A new borough-wide landlord licensing scheme is set to launch in the London borough of Brent on April 1, the council has announced. The council says the scheme is “aimed at improving living standards for private renters and clarifying responsibilities for landlords and agents.” “The introduction of selective licensing across Brent will offer renters the assurance of security and safety when it comes to their homes” says Promise Knight, cabinet… Continue Reading New London rental licensing regime launches next week

Landlords and letting agents in England have been hit with a significant rise in fines for failing to comply with Right to Rent regulations. According to government figures, penalties jumped by a staggering 405% last year – hitting £151,480 compared to just £29,960 the previous year. The number of fines issued also increased dramatically, rising from 32 in 2022 to 155 in 2023. The Right to Rent scheme requires landlords to… Continue Reading Landlords see a huge rise in Right to Rent fines

Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities hit back overnight at critics of the government’s Renters Reform Bill. The Bill – in heavily amended form – was passed in the Commons yesterday evening. It retains the scrapping of Section 21 powers but now includes an indefinite timetable: the abolition won’t happen until a review has taken place of the courts system’s ability to cope with evictions through other… Continue Reading Gove hits back at critics after Renters Reform Bill wins key vote

Momentum is growing to torpedo the Renters (Reform) Bill that will abolish Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions and end fixed term tenancies, the Telegraph reports. The news comes just days after The Sun revealed that angry Tory MPs have brought the Bill ‘close to collapse’. Michael Gove, the housing secretary, vowed last month to pass the Bill before a General Election this year. However, around 50 backbenchers have proposed amendments to the… Continue Reading Landlord MPs set to ‘torpedo’ Renters (Reform) Bill

HMRC has sent out a stark warning that its data shows that 3.8 million people have so far failed to send in their self-assessment returns before the January 31st deadline, and many thousands are understood to be private landlords. HMRC states it is expecting 12.1m plus self-assessment returns to be filed for 2022/23 tax yearalong with payments for the owed tax. Earlier this week by Wednesday January 24th HMRC received… Continue Reading HMRC Warning Self-Assessment Returns

There were 12,000 over 50 year old first time buyers in the UK in 2022, the latest figures available. This means that the number of first time homeowners over the age of 50 has increased by 30 per cent over the past five years, making it one of the fastest growing segments of the first time buyer market – and it comes at a time that home ownership in the… Continue Reading Over 50 Year Old First Time Buyers Increase

A third of landlords say that the scrapping of Section 21 is more of a concern to them than Stamp Duty Surcharge or loss of Tax Relief, a specialist buy-to-let broker. The poll found that 33 per cent of landlords were worried by the reform of Section 21 as part of the Renters Reform Bill. Under government plans, landlords are set to lose the right to evict tenants at short… Continue Reading Stamp Duty Surcharge More Worrying Than Section 21

Campaigners say it is ‘outrageous’ that 111 pages of changes to the Renters (Reform) Bill are tabled now. Ministers are again under attack for the way looming reforms to renting are being handled. Campaigners have hit out after 111 pages of changes to the Renters (Reform) Bill were added as MPs are looking at the bill in detail. Earlier this week, housing minister Rachel Maclean, who was in charge of… Continue Reading Beleaguered ministers under fire over renting reform changes

The government has launched a public consultation on a radical new UK home energy rating system to replace the long-standing Standard Assessment Procedure or SAP rating. SAP is the government’s current system for assessing and comparing the energy performance of homes.  It is used in building regulations, to ensure new homes are energy efficient and low carbon and is used to generate Energy Performance Certificates, which have become increasingly controversial… Continue Reading EPC Change On The Way? New energy ratings planned by government

October 1st is a very common day for new legislation to come into force in the UK, and this year is no exception. Both right to rent and smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements change on Saturday and landlords will have to ensure they are compliant from this date. Smoke and CO alarms As of 1 October PRS properties must have a working carbon monoxide alarm in almost every room… Continue Reading Update: New legislation coming in this weekend – Originally posted by NRLA

Landlords are calling on the Chancellor to adopt a cost of living plan for the private rented sector as tenants and landlords face ever growing costs. In a letter to Kwasi Kwarteng, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) warns that whilst private rents are increasing by less than inflation, rising energy, food and other bills will make it more difficult for many tenants to meet their rent payments. The NRLA… Continue Reading Landlords Publish Cost Of Living Plan For Private Rented Sector – Originally posted by NRLA

Almost 90 per cent of landlords feel the Government’s White Paper on rental reform demonstrates an anti-landlord agenda, according to new research by the NRLA.  The NRLA surveyed 3,500 landlords immediately after publication of the document ‘A Fairer Private Rented Sector’, and while the full data set is still being analysed, early indications are that landlords have serious concerns about where proposed changes will lead. When questioned, 87 per cent said… Continue Reading Landlords feel let down by Government – post originally from NRLA

Landlords are being urged to prepare for changes to Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations that introduce an obligation to repair or replace any alarm which is found to be faulty during a tenancy. Forthcoming changes to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations are expected as soon as Autumn 2022 when carbon monoxide alarms will be mandatory in rooms with a fixed combustion appliance in private rented homes and… Continue Reading Prepare For Smoke And Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations

With a new report showing almost 230,000 new PRS homes a year will be needed in the coming years NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle calls for Government action to help landlords continue to supply homes for those that need them. Demand has been outstripping supply in the PRS for some time now, with rents rising as competition for homes intensifies. Now a new report by the economics consultancy, Capital Economics, commissioned by… Continue Reading PRS Homes Supply Crisis

The UK needs almost 230000 new private rented homes a year to meet government housing targets across the UK, according to a new report by the economics consultancy, Capital Economics. The report, commissioned by the National Residential Landlords Association, observes that Government targets would amount to the need for 340,000 new homes a year across the UK by the middle of the decade. Capital Economics finds that if owner occupation… Continue Reading UK Needs 230000 New Private Rented Homes a Year

Around 10 per cent of PRS landlords with UC renters have faced at least one experiencing hardship because of the benefit cuts according to a survey carried out by an industry trade body. The government cut the extra £20 a week payments for UC recipients in October last year after the pandemic related temporary increase was ended. ‘Hot on the heels’ of the government’s announcement the industry trade body undertook… Continue Reading UC Renters Facing Hardship

It is widely anticipated that at long last the DWP is going to drastically reduce the wait for repayments of Universal Credit tenants rental arrears, which will be a huge relief to both landlords and affected tenants. The Department for Works and Pensions has just held discussions with several stakeholders including a firm running an accreditation scheme for agents, and unveiled their plans to change the timescale of repayments for… Continue Reading Possible Drastic New Timescale Of Benefits Payments For UC Tenant Rental Arrears

Almost one in four private landlords faced rental income losses as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. With those landlords affected almost twice as likely to sell property as those who were not, the National Residential Landlords Association is warning that the pandemic has exacerbated a supply crisis now facing tenants. A new poll by YouGov for the NRLA has found that, between March 2020 and September 2021, 23 per… Continue Reading Quarter Of Landlords Hit By Covid Rental Income Losses

Propertymark has hit back at the latest demand by politicians for rent controls. The London mayor Sadiq Khan renewed his call for rent controls last week, when unveiling a new qualification for Trading Standards officers investigating so-called landlords and rogue agents. And the Labour mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, has made a similar demand for his city, while Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru – which has an alliance with Labour… Continue Reading Agents Hit Back At Demand By Politicians For Rent Controls

Trading Standards and the government have jointly announced compulsory new data which must appear on property listings. A property’s council tax band or rate (for lettings and sales) and the property price and tenure information (for sales) must be included on all property listings by the end of May. Data fields for these particulars will start to appear on portals over the coming weeks. These changes represent the first phase of a project by the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team… Continue Reading New Info On Property Listings Coming Soon