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Renters (Reform) Bill - we take a first look at the radical new legislation

Renters (Reform) Bill - we take a first look at the radical new legislation

News

The Renters (Reform) Bill has finally had its first reading in Parliament, promising a fair deal to renters, faster redress for landlords and giving more details on how 'pets with lets' will work. Heralded as a once-in-a-generation overhaul of housing laws�, the government

Purplebricks sold to rival for �1 after senior team throw in the towel

Purplebricks sold to rival for �1 after senior team throw in the towel

News

Purplebricks, which at one stage was used by thousands of landlords to manage their properties, has announced that its assets and business are to be sold to rival Strike for �1, pending approval by its shareholders. Any funds remaining in the firm some �5.5 million are

Gove to approve looser rules for HMO landlords housing asylum seekers

Gove to approve looser rules for HMO landlords housing asylum seekers

News

Housing Secretary Michael Gove is set to push through new rules on HMO safety for housing asylum seekers with little fanfare on the same day that the Renters Reform Bill is published. The changes outlined in the proposed https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2023/9780

BLOG: 'Reform bill will solve the problem of pet damage for landlords'

BLOG: 'Reform bill will solve the problem of pet damage for landlords'

News

The long-awaited Renters (Reform) Bill will finally be introduced in parliament after Prime Minister's Questions today. Setting out plans for 12 key reforms to the private rental sector, the 11th pledge - to give tenants the right in law to request a pet, which should not be unr

Agents who lack licencing law know-how 'putting landlords at risk'

Agents who lack licencing law know-how 'putting landlords at risk'

News

Bungling letting agents with a lack of legal understanding are putting landlords at risk of prosecution, it has been claimed. One landlord expert has advised caution when signing up with a firm in the current climate of increasing legislation and falling profits, particularly fo

Opinion: does Michael Gove know something we don't?

Opinion: does Michael Gove know something we don't?

Opinion

It would seem that successive Tory governments have waged an ongoing and progressively more vicious war on buy-to-let landlords, but this latest layer of legislation goes much further. Yes, this latest iteration, and one thats https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/1768/s

EXTRA red tape, scams and repairs drive more landlords to use agencies

EXTRA red tape, scams and repairs drive more landlords to use agencies

News

Almost two thirds (63%) of private landlords who manage their own properties are tired of sorting out repairs and dealing with red tape and considering using a letting agency or property manager instead.  A Uswitch poll of 2,000 landlords found that the most common reason t

Labour to 'go further than Tories' with harsher Decent Homes Standard

Labour to 'go further than Tories' with harsher Decent Homes Standard

News

Labour has promised to ramp up the pressure on private landlords by introducing a legally binding Decent Homes Standard 2. Its latest draft policy programme a provisional blueprint likely to shape the next general election manifesto includes a proposal to take the

Starmer 'set to U-turn on rent controls' as London Mayor pleads for more powers

Starmer 'set to U-turn on rent controls' as London Mayor pleads for more powers

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Keir Starmer is set to rebuff previous calls by London mayor Sadiq Khan to bring in a rent freeze, it has been reported. Khan has been banging his rent freeze drum for months now as the cost-of-living crisis has hit many tenants personal finances, telling the BBC in Oct

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Property firm and landlord fined £14,000 over 'slum conditions' at house

Property firm and landlord fined £14,000 over 'slum conditions' at house

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A Liverpool landlord has been hit with a fine of almost £14,000 for allowing tenants to live in a “house of horrors”.

POLL: 44% of landlords support most extreme form of rent control

POLL: 44% of landlords support most extreme form of rent control

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Nearly half of landlords and three quarters of the general public support rent controls, a poll by YouGov on behalf of wealth inequality not-for-profit Common Wealth has revealed.

Welsh MS says reforms will push too many landlords out of rental market

Welsh MS says reforms will push too many landlords out of rental market

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A Welsh politician has sounded the alarm over new legislation which risks exacerbating the mass exodus of private landlords.

Agent warns renting reforms will throw tenancy starts into disarray

Agent warns renting reforms will throw tenancy starts into disarray

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A leading agency has warned that tenants could move into a property without having paid any rent once the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law.

60% of tenants preparing to move home before end of July

60% of tenants preparing to move home before end of July

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The next six months will see a huge increase in demand for rental properties, landlords and letting agents have been told.

'Wicked' directors given suspended sentences over illegal eviction

'Wicked' directors given suspended sentences over illegal eviction

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The directors of a supported housing company who illegally evicted a vulnerable tenant have been handed suspended jail sentences.

Comment: Renters’ Rights legislation in place before Easter?

Comment: Renters’ Rights legislation in place before Easter?

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The Government is evidently taking decisive steps to ensure swift progress of the Renters’ Rights Bill through the Commons and the Lords, with a view to having the Act implemented before Easter

Landlords win legal battle to protect postal rights

Landlords win legal battle to protect postal rights

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A landlord couple have won their legal case against a tenant who claimed her section 21 notice was invalid.

Government promises EPC study is imminent

Government promises EPC study is imminent

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The government looks set to launch its overdue consultation into new energy efficiency standards in the PRS during the next few weeks.

Government funds 'damp detecting kits' for private tenants

Government funds 'damp detecting kits' for private tenants

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Private tenants in Norfolk are being handed data loggers to record humidity levels in a bid to encourage simple lifestyle changes.

Big midlands town clamps down on HMOs with new restrictions

Big midlands town clamps down on HMOs with new restrictions

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Landlords in Rugby will need permission to convert any home into an HMO next year after the council voted to introduce an Article 4 direction.

Holiday let landlords to add 'UK first' tourism tax to rentals

Holiday let landlords to add 'UK first' tourism tax to rentals

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Short let and holiday lets landlords in Edinburgh could soon have to charge guests a visitor levy under the first scheme of its kind in the UK.

Landlord loses appeal over big rent repayment order

Landlord loses appeal over big rent repayment order

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A landlord has lost his legal battle to challenge a £12,600 rent repayment order after he tried to illegally evict two former tenants.

Landlords: 7 things you must do to survive the Renters’ Rights Bill onslaught

Landlords: 7 things you must do to survive the Renters’ Rights Bill onslaught

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Here are 6 things you must do to survive the Renters’ Rights Bill onslaught...

'Looming tenancy reforms will make rent-to-rent agreements much riskier'

'Looming tenancy reforms will make rent-to-rent agreements much riskier'

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Rent-to-rent agreements will carry even greater risk when Labour’s assured shorthold tenancies come into force with the Renters’ Rights Bill, explains a top property lawyer.

Labour's bidding wars ban 'noble but misplaced' says NRLA

Labour's bidding wars ban 'noble but misplaced' says NRLA

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NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle believes the impending ban on bidding wars could mean landlords will simply charge higher asking rents.

Labour to fund EPC upgrade work on rented homes up to £30,000

Labour to fund EPC upgrade work on rented homes up to £30,000

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Labour has revealed plans to fund the upgrade of rented properties to meet its 2030 plan to have all rented homes reach an EPC band C or above.

Government reveals wide-ranging plans to overhaul EPCs

Government reveals wide-ranging plans to overhaul EPCs

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The Government has committed to an overhaul of both Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and the MEES system that underpins them, it has been announced.

I’m Selling 35 Homes’: Landlords Struggling, but Public Says 'Good Riddance.

I’m Selling 35 Homes’: Landlords Struggling, but Public Says 'Good Riddance.

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I never expected my recent interview with The Telegraph to “go viral” when I spoke to them explaining why so many landlords are feeling the pinch and exiting the market.

Labour's eviction reforms send 'wrong message to rent dodgers'

Labour's eviction reforms send 'wrong message to rent dodgers'

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Labour’s pledge to introduce more robust possession grounds is factually incorrect and sends the wrong message to rent dodgers, says NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle.

NEW: Landlords with public workplace pensions 'backing BTR'

NEW: Landlords with public workplace pensions 'backing BTR'

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Nest - the public body that runs workplace pension schemes - is investing £350 million in build-to-rent (BTR), meaning that some landlords’ pensions are effectively funding competitors.

Airbnb boss reveals plans to go into longer-term property rentals

Airbnb boss reveals plans to go into longer-term property rentals

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Landlords may soon be able to rent their homes out via Airbnb to more than just holiday makers, its co-founder has revealed.

North East landlords' meet to help landlords 'weather the storm'

North East landlords' meet to help landlords 'weather the storm'

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TV star and evictions expert Paul Shamplina is due to give landlords advice on how Labour’s looming and significant changes to the way homes are rented in England and Wales will impact them at an event on Thursday, September 26th.

Landlord couple who ignored HMO rules fined £18,000 by court

Landlord couple who ignored HMO rules fined £18,000 by court

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A landlord couple who ignored requests from the local authority and Planning Inspectorate to stop using their property as an HMO have been fined £18,000.

Miliband says rented homes under EPC minimum 'C' will be banned

Miliband says rented homes under EPC minimum 'C' will be banned

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Ed Miliband, Labour’s Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, has told the party’s annual conference that landlords will have to upgrade their homes to a minimum EPC ‘C’ rating by 2030 or be unable to rent their properties legally.

'Renting reforms and EPC upgrades will push out benefits landlords'

'Renting reforms and EPC upgrades will push out benefits landlords'

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A benefits landlord has voiced fears that new laws and standards in the PRS will force her -and others like her - to stop renting to social tenants.

Mould 'clamp down' plans for landlords 'imminent' says Rayner

Mould 'clamp down' plans for landlords 'imminent' says Rayner

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Labour will continue to ramp up the pressure on landlords to update their properties by consulting on a Decent Homes Standard.

Landlord fined £5,000 after failing to get HMO licence

Landlord fined £5,000 after failing to get HMO licence

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A landlord in Colchester has been handed a £5,000 civil penalty notice for failing to license his unsafe HMO.

Threatened tax changes could mean landlords lose most of their capital gains

Threatened tax changes could mean landlords lose most of their capital gains

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Rumours of hikes in capital gains tax (CGT) have landlords running for the exit

Investment property is a steal - but there's a catch

Investment property is a steal - but there's a catch

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Landlords with a burning ambition to take on a major project might consider bidding on this home in the Welsh valleys, priced £0.

EXPERT: Clarity needed over PBSA exemption from reforms

EXPERT: Clarity needed over PBSA exemption from reforms

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There is confusion around whether Purpose-Built Student Accommodation will be exempt from changes in the Renters’ Rights Bill.

Borough's HMO landlords trial new appeals portal

Borough's HMO landlords trial new appeals portal

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Landlords in Barnet who are refused permission for change of use to an HMO can challenge the decision through a new online portal.

BTL mortgage rates fall despite interest rate hold

BTL mortgage rates fall despite interest rate hold

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The Bank of England has resisted the temptation to cut interest rates, which remain at 5%.

REPORT: Scots law fails to significantly improve PRS

REPORT: Scots law fails to significantly improve PRS

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Legislation in Scotland has done little to improve affordability in the PRS, according to new research.