Luton Council has finally got its act together and revealed blanket HMO licensing for the town after a number of false starts over the last few years. HMOs of any size will now need a licence under its additional scheme which launches on 1st April, while all privately rented pro
The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 provides a right for leaseholders to acquire the freehold landlords management functions by transfer to a company set up by them the Right To Manage (RTM) company. The thinking behind the right was to empower leaseholders. The
Appeal Court judges have found in favour of the landlord in the landmark case of Northwood Solihull v Fearn & Ors, preventing a potentially huge logistical headache for landlords and letting agents. The judges ruled that any authorised employee of a landlord or letting agent
In an apparent re-run of Harold Wilsons 1970s investment income tax surcharge, Labour plan to re-introduce such an additional layer of tax to what is termed unearned income�. The Wilson Labour government applied an investment income surcharge of 15% and kept the top rate
According to a recent report by estate agents Hamptons, over the last four years the number of landlords operating their buy to let business through a limited company has doubled. There were 47,400 new buy-to-let companies incorporated in 2021 right across the UK, the figures be
Landlords and letting agents will soon be able to carry out quicker https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/updated-advice-for-landlords-on-right-to-rent-checks-due-in-new-year/" right to rent checks on British and Irish citizens. From 6th April, Identification Do
An energy expert has sought to reassure landlords that they may not need to spend huge sums retrofitting their properties to raise EPC ratings at least not in the short term. <figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type- " data-rt-type="" data-rt-align=""><div><img src="https://upload
Just as residential landlords are contemplating the costs of bringing older properties up to the proposed new standard - very likely EPC band C� required by December 2025 - so too are commercial landlords.<br> See: https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/compulsory-epc
Compulsory EPC band C by 2025 causing confusion There have been recent confusing reports put out that from 2025, all newly rented properties in England & Wales will be required to have an EPC rating of band C or above. This is somewhat misleading and jum
Social media users have ridiculed a landlord for advertising an expensive room - but asking would-be tenants to stay out until after 8.30pm.
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.
A landlord couple who moved into their tenant’s spare bedroom while she was still living there have been fined.
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.
Keeping on top of your accounts month by month makes the annual self-assessment tax return task easier and makes sure you are in control of your business
Limited Company buy to let mortgages are increasingly popular, however there are still many myths that need debunking.
Landlords in Kent are inheriting huge council tax bills racked up by the previous owners when buying empty properties.
The proportion of incorporated property held in portfolios of landlords who use limited companies has more than doubled since Q1 2020.
A leading property lawyer warns that removing risk mitigation strategies will make many tenants on lower incomes “unlettable”.
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.
Consumer organisation Which? says there is considerable evidence that many EPCs are ‘not accurate’.
A large landlord has been fined £528,000 after a maintenance crew member repairing a fence post inadvertently struck an underground cable, suffering facial burns.
Landlords in Portsmouth say vulnerable tenants are being unfairly displaced due to the council’s draconian additional licencing scheme.
A group of 30 Tory MPs have written to the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt warning that they may vote against the Government’s Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill unless ground rents are abolished for both future and existing leaseholds.
Rent controls will undermine investment in Scotland’s PRS unless there is more long-term certainty, according to one leading lettings expert.
A landlord has avoided a £32,000 rent repayment order after a judge ruled his flat was at an address not covered by a licensing scheme, but only just.
The latest quarterly homelessness figures from the Government for the final months of last year reveal that Section 21 notices as a reason for homelessness reached record levels during 2023.
