A local authority has been attacked over its plans for a selective licensing scheme which will force landlords or their agents to inspect their properties every month. Harrow Council is introducing the new scheme in its Edgware ward on November 1 at a cost of up to £550, in an attempt to combat anti-social behaviour. The council say it is a pilot scheme which could be copied in two other… Continue Reading New licensing regime will ‘hound’ tenants in their homes

Landlords in England will be responsible for spotting illegal tenants ‘from September’ after a trial in the West Midlands results in fines Landlords will face £3,000 penalties for failing to monitor the immigration status of their tenants or lodgers, as part of “right to rent” requirements that will apply across England within months. A trial of “right to rent”, introduced in the West Midlands in December, has resulted in one… Continue Reading Right to rent: all landlords must check immigration status or face £3,000 fine

Regulations requiring landlords to install smoke detectors in all private rental properties, and carbon monoxide detectors in room with solid fuel appliances (England) have stalled in committee in the House of Lords. Peers raised a number of concerns, not least the fact the regulations are due to come into force on October 1st – just 3 weeks away.  Some wanted the regulations, which only apply to the Private Rented Sector… Continue Reading Confusion over Smoke and CO Detector Legislation

Both home mover and first-time buyer numbers dwindled in the first quarter of this year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. It said first-timers took out 61,300 mortgages in the first three months – down 24% on the last quarter of 2014 and down 11% on the same period last year. Home movers took out 70,400 loans, a 25% decrease on the last quarter of 2014 and a drop… Continue Reading Slow start to year for home movers and FTBs

A lawyer has raised the spectre of letting agents and landlords possibly facing accusation of discrimination when the government’s Right To Rent immigration checks are rolled out. “Given the large number of different documents which can prove a person’s permission to be in the UK, there are concerns over whether landlords or letting agents will have the expertise to carry out the checks properly” warns Mark Lilley-Tams, an associate solicitor… Continue Reading Warning over agents’ Right To Rent discrimination claims

A year since the launch of a scheme which is meant to improve standards for private renters, it is claimed that at current sign-up rates, it’d take 100 years to reach the Mayor’s target. Just over 14,100 landlords have voluntarily agreed to the London Rental Standard (LRS), a code of practice including things such as a written rental agreement, protected deposit, reasonable notice of access, minimum times for emergency and urgent repairs and property conditions that comply with legal requirements. The Mayor wanted 100,000… Continue Reading It’ll Take 100 Years To Hit London Rental Standard Target Says Labour

For the second time in two years, UK landlords are facing rising eviction court costs. The first rises in April 2014 saw the Ministry of Justice increase fees for possession claims from £175-£280 (paper claims) and £100-£250 (online). Now, following a Government-led consultation period earlier this year, these costs are going up even further. Here, we’ll look into what these new rises are, as well as the concerns that this… Continue Reading Landlords face rising eviction court costs

Landlords will no longer have automatic entitlement to a 10% tax break for wear and tear of their properties. The important change came largely unnoticed after yesterday’s Budget headline announcement that mortgage interest relief for private landlords is to be restricted to the basic rate of income tax. While the Chancellor’s shake up of tax relief will effectively double the cost of borrowing for those paying the highest rate of… Continue Reading Wear and tear tax allowance for landlords to be scrapped

So far, the 2015 General Election campaign has been mostly unbothered by such trivialities as the environmental health of our planet. Even the Green Party has been accused of downplaying the issue of climate change. Remember how rubbish Londoners are at composting food? If our city’s waste disposal problems may be likened to the 10-tonne fatberg recently removed from a sewer in Chelsea, then food composting is only the tip… Continue Reading Why Is London Rubbish At Recycling?

                Why do we need it? In central London, we have a combined sewer system. Storm water runoff and waste water go into the same sewers. Most of the time this is fine, but during a rainstorm it’s a problem. When it rains heavily the sewers fill up quickly, and the dirty water needs to go somewhere. Instead of flooding our streets and… Continue Reading What Is The Thames Tideway Tunnel?

Landlords and letting agents of student accommodation are putting their tenants’ lives at risk by failing to fix serious safety hazards, according to new research by a safety charity. Electrical Safety First has discovered that a worrying number of landlords and letting agents ignore safety concerns reported to them, leaving their student tenants vulnerable to electric shocks, electrical fires and even electrocution. Research commissioned by the charity suggests that 37%… Continue Reading Landlords “leave students at risk”

Around 445,000 smoke alarms and 40,000 carbon monoxide alarms have now been issued to the 46 fire and rescue authorities in England in a bid to encourage agents and landlords to meet their safety obligations ahead of their October deadline. Statistics show that tenants are at least four times more likely to die in a fire in a home where there is no working smoke alarm. From October, anyone renting… Continue Reading Agents and landlords – get your free alarms….

The council which became a standard bearer for so-called ‘landlord licensing’ – Enfield in north London – appears to have abandoned any attempt to introduce such a scheme. Enfield’s Labour authority was one of the early adopters of the landlord licensing craze, claiming it would reduce anti-social behaviour and increase the quality of properties to let. However landlord Constantinos Regas brought a test case against the council after repeatedly speaking… Continue Reading Flagship pro-licensing council does sharp U-turn

House prices are still increasing at an alarming rate, according to new figures from the Land Registry. Annual growth in house prices across London for the year to April 2015 was 10.9%, and up 2.3% between March and April. The cost of an average home in London is now £474,544, compared to £179,817 in the rest of the country. That’s over two and a half times more expensive. We noted… Continue Reading House Prices In Newham, Lewisham, Enfield Rising By More Than 16% A Year

There’s been a four per cent rise in the number of private sector tenants owing more than two months rent, according to LSL Property Services. Figures for the first quarter of 2015 show that there are 70,900 households facing what the agency calls “severe rent arrears” up from 68,200 a year earlier. Eviction orders have also increased – there are now 28,900 households facing losing their home, up 2.3 per… Continue Reading Severe rent arrears on the rise warns lettings agency chain

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A landlord has been ordered to pay a fine £1,344.57 after failing to install fixed heating to a property she was letting out to private tenants. The landlord, in Hertfordshire, was served with an Improvement Notice under section 11 of The Housing Act 2004 to require the works to be carried out. After failing to complete the works in the required timeframe, the landlord was prosecuted by North Hertfordshire district… Continue Reading Landlord fined for failing to fit fixed heating

A poll claims that 36% of UK adults feel that to become a buy-to-let landlord is ‘extremely risky’. 2,000 people were included in the survey and there were two major concerns over becoming a landlord because of tenants damaging the property and having to repair toilets – both came in at 63%. A close third reason for grave concern, was that 62% said loss of revenues would be incurred if the… Continue Reading Over a third of adults cautious of becoming landlords because of potty problems

UK landlords are at risk of overestimating the profitability of their buy-to-let investment by neglecting to take into account key running costs, according to research by a property firm. Platinum Property Partners (PPP) says the total potential cost associated with the annual running and upkeep of a BTL property – including letting agent fees, maintenance, repairs, marketing fees and mortgage interest – amounts to an average of £8,359. However, it… Continue Reading Landlords fail to take costs into account for BTL

The government is planning to enforce that landlords must have full working smoke and carbon alarms installed, this comes under section 150 of the Energy Act 2013. Section 150 (1) states is the sole responsibility for the landlords during any tenancy period that: “the premises are equipped with a required alarm (or required alarms), and “checks are made by or on behalf of the landlord in accordance with the regulations to… Continue Reading Be aware of the proposed government regulations on Smoke and Carbon Monoxide alarms