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Renters (Reform) Bill - we take a first look at the radical new legislation

Renters (Reform) Bill - we take a first look at the radical new legislation

News

The Renters (Reform) Bill has finally had its first reading in Parliament, promising a fair deal to renters, faster redress for landlords and giving more details on how 'pets with lets' will work. Heralded as a once-in-a-generation overhaul of housing laws�, the government

Purplebricks sold to rival for �1 after senior team throw in the towel

Purplebricks sold to rival for �1 after senior team throw in the towel

News

Purplebricks, which at one stage was used by thousands of landlords to manage their properties, has announced that its assets and business are to be sold to rival Strike for �1, pending approval by its shareholders. Any funds remaining in the firm some �5.5 million are

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

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Tougher HMO restrictions begin in East of England

Tougher HMO restrictions begin in East of England

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Landlords in Ipswich face restrictions on converting properties into HMOs after the council voted to introduce an Article 4 direction.

Uncertainty surrounds the abolition of furnished holiday let tax relief

Uncertainty surrounds the abolition of furnished holiday let tax relief

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Landlords who operate furnished holiday lets (FHL) have been anxiously awaiting further guidance on the proposals put out in the March Spring Budget

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.

Get your energy-efficient house in order with Safe2

Get your energy-efficient house in order with Safe2

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With the Government launching a consultation on the way EPCs are calculated – and with another on energy efficiency standards in the pipeline, we know that the rental homes of the future will need to reach much higher standards.

Welsh landlords to return two months' rent to evicted tenants

Welsh landlords to return two months' rent to evicted tenants

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News
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Letting agents have called out Welsh Government plans to enable tenants facing eviction to keep their final two months’ rent as ‘compensation’.

EXCLUSIVE: National Trust rebuffs MPs claims over empty rental homes

EXCLUSIVE: National Trust rebuffs MPs claims over empty rental homes

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News
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The National Trust has rejected claims that it stopped renting out its properties to avoid the growing legislative burden.

Property firm and landlord fined £14,000 over 'slum conditions' at house

Property firm and landlord fined £14,000 over 'slum conditions' at house

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A Liverpool landlord has been hit with a fine of almost £14,000 for allowing tenants to live in a “house of horrors”.

POLL: 44% of landlords support most extreme form of rent control

POLL: 44% of landlords support most extreme form of rent control

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Nearly half of landlords and three quarters of the general public support rent controls, a poll by YouGov on behalf of wealth inequality not-for-profit Common Wealth has revealed.

Welsh MS says reforms will push too many landlords out of rental market

Welsh MS says reforms will push too many landlords out of rental market

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A Welsh politician has sounded the alarm over new legislation which risks exacerbating the mass exodus of private landlords.

Agent warns renting reforms will throw tenancy starts into disarray

Agent warns renting reforms will throw tenancy starts into disarray

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A leading agency has warned that tenants could move into a property without having paid any rent once the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law.

60% of tenants preparing to move home before end of July

60% of tenants preparing to move home before end of July

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News
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The next six months will see a huge increase in demand for rental properties, landlords and letting agents have been told.

'Wicked' directors given suspended sentences over illegal eviction

'Wicked' directors given suspended sentences over illegal eviction

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The directors of a supported housing company who illegally evicted a vulnerable tenant have been handed suspended jail sentences.

Comment: Renters’ Rights legislation in place before Easter?

Comment: Renters’ Rights legislation in place before Easter?

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News
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The Government is evidently taking decisive steps to ensure swift progress of the Renters’ Rights Bill through the Commons and the Lords, with a view to having the Act implemented before Easter

Landlords win legal battle to protect postal rights

Landlords win legal battle to protect postal rights

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News
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A landlord couple have won their legal case against a tenant who claimed her section 21 notice was invalid.

Government promises EPC study is imminent

Government promises EPC study is imminent

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News
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The government looks set to launch its overdue consultation into new energy efficiency standards in the PRS during the next few weeks.

Landlords: Should You Hold or Sell Before Time Runs Out To Act Before The Renters’ Rights bill becomes law?

Landlords: Should You Hold or Sell Before Time Runs Out To Act Before The Renters’ Rights bill becomes law?

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The Renters’ Rights Bill returned to Parliament this week and it getting ever closer to becoming law by the summer has sent alarm bells ringing.

Peers scheduled to debate fast-tracked Renters' Rights Bill

Peers scheduled to debate fast-tracked Renters' Rights Bill

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The Renters’ Rights Bill has had its first reading in the House of Lords and is due for a full debate on 4th February.

Cash announced for empty shop auction scheme

Cash announced for empty shop auction scheme

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Local councils will be offered up to £79,000 to refurbish an empty property under the government’s new High Street Rental Auctions initiative.

North West council extends selective licensing

North West council extends selective licensing

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Burnley has given the green light to a bigger selective licensing scheme covering 3,700 private rented properties.

Big corporates hoovering up homes from exiting small landlords

Big corporates hoovering up homes from exiting small landlords

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Letting agents have reported that institutional and portfolio landlords are moving in to buy stock from exiting landlords.

How will Rachel Reeves' Budget affect property investors and landlords?

How will Rachel Reeves' Budget affect property investors and landlords?

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News
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Budget changes present businesses including landlords and letting agents with some real stiff challenges in 2025

Live-in landlord mocked for seeking 'part-time' tenant

Live-in landlord mocked for seeking 'part-time' tenant

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Social media users have ridiculed a landlord for advertising an expensive room - but asking would-be tenants to stay out until after 8.30pm.

Rising rents fall back from record high

Rising rents fall back from record high

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Average rent in England increased 9.2% to £1,369 in the 12 months to December - slightly down on the previous record-high annual growth.

Pensioner landlords demanded to take over tenant's room

Pensioner landlords demanded to take over tenant's room

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A landlord couple who moved into their tenant’s spare bedroom while she was still living there have been fined.

MPs send amended Renters' Rights Bill to the Lords

MPs send amended Renters' Rights Bill to the Lords

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The Bill has moved another step closer to becoming law, with MPs agreeing amendments that include preventing landlords from taking more than one month’s rent.

January's tax deadline approaches, thoughts turn to this annual task

January's tax deadline approaches, thoughts turn to this annual task

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Keeping on top of your accounts month by month makes the annual self-assessment tax return task easier and makes sure you are in control of your business

The top six misconceptions about limited company buy to let mortgages

The top six misconceptions about limited company buy to let mortgages

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Limited Company buy to let mortgages are increasingly popular, however there are still many myths that need debunking.

Landlords hit with former owners' massive council tax bills

Landlords hit with former owners' massive council tax bills

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Landlords in Kent are inheriting huge council tax bills racked up by the previous owners when buying empty properties.