Complaints against rogue letting agents surged by 26% to more than 7,600 in 2011, according to independent adjudicator The Property Ombudsman. In a year that saw continuing fraud and bad management leading to landlords and tenants losing cash to businesses that often closed without warning, the ombudsman is calling for higher standards across the industry. […]

Buy to let lenders are squeezing the availability of loans as funding problems ripple out through the industry. Landlords are finding loans more difficult to locate as lenders topple like dominoes due to exceptionally high demand for limited cash.

New online services are springing up that let property people and renters share information about ‘bad’ landlords and tenants – but are the details fair and accurate? The problem for a landlord is these sites can open the door for equality and diversity claims. If a landlord acts on the data and refuses to let […]

“How We Recruited Our Property Manager” Roy Brooks was probably the most famous British estate agent ever. He was famous for being so honest when describing the properties he was flogging (and often their corresponding owners), that he was hilariously rude. People adored him for it, but that was in the good old days. If […]

Fraudster Rose Chimuka conned landlords of out of more than £100,000 by posing as a mum to rent their homes and then sub-letting them to dozens of tenants. She was jailed for four years and three months at Croydon Crown Court after admitting 11 fraud charges. The court was told Chimuka, 32, posed as a […]

I am going to keep it simple I have written two articles with full details but here is the short version including TWO NEW WARNINGS

Buy to let mortgage news dominates the headlines in this edition as we report on how lenders increasing their standard variable rates despite the Bank Base Rate staying at 0.5% will affect landlords in several of our news articles below. John Paul, also known as The LHA Expert, brings us his second instalment of his […]

Letting agents are urging long-distance landlords to make sure they follow six basic renting rules to avoid hassle with tenants. The tips follow a survey by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) which revealed up to two-thirds of property investors letting homes in London live outside the capital.

Headlines screaming out about rising mortgage interest rates are filling the news, so some facts and figures about the buy to let and home loans market should shine a light on what’s really happening. Here is some information explaining some frequently asked questions about mortgage interest rates compiled with the help of the Council of […]

LHA Top Tips for landlords. Article 2 in a series of 8 Inform yourself. If you don’t know all the rules about being a landlord for Local Housing Allowance tenants, at the very least be sure you know where to look when you need information fast.

Landlords and letting agents could see Rightmove’s crown slip in the rental market as a new pretender steps up – if a proposed merger is allowed to go ahead. Digital Property Group – owned by the company behind the Daily Mail – and Zoopla want to join forces to tackle the undisputed property portal king […]

Landlords with Bank of Ireland buy to let loans can breathe a sigh of relief as mortgage interest rates are hiked by new owner the Nationwide. The bank’s standard variable rates for residential mortgage borrowers are set to rise from 2.99%, to 3.99% in June and then to 4.49% in September, affecting around 100,000 customers.

Property118.com, the UK’s most popular online community for landlords and property investors* has just released its 100th Newsletter featuring updates on legislation, best practice, financial information and commentary relating to the buy to let industry. Launched in January 2011 Property118 now has over 183,000 subscribers to its e-newsletter which is aggregated by News Now and […]

Two of my favourite authors write all of their important philosophies in parable style, this is mine. Once upon a time, a fisherman decided that he no longer wanted to be a wage slave to a trawler captain so he went off to do his own thing.  He made a rod and caught and sold […]

Landlord Mohammed Khubaib needs to change his ways and stop illegally evicting tenants or he’ll end up in jail – according to his lawyer. The warning was voiced to Peterborough magistrates hearing Khubaib’s third case of illegally evicting a tenant.

Let to buy mortgage lenders are inflicting stinging interest rates on reluctant landlords who have to rent out their homes to move. Brokers and lenders say they are handling more applications from homeowners who are desperate to move because of personal or work commitments. Reluctant landlords have a choice – either asking their lender for […]

Before I got sucked into housing I trained in Cognitive Linguistics, the study of how language can be used to show how we make sense of the world, our beliefs and interpretations of a larger reality. One of the leading Cognitive Linguists of the 20th Century is a towering intellectual of a man called Noam […]

I have organised this important meeting and I forgot to ask NLA to mail out to members to let you know.  This is entirely my fault and I am sorry to have let you down.  I know that it is short notice but I do hope that you can join us LANDLORDS IF YOU LET […]

Today’s newsletter highlights alternative options and strategies for landlords both in the news and by our guest columnists. The first instalment in a series of eight from John Paul, also known as @TheLHAexpert, introduces his top tips to renting property to LHA tenants, Mary Latham looks in to whether tax avoidance is a reason why […]

Commercial landlords could find their properties are without insurance in a few months if the Government fails to provide the flood protection insurance companies expect. The current agreement runs until July, and the Government’s cuts are hitting flood defences. As a result, premiums will increase and some properties are being quoted with insurance of £20,000 […]

Chancellor George Osborne is coming under more pressure from landlord and letting agent lobbies to ease buy to let tax in the forthcoming Budget. The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) is urging the chancellor to scrap capital gains tax on investment properties and ripping up stamp duty rules to make the tax fairer for […]