The clocks have gone back and there is a distinct chill in the air – and with the winter months almost upon us now is the perfect time to make sure your properties are prepared for a cold snap.
Many landlords and lettings agents are prepared to use a shortage of rental properties to their advantage, viewers of the BBC’s Morning Live show were told.
New official data about the private rented sector reveals that it is in better shape than some tenants’ rights groups like to claim.
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has warned that the Renters’ Rights Bill will place a huge enforcement burden on already stretched local councils.
We talk to lawyer turned self-managing landlord, Suzanne Smith, founder of The Independent Landlord.blog and co-host of a weekly podcast called Good Landlording.
Nottinghamshire local authority Gedling Council is relaunching selective licensing in its Netherfield ward in the new year after seeing “incredible improvements” to living standards.
Following years of lobbying, Labour has promised to act on what is generally agreed is an unfair UK business rates system
Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has hinted heavily that the government will go further than the Tories in its bid to regulate holiday lets.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has confirmed he doesn’t want landlords to exit the market, in marked contrast to comments made by his national Labour colleagues in Parliament.
Landlords buying up property portfolios have helped non-residential property sales reach a new high this year as investors seek to capitalise on the existing tax rate, ahead of stamp duty changes.
Wealthy Chinese students are paying £66 a week or 42% more in rent than their British counterparts, according to the latest StuRents annual report.
A property expert has voiced concerns that councils won’t have the resources to implement the government’s new high street auctions initiative.
A landlord in London has been ordered to repay three of his tenants £10,538 after they applied successfully for a rent repayment order (RRO).
Damp and mould can affect your rental properties at any time of year; but issues are much more likely to occur in colder months.
Mortgage rates are likely to drop even further before the end of the year, providing some much-needed festive cheer for landlords.
Private renters are increasingly staying for longer in their homes, contrary to tenant groups’ argument that they face ‘insecurity of tenure’.
A rogue landlord who turned her three-bedroom bungalow into a 15-room unlicensed HMO where tenants slept on camp beds in windowless rooms has been handed a £12,000 fine.
Arguments between politicians, landlords, charities and both tenant and trade unions in Scotland about what to do when the country’s ongoing rent cap scheme ends on 31st March deadline have ramped up in the past few days.
Campaigners have accused leading landlord MPs of trying to ‘gut’ the Renters (Reform) Bill as it goes through parliament.
The NRLA is questioning whether rent-to-rent’s days are numbered after the government announced it was investigating the sector in a bid to understand its impact on tenants and landlords.
The Government has revealed changes to planning regulations that will clamp down on short-lets in tourism hotspots such as the Lake District and seaside towns.
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.
Newport City Council is expected to back a 10% rise in HMO fees as part of changes to the authority’s additional licensing scheme.
Paragon Bank is showing some love for landlords on Valentine’s Day by offering its lowest rate on two-year fixes for new customers in more than 18 months.
Housing legal aid providers are on the brink of collapse, according to the Law Society of England and Wales, which has urged the government to invest in the service before it’s too late.
Landlords, letting agents and other players in the property game are being urged to support Paul Shamplina’s latest charity event which is due to take place on the night of Thursday June 27th.
Britain’s most unusual holiday rental investment has been uncovered following a planning appeal decision over two floating ‘pods’ at a Marina in Chichester Harbour.
A high-profile figure has claimed that ‘no-fault’ Section 21 evictions are a significant problem within London’s private rental sector and agrees with Shelter’s approach that they should be banned ‘as soon as possible’.
Tom Entwistle tries to shed light on the severity of the crisis and explores some potential solutions, here he gives his opinions on the plans put forward by Michael Gove, the banning of Section 21, and the crisis within the courts system.
Property lawyer David Smith has questioned the accuracy of Michael Gove’s comments about funding the court system and banning Section 21 before the General Election.
Letting agents have once again called on the Government to establish a network of dedicated housing courts to process evictions and help speed up the currently arduous, expensive and slow system.
Landlords and letting agents in Bristol have failed to scupper plans for city-wide additional licensing and selective licensing in the Bishopston and Ashley Down, Cotham and Easton wards.
The owner of the private rented sector’s market leading services to landlords and letting agents, Hamilton Fraser Insurance Services (HFIS) has created a unified brand for all its companies including mydeposits, the Property Redress Scheme, Landlord Action, Client Money Protect and Total Landlord in
A coalition of influential housing charities and campaign groups has urged the Government to go even further with its Renters (Reform) Bill and tip the balance even further in favour of tenants living within the private rented sector.
