Operation Magnify, a British national enforcement operation has found more than 200 suspected illegal immigrants being housed by rogue landlords. If suspicions are correct then the landlords will face fines and may have to face a prison term. The Border Force has been working on the operation since the start of the year in an effort to stamp out illegal immigrants living in rented properties….. who of course, have no… Continue Reading Operation Magnify Exposes Rogue Landlords Housing Illegals

ARLA Propertymark says letting and managing agents should be aware that they can raise ‘safeguarding alerts’ if they are concerned about the condition of a property. The alerts can be issued to fire brigades, environmental health teams or the National Grid. The reminder comes as a result of ARLA being contacted by Her Majesty’s Senior Coroner for Inner west London, following a case of a woman whose death was caused… Continue Reading ARLA: letting and managing agents can raise safeguard alerts over poor condition homes

Buying or Renting a home is the most significant financial decision in most people’s lives. For tenants, paying the rent is the biggest monthly outgoing. So it is little wonder that house prices are an obsession for some, and a source of frustration for others. The financial crisis had huge implications for those wanting to buy or sell property. Here is the story of what has happened to the UK… Continue Reading Buying and Renting a Home: Your biggest financial decision – in 10 charts

The number of tenants entering the market across the UK has risen by 7.3 per cent on the month – but it’s still a remarkable 33.2 per cent down annually according to Haart lettings agency. It says that despite the rise in demand over the past month, avarege rents have fallen by one per cent and now sits at a UK-wide figure of £1,268 per month. Demand in London has… Continue Reading Lettings Agency says there’s been 33% fall in tenants entering lettings market

The boss of a lettings agency in London says there is a need for the private rental sector to become more professional in terms of meeting new health and safety, and legislative controls being imposed. In an interview for The London Economic, Ashley Clements of west London lettings agency Horton and Garton, says increased demands are proving difficult for landlords in terms of compliance – and in turn that is leading… Continue Reading Lettings Agency chief says landlords should become more professional

A tenant appears to be entitled to pay sub-market rent for the rest of his life after a 1925 Property Act legal case involving his former neighbours and the fine print of a 16-year-old mortgage deal. Former Peacehaven residents David and Sheila Harding bought their friend and next door neighbour Colin Gregory’s three bedroom bungalow for £143,000 in 2001; they used what has been referred to as a ‘buy to… Continue Reading Bizarre 1925 Property Act means tenant will have cheap rent for life

The Association of Residential Letting Agents says agents should remember that a Register My Appliance safety scheme has been set up to enhance safety in the rental sector. The Register My Appliance safety scheme, created by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances, has an easy to navigate online portal where agents, landlords and tenants can register their appliances so they are kept informed should there be any product recalls… Continue Reading ARLA reminds agents about Register My Appliance safety scheme

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has started work on a TV advertisement to highlight the importance of landlords instructing property letting agents. The campaign, which is likely to see TV ads appearing from early September onwards, highlights the importance of using an agent offering Propertymark Protection. A statement from ARLA says planning for the campaign has taken several months, “with selection of a creative agency headed up by a… Continue Reading TV ad being prepared to show importance of using property letting agents

Brent council is using dawn raids in its clampdown on illegal subletting and on so-called ‘beds in sheds’ where tenants are kept in overcrowded conditions. A team of five enforcement officers from Brent council earlier this week staged a dawn raid on a property and found 11 rooms, some of which had no windows, inside a converted property housing tenants in makeshift bedsits. Many of the rooms contained mould, damp… Continue Reading Brent council uses dawn raids in clampdown on sublets and beds in sheds

As Universal Credit, slowly, rolls out across the country, more and more landlords are having to cope with applying for direct payment.  This week’s case is quite a common one for the Landlord Advice Team. Our landlord rang in to complain that his tenant ‘was not paying their housing benefit’ and that the council had told him there was nothing they could do because the tenant was on Universal Credit.… Continue Reading Call of the week – direct payment and Universal Credit

Rent payments, say Residential Landlords Association, should be included when calculating credit scores to support tenants wanting to buy a home of their own. That’s the call being made following a survey of almost 3,000 landlords carried out by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), which found that 61 per cent of landlords would support such a move. At present, credit rating agencies do not routinely include rent payment history when calculating… Continue Reading Include Rent Payments in Credit Scores say Residential Landlords Association

The private rented sector has experienced significant change over the past 2 years; from regulative change to the reform of taxation. All at a time when the private rented sector is increasingly important in the provision of homes for millions of people. The UK Government should be supporting private rented sector landlords with tenure neutral policies that supports growth of all sectors, but with the recent Housing White Paper it… Continue Reading Can The Government Regain The Confidence of Private Rented Sector Landlords?

Private sector tenants face a perfect storm with the supply of homes to rent set to fall as demand increases. According to a survey of almost 3,000 landlords published today, 22 per cent plan to sell at least one of their properties over the next year, with just 18 per cent planning to buy additional properties to rent. The new data, published in the Residential Landlord Association’s (RLA) latest quarterly research report, finds… Continue Reading Tenants face dwindling supply of homes to rent

The Property Redress Scheme, one of three approved redress operations, says it saw a 33 per cent increase in membership in 2016 and a 40 per cent surge in complaints. At the end of 2016, a total of 5,259 agent offices – very largely lettings – had joined Property Redress Scheme along with 227 property professionals such as inventory clerks. Total membership of the scheme currently stands at more than… Continue Reading Big surge in complaints to Property Redress Scheme

Newham council claims that up to 13,000 private landlords are “of interest” to HM Revenue and Customs, where there are alleged discrepancies between council records and income declared to the tax authorities. Newham council says the 13,000 represent almost half of all the landlords in the borough and the figure has been calculated through analysis of the authority’s private rental sector licensing scheme, which is widely regarded as one of… Continue Reading Newham Council working with HMRC to expose tax-evading private landlords

A new snapshot of the buy to let mortgage market suggests costs have dropped further over the past three months as lenders compete for customers. New figures from software supplier Mortgage Brain show that the cost of a two year fixed buy to let mortgage – at either 60 per cent or 70 per cent loan to value –  is now four per cent lower than it was in May… Continue Reading Buy to let mortgage costs drop

House prices continued to climb in June, although the pace of annual house price inflation slowed. Today’s Telegraph said the housing market was speeding towards a crisis, with average prices across England and Wales up almost £10,000 on June a year ago. Spicerhaart chief Paul Smith told the paper: “Along with consumer price hikes and falling wage growth, unaffordability in the Housing market is reaching crisis point.” Nick Leeming, chairman… Continue Reading Housing market speeding towards crisis

A property investor has been jailed for failing to declare Capital Gains Tax from the sale of his rental properties. Richard Fuller, 53, did not declare the profit gained from the sales of several Aldershot properties between 2006 and 2013. HMRC reports that Fuller – who was arrested in October 2014 – evaded £157,725. The landlord was found guilty of cheating the public revenue and fraud by false representation in… Continue Reading Jailed for failing to pay Capital Gains Tax

A survey of almost 3,000 landlords suggests more than one in five plans to sell at least one of their investment properties in the coming year – making the current shortfall of homes to rent even more acute. The Residential Landlords’ Association says 22 per cent plan to sell at least one; a significantly smaller 18 per cent are planning to buy additional investment properties to rent. The association also… Continue Reading Fifth of landlords to sell investment properties