Letting agents have written to the Home Office this morning to warn that its controversial Right to Rent scheme is likely to face a ‘widespread failure in compliance’ once the Covid pandemic ends. ARLA Propertymark, which represents some 8,000 estate agents around the UK, has taken issue with the government’s temporary ‘adjusted checks’ system for Right to Rent during Covid. This has enabled agents and landlords to complete checks without… Continue Reading Home Office warned of impending failure of Right to Rent checks system

The government has finally laid its updated lockdown regulations in front of parliament to clarify when landlords with existing possession orders can move to evict, revealing that one of the exemptions will be ‘substantial’ rent arrears, now to be classed as those over nine months. As expected these regulations, which will come into force today and only relate to England, enable bailiffs to attend properties to execute a warrant of… Continue Reading Existing evictions allowed if tenant is more than nine months behind in rent

Boris Johnson has extended his government’s Green Homes Grant scheme for a further 12 months after complaints in recent weeks that a lack of Trustmark qualified builders meant completing projects by the original deadline of March next year would be difficult. In some areas of the UK, landlords seeking Trustmark-registered builders have faced long waits to start work as qualified tradespeople have become booked up far in advance. Instead, the… Continue Reading Prime Minster gives landlords 12 months more to complete Green Homes Grant work

International investors dominate the high end London market says a new survey. Aston’s, a residency and citizenship consultancy, has analysed sold price records across London’s prime postcodes so far this year and found that the average sold price is currently just over £1.19m. Despite Coronavirus, some 6,438 transactions have completed this year, mostly for the investment market. With foreign buyers accounting for 41 per cent of this market activity, London has… Continue Reading Overseas investors dominate London’s high end market

ARLA Propertymark is warning government that the majority of letting agents and landlords won’t be able to conduct retrospective full-scale Right To Rent checks once temporary Coronavirus changes to the system end. Temporary changes to Right To Rent, instigated in March by the Home Office in the light of the pandemic, were thought to be short-lived; however they have now been in place for eight months and are ongoing. The… Continue Reading It’s Too Much! Agents hit out at retrospective Right To Rent checks

The average cost of renting in England is almost unchanged from five years ago – although that masks significant localised variations. The latest research from international rental marketplace Spotahome reveals which areas of the UK have seen the highest rate of rental increase in the last five years. Spotahome analysed data on average monthly rental costs across the UK since 2015 and the figures show the average tenant in England now… Continue Reading Average rent in England almost unchanged from five years ago

A PropTech lettings platform is reporting that the level of income required to cover the cost of renting has increased across five regions in England. Howsy analysed the current average cost of renting and what percentage of the average monthly net income was required to cover this cost, using data from government sources. The research shows the South West has seen the biggest reduction in rental affordability year on year. While… Continue Reading Rental affordability worsens in five areas of the UK

The Resolution Foundation has added its voice to that of many charities and other think tanks demanding more government support for families hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic. A new report from the foundation says those on benefits may be particularly hit by the economic consequences – and many of those may well be in the private rental sector. The report – Caugh In A Covid Trap –… Continue Reading Think tank wants government help for households hit by pandemic

London lettings agency Benham and Reeves has drawn up a league table of which boroughs in the capital have had their rental markets hit most heavily. It says the pandemic and a move towards working from home have combined to make many professionals think twice before moving to the capital, prompting a fall in both demand and rents. Benham and Reeves says the figures show that while house prices have… Continue Reading More London woe – new reports of falling demand, rents and yields

A new ‘How to Rent’ guide has been released by Government – with landlords reminded they MUST serve this version at the start of any new tenancy or renewal. Rules were brought in five years ago making it mandatory for landlords to provide the latest version of ‘How to rent: a checklist for renting in England‘ to their tenants when the first tenancy starts – and on renewal if there has been… Continue Reading New How to Rent guide released by Government

There’s been a further tweak to the eviction controls introduced in England for the duration of the lockdown, lasting until December 2. There has been substantial publicity for what is effectively a ban on evictions, which followed a letter from government to bailiff authorities asking them not to en force possession cases during the lockdown. But from today possession cases with severe rent arrears WILL be exempt from the effective… Continue Reading ‘Severe arrears’ now just cause for bailiff-enforced evictons

The gap between typical City rents and Country rents is closing according to an analysis of Countrywide properties by the company’s upmarket Hamptons International brand. In October the average cost of a newly let property in Great Britain as a whole rose to £1,041 pcm, up 1.4 per cent on the same month last year. This is the first annual increase since March 2020 but unlike last year, it is… Continue Reading All change! Rent gap between City and Country narrows dramatically

Today is the start of the official Christmas eviction ban ‘truce’ in the private rental sector – and it continues until January 11, with no enforcement action allowed in England until January 25. In practice this truce period is simply a further extension of the enforcement halt that has existed for some weeks, and which followed the formal ban on serving possession notices since March this year. In response to this… Continue Reading ‘Sharpen up arrears process’ agents told as eviction truce starts

The charity Citizens Advice – which claims a “unique, real-time insight into the challenges people are facing as a result of Coronavirus” – says some arrears by tenants will take seven years to be repaid. It says three signs have emerged of an imminent rental crisis. Firstly it claims to be helping someone with a private rented sector issue every two minutes. “In October, we helped 7,700 people facing issues with… Continue Reading Charity claims some arrears will take seven years to be repaid

ARLA Propertymark has issued a warning to government not to use Capital Gains Tax reform to further punish the private rental sector. Last week a report commissioned by Chancellor Rishi Sunak advocated a doubling of Capital Gains Tax on, amongst other things, profits from the sale of buy to let and holiday homes. In addition it called for future CGT reforms to link more closely with income tax. Although the… Continue Reading No more taxes: Agents warn government on CGT

Pushing Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates up to the levels of income tax could spark a mass exodus of landlords from the market, property experts warn. This follows a report from the Government’s tax advisers suggesting that Chancellor Rishi Sunak could bring CGT – currently 28% on residential property and 20% on other assets – into line with income tax so that higher rate taxpayers face a flat rate of… Continue Reading Sunak gets green light to drop CGT bombshell on landlords and property investors

The government has issued a new How To Rent Guide – the critical document that both letting agents and landlords have to issue to tenants. This is more than just a bureaucratic nicety, as failure to serve the most up to date guide invalidates any future Section 21 action. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which has issued the update today, says the most recent previous version was… Continue Reading Agents Alert – new How To Rent Guide issued by government

The National Union of Students (NUS) has called for more support for students who test positive for Covid in private accommodation before the Christmas break. New Government guidance on plans for the mass testing of students so they can travel home once national restrictions end on 2nd December, means if someone tests positive before they leave they’ll need to self-isolate for ten days. It says that moving all learning online by 9th December… Continue Reading New student Covid rules risk chaos in shared houses during mandatory tests

Size matters when it comes to tenant satisfaction, with renters rating small-scale, amateur landlords more highly than portfolio landlords and agents. Research programme RentBetter’s report on the impact of PRS tenancy reform in Scotland found more contentment than generally thought, following the introduction of private residential tenancies three years ago. It says this is linked to the fact tenancies generally don’t turn over quickly. “This finding might suggest a higher degree… Continue Reading Small-scale amateur landlords most popular with tenants, report reveals

Those of you who keep up with all the latest tax rules will be well aware of the upcoming Making Tax Digital (MTD) regulatory changes from HMRC and will be making preparations for this biggest ever tax change. For the 99% of landlords who prefer not to think about tax at all, this news might be worrying. You might be wondering what the new regulations are all about and how… Continue Reading Making Tax Digital: What landlords need to know