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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

News

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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Healthy rental demand increasingly attracts money from institutional investors

Healthy rental demand increasingly attracts money from institutional investors

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Private equity firms and pension funds have been upping the ante with their investments in the UK rental market

More landlords risk falling foul of new licensing rules

More landlords risk falling foul of new licensing rules

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Landlords should check whether they’re in one of 37 licensing schemes under consultation or about to be implemented – or risk a huge fine.

Rayner confirms ambition for rent in advance controls

Rayner confirms ambition for rent in advance controls

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Landlords would be banned from demanding several months’ rent in advance under new amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill.

Electrical safety shake-up for Northern Ireland landlords

Electrical safety shake-up for Northern Ireland landlords

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News
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Landlords in Northern Ireland must soon guarantee that electrical safety checks have been carried out at private tenancies.

Council U-turns on licensing after damming report

Council U-turns on licensing after damming report

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Councillors have labelled a proposed voluntary landlord initiative to raise standards in North East Lincolnshire, “a waste of time”.

Saying social housing is good and private housing bad 'false and unrealistic'

Saying social housing is good and private housing bad 'false and unrealistic'

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News
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A leading Scots letting agent has warned that policies which seek to undermine the PRS are damaging tenants’ wellbeing.

Landlords await welcome reprieve from boiler ban

Landlords await welcome reprieve from boiler ban

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News
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Landlords could get longer to replace gas boilers if the government makes an expected announcement to allow their sale beyond 2035.

Where landlords can find bargains with a £50K budget

Where landlords can find bargains with a £50K budget

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News
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Wales and the North East are the best areas for hard-hit buy-to-let investors looking for above-inflation returns.

Agents report slightly improved picture for tenants

Agents report slightly improved picture for tenants

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The average number of available rental properties at letting agencies jumped to a two-year high last November.

Landlord who ignored outbuilding demolition order fined £23,000

Landlord who ignored outbuilding demolition order fined £23,000

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A landlord who built an illegal outbuilding to store his tenants’ belongings has been ordered to pay more than £23,000.

EXPERTS: What will happen next to BTL mortgage interest rates?

EXPERTS: What will happen next to BTL mortgage interest rates?

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News
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Buy-to-let mortgage rates could fall slightly soon after creeping up since the Autumn Budget, according to financial experts.

BTL bounces back as lenders reveal surprise jump in lending

BTL bounces back as lenders reveal surprise jump in lending

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News
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Activity within the buy-to-let market is reviving after months of uncertainty and political interference, new official landlord lending data suggests.

Get your energy-efficient house in order with Safe2

Get your energy-efficient house in order with Safe2

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With the Government launching a consultation on the way EPCs are calculated – and with another on energy efficiency standards in the pipeline, we know that the rental homes of the future will need to reach much higher standards.

Welsh landlords to return two months' rent to evicted tenants

Welsh landlords to return two months' rent to evicted tenants

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News
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Letting agents have called out Welsh Government plans to enable tenants facing eviction to keep their final two months’ rent as ‘compensation’.

EXCLUSIVE: National Trust rebuffs MPs claims over empty rental homes

EXCLUSIVE: National Trust rebuffs MPs claims over empty rental homes

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News
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The National Trust has rejected claims that it stopped renting out its properties to avoid the growing legislative burden.

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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News
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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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News
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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.

Landlords: Should You Hold or Sell Before Time Runs Out To Act Before The Renters’ Rights bill becomes law?

Landlords: Should You Hold or Sell Before Time Runs Out To Act Before The Renters’ Rights bill becomes law?

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The Renters’ Rights Bill returned to Parliament this week and it getting ever closer to becoming law by the summer has sent alarm bells ringing.

Peers scheduled to debate fast-tracked Renters' Rights Bill

Peers scheduled to debate fast-tracked Renters' Rights Bill

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The Renters’ Rights Bill has had its first reading in the House of Lords and is due for a full debate on 4th February.

Cash announced for empty shop auction scheme

Cash announced for empty shop auction scheme

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Local councils will be offered up to £79,000 to refurbish an empty property under the government’s new High Street Rental Auctions initiative.

North West council extends selective licensing

North West council extends selective licensing

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Burnley has given the green light to a bigger selective licensing scheme covering 3,700 private rented properties.

Big corporates hoovering up homes from exiting small landlords

Big corporates hoovering up homes from exiting small landlords

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Letting agents have reported that institutional and portfolio landlords are moving in to buy stock from exiting landlords.

How will Rachel Reeves' Budget affect property investors and landlords?

How will Rachel Reeves' Budget affect property investors and landlords?

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Budget changes present businesses including landlords and letting agents with some real stiff challenges in 2025

Live-in landlord mocked for seeking 'part-time' tenant

Live-in landlord mocked for seeking 'part-time' tenant

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Social media users have ridiculed a landlord for advertising an expensive room - but asking would-be tenants to stay out until after 8.30pm.

Rising rents fall back from record high

Rising rents fall back from record high

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Average rent in England increased 9.2% to £1,369 in the 12 months to December - slightly down on the previous record-high annual growth.

Pensioner landlords demanded to take over tenant's room

Pensioner landlords demanded to take over tenant's room

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A landlord couple who moved into their tenant’s spare bedroom while she was still living there have been fined.

MPs send amended Renters' Rights Bill to the Lords

MPs send amended Renters' Rights Bill to the Lords

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The Bill has moved another step closer to becoming law, with MPs agreeing amendments that include preventing landlords from taking more than one month’s rent.