An industry body formally congratulated the new Housing Secretary Simon Clarke but at the same time warned him about his party’s BTL landlord policies. The chief executive says; “The new minister will need urgently to address the rental housing supply crisis. Damaging tax hikes and uncertainty over reforms to the private rented sector are leading many landlords to leave the market when demand for rented homes remains high. All this… Continue Reading Sector Calls For U-Turn On BTL Landlord Policies

At long last the government has responded to its consultation on the reformed Rogue Landlord Database and now states that its property portal will be made available to all tenants, landlords and local councils to access any of its information. The reformed Rogue Landlord Database and letting agents was originally launched in 2018 but has pathetically low numbers of ‘criminals’ listed in spite of the considerable fanfare it received upon… Continue Reading Government Unleashes Reformed Rogue Landlord Database

A recent story in The Telegraph claims that one in twelve tenants are being allowed by the landlords to pay a reduced rent to help them cope with the cost of living crisis. Buy-to-let investors are ‘bleeding’ rental income losses as the onset of spiralling inflation and seismic energy bills increases causing insurmountable problems for tenants’ finances.   According to a retail and commercial bank’s research conducted with a 1,000 tenants… Continue Reading One In Twelve Tenants Paying Reduced Rent

A leading industry trade body has issued a direct challenge to the Tory MP who has demanding a rents freeze. The MP in question a certain Natalie Elphicke has wrote an article on the Conservative Home website where she calls for a “a newly shaped Department for Housing and Households” which would “robustly challenge the total costs of household bills.” Elphicke wants the “rents freeze at their current rates for… Continue Reading Call For Rents Freeze Challenged By Landlords

Oxford council’s plan to target landlords who let out whole properties through Airbnb house lets and other short lets platforms which will make it more expensive for them. Oxford council which recently started a five year landlord licensing scheme across all of the city’s boundary, is now considering a proposal to levy a charge for waste collection at Airbnb house lets and whole house short lets registered as businesses. The… Continue Reading Council To Charge Airbnb House Lets For Bin Collections

NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle was at the Conservative Party Conference this week, where an anti-landlord attitude was clearly in evidence. In this blog Ben explains why now is the time for change. While absent from the major speeches, there was much discussion about housing at this week’s Conservative Party Conference. Many debates, on issues such as the cost-of-living crisis, led back to our sector, with issues such as the… Continue Reading Conservative Party Conference 2022 – Originally posted by NRLA

What is Condensation? Condensation is the appearance of water on cold surfaces. It occurs where moist air comes into contact with air, or a surface, which is at a lower temperature. Water produced from condensation is generally noticeable where it forms on non-absorbent surfaces (i.e. windows or tiles) but it can form on any surface and it may not be noticed until mould growth or rotting of material occurs. Who… Continue Reading Condensation – resources for tenants and landlords

There’s a warning that renters are likely to endure a less affluent retirement than owner occupiers. Business consultancy Hargreaves Lansdown says 16.3 per cent of older workers who rent are on track for a moderate retirement income but this compares to 57.7 per cent of those owner occupiers. The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association retirement income standards say a single person would need a retirement income of £20,800 per year… Continue Reading Owner Occupiers Better Off Than Renters

The latest update from industry discussions about allowing more pets in private rental properties suggests there’s not been a solution yet to how to avoid damage and additional costs. Industry supplier The Lettings Hub has been convening a forum, the latest of which – in late September – involved not o only Propertymark and the Property Redress Scheme but also a representative from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and… Continue Reading Pets In Private Rental Properties Damage And Costs

The government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme application process is so complex property agents and their landlords do not think it is worth applying to. That’s the view of Propertymark following a survey of member agents on the Boiler Upgrade Scheme application which launched in April and offers home owners in England and Wales grants of £5,000 towards the cost of an air source heat pump, £6,000 for a ground source heat… Continue Reading Agents Unhappy About Boiler Upgrade Scheme Application

NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle – who attended the Labour conference this week – said the party’s determination to demonise landlords will backfire should it come to power, decimating the supply of homes to rent. It is a depressingly familiar scene. A rallying cry against the evils of the private rented sector, followed by an earnest commitment to build more social housing. Another year, another Labour conference. Labour’s Shadow Levelling… Continue Reading Labour housing plans a charter for rent dodgers – Originally posted by NRLA

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer picked on the buy to let and holiday home sectors as targets for future restrictions, in a speech to his party conference. Starmer’s speech was extremely light on detail but he told delegates that he wanted to raise the proportion of UK households in owner occupation to 70 per cent – it’s only 63 per cent right now. He said he wanted “no more buy… Continue Reading Labour Threat To Buy To Let And Holiday Home Sector

Shadow housing minister Lisa Nandy has unveiled a Charter for Private Sector Renting which she says will be implemented within 100 days of Labour winning a General Election. Labour – currently running well ahead of the Conservatives in multiple opinion polls – says it will implement many of the policies put forward in the controversial Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper – a product of the Johnson Conservative government –… Continue Reading Labours Plans For Private Sector Renting

A team of experts has released a report that responds to government reform plans – and it insists that if Section 21 must be abolished, fixed term tenancies should remain to help negate many of the unintended consequences, whilst still giving tenants more security. According to research from The Lettings Industry Council the private rented sector is losing around 59 per cent per cent of rental properties as landlords sell… Continue Reading Fixed Term Tenancies MUST Stay

TV property expert and founder of advice platform Move iQ Phil Spencer offers his advice for homeowners facing a mortgage time-bomb. Given the Bank of England’s recent base interest rate hikes, and warnings of future increases to tackle inflation, the cost of borrowing to buy a home is also on the rise. Mortgage holders coming to the end of their fixed rates of interest will soon be navigating higher rates… Continue Reading Mortgage Time-Bomb For Homeowners

Finances crippled, weddings postponed, equity wiped out and having the dream of owning a first home snatched away – here’s what the interest rate rises mean for Londoners. Steven Brewis has already put his wedding off three times and thanks to interest rate rises, he’s now considering it once more. “We’ve postponed our wedding because of Covid and we’re thinking about doing it again because it’s hard to justify paying… Continue Reading Interest Rate Rises Londoners Are Faced With

The property market faces a ‘year of pain’, with a new two-year forecast estimating a 10 per cent drop for house prices. But how low will they really go? House prices in London are set to fall by 10 per cent over the next two years after the Chancellor’s mini-Budget sent the property market into meltdown. Higher interest rates and mortgage repayments, tighter lending and the cost-of-living crisis could mean… Continue Reading The Property Market Faces A Year Of Pain

The Times says some Build to Rent investment has been paused as a result of the rent freeze imposed by the Scottish Government earlier this month. Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the emergency rent freeze and eviction ban will last until “at least” March 31 next year. Although the rent freeze measure will require additional legislation, it will operate retrospectively so effectively means an immediate ban on rent rises.… Continue Reading Rent Freeze Damaging Build To Rent Investment