Making tax digital (MTD) for income tax is part of the governments long-term strategy to digitalise tax and will have implications for how landlords pay tax on their income. For those used to self-assessment, it will represent a change, but providing digital records will give businesses
VAT on Commercial Property is a complex topic and anyone wishing to understand these complexities in relation to their own situation should seek specialist advice. This article should give a broad brush general overview but you really should seek advice because errors can be irredeemable an
A rogue portfolio landlord has been banned from letting properties for five years after she admitted multiple offences relating to fire safety issues. Naomi Knapp, a landlord with 34 properties in Bristol, was convicted of eight banning order offences and will now be added to th
Urgent regulation of the spray foam industry is needed to prevent making thousands of homes un-mortgagable, warn leading property groups. Sprayed polyurethane expanding foams are often used in lofts, either to stabilise a failing roof covering or to provide extra insulation. But
Portsmouths HMOs are in the firing line again as growing numbers are being referred to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to have their council tax bands reassessed. Rather than paying tax on the whole property, each room can be classified as a band A at a cost of �1,200, wit
A severely disabled tenant and his family have barricaded themselves into their home in a bid to prevent a controversial eviction. Quadriplegic Harvey Cowe, 62, and his wife Sheree, 55, have lived at the house in Brittany Road, Hove, for 25 years after Brighton & Hove C
A leading letting agent has criticised the reasoning behind the UKs ever-growing list of selective licensing schemes. Selective licensing covers all rented property in a given area or council borough and landlords are required to pay a five-yearly fee of between �500 and �9
Landlords in Bristol will soon be required to gain planning permission to convert properties into HMOs in three key areas, it has been revealed. South Gloucestershire Council is to bring in Article 4 directions in the Bristol neighbourhoods of Stoke Park and Cheswick and parts o
Londons mayor Sadiq Khan has urged private landlords who are planning to exit the private rented market to sell their properties to local councils instead of other landlords. Khan made the comments within a self-congratulatory statement on his website l
Average rents in England jump 4% in a year to February while voids dropped from 24 to 20 days
Almost three quarters of rental fraud involves young people, official data has revealed.
Carl Bayley is the author of more than twenty ‘Plain English’ TaxCafe published tax guides designed for the layperson and the non-specialist
An expert has warned that a court's decision to allow tenants to challenge landlord-requested rental arrears deductions from their UC payments will see more landlords shun tenants in receipt of benefits.
Fenland Council has introduced an immediate Article 4 Direction before its consultation in a bid to clamp down on burgeoning HMOs in Wisbech.
Landlords in County Durham have had to fork out fines totalling £1.38 million in the three years since selective licensing was introduced.
Peers have tabled amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill which, if approved, would shape the legislation into a version of the previous Renters’ Reform Bill.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned that unless more rental properties are built her recent promise to ‘attract the best talent to the UK’ and boost economic growth will fall flat.
Private HMO landlords leaving the sector have created a shortage of student housing, according to Unite Students, which boasts that it can help fill the gap with purpose-built student accommodation.
New Government schemes that are offering advice to help tenants with legal issues
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is scrutinising green claims from boiler maker Worcester Bosch to see if they mislead landlords.
The Renters Reform Bill is expected to get its second reading on Monday, heralding a huge shake-up of the sector after four years in the planning.
A leading landlord has welcomed the Government’s recent U-turn on EPCs, telling a webinar this week that he was facing a ‘crazy’ bill to upgrade his portfolio of properties to the minimum ‘C’ band.
A quarter of landlords are to sell some of their property portfolio in the coming months but not in the volumes previously claimed, a big letting agency has claimed.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho (main picture) has rejected the idea of tax breaks for landlords to pay for green upgrades.
Harlow Council in Essex aims to take a harder line with private landlords by introducing civil penalties as an alternative to prosecution.
Landlord leader Ben Beadle has pinned the shortage of private rental sector homes squarely on the Government, saying George Osborne’s decision in 2015 to cut mortgage interest tax relief for landlords has been the key driver of the current stock crisis.
Tenants on benefits will get more help when paying court fees during evictions and claiming Rent Repayment Orders after the government expanded its Help with Fees scheme.
Burnley Council has launched plans to clamp down on landlords converting homes into small HMOs.
PRS chief Sean Hooker relects on the bumpy ride landlords face in the coming months, and how they can get prepared for the changes.
The average mortgaged landlord paid 37% of their rent on mortgage interest in August, up from a low of 24% in November 2021, according to Hamptons.
Thirty charities and non-profit organisations have written to the Prime Minister urging him to ensure the Renters Reform Bill is passed during this Parliament.
A WhatsApp-style ‘dating service’ designed to marry up landlords and tenants has launched seeking to simplify London’s ‘chaotic’ private rented sector and rival established portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla.
There’s now a significant proportion of adults in the UK struggling to meet their rent or mortgage payments
Landlords who took out a new mortgage between April and June this year made an annual cash loss for the first time since 2007.
A landlord who ignored improvement notices on his two unlicensed properties has been handed a £15,000 fine by magistrates.
It is very convenient and timely to accept documents relating to tenancies signed electronically and transmitted electronically - are they legal valid?
A letting agency in Hove has been ordered to pay nearly £69,000 for “abhorrent and vile” behaviour towards its tenants.
Renters with pets or children are paying as much as £460 more during their tenancy compared to other renters.
After a tough week, starting with reports from the Telegraph urging banks to “stop treating landlords like cash cows”.
A buoyant private rented market continues to outshine the struggling sales sector, although there is cause for optimism long-term, reports The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Landlords wondering how the planned register for landlords in England may operate have been given a taste of what’s to come following a case in Glasgow.
Barclays has been ordered to pay benefits landlord Mick Roberts compensation over a long-running saga which saw him wrongly given a bad credit rating.
Landlords looking to re-mortgage until December 2024 at a typical 6.5% rate face an alarming 52% jump in their monthly mortgage payments, according to credit ratings agency DBRS Morningstar.
