The rise of buy to let as a major social phenomenon for households is reflected in the latest housing survey figures for England. The data, for 2009-10 from the Communities and Local Government Department (CLG) reveals a major shift in the housing sector away from owner-occupied homes.

A shared house landlord has lost control of his property after a council banned him from holding a house in multiple occupation licence. Ken Herring is not considered a ‘fit and proper’ person to run a house in multiple occupation (HMO) after an Oxford City Council inspection found the property housing six tenants in Marston […]

Buy to let landlords often wonder if paying their mortgage off early is a good investment. The answer is it depends on the borrower. Most of us prefer not to have debt – but as a property business, landlords need to recognise some debt is good and some is bad.

A Shelter commissioned YouGov survey has found many of Generation Rent are being failed by their landlord. Shelter are worried these rogue landlords may take on the many families that could be forced out of social housing. Their survey found that in the last decade, 7.5 million (16%) have had trouble with their landlord and […]

One of Britain’s largest landlord mortgage lenders has stepped up the pressure on Brussels not to regulate buy to let. Paragon Group director John Heron has just returned from a trip to the European Union headquarters to lobby for buy to let to stay outside of the proposed mortgage credit directive.

Buying a home for a son or daughter to live in while at university seems like a good plan for cash-strapped parents- but watch out for the tax traps. HM Revenue and Customs is lying in wait for the unwary who fail to set up owning and renting the property in the most tax effective […]

Squatters are losing the right to claim legal aid to fight landlords and other property owners in court. A clause in the new Sentencing, Legal Aid and Punishment of Offenders Bill will shut the door on squatters who combat efforts to evict them with free legal advice as the public purse foots the bill. Landlords […]

Buying a home or investing in a letting property are important financial decisions, but many buyers fall in to the trap of relying on the wrong information that could cost them dear. Findings from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) revealed around one in four homebuyers picked up bills averaging £1,800 for unplanned building […]

Around 75,000 buy to let tenants are in rent arrears – a 13% increase on the same period last year, according to rent receivers appointed by mortgage lenders. The number of tenants failing to pay rent went up from 71,483 in the first three months of 2011 to 74,492 in the second quarter – a […]

A gang-of-five of mortgage industry trade bodies has joined forces to challenge European Union proposals for mortgages that include tougher regulation of buy to let. The EU is pushing a draft mortgage directive through the European parliament that aims to tighten up rules for residential and buy to let lending.

Buy to let property investors are set to challenge collapsed property firms Inside Track and Instant Access Properties over misselling claims. The action group is led by Tamsin Banks, 51, who alleges she lost around £400,000 over seven property deals with the companies in Manchester, Spain and Florida.

Landlords are regularly falling victim to rogue letting agents who suddenly shut up shop and take their money and run. The two most common scenarios are a letting agent facing business difficulties closing down with money owing to landlords and tenants or some who are plain thieves milking their business bank accounts for as much […]

Mortgage rates have tumbled to their cheapest since records started almost 25 years ago. Fixed and tracker rate mortgages are at their lowest rates since 1988, according to independent finance monitor Moneyfacts.

Paying stamp duty and capital gains tax on a property sale is definitely a case of one law for the rich and another for the not so rich. Wealthy investors can get away with paying no property taxes when they sell a home by exploiting offshore tax rules.

Council spends £25,000 on repairing death-trap HMO A death-trap letting property seized by a council because the tenants lived in such appalling conditions has cost around £25,000 to repair. The house in multiple occupation (HMO) in Peterborough had blocked drains, uncapped gas pipes and a bypassed electric meter.

The Smith Institute has recently published a report by housing policy expert Andrew Heywood entitled “The End of the Affair: implications of declining home ownership”.  The report highlights the increase in the Private Rented Sector of the UK property market and considers its implications.

Something is only worth what the highest bidder is prepared to pay. If you see something in the sales marked up at 50% off, that’s its value.  The fact it was once priced up at twice the amount it is now is irrelevant.  If you buy that item, that’s its value.  If nobody buys it […]

Tenants at a London apartment have sent their landlord spiralling into difficulty after repeatedly failing to pay their rent. Naomi Koningen is something of an accidental landlord after failing to sell her house in 18 months, forcing her to let out her 2 bedroom, ground floor Streatham flat. In such a desperate time, she said […]

Buy to let movers and shakers have urged the government to consider the private residential landlords as businesses to promote more investment in housing. Landlord mortgage specialist John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages berated the government for failing to motivate property investors with tax breaks. Heron made his remarks while raising the curtain on […]

Buy to let landlords have lost the chance to claim compensation from surveyors who overvalued an investment property following a successful appeal. The Court of Appeal reversed a previous ruling against Bank of Scotland owned valuers Colleys in which a judge held a surveyor had a duty of care to a home buyer. The decision […]

Landlords and tenants who find themselves disagreeing over property inventories now have a foolproof way of settling disputes –  high definition video evidence. Video inventories act as visual support to a written inventory and can be used at all parts of a tenancy agreement: the start (the property’s contents, state of repair and meter readings); […]