A lettings agency admits that the proportion of net income required to cover rent has hit 75 per cent in some places. Benham and Reeves says the proportion has risen by 16.8 per cent in the last two decades to 45.5 per cent nationally. But it now accounts for 74.8 per cent of the average salary in London having jumped 33.7 per cent since the turn of the millennium. In…

London courts are failing to cope with the volume of landlord repossession cases according to a trade body. New figures show the average length of time from a claim from a landlord in London to a court issuing an order for a property to be repossessed for legitimate reasons is 30 weeks. This is up from 23 weeks just a year earlier. Landlords in London have the longest wait in…

It looks almost certain that agents and landlords must ensure electrical installation inspections and testing are carried out for all new tenancies in England from July 1 this year, or from April 1 2021 for existing tenancies. The government says The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 have been laid before Parliament. These are likely to be agreed by the Commons and the Lords in…

There’s been an angry response by the rental sector following the latest attack by campaigning charity Shelter. The organisation claims that private tenants have fallen ill because of housing related worries. But the Residential Landlords Association insists this is not, as some may think Shelter suggests, be a problem restricted to the private sector. The RLA instead dismisses what it calls the false impression that landlords spend all their time looking…

Plans to end the freeze on housing benefits will still leave many tenants unable to afford rent say landlords. Following the announcement that from April the Local Housing Allowance will increase by inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, the Residential Landlords Association says that as the allowance has been frozen since 2016, a rise of around 1.5 per cent – the inflation level – is actually leaving tenants…

A rental management platform has compiled a league table of where tenant demand is strongest for homes to let – and the results are not as many would have predicted. The platform Howsy looked at rental listings across the major portals and cross-analysed demand in 23 major UK cities as well as each borough of London, based on the proportion of rental listings snapped up by renters as a percentage…

Government expects its new electrical checks regulations to become law on 1st April 2020, despite worries over availability of engineers. Lettings agents will soon have to complete electrical checks on all rented properties they manage for electrical safety or face fines of up to £30,000. The proposals are outlined in the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 laid in front of parliament yesterday and expected…

A leading property industry figure says Airbnb is attempting to persuade traditional buy to let landlords into going down the short-let route to get potential high income. Property management veteran David Alexander, co-founder of Apropos by DJ Alexander, says Airbnb appears to be targeting traditional landlords “by highlighting potentially substantial earnings for owners who join their site.” He says that although official data states that average earnings for Airbnb hosts…

Poor communication remains the chief reason for disputes between agents, landlords and tenants at check-out time according to the latest research. A study by deposit alternative scheme Ome, analysing disputes submitted by tenants to the mydeposits deposit protection scheme, shows that the number of escalated disputes reaching the adjudication stage has fallen in percentage terms. It was down 2.6 per cent last year. But an analysis of the reasons show…

The key rules for buy-to-let property investors and owners, from the letting fees ban to Section 21 As we head into a new year, buy-to-let landlords face another swathe of complications, from an overhaul of the eviction process to confusion over local licensing. It’s a tricky time to be a landlord, but Which? can help you get your head around the various regulations you’ll need to be aware of when…

Next year will be a year of change for many landlords, with new legislation covering everything from tenant fees to energy efficiency coming in during 2020. Here’s our quick guide to the changes you can expect to see and how they will affect you. MARCH: Extension of Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act Under the Fitness for Human Habitation Act landlords can be forced to carry out improvement works to their properties…

The Housing Secretary has announced plans to revise the Government’s model tenancy agreement to allow for “well behaved pets” in properties. The Government says that the plan, announced at the weekend, will ensure that more landlords are catering for responsible pet owners wherever possible. Commenting on the plan, Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick MP said: “Pets bring a huge amount of joy and comfort to people’s lives, helping their owner’s through difficult…

A new report from Hamilton Fraser’s deposit alternative scheme Ome, has revealed that there has been a marked increase in the number of deposit disputes over the last three years. According to the data, shows poor or no communication when withholding a deposit is still the most common cause for deposit disputes between landlords and tenants, ahead of the cleanliness of the property and damage sustained during a tenancy. The…

According to Caridon Landlord Solutions, landlords remain unable to identify payments for Universal Credit tenants due to changes in the DWP system. Caridon is calling on The Department for Work and Pensions to urgently address the changes to its system, as many landlords are unable to identify which housing cost payments of Universal Credit should be allocated to which tenants. Up until three weeks ago payments of the housing element…

London rents increased by an average of 3.5 per cent in 2019 according to a European lettings monitor called HousingAnywhere. While this was stronger than some anticipated – especially given the uncertainties of Brexit – it remains lower than many other major European ‘world’ cities with high levels of international investment. Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid, Vienna and Brussels are cheaper locations than London and have seen larger rises in the past…

Some 26 per cent of buy to let investors plan to sell one or more of their properties in 2020 according to a survey by insurance firm Simply Business. The survey of 800 investors revealed that because of continued economic uncertainty and the tax restrictions increasing around buy to let, some 82 per cent of landlords are not buying any more BTL properties in 2020. Just 13 per cent said…

The rental market is stable as it enters 2020 according to the latest index from PropTech company Goodlord. Five out of the eight regions monitored by Goodlord at the turn of the year saw rents remain at November levels or dip slightly. The largest decrease was recorded in the North East, where average prices dropped three per cent from £607 to £588. Marginal rises were recorded in Greater London (up…

The rental market is stable as it enters 2020 according to the latest index from PropTech company Goodlord. Five out of the eight regions monitored by Goodlord at the turn of the year saw rents remain at November levels or dip slightly. The largest decrease was recorded in the North East, where average prices dropped three per cent from £607 to £588. Marginal rises were recorded in Greater London (up…

Some 26 per cent of buy to let investors plan to sell one or more of their properties in 2020 according to a survey by insurance firm Simply Business. The survey of 800 investors revealed that because of continued economic uncertainty and the tax restrictions increasing around buy to let, some 82 per cent of landlords are not buying any more BTL properties in 2020. Just 13 per cent said…

London rents increased by an average of 3.5 per cent in 2019 according to a European lettings monitor called HousingAnywhere. While this was stronger than some anticipated – especially given the uncertainties of Brexit – it remains lower than many other major European ‘world’ cities with high levels of international investment. Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid, Vienna and Brussels are cheaper locations than London and have seen larger rises in the past…