A lettings agency boss and landlord has been slapped with a �40,700 Rent Repayment Officer despite claiming that his failure to licence an HMO was an honest mistake. A First Tier Property Tribunal handed five former tenants the maximum award for the period from September 2019 t
Scotland has launched plans for an overhaul of its rented sector that include a controversial system of rent controls. Proposals also include increasing penalties for illegal evictions, restricting evictions during winter, giving tenants greater flexibility to keep pets, introdu
Bristol has approved plans to extend landlord licensing in Brislington West, Bedminster and Horfield wards in a bid to raise PRS standards. The scheme includes additional licensing - HMOs with three or more unrelated people sharing facilities and selective licensing - privat
Durham has been given the green light for a huge new selective licensing scheme although it is 40% smaller than its original plan. The scheme will cover about 29,000 homes, 42% of the countys private rented sector, and will go live on 1st April when landlords will need a
This is a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman case involving an unnamed landlord (LandlordX or MrX) and Brentwood Borough Council. The case revolves around a common situation where the landlord required possession of the property after serving a valid section 21 notice un
I've been in the property investment business for almost 30 years and during this period opportunities have come and gone but I've yet to discover an asset class that perf
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
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
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
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 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 currently on the market are pet-friendly, new research has revealed.
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.
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 (PBSA) continue to outpace HMOs, with foreign students particularly bolstering their growth.
First-time buyers are paying 20% less a month on their mortgage payments compared to what tenants pay in rent, new figures have revealed.
Nottingham benefits landlord Mick Roberts has slammed Barclays after it sent letters to 22 of his tenants, listing his monthly payments and erroneously alerting them that he is in mortgage arrears.
A rogue landlord duo has been fined more than £90,000 for safety offences that led to the death of one of their tenants in a fire.
Peers debating the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill were almost unanimous in their belief that it doesn’t go far enough to protect leaseholders.
Burnley Council is set to get tougher on landlords converting the town’s properties into HMOs.
Utilita Energy has stepped up to become LandlordZONEone’s official energy partner, and is on a mission to spend the next 12 months putting landlords on the energy efficiency front foot.
Are you aware of the risks that commonly used devices in homes, workplaces, on our dives and garages now pose?
Most private tenants doubt the Renters Reform Bill will either be implemented or bring about tangible change.
A landlord in Lancashire has been jailed and must pay a £10,441 fine including costs after a local fire brigade prosecuted her for six breaches of fire safety regulations at her properties in the seaside town of Cleveleys.
The Scottish government has promised that proposals to deliver on its New Deal for Tenants are imminent.
London’s private rented sector will become a more dangerous place for tenants if rebel MPs convince the government to ditch selective licencing, an influencial independent think tank has warned.
The British Property Federation has voiced concerns about government assurances of court reform progress ahead of scrapping no-fault evictions.
The NRLA has warned landlords who have set up limited companies to run their property portfolios that they will have prove they spend 20 hours a week managing their businesses to get the tax reliefs many hoped they would.
A subsidiary of one of the capital’s biggest landlords has been put on London’s rogue landlords register and fined £67,000 for breaches of HMO licence conditions.
A landlord has told councillors he will have to give up two properties after he failed to renew HMO licences before the expiry dates.
Holistic Hoarding has prevented 50 evictions in the last four years by working with tenants to address the causes of their mental health condition.
Abolishing leasehold is far from the easy process some of our politicians would have us believe – there are some powerful forces ready to counter the move.
Former Housing Minister Esther McVey has been claiming tens of thousands of pounds in Parliamentary expenses for renting a London flat, despite her husband owning a property a mile away, it has been claimed.
The government has been urged to stop “sitting on its hands” and bring forward changes to protect tenants, leaseholders and landlords from poor practices in the lettings industry.
A new DIY lettings service for landlords should help Hello Neighbour fulfil its ambition of becoming the biggest letting agent in England, according to co-founder Richard Jenkins.
A landlord who rented out his unlicensed, seven-bedroom HMO to 13 tenants has been ordered to pay £3,000.
In February the average BTL mortgage rate fell to 5.5% which is the lowest since September 2022.
Landlord and tenant groups have welcomed proposals by MPs on the Work and Pensions Select Committee to introduce an annual ‘uprating guarantee’ to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA).
Only one in five (18%) landlords understand the Renters (Reform) Bill, while just 3% have read guidance surrounding the legislation, according to a new Propertymark poll.
The Guardian suggests that Government may start to veer towards a “surprisingly simple solution to the UK housing crisis” which could see them squeeze landlords further, blaming them for the current housing crisis affecting home-buyers.
A new report published today claims that 390,000 jobs rely on the private rented sector as critics of the sector, including the Guardian newspaper, have called for it to be shrunk or abolished entirely.
Landlords in Oxford who fail to sign up to the city’s licensing scheme are being threatened with fines and enforcement action after a year of relative ‘grace’.
Falling UK inflation could herald some good news for BTL landlords over the coming months, according to mortgage experts.
