A new buy to let mortgage lender is about to enter the market with broker-only deals. The State Bank of India (SBI) has announced preparations to offer a 60% loan-to-value (LTV) tracker at 3.9%. The first applications will be handled in branches and then opened to brokers and independent financial advisers. The bank is accepting […]

Property investors who let homes stand empty for two years could pay more tax under plans to bring more homes into use. Thousands of homes are empty across the country awaiting repair or development, often tied up in planning rows. Now the government is suggesting the owners should pay extra council tax to encourage them […]

Buy to let is growing up fast, the industry celebrates its 15th birthday today (September 24, 2011). Buy to let was officially born on September 24, 1996, at a meeting in London attended by the proud parents – the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), the Council of Mortgage Lenders and a number of mortgage […]

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 […]

The number of homes changing ownership is to continuing to fall according to analysis by an auction sales monitor. Residential property transactions have steadily decreased against those in the corresponding quarter for almost a year. The Essential Information Group (EIG) took Land Registry figures for quarterly property transactions back to the third quarter of 2009 […]

Pets are a casualty of the buy to let boom as tenants are forced to make a choice between keeping their animals or losing their rented homes. Strict landlords are banning pets – and animal sanctuaries are reporting a rise in abandoned cats and dogs as a result. A study has revealed 17 per cent […]

Raising finance for property investment/development, dealing with the council and how to make money from buy to let are some of the biggest issues of being a landlord. To many it seems the ‘powers that be’ live in a different world from landlords who are trying to make a living from property. Until now that […]

Major housing organisations in the private and social rental sectors have joined forces to fight the government proposals to pay housing benefits direct to tenants. The move affects the way millions of tenants are likely to pay their rents – especially the 20 per cent of tenants who have never had to budget for housing […]

The Bank of England has released their business summary for September. They say the market continues to be ‘subdued’ and first time buyers are still having trouble reaching the first rung of the ladder. They also believe the prospect of high rents has attracted more buy to let investors. You can read and download the […]

  The first two featured articles in this weeks edition have sparked an interesting debate so please take the time to scroll down and read the comments as well as the articles themselves.Feedback on any article is always extremely welcome.  Please remember you can also share these articles via email, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Featured […]

House prices and the state of the property market have probably hit rock bottom, according to banks and building societies. Property values are about to level out and then show a modest increase, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which speaks for all Britain’s major mortgage lenders. Mortgage availability is also ‘broadly stable’ and […]

Theft and fraud by letting agents has always been a problem in the industry, claims the managing director of the UK’s largest independent letting business. In a damning indictment of the industry, Paul Weller of south east based Leaders hits out against dishonest and incompetent letting agents – but alleges the problems have dogged landlords […]

Councils are imposing arcane planning rules in an attempt to stop student landlords opening new shared houses. Landlords in Portsmouth face a seemingly impossible rule – they cannot switch a family home to a shared house if the number of shared houses in any area is already 10% or more of the number of homes. […]

When a tenant has 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 it. […]

Landlords have given the green light to the Green Deal to improve energy efficiency in buy to let properties. Around two thirds of property investors have told the National landlords Association (NLA) that they support upgrading their homes to meet the new standards. The nod from landlords comes as MPs debate the proposed new Green […]

Soaring buy to let rents and the rising cost of living are putting pressure on tenant spending power. Rents were up 1.2 per cent in August – but rent arrears also increased for the first time since April, according to the biggest letting agent across England and Wales, LSL Property Services. Average buy to let […]

I’ve heard reports of 30 prospective tenants applying for every property on landlords and lettings agents books. What do they do with the other 29 records of prospective customers?  To me, the answer is obvious. Create a Facebook page purely for prospective tenants and ask them to become friends as soon as they make an […]

A recent report from B&Q suggested that red was the most popular colour choice in the paint stakes. They, like me, will attribute that to a feature wall colour in homes. The report also suggested magnolia had ceased to be the favourite wall colour. A few things are apparent here, red isn’t the predominant wall […]

Desperate property sellers are flirting with some extravagant discount offers to attract cash-rich buyers. The latest ploy is a ‘buy one house, get one free’ deal on new homes, but other bonus offers include an art collection and a speedboat. Where cash discounts and help with finance are offered to many new home buyers to […]

Buy to let rents in London have surged to a new peak of £1,202 a month. Rents are still climbing in most regions, but are soaring in the capital as London reports the only rising house prices in the country over the past 12 months. Rising prices and difficulties in finding mortgage finance have led […]

Average rents across the UK continue to rise, according to Homelet’s latest rental index for August. London went up a further 4% to £1,202, reaching a new record as the UK on the whole reached £791. While month by month prices fluctuated up and down across the country, the annual change has been an increase […]