The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks has once again warned buy to let landlords to conduct inventories properly, even for unfurnished properties. They say it’s not just the ‘loose’ contents that need protecting with an inventory but carpets, bathrooms and even walls and cupboards. Worktop chips and scratches should be recorded in the inventory, as […]

Will changes in funding provide threats to private rented sector landlords or an incentive for parents of students to become landlords themselves to offset rising costs of education?

Next year I will have been a landlord for 40 years and I am going to throw a boomerang at each of my good tenants via twitter (@landlordtweets) during the month of December. I am fed up of hearing tenants from hell stories, most of my tenants over the past 40 years have been great […]

We’ve had our Indian Summer and weren’t some of the sunsets amazing!  Now apparently because the berries were on a certain shrub over August , we are in for a hard and cold winter.  I always thought that if the berries were untouched till late then it was because they were being saved for winter. […]

The latest pointless buy to let survey has hit the news feeds with the headline finding that broker buy to let mortgage applications are up 3.1% during the three months ending September 30. The problem is the figure is meaningless as the Paragon Mortgages survey gives no idea of the number of brokers taking part […]

Join UK landlords and associated businesses by posing your questions which will be featured in future blogs and video’s on YouTube and Property118.com. Please allow me to explain further ….

When a tenant has a beef with their landlord, I’m the guy they go to. My job is to either negotiate or prosecute, depending on the circumstances. This occasional and random series aims to let landlords know the common complaints that are made about them, the laws that cover them and how to deal with […]

Maps that show commuting times to a destination postcode are a great aid for landlords who want to highlight public transport links near their properties. Students and universities are big users of the new mapping service that works out bus and train travel times. Landlords can use the maps to show prospective tenants just how […]

The North may be lighting up the house sale statistics, but the number of homes changing hands is still down by almost half in the past 10 years. Bury leads the way with a massive 44% surge in sales in the first six months of 2011, compared with the same time last year.

The latest Homelet index found average rent prices dropped last month, only the second time it’s dropped in successive months this year. Across the country prices fluctuated, some regions saw big price drops while the regions where prices rose only did so slightly, accounting for the drop. East Anglia saw the biggest drop, dropping back […]

Judges have deemed new government rules to cap housing benefit and rental home sizes do not discriminate against poor families. The Child Poverty Action group launched a legal challenge against the shake-up of housing benefit rules as part of the government’s universal credit policy. As part of the welfare review, the government changed housing benefit […]

Buy to let rents are too high and are locking poorer working families out of finding homes to rent, warns a housing charity. Rent amounts to a third or more of take home pay in more than half of towns and cities across the country, says Shelter. The result is almost four out of 10 […]

When a tenant has a beef with their landlord, I’m the guy they go to. My job is to either negotiate or prosecute, depending on the circumstances. This occasional and random series aims to let landlords know the common complaints that are made about them, the laws that cover them and how to deal with […]

A landlord was fined £12,000 for failing to provide a fire alarm and electricity supply in a shared house he let to tenants. Sikander Hayat admitted seven safety offences in breach of house in multiple occupation regulations at Banbury Magistrates Court. In addition to the fines, he was ordered to pay £300 costs. Councillor Debbie […]

Tenants are still clamouring for buy to let homes, according to the latest survey of landlords. Many landlords (44%) reckon tenant demand has increased in the three months ending September 30th, says Paragon Mortgages, the firm instructing the research. Only 4% feel demand decreased. Almost half of landlords (49%) feel tenant demand will carry on […]

What better time to discuss holiday lets than whilst I’m on holiday? Are holiday lets a viable investment and how easy is it to manage a property at distance? Please share your thoughts and experiences. Whether you are into holiday let’s or not this video is well worth a watch just to enjoy the wonderful scenery of Taormina in […]

With the property market continuing to make headlines we have another great selection of articles for you ranging from the latest lender announcements, housing market survey updates and guest articles from industry experts.This week our new ‘video blog’ section features discussions on property management & refurbishment, landlord accreditation schemes and overseas holiday lets. These are […]

Landlords Accreditation Schemes operated by the NLA (National Landlords Association), MLAS (Midlands Landlord Accreditation Scheme) and London Landlords Accreditation are now being used to set a benchmark by some Universities (two in Birmingham) as to whether to allow landlords to advertise properties to let to their students. The schemes are education based, NOT inspection based. […]

Mortgage lenders released the purse strings on home loans slightly in August, but this year looks unlikely to equal last year’s lending. Remortgaging was up significantly, with 34,100 loans worth £4.2 billion, making both the number of loans and amount borrowed were more than 30% higher than August 2010. The number and total value of […]

Little has changed in the stagnant housing market over recent weeks, according to the latest market and price surveys. The latest UK house price statistics from the government show house prices sliding back 1.3% over the year to the end of August. The average UK house price was £208,476, says the Communities and Local Government […]

Universities in Oxford may have to put millions of pounds of developments on hold because protesters claim they have broken planning rules. Oxford and Oxford Brookes Universities both signed agreements that limit the numbers of students that can live off campus – and residents have put together a census report that argues both have got […]