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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

'Disaster' renting reform bill to enter parliament tomorrow after PMQs

'Disaster' renting reform bill to enter parliament tomorrow after PMQs

News

The much-delayed Renters Reform Bill is rumoured to be getting its first reading tomorrow after Prime Ministers Questions, although the 'full meat' of the proposals will come later. Rumoured to be renamed the Rented Homes Bill or Renters (Reform) Bill, landlords are waitin

BREAKING: Renters (Reform) Bill to get first airing after PMQs today

BREAKING: Renters (Reform) Bill to get first airing after PMQs today

News

The Government is to finally introduce its long-delayed renting reforms into parliament later today following Prime Ministers Questions (PMQs) in the Commons. The Bill, which is to be called the Renters (Reform) Bill, will get its first reading just aft

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Police swoop during dawn raid on 'slavery' HMO

Police swoop during dawn raid on 'slavery' HMO

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A dawn police raid on an overcrowded Coventry HMO has prompted an investigation into potential slavery and immigration issues.

More woes for City-backed landlord that houses homeless

More woes for City-backed landlord that houses homeless

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Home REIT - a City-backed investment trust providing affordable homes for homeless people and prison leavers – has taken back 600 properties from a charity landlord.

Leading landlord warns over property portal proposals

Leading landlord warns over property portal proposals

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One of the key provisions of the Renters (Reform) Bill was the provision of a portal to register all landlords. In effect a licencing system for every landlord in England and Wales and something Labour has said it would like to resurrect if it wins the General Election.

£45 billion! Report champions economic contribution of landlords

£45 billion! Report champions economic contribution of landlords

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A report published today attempts to counter the ‘anti-landlord’ rhetoric that has gathered pace in the UK recently by revealing that the private rented sector supports some 390,000 jobs and makes a £45 billion contribution to its economy.

Short-lets licencing in Scotland has been 'disastrous' says Tory MSP

Short-lets licencing in Scotland has been 'disastrous' says Tory MSP

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A Conservative MSP has slammed Scotland’s short lets licensing scheme for its negative impact on thousands of businesses.

FIVE housing ministers to quit, but which one nailed the job?

FIVE housing ministers to quit, but which one nailed the job?

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Five former housing ministers are among the 77 Conservative MPs standing down at the next election, leaving behind a mixed legacy.

Rugby star launches letting agency for landlords

Rugby star launches letting agency for landlords

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Welsh rugby star Gareth Davies is trying his hand at a career in lettings as he considers life after playing for the national team.

COMMENT: What has gone wrong, when a typical buy-to-let landlord makes a loss?

COMMENT: What has gone wrong, when a typical buy-to-let landlord makes a loss?

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Tom Entwistle asks the question, what’s gone wrong with the buy-to-let market, why has government policy been so much against it?

Social tenants pay £847 a month less in rent than private ones

Social tenants pay £847 a month less in rent than private ones

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Social rents are 64% more affordable than private rents, with social tenants in England paying about £828 less each month than private tenants, according to new analysis by Shelter.

UK Commercial property market is still feeling the effects of Covid‍

UK Commercial property market is still feeling the effects of Covid‍

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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.

DWP to snoop on benefit landlords' bank accounts

DWP to snoop on benefit landlords' bank accounts

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Landlords’ bank accounts could be monitored as part of new legislation that aims to reduce overpayments to people claiming benefits and fraudulent claims.

EXPERT: Removal of Furnished Holiday Lets relief 'may never happen'

EXPERT: Removal of Furnished Holiday Lets relief 'may never happen'

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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.

More pet rights for tenants tops landlords worries over reforms

More pet rights for tenants tops landlords worries over reforms

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Landlords are more concerned about tenants’ right to request to keep a pet than the potential abolition of Section 21, a new poll reveals.

HMRC restarts landlord pilots for its 'Making Tax Digital' scheme

HMRC restarts landlord pilots for its 'Making Tax Digital' scheme

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More landlords can now try out Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax after HMRC paused the pilot last February.

Rise in HMOs pushes BTL yields to highest for six years

Rise in HMOs pushes BTL yields to highest for six years

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Average rental yields have hit a six-year high with HMOs and properties in the North East offering landlords the best returns.

EPCs are misleading, inaccurate and need reform, says Which?

EPCs are misleading, inaccurate and need reform, says Which?

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Consumer organisation Which? says there is considerable evidence that many EPCs are ‘not accurate’.

Landlord fined £528,000 after fence mending work leads to burns

Landlord fined £528,000 after fence mending work leads to burns

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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 slam 'infuriating' licencing rules now driving evictions

Landlords slam 'infuriating' licencing rules now driving evictions

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Landlords in Portsmouth say vulnerable tenants are being unfairly displaced due to the council’s draconian additional licencing scheme.

Rebel MPs demand ground rents abolished for existing leaseholds

Rebel MPs demand ground rents abolished for existing leaseholds

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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 PRS' says expert

Rent controls 'will undermine investment in PRS' says expert

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Rent controls will undermine investment in Scotland’s PRS unless there is more long-term certainty, according to one leading lettings expert.

London landlord narrowly avoids refunding tenant £32,000

London landlord narrowly avoids refunding tenant £32,000

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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.

Section 21 increasingly being used by landlords to evict as ban looms

Section 21 increasingly being used by landlords to evict as ban looms

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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.

'Time for bold action with rent controls has come' says mayor hopeful

'Time for bold action with rent controls has come' says mayor hopeful

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The Green Party’s mayoral candidate in London has said she will bring in rent controls saying the time for ‘bold action’ has come.

Landlords promised compensation as huge estate faces bulldozer

Landlords promised compensation as huge estate faces bulldozer

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Landlords have been promised fair compensation by a developer planning to bulldoze scores of homes on one of England’s most deprived housing estates.

Letting agents call for short-lets crackdown in London

Letting agents call for short-lets crackdown in London

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Propertymark has urged London’s Mayor to crack down on short-term lets through licensing in a bid to tackle over-supply in the capital.

Struggling HMO giant sells off more properties

Struggling HMO giant sells off more properties

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Troubled property development company Home Holdings has put another raft of HMOs onto the market in a bid to shore up losses.

Osborne's 3% extra stamp duty is reason for BTL buying slump

Osborne's 3% extra stamp duty is reason for BTL buying slump

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The decision by George Osborne in 2015 to introduce a 3% additional stamp duty levy on landlords has seen a slump in the number of BTL properties bought in the Tory heartlands of Southern England.

'Scotland's fast-rising rents are the SNP/Green's fault'

'Scotland's fast-rising rents are the SNP/Green's fault'

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A leading letting agent in Scotland has laid the blame for the country’s rental supply woes firmly at the feet of former Tenants’ Rights minister Patrick Harvie.

Fugitive Midlands landlord faces long jail sentence

Fugitive Midlands landlord faces long jail sentence

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A rogue landlord and fugitive fraudster who intimidated his tenants is in jail after more than five years on the run.

Landlord fined for 'unlawfully profiting' from London flat

Landlord fined for 'unlawfully profiting' from London flat

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A landlord who used an agreement that tried to undermine her tenants’ rights has been fined a total of £5,800.

Protesters force South West council to evict their business tenant

Protesters force South West council to evict their business tenant

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Financially challenged Somerset Council has capitulated after a concerted campaign by protesters force it to abandon one of its business tenants

RICS survey shows signs of commercial property recovery

RICS survey shows signs of commercial property recovery

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Signs that the market is moving into a recovery phase, though there is still ample evidence that there remains a challenging backdrop. 

NEW:Landlords to face unimited fines if they illegally convert homes into HMOs

NEW:Landlords to face unimited fines if they illegally convert homes into HMOs

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New changes to planning rules mean rogue landlords who illegally convert HMOs could face an unlimited fine.

Scotland's 'rent controls tsar' Patrick Harvie loses power

Scotland's 'rent controls tsar' Patrick Harvie loses power

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The Scottish government has been urged to reverse its anti-landlord policies after the SNP ended their power-sharing agreement with the Greens.