The rent gap between London and the rest of the country means tenants are paying an average 80% more to let a home in the capital. Rents in London hit an average £1,177 per month in November – while average rents elsewhere were £653 a month, according to a report from buy to let insurer […]

An eye-watering £131 billion has been wiped off the value of homes in the UK over the past five years, according to government statistics. Property wealth has tumbled by 3.7% to £3,375 billion since 2006, says the Office of National Statistics.

The latest news and views from the property market and private rented sector. Ben Reeve-Lewis and Mark Alexander tackle the LHA changes that are to come in in the New Year, there’s an update on the EU mortgage regulation petition and there’s news of the Bank of England’s business summary for December.

The Bank of England Agents’ summary of business conditions December 2011 has been released, reporting a “softening housing market”. First time buyers remain held back due to deposit requirements and home-owners are still wary to trade up due to market conditions. Buy to let investors on the other hand are providing “a source of demand […]

Three more landbanking scams have been uncovered and moved into liquidation by the Company Investigations (CI) of the Insolvency Service. The three companies were found to be linked to 11 other landbanking scams that had already been shutdown. Theydon Land Developments Limited, Emerging Property Partnership Limited and Franklin Knight Ltd had mis-sold plots in Essex […]

Now you might be forgiven for thinking this is an over sensationalised headline to grab your attention. Well I’m sorry to burst your bubble because it isn’t! This evening I read the PDF Fact Sheet which is linked from Ben Reeve-Lewis’ article entitled “Housing Benefit Newsflash”.

For months now, those of us in the housing advice world have been watching the slow motion car crash that is the unfolding housing benefit changes and we are nearly at the point where the airbag fails to deploy. That’s right folks, the impending changes to the single room rate is just over a week […]

Home prices at auction sales are almost 40% less than average property prices reported by major mortgage lenders. November figures for homes under the hammer show the average price of the 1,098 homes sold under the hammer was £103,477 – up 1.12% on the £102,322 average 12 months ago.

Local councils have lost their fight in the courts to overturn the government’s house in multiple occupation planning laws. After a bitter and long-running dispute, the Court of Appeal has rejected their challenge and ruled housing minister Grant Shapps made a considered and fair decision to reverse planning laws rushed in by the outgoing Labour […]

We’re giving a lucky Property118.com reader the chance to win £100 worth of B&Q vouchers  – perfect for that refurbishment project that you’ve meaning meaning to get around to! To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is tell us your best guess to the following question:

Property investors who are taxed under the PAYE system can opt to have their tax coding adjusted to collect any extra payments generated from rental profits – but often the tax man ignores their requests. Landlords who have a PAYE day-job can ask HM Revenue and Customs to collect tax of up to £3,000 by […]

Nearly 3,000 people have signed an online government petition against the regulation of buy to let mortgages under new European laws. To be discussed in the House of Commons, petitions need to accrue 100,000 signatories. The petition is open until November next year.

The latest news and views from the property market and private rented sector. Ben Reeve-Lewis looks back to his sobering time working the doors of a homeless shelter and Angus Ryan looks at this period for lanlords. Mark Alexander asks the relevance of LTV and there’s news from ARLA, FSA and the what EU veto […]

Why Property? Over the last 30 years UK property prices have achieved average compound growth of approximately 10% each year for all areas and all dwellings. Property investment is not a quick get rich scheme but most futures are made with time, not timing! It is a manageable asset which you can control; you can […]

Tough new mortgage restrictions to stop borrowers falling in to arrears have been proposed by the Financial Services Authority after months of behind-closed-doors negotiation with lenders. Out go self-certification and interest-only home loans for most mortgage borrowers. In come strict affordability tests to combat payment difficulties and mortgage fraud for borrowers – with lenders having […]

Rents have eased back for the first time in almost a year – dropping around £7 a month to an average £717, according to one of the UK’s largest letting agents. Annual rent inflation has tumbled from 4.1% in October to 3.5% in November, but rents are still an average £25 higher than 12 months […]

What could be worse than laying on a beach or sitting on a ski lift whilst trying to sort out somebody to go out to fix a tenants broken boiler, cooker, blown down fence etc. Portfolio landlords often prefer to manage their own property portfolio’s and this can be a real problem for them. The […]

It has just occurred to me that a page dedicated to buy to let mortgage advice could be very useful, both to landlords and mortgage brokers. Landlords could leave question here and mortgage brokers could come here to answer them and leave their contact details. Free advice for landlords and the possibility of getting extra business for […]

I’ve been a bit quiet of late. Knocked out by a killer dose of what Frazzy calls ‘Man Flu’ and like the rest of you, running around tying up loose ends before Xmas descends on us for 4 days of food, alcohol, sleepiness and family rows. In a week when Leeds council reports a 200% […]

Landlords have become embroiled in a bitter battle for the election of the new London Mayor as candidates have made residential letting a major campaign issue. Tory Mayor Boris Johnson is standing for re-election and wants to introduce a citywide accreditation scheme for buy to let landlords.

Buy to let borrowers can expect the mortgage drought to continue throughout 2012, according to lending forecasts from banks and building societies. Funds for mortgages are likely to flatline for the next year, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the trade body of major mortgage lenders.