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, […]

More than a third of homes for sale across England are being marketed at reduced asking prices, offering scope for buyers wanting early-year savings before the market tightens. An analysis from Benham and Reeves shows 37% of current listings have already been cut, creating a pool of potential January deals. Yet the flow of fresh […]

A Conservative MP claims Labour’s decision to raise tax rates on property income will hurt renters and reduce rental supply. The Autumn Budget increased tax rates on dividends, property, and savings income by 2 percentage points. In a Parliamentary debate on the 2026-2027 income tax charge, the Conservatives argued that many landlords are ordinary people […]

Landlords are facing the prospect of stiffer sentencing when charged with the unlawful eviction and unlawful harassment of tenants. The Sentencing Council has unveiled a public consultation that appears to suggest that not enough landlords are currently being imprisoned for the offences. Council chair, Lady Justice May, said: “Housing offences such as unlawful eviction can […]

Scotland’s finance and local government secretary, Shona Robison, has set out the Scottish Budget 2026-27, unveiling housing measures that have drawn criticism from across the property sector. The plans include two new council tax bands for homes valued above £1m, scheduled to take effect from April 2028. Ministers also confirmed the existing Land and Buildings […]

Average advertised rents across Britain ended 2025 up 2.2%, with growth easing as tenant competition cooled and more homes came onto the market. That’s according to new figures from Rightmove which says that outside London, asking rents fell 1.1% in the final quarter of the year. They are down £15 to £1,370 to become the […]

Estate and letting agents are bracing for what many see as a defining year, with costs rising, regulation tightening and margins getting thinner, a survey reveals. The findings from Alto show that nearly two-thirds of agents expect economic uncertainty to be their biggest challenge in the year ahead. Its 2026 Agency Trends Report, based on […]

England’s landlords remain overwhelmingly small-scale – with just under half owning one rental property – and older, an analysis from Propertymark reveals. Reviewing the English Private Landlord Survey 2024 alongside the latest English Housing Survey findings, the organisation said the make-up of the PRS has barely changed. It also found that 38% of landlords hold […]

Tenant demand in the private rented sector weakened again in December, while the flow of new landlord instructions remained sharply negative, the latest RICS survey reveals. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says tenant demand is at a net balance of -27%, with new instructions from landlords even weaker at -39%. The imbalance is leading […]

Council officers and environmental wardens have stepped up engagement with tenants and landlords in a bid to curb fly-tipping and littering. The move comes after council officers said misunderstandings around bin collection schedules and presentation are behind repeated issues. That’s particularly the case where residents and tenants are unclear about how and when waste should […]

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has rejected claims that more regulation will drive small landlords out of the market. During a debate in Parliament, Conservative MP Edward Leigh warned that imposing more regulations on small landlords would cause them to leave the private rented sector, ultimately harming vulnerable people. However, Mr Pennycook said that “not all […]