A criminal landlord has been handed a suspended jail sentence after a tenant died in a house fire at his sub-standard HMO. Tenant Evaldas Grisciukas died in the fire which started in his first-floor bedroom on Hitchin Road in Luton on 27th March last year, despite two other tenants attempting to save him. One was badly burnt and suffered smoke inhalation. The court heard that seven people were living in the… Continue Reading Landlord given suspended sentence and £20,000 fine after tenant dies in HMO blaze

The Green Homes Grant is proving a hit with landlords with just under half saying they plan to take up the government’s £5,000 cash offer, according to research by lender Paragon. But it says landlords need to get their skates on; there are only 650,000 vouchers available to home owners whether they are landlords or not, and the vouchers must be redeemed and the work completed by 31st March next year. The popularity… Continue Reading Get your skates on! Nearly half of landlords planning to apply for a Green Homes Grant

Private landlords in England will be required to install a carbon monoxide alarm in any room that has a fixed combustion appliance, such as a gas boiler or wood burner, under proposals unveiled in a new Government consultation. Under the plans, which exclude gas cookers, landlords will also be required to ensure each prescribed alarm is in proper working order on the first day of every new tenancy, and repair or replace… Continue Reading Consultation launches on plans to extend carbon monoxide regulations

New Government rules mean that possession orders for arrears will only be enforced in cases where tenants built significant arrears pre-Covid. Orders for cases which rely on significant arrears built by tenants after March 23 will now be put on ice until after the ‘Christmas truce’ period, which ends on January 11. The NRLA has campaigned in support of landlords whose tenants had built significant arrears that pre-dated and were unrelated… Continue Reading New rules on repossessions

A Conservative MP’s bid to ensure pets are allowed in private rental accommodation reaches its next stage in the New Year. Andrew Rosindell, MP for Romford, has introduced a Private Member’s Bill that would strictly reduce the right of landlords or their agents to include ‘no pets’ policies for their properties. The Bill promoted by Rosindell, a former shadow minister for animal welfare, has the backing of animal organisations including the… Continue Reading January date for MP’s bid to allow pets in rental accommodation

The number of tenants experiencing rent increases fell by almost a fifth in the year to the end of September according to ARLA Propertymark’s latest market snapshot. Some 40 per cent of agents witnessed landlords increasing rent in September – the latest data available – compared to 48 per cent in August. This is also 18 per cent lower than in September 2019, when the figure stood at 58 per… Continue Reading Rent increases slow and tenancies lengthen despite Covid

The long-running uncertainty over Brexit may lead to a glut of British expats returning home and renting rather than buying. That’s the view of Girlings Retirement Rentals, which says uncertainty surrounding any Brexit deal – if one is struck at all – means many expats may return sooner than expected in a bid to avoid any difficulties. It’s estimated that of the 1.3m Britons living in other European countries, around… Continue Reading Brexit may lead to glut of returning retirees who rent

Continued disruption caused by Covid-19 is pushing young renters out of the capital to work or study from home outside the city centre. Londoners looking for a room to rent in the capital are in line to make major savings on their housing costs after lockdown led many house sharers to flee the city, at least temporarily. The cost of renting a room in London has fallen by 2.6 per cent compared to last… Continue Reading Rent in London: cost of a room plummets by as much as a third in some central postcodes

More than a third of London boroughs have seen a jump in sales to first-time buyers since lockdown. Here’s where to focus your search. The proportion of sales to first-time buyers is up in 13 of the 33 London boroughs. Greenwich, Hounslow, Hammersmith & Fulham, Waltham Forest and Islington are the areas with the greatest upswing in sales to this young buyer tribe. Camden, Southwark, Wandsworth, Kingston and Lewisham complete the top 10. Here,… Continue Reading London’s first-time buyer hotspots: the areas seeing a spike in first home sales since lockdown

Investment management firm ARA Venn to deliver £3 billion scheme that will provide cost-effective long-term loans to registered providers of affordable homes. Housing Minister Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP announced on 16th October 2020 that ARA Venn will manage the government’s new £3 billion Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme (AHGS 2020). Contracts were signed for investment management firm ARA Venn to deliver the £3 billion scheme that will provide cost-effective long-term… Continue Reading Government’s £3 Billion Affordable Housing Guarantee Scheme to be Operated by Ara Venn

The stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday is fast becoming the most impactful property policy introduced by any UK government since the implementation of Right to Buy in 1980. While other asset classes are experiencing unprecedented volatility due to COVD-19, the SDLT holiday has imbued the housing market with such activity that – according to the Royal Institute of Charted Surveyors – house prices are growing at record levels. However, even though… Continue Reading The Future of Buy-to-Let – Is it Worth it?

House sales rose by 21.3% in September following the introduction of the stamp duty holiday – helping to protect hundreds of thousands of jobs in the housing sector and wider supply chain, new figures reveal. residential property transactions rose 21.3% in September following introduction of stamp duty holiday rise in sales supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in the sector – with new homeowners also spending extra cash on decorating,… Continue Reading Residential Property Transactions Up by 21.3% in September

Some landlords it would seem think they can treat planning laws with expectations of impunity, but sooner or later the law catches up with them and the results are painful! Waltham Forest Council has brought two successful prosecutions against landlords over their flouting of planning laws. Landlords Mr and Mrs Khilji and company director Mohammed Raja Iqbal have been prosecuted by the council and heavily fined for making changes to… Continue Reading Landlords, ignore planning laws at your peril…

A duo in London have been given the highest Landlord fine to date this year following an investigation by Islington council into three HMO properties. Midlands-based landlord Arun Bajaj, 60, has been fined £100,000 with £20,000 costs while co-defendant Antonio Ferraiuolo has been £10,500 following a trial in August. Bajaj was found guilty of 15 offences at two properties on Seven Sisters Road and a third on Grosvenor Avenue (pictured), all… Continue Reading Landlord duo fined £110,500 for running three dangerous and overcrowded HMOs

New tenancies fell by a third during lockdown according to new research by Ome, which has warned landlords and letting agents that a second wave of the pandemic could have a similar effect. Using data from Government-approved deposit protection scheme mydeposits, it reveals that in the three-month period from March to May, 61,972 new tenancies were protected compared with the same period in 2019 which saw 81,055 new tenancies protected –… Continue Reading Will it happen again? 31% fewer private renters moved during lockdown months

MPs have urged the DWP to amend the benefits system so that it’s easier to make direct payments to landlords. The work and pensions committee’s new report – Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment – recommends that the department should investigate whether landlords could tag a tenancy agreement to the claimant’s UC claim so tenants can get payments in line with their rent schedule, or if the benefit could be… Continue Reading Universal Credit payments direct to landlords ‘must be made easier’ MPs tell Ministers