Housing secretary Michael Gove has announced restrictions on Airbnb style short-term lettings. He also wants to relax rules on permitted development rights for commercial to residential conversions, and he says he will abolish section 21 in this Parliament.
Landlords (and their agents) have a serious responsibility to undertake actions to protect tenants, visitors and passers-by, by preventing Legionella bacteria from causing a health hazard.
A consortium of London housing associations has warned the government that new affordable home-building is grinding to a halt.
The Covid years’ extreme effect on the capital’s lettings market appears to be significantly easing – although demand remains abnormally high.
A basic tenet of property rights that landlords should be able to reclaim their property after an agreed period from a tenant is being undermined by Michael Gove’s push to end Section 21 evictions, a leading free market thinktank has claimed.
The government is considering relaxing heat pump rules in England which manufacturers believe could result in a boost in sales.
New safety regulations due to impact private landlords in Scotland have been labelled a logistical nightmare by one Edinburgh letting agent.
Estate agents might have been deemed more untrustworthy than lawyers and traffic wardens in public polls, but the Royal Agricultural University aims to demonstrate the profession’s value by launching the UK’s first university course in residential estate agency.
Government ministers, housing campaigners, landlords, letting agents and many of the other actors in the drama that is the private rented sector have been arguing hard about who is to blame for the high rents and lack of supply within the market.
Generation Rent has called for private rented homes to be brought into public or tenant ownership in its list of demands for the next government.
The rise of ‘built-to-rent’ homes as a major competitor for tenants with private landlords took a leap forward this week after two US firms revealed they had bought 1,750 homes off a UK builder that will now be rented out rather than sold.
When the terms of a commercial renewal lease cannot be varied in the agreed between the parties, according to the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
Nearly a quarter of mortgages on mid-rise flats required an ESW1 form this year, despite government promises that leaseholders in these blocks affected by the cladding scandal would no longer need one when selling or remortgaging.
Labour is likely to reintroduce the Renters (Reform) Bill in a similar form if it wins the election and has already confirmed its view that the court process needs speeding up.
Any new government must continue to encourage private landlords if it is to effectively tackle the housing crisis, according to property lawyer David Smith.
Calls are growing for a thorough overhaul of the EPC regime amid claims that the information in many could be inaccurate and misleading.
Private tenants are still renting their homes for longer than they did a decade ago, according to analysis by Zero Deposit.
A landlord who sent offensive emails to MSP Patrick Harvie (main image) about his anti-landlord policies has been convicted of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
Less than half the fines levied against rogue landlords have been collected by local authorities, according to new figures.
The Jersey Landlords’ Association has slammed the “disorderly” roll-out of the Island's new property licence scheme.
Grey GR has been ordered to fix serious building safety issues at Stevenage’s Vista Tower following a long-running dispute.
The government has promised to clarify guidance outlining that tenants can soon request to keep more than one pet.
The Bank of England has left UK interest rates on hold at 5.25% for the sixth time in a row, delaying any reduction in mortgage rates.
Blackburn with Darwen Council is consulting on a new selective licensing scheme on the edge of its town centre.
Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke has defected to the Labour party after years of pushing tenant-friendly policies and decrying rogue landlords.
Red tape and hostility from Holyrood has caused some landlords to defer investments or take properties off the rental market.
Landlords should be on the lookout for the growing threat of cuckooing, which can jeopardise both their property and tenant safety.
Renters in England worked 125 days of the year solely to pay their rent, says The Adam Smith Institute.
A Nottinghamshire landlord has been fined £17,500 after local council officers discovered he was operating two properties without a licence.
Rental prices could increase by almost 20% over the next 12 months, putting the country in a cost of renting crisis, warns one lettings boss.
Ousted tenants right minister Patrick Harvie has urged the SNP’s new leader John Swinney to honour the government’s Bute House pledge to deliver rent controls and stronger tenant rights.
Landlords could find themselves in a legal tangle when asking for rent in advance if the Renters Reform Bill goes forward as drafted.
A leading letting agency in London has claimed that the Government’s Renters (Reform) Bill going through parliament, along with promises by Labour to go even further than the Tories if they gain power, are eroding landlord confidence in the private rented sector.
A letting agency in Liverpool has vowed to appeal a banning order successfully sought by the city’s council after the firm was found to have been operating unlicenced HMOs.
Improving your rental properties will make your property more efficient, easier to let and get your tenants to stay longer
High interest rates, higher operating costs and a shift to remote working have conspired against office space in particular
COVID impact still being felt on UK high streets four years on from the first lockdowns: commercial real estate lending is down but agents see signs of optimism.
Landlords’ bank accounts could be monitored as part of new legislation that aims to reduce overpayments to people claiming benefits and fraudulent claims.
Plans to abolish the Furnished Holiday Lets (FHL) regime could be delayed by at least a year from April 2025, and might never happen, according to one tax expert.
Landlords are more concerned about tenants’ right to request to keep a pet than the potential abolition of Section 21, a new poll reveals.
More landlords can now try out Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax after HMRC paused the pilot last February.
Average rental yields have hit a six-year high with HMOs and properties in the North East offering landlords the best returns.
