The government’s housing benefits policy is in disarray as judges have ruled a crucial test to confirm how big a house a tenant qualifies to rent discriminates against the disabled. The housing benefit regulations, which came into force in April 2012, were criticised as flawed in the Court of Appeal because they do not allow […]

Nearly a third of landlords have plans to buy more rental property this year, according to specialist buy to let lender CHL Mortgages. Landlord confidence is running high with just 1 in 10 aiming to sell property or leave buy to let, with 31% set to expand their portfolios, while the rest continue with business […]

Mortgage Trust will now consider remortgaging a property inside 6 months of the date of purchase, but only if there have been significant improvement works carried out which have enhanced the property’s value.

Calls to boost buy to let by upgrading pensions to include residential property are gathering momentum in Parliament. An influential select committee of MPs is urging the government to streamline pension and tax laws for landlords to stimulate investment in private rented housing.

Beds in sheds landlords are the target of a new government campaign to crack down on shoddy housing. Housing minister Grant Shapps is spearheading the battle against the spread of ‘suburban shanty towns’ by injecting £1.8 million into a fighting fund for nine councils.

Buy to let landlords filed nearly 6,000 claims to evict tenants in the first three months of the year, according to the latest Ministry of Justice figures. County courts handle around 65 new cases every day and lawyers are concerned that backlogs will cause financial problems for landlords as strikes and work-to-rules by public sector […]

Health and safety inspectors are cracking down on landlords who fail to manage building projects on their rental properties – even if they employ professional builders to do the work. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning that landlords face prosecution if they flout a little known construction regulation.

London has dropped to second in the rankings for most expensive capital to rent in as rents in Paris takes on the mantle. Rents in the French capital are now three times more than Shanghai and Mumbai. New York appears to have been the best performer though, with the highest yield and highest leap in […]

SAFEagent is launching a ‘week of activity’ beginning on May 14th until 20th May, aimed at raising awareness of the scheme with tenants and landlords. As part of the week there will be national and regional events to increase the knowledge of landlords- especially first-time landlords– and tenants of Client Money Protection Schemes and their […]

Landlords looking to install or purchase properties with solar panels using a 25 year lease agreement need to think twice if they require buy to let finance. We have had feedback from 3 of the major buy to let lenders asking if solar panels installed on a 25 year lease plan are considered suitable security for lending purposes

The Coventry Building Society has cut rates and fees on buy to let loans through subsidiary Godiva. Two year fixed rates are offered at 4.30% at 65% loan to value with a £250 booking fee and no arrangement fee, while another two-year fix is available at 3.99% with a £250 booking fee and a £749 […]

Buy to let mortgage applications make up one in five of all home loan applications, according to one of the UK’s largest estate agents. Haart also claims buy to let remortgage applications reached a new high for the year, despite the Council of Mortgage Lenders disclosing the number dropped by 1% in the first three […]

Buy to let borrowing was down 5% in the first three months of the year after a barnstorming end to 2011. In figures that revealed buy to let is treading water rather than buoyant, new landlord loans totaled £3.7 billion, according to the latest official figures from bank and building society trade body the Council […]

My article this time is more of an open question to which I would like your input. Background first. I was listening to ‘In Business’ on Radio 4 the other day, a programme about something I had not heard of- the business concept of “Frugal Innovation”, currently much in favour with many huge corporations and […]

A new buy to let lender has entered the market called Keystone They specialise in buy to let mortgages for Single Purpose Vehicle limited companies, HMOs and Multi-Unit properties. This part of the market was largely exited by lenders after the credit crunch and it is great to see some competition for more niche criteria giving Landlords a greater […]

Independent commercial mortgage finance & bridging loan specialist Crystal Mortgages has reduced its three month bridging loan to 0.75% per month, a cut of 0.5%. The change is available up to 70% LTV, although the company must guarantee to return two months interest if the account is settled in month one. Free valuation on selected […]

Money and blood often don’t mix – which is why so many families go to war over their ‘fair share’ of cash. With so many wealthy business people and celebrities drawing up marriage pre-nups, perhaps the time has come for property business partners to consider the same deal.

Let to buy landlords who move and rent out their home because they cannot sell the property are finding more tenants want to confirm they have a mortgage lender’s permission to rent. More letting agents are demanding sight of written confirmation of permission to let from banks and building societies – especially if corporate tenants […]

Using Finance to Increase your Returns After recently attending local property networking events it still amazes me that investors think it’s a good idea to buy properties for cash. Firstly, the financial returns are less when a property is purchased for cash. Secondly, it means a large amount of cash is tied up for six […]

It’s been just over a year since Jack joined our team, initially as an intern placement via the University of East Anglia. Jack had just completed a Degree in Media and needed to get some work experience on his CV. The plan was for Jack to be with us for just 13 weeks but we […]

A question that came up in conversation this evening whilst in the car on the way back from my fiancée’s offices was “which will rise first, interest rates or property values?” Have you ever asked yourself this question? I know what you are probably thinking, “haven’t you got anything better to talk to your fiancée about”, right? Well […]