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OPINION: The EPC ratings system is 'not fit for purpose'

OPINION: The EPC ratings system is 'not fit for purpose'

Opinion

Ever since I started to market one of my commercial buildings around 10 years ago now, I began to doubt the efficacy of the EPC rating system. The guy that came along to do the inspection told me himself he had just completed a 6 week course, or whatever it was, to train to be a

BREAKING: Government toughens up smoke and C0 alarm regulations

BREAKING: Government toughens up smoke and C0 alarm regulations

News

Social and private landlords are to face tougher new rules which make it mandatory to fit smoke alarms in all rented accommodation regardless of tenure, and widen the conditions under which they must be fitted. Revisions to the smoke and carbon monoxide detector regulations also

ANALYSIS: Does buy-to-let still beat the stock market?

ANALYSIS: Does buy-to-let still beat the stock market?

News

If you had �50k to invest right now, where would you put it, buy-to-let property or stocks and shares? Certainly leaving it in a traditional savings account, with interest rates as they are at rock bottom, thats out of the question. And with the threat of rising inflation ea

EXCLUSIVE: Costliest and most common landlord insurance claims

EXCLUSIVE: Costliest and most common landlord insurance claims

News

Research carried out by LandlordZONEs insurance partner, Hamilton Fraser Total Landlord Insurance, revealed that the vast majority of landlords, https://hamiltonfraser.co.uk/knowledge/good-landlord-quiz-results/?utm_source=landlordzone&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=lz_november

Opinion: Should landlords dive into heat pumps?

Opinion: Should landlords dive into heat pumps?

Opinion

The move to provide home heating and hot water by this method is part of a Government strategy aimed at making deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonizing the UK's power sector by 2035. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the scheme was designed to bring low-carbon hea

UPDATED: Bailiff evictions to be suspended over Xmas and New Year for a month

UPDATED: Bailiff evictions to be suspended over Xmas and New Year for a month

News

Tenants facing eviction in England are to be protected from losing their homes during the Christmas and New Year period, HM Courts and Tribunal has confirmed. Between 13th December and 10th January no evictions should be s

Tax changes for Airbnb landlords 'in the pipeline' to stop gaming of the rates system

Tax changes for Airbnb landlords 'in the pipeline' to stop gaming of the rates system

News

Some holiday lets owners are gaming the system to claim business rate relief, comments made by the Housing Minister Lord Greenhalgh suggest, who has promised action to clamp down on the practice. In a Lords debate on second homes, peers voiced concerns that second homeo

Asylum seeker HMO operator fined �60,000 for running house without licence

Asylum seeker HMO operator fined �60,000 for running house without licence

News

A company that houses asylum seekers has been fined more than �60,000 for HMO offences in Newport. Clearsprings Ready Homes, which has the contract for operating accommodation for asylum seekers in Wales, was found guilty of letting an HMO in Redland Street (pictured), in the B

Bill to make EPC rules mandatory early 'unlikely to become law' after stabbing

Bill to make EPC rules mandatory early 'unlikely to become law' after stabbing

News

The Minimum Energy Performance of Buildings Bill, which aimed to advance the governments energy efficiency commitments, is in doubt following the tragic death of David Amess MP. He was the presentation bills main sponsor in the Commons, launching it at the same time as Lor

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Student landlords warned their existing contracts may not be accurate

Student landlords warned their existing contracts may not be accurate

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News
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Student landlords have been warned their existing contracts won’t be entirely accurate once the Renters’ Rights Bill takes effect after the summer.

Small landlords could soon be replaced, warns top property lawyer

Small landlords could soon be replaced, warns top property lawyer

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News
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Small landlords with one or two properties could end up being replaced by larger portfolio or corporate landlords as part of the Government’s push to improve standards, according to a top property lawyer.

NAEA Propertymark nervous about the unintended consequences of high street rental auctions

NAEA Propertymark nervous about the unintended consequences of high street rental auctions

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News
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The agent’s professional body NAEA Propertymark has raised concerns about the running of the rental auctions scheme

National energy study reveals one in four households pay fourfold for heat as they shun central heating

National energy study reveals one in four households pay fourfold for heat as they shun central heating

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A Utilita study shows 25% of UK households pay up to four times more for heating by using electric heaters instead of gas central heating, with added CO₂ emissions of 34 kg per year.

Empty homes rather than holiday lets should be targeted by the Government

Empty homes rather than holiday lets should be targeted by the Government

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News
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Empty homes should be targeted by the Government, rather than punishing the short-let sector, a holiday let firm has argued.

Less than one in ten rental properties are pet-friendly, Zero Deposit analysis claims

Less than one in ten rental properties are pet-friendly, Zero Deposit analysis claims

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News
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Less than one in ten rental properties currently on the market are pet-friendly, new research has revealed.

Tenant disputes reach highest level in five years, new research from FCC Paragon suggests

Tenant disputes reach highest level in five years, new research from FCC Paragon suggests

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News
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Tenants lodged an estimated 47,405 disputes across the PRS in 2024, a 13% increase on the previous year and the highest number in the past five years.

New Planning and Infrastructure Bill will introduce “seismic reforms”, Government vows

New Planning and Infrastructure Bill will introduce “seismic reforms”, Government vows

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News
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The Government has vowed that “seismic reforms” in its new Planning and Infrastructure Bill will help get families out of temporary accommodation.

Rents in purpose-built student accommodation continue to outpace HMOs

Rents in purpose-built student accommodation continue to outpace HMOs

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News
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Rents in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) continue to outpace HMOs, with foreign students particularly bolstering their growth.

Think about how an Energy Efficient Home Design will improve your tenant’s lives

Think about how an Energy Efficient Home Design will improve your tenant’s lives

Information
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Improving your rental properties will make your property more efficient, easier to let and get your tenants to stay longer

Capital Economics predicts US commercial real estate won't recover until 2040‍

Capital Economics predicts US commercial real estate won't recover until 2040‍

News
News
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High interest rates, higher operating costs and a shift to remote working have conspired against office space in particular

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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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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News
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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.