Banks, building societies and finance houses not only share repayment information about their customers, but can now also receive insight about the net worth of buy to let investors. Credit reference firm Experian is opening up house price data by teaming up with property portal Rightmove to offer lenders the new Equity Check service.

The tax countdown clock is ticking for landlords who have less than 50 working days left before the January 31, 2011 deadline. The date is not only important because any tax return filed late is hit with an automatic £100 penalty but also for several other reasons:

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has issued a warning to anyone who hasn’t yet sent in their self-assessment tax return – file online or face a £100 penalty. The October 31 paper-filing deadline has passed, so anyone filing a late paper tax return could be liable to a £100 penalty.

Almost a third of buy to let landlords would like to add more letting homes to their portfolios to expand their businesses to meet soaring tenant demand. Half of landlords are reporting surging interest from tenants in the last quarter, while seven in every 10 expect the demand to continue for the coming year.

A three page PDF containing four examples of high yielding (circa 20% per annum) Orlando based long term residential rental properties from as little as £25,000.

Landlords and tenants make about 50 complaints a month about letting agents to The Property Ombudsman (TPO), according to the latest figures issued by the industry watchdog. The ombudsman has record 484 complaints to the end of September – with six out of 10 found against letting agents (57%) and 22% decided in their favour.

Landlord pressure groups campaigning for changes in the law to fast track evictions for difficult tenants are calling for support in a petition. Mike Weatherley, Tory MP for Hove and Portslade is leading the protesters, consisting of 14 landlord businesses and representative groups, including the Residential Landlords Association (RLA).

Housing Minister Grant Shapps has published new guidance on how homeowners can stand up for their rights against squatters. The online guide published by the Communities and Local Government Department sets out the rights of landlords and other homeowners and explains what to do if a property is invaded.

Despite more than a century of social change aimed at redistributing the wealth of the nation more fairly, most of Britain is still in the hands of the aristocracy. Only 0.6% of the people – 36,000 individuals – own 50% of the land and show no sign they are ready to relinquish their grip.

With so many contradicting reports and opinions within the media it is hard to know who or what to believe. We have picked out a selection of stories that have caught our eye to assist you in being as fully informed as possible on the latest market conditions.

Buy to let lender Platform Mortgages has signalled a lack of confidence in the market by more or less stopping borrowing for landlords. Meanwhile, another buy to let specialist – CHL Mortgages – has announced trading improvements as more landlords slash mortgage arrears.

Landlords are in the firing line of a new HM Revenue and Customs charge to collect unpaid tax. HMRC is looking at 20 million cases dating back to 2004 where the taxman suspects tax is owed. Special task forces to tackle problems in specific sectors are working through the cases – for instance the recent […]

Letting agents all over the UK are reporting a rush by tenants to rent buy to let homes as the mortgage squeeze continues to stop people who want to buy homes from jumping on to the property ladder. The sadness behind the figures is that although thousands of would-be homeowners would snap at the chance […]

The world might not end if you don’t make a will, but the loved ones you leave behind may face financial difficulties and uncertainty. Many people do not write a will for lots of reasons, some valid and some not so.

House prices fell by a marginal 0.7% across most of the country in October, according to the latest data from the Nationwide. The average UK house price is now £167,354 – still up 4.5% in the year. Despite the small decrease, house prices in London, the South East, and Northern Ireland bucked the trend with […]

Property investors who manage their own lettings who have not registered under data protection laws may be breaking privacy laws. All businesses and organisations that handle personal data of customers must register with data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and follow strict rules or face prosecution.

Landlords and tenants often argue over who is entitled to keep a deposit when disputing who is responsible for damage to property at the end of a tenancy agreement. Some helpful light is thrown on how to negotiate a settlement for both sides in case studies published by The Disputes Service, a non-profit organisation that […]

Offices are standing empty across the country as the bleak economic outlook forces firms to put plans for expansion on hold. Demand for commercial property is declining across the board – but offices are seeing the biggest falls. Commercial letting agents say call for office space suffered worst in the last quarter, ending September 30, […]

The row over cutting housing benefits for tenants in private rented homes is rumbling on as the government is accused of fiddling the figures to make landlords look bad. Two landlord lobby groups are taking welfare reform minister Lord Freud to task over his comments about private landlords.

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/inflationreport/ir10novo.pdf

Mortgage lending by Britain’s banks and building societies hit a 10-year low last month – and the outlook is unlikely to improve.