tenants could need a guarantor following the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act, a deposit scheme claims. Research by Zero Deposit suggests the proportion of local authority areas where tenants are likely to fail affordability checks could rise from one in five to almost one in two. Under the act, landlords […]

I would be grateful for some practical views from landlords, planning consultants and anyone experienced with listed buildings and retrospective planning/heritage matters. I own a Grade II listed property, which was converted by a previous owner into several self-contained residential/student units many years ago. The internal works included modern plasterboard/gypsum-based materials and subdivision works which, […]

An advisory board to the Scottish government has warned Awaab’s Law will deter investment and cause landlords to leave the market. In a letter to the government, the Regulatory Review Group (RRG) raised concerns about the implementation of Awaab’s Law in Scotland. The law received Parliamentary approval in March and is due to come into […]

I am due to give my tenants a rent increase soon, using the new Section 13 form 4a. The tenants have been in the property since 2014, during which time we have signed several tenancy agreements. The last time we signed a new contract, and increased the rent at the same time, was August last […]

Foundation, Kensington Mortgages, Coventry for intermediaries and NatWest have all announced updates across their buy to let ranges, including new fixed-rate products, cheaper existing deals and free valuations. Foundation, the intermediary-only specialist lender, has launched two Limited Edition buy to let products at 75% loan-to-value. The two-year fixed-rate deals sit in its F1 range, which […]

The UK’s house price growth slowed in May, and prices fell for the first time this year amid a cooling market, Nationwide reveals. It said annual house price growth eased to 1.7%, down from 3% in April, while prices slipped by 0.6% month on month. The average house price was £278,024 in May, compared with […]

The government has announced that social housing landlords will gain new powers to evict domestic abusers alongside reforms to the Right to Buy scheme. The government’s Social Housing Bill, which will receive its second reading in Parliament this week, aims to close a loophole that allows domestic abusers to make victims homeless. The news comes […]

The first wave of compulsory electrical safety reports is now hitting its five-year expiry date, and renewing them in 2026 comes with a new sting in the tail, courtesy of the Renters’ Rights Act. When mandatory electrical checks landed on the private rented sector back in 2020, they were the talk of the Property118 readership, […]

The government has given landlords further information on notice periods and rent paid in advance under the Renters’ Rights Act, which came into force on 1 May 2026. In response to a written parliamentary question, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook clarified how tenancies where rent is paid in advance are being treated under the new periodic […]

A social housing resident reportedly complained for eight years about excess cold before their windows were repaired, in one of the cases exposed by the Housing Ombudsman in a new report on disrepair. Window-related failures resulted in severe maladministration in 9% of the Ombudsman’s findings in 2025-26. Its usual level is around 2%. The report, […]

The government has announced a new data collection strategy to monitor the private rented sector (PRS). In a policy paper published by the government, ministers said the strategy is intended to assess how the Renters’ Rights Act will affect the PRS following the legislation coming into force. The data will also monitor the PRS Database […]

The average UK rent rose to £1,340 in May, with HomeLet recording monthly increases in 10 of the 12 regions it monitors. Greater London moved faster, reaching £2,161 after a 1.6% rise during the month, while Scotland recorded the largest May increase at 1.9%. The average figure is 1.1% higher than April’s £1,325 and 2.5% […]

The Scottish government has come under fire over its First Homes Fund, with critics claiming it is the SNP “trying to distract from nearly two decades of failure”. The scheme is designed to help first-time buyers by providing a £10,000 contribution towards a deposit on their first home. However, critics have argued the scheme does […]

Landlords weighing their next portfolio move are cautious about buying again, with 52% saying they do not currently plan to purchase another property. Landbay’s latest landlord survey found 35% plan to add to their portfolios over the next 12 months. When asked about their prospects, 41% of landlords described themselves as neutral, 21.8% are positive […]

Back in July/Aug 2023, I had reason to sack the letting agents and bring the management in-house. I’d already decided that, as tenants left to sell, BTL life is just becoming too complex. Tenants were happy that I synchronised everything to the 1st of September, mainly because they got a few months at the old […]

With the British Summer sizzling, it isn’t just the weather that has been making landlords sweat. Thousands of landlords exiting the Private Rented Sector (PRS) are discovering the hard way the time, cost and effort of evicting tenants and running empty property to sell with vacant possession. The landlord in this case study already knew […]

You have a limited company owning rental properties and are due to inherit rental properties from your parents? Read on. How your parents structure their will should be influenced by your future plans for those properties. Get it wrong and you could face an unexpected tax bill. The starting point is simple: Do you plan […]

Following on from last week’s theory about the purging of small landlords from the private rented sector (PRS), here comes the first trap. It’s obvious that many landlords don’t engage closely with the sector since best estimates put the number of private landlords in England at around 2.6 million, but a significant chunk will not […]

Piecemeal legislation needs to end to tackle London’s housing crisis, claims a landlord group. Speaking at the London Housing Conference, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), Ben Beadle, claimed investment in the private rented sector is key to tackling the housing crisis. The news comes as the government have announced emergency measures […]

A Labour MP has suggested landlords should take a greater role in tackling anti-social behaviour caused by tenants. In a Parliamentary written question, Connor Naismith MP asked whether the government was taking steps “to make private landlords responsible for dealing with anti-social behaviour caused by their tenants”. In response, housing minister Matthew Pennycook confirmed under […]