The Council of Mortgage Lenders CML reports that total gross mortgage lending increased to £15 billion in June, which is 2%  more than £14.7 billion in May this year and 26% higher than the total of £11.9 billion in June 2012. This is the highest monthly figure for gross lending since October 2008. Gross lending […]

Not everyone who has been sold an Interest Rate Hedging Product knows that they hold one as many people think they just have a fixed rate loan or variable rate loan. When you purchased the Interest Rate Hedging Product you may have been under the impression that you were purchasing a type of fixed rate […]

The prevailing mood in the BuytoLet remortgage world over the past three or four years has been “Rates are high; criteria are being squeezed; fees are high” – so it’s not been considered financially viable to remortgage. Therefore Landlords have settled down and put raising equity or just remortgaging for rate to the back of […]

Several years ago my business partners and I were approached by an insurance broker who told us we could save a lot of money by combining our landlords insurance policies into a block policy. This was the beginning of our landlords buying group.

The Private Rented Sector Review conclusions and recommendations published by the Communities and Local Government Committee: Simplifying regulation 1.  We recommend that the Government conduct a wide-ranging review to consolidate legislation covering the private rented sector, with the aim of producing a much simpler and more straightforward set of regulations that landlords and tenants can easily […]

The Private Rented Sector Review summary published by the Communities and Local Government Committee: The private rented sector has seen sustained and consistent growth in recent years. A structural change from owner occupation towards renting began a decade ago, long predating the economic downturn. The sector is home to an increasingly wide range of people—from […]

Looking at the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s Report on the Private Rented Sector Review, Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer of the National Landlords Association (NLA) publicises his comments. “This is a really positive report. It takes the debate around the growth of the private-rented sector out of the 1970s into […]

The National Union of Students (NUS) has welcomed The Private Rented Sector review from the Communities and Local Government Select Committee on which has set out a series of proposals to correct serious flaws in the private rented housing market. One of the report’s recommendations, which NUS suggested in its evidence, is to bring the […]

Every renter can profess to the frustration of seeing a property listed online and calling up just to be told “sorry, that’s just gone, but if you would like to register with us.” Imagine if prospective renters and buyers were sent an update the moment a landlord or vendor instructed their agent. Rightmove are currently […]

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme has pushed on behalf of the Lettings industry to make Client Money Protection cover (CMP) available to all UK lettings agents. Up until this month, CMP cover was only available through a number of trade bodies. The introduction of two new CMP providers this month will enable letting agents that […]

The latest figures from the National Association of Estate Agents NAEA housing market report revealed another monthly increase in the average number of sales made by NAEA members. Average sales increased from nine per branch in April to ten in May. This follows a continued rise from the beginning of the year, where in January […]

Having been letting flats above shops I have now for the first time been asked to let the shop underneath one! I have gleaned from the web that shops are generally let on 15 year self repairing leases and that normally a solicitor draws that side of the business up, but from a letting point […]

We let out properties mainly to Housing Benefit tenants. Despite the general assertions on this site, we haven’t had substantial arrears, or substantial damage to our property. We know how we can short circuit those arrears, on the whole. Both instances of arrears we have had however, have arisen under private paying tenants just like […]

I’ve had a 5 double bedroom double upper Georgian property in Leith which I bought and renovated 12 years ago. I’ve rented it out room by room (mainly to overseas visitors) and had very few problems. All the bedrooms have birchwood floors and the lounge and hallways are carpeted. The Scottish Office published a Guide […]

Ive just read an article about a company who have set up to find “loop holes” in the deposit system and are claiming compensation for tenants. The article I read last week said that landlords details should be on the prescribed information, where others say if they are using a management agent, the agent can […]

I need an urgent help please. I purchased a property off auction last November. I am at the stage of re-mortgaging it this month. The Property was built in 2004, the builder went bust in 2009 and property was repossessed by bank. The mortgage company has come back asking for the NHBC / Builders Certificate […]

BBC1 Thursday 18th July, 10:30pm: Meet The Landlords. This is a documentary about property in hard times with tenants in difficulty, some landlords enjoying the boom, some in trouble, and Landlord Action helping out. We haven’t seen a preview but it sounds like it won’t be easy viewing, even for Landlord Action. This will be […]

Rightmove doubles 2013 forecast for house prices as it reports ‘aggregation of marginal gains’ fueling a predicted 4.8% annual growth. There have been seven monthly rises on the trot and two consecutive record months as the price of newly marketed property increases by 0.3% (+£860) in July boosting year-on-year growth to 4.8% (+£11,561) Rightmove’s 2013 […]

How should I document the arrival of new tenant? I let a 3 bedroom property to 3 professionals last year on a one year AST. Although all 3 were named as tenants on the AST it transpired that their company paid for all their bills including their rent. The AST term expired earlier this month […]

In The Property Ombudsman’s (TPO) first Interim Report for 2013, Christopher Hamer focuses on the impact of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) for the day-to-day business operations of estate and letting agents. The report has been produced for the 22,000 sales and lettings offices registered with The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme. […]

Why is landlords insurance for Working/Professional HMO’s, Student lets and tenants claiming benefits so much more expensive? In a word – RISK However, as it transpires, it is possible to insure any rental property in the UK for a premium of £1.10 per £1,000 of cover plus Insurance Premium Tax providing there is a decent […]