Focus on weeding out rogue landlords is not the way forward for the PRS. Regulation increases costs and fails to encourage growth. We must focus on the longer term objective to resolve the problems. People live in poor conditions due to lack of supply in the private rental sector. The requirement for a strong PRS […]

More than a third (35%) of buy to let landlords don’t know or don’t care that their rental homes fail to meet minimum energy performance standards. Around another 17% of landlords suspect their letting properties would not meet the basic standards expected by the government’s new Green Deal. From 2018, buy to let homes that […]

Tenants who cannot afford to pay their rents are overwhelming helplines with SOS calls. The number of tenants in rent arrears has almost doubled since the start of the credit crunch according to debt advice charity National Debtline. The charity reckons calls from tenants with financial problems has soared by 84% since the start of […]

Fight back against the anti landlord campaigns being peddled by housing charity Shelter. Let’s apply some Vulcan logic to the debate. Watch this video and then set phasers to stun. We come in peace! Live long and prosper.

Today is a new beginning, today I am launching my daily video blog about being a private rented sector landlord. I will be sharing my story here on Property118.com and via social media including You Tube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Property Tribes and hopefully several other social media platform that will grab the You Tube embed […]

The worst banks and financial services firms picked up 1.1 million customer complaints in the first six months of the year. The figures come from name and shame data published by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Bottom of the list come the high street banks, courtesy of the payment protection insurance debacle that has led […]

Landlords and homeowners hoping to cash in on the London Olympics by renting to sports fans could be breaking the law and face fines of up to £20,000. While landlords in some neighbourhoods can take in guests on short-term lets, those in adjoining areas can only watch in envy as the capital’s 33 councils apply […]

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 […]

Catch up on all of this week’s latest property and landlord related news. The second installment from Ben Reeve-Lewis, ‘Don’t shoot the Messenger’looks at HMO management and there’s an introduction to the LandlordSOS event in Keele.

The falling cost of buying a home over the past 12 months coupled with demand pushing up the cost of renting has made buying cheaper than letting in 45 of 50 major cities, according to Zoopla. Providing buyers can raise a deposit and mortgage, it is on average 13% cheaper than renting a similar property. […]

“Terraced houses are more profitable than other houses” Property investors with terraced houses have banked £118 per week as prices have outpaced all other type of home over the past 10 years. The value of terraced houses has increased by around two-thirds (68.4%) between 2001 and 2011, according to a study by the Halifax, compared […]

Around 85% of first time buyers are worried they will never buy a home – and blame buy to let landlords for a lot of their problems. They feel landlords are blocking their way on to the property ladder by snapping up affordable homes to add to their rental portfolios. The would-be buyers are also […]

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 […]