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Plan Now for death-Bed property taxes
27 Sep 2021 None of us are immortal, so death bed tax planning strategies are important for us all to know about. On that basis I make no apology for what some might perceive to be such a taboo topic. This Case Study is based on a married couple with children, which...
Renamed – The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
21 Sep 2021 Where is the mention of Housing and the Housing Market as a priority? The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has now been catchily renamed the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as the Government with former Bank of...
Tax on landlords could help pay for social care, says Keir Starmer
13 Sep 2021 Money to pay for social care could have been raised through taxing landlords, Sir Keir Starmer was expected to tell a conference. It comes after Boris Johnson announced plans to raise National Insurance tax on workers and employers in order to pay for the...
Is Conversion of Offices and Retail to Residential the next big thing?
10 Sep 2021 One of the biggest trends during the pandemic from a property development point of view has been a dramatic increase in the number of office/retail to resi conversions, made easier by new Permitted Development Rights which means change of use doesn’t...
Bye bye shopping centres. Hello rental properties
10 Sep 2021 One of the country’s largest commercial and retail landlords - Capital & Regional - is to expand is current programme of building residential homes on existing shopping centres. In a trading statement to shareholders the company - which specialises in...
Is there another cladding-type construction defect crisis on the horizon?
10 Sep 2021 Dr Jim Glockling, Technical Director at the FPA discusses whether, given the pace of construction innovation, enough is being done to avoid another cladding-type construction defect crisis, and what prospective buyers might need to do to protect themselves...
ARLA warns government on cost of pets in rental property
06 Sep 2021 As it begins to look inevitable that the government will legislate to demand pets are allowed in rental property, ARLA Propertymark has waded into the growing controversy. Last week a letter was sent to Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick by some 30 MPs. It...
Council launches lettings agency. Is is doomed to fail?
03 Sep 2021 A council has just launched it own publicly-funded lettings agency and wants private landlords to sign up. The 'Your Choice' lettings agency, run by South Ayrshire council, claims to be different from conventional agencies. “Our focus is to help...
Government considering £7,000 grants for heat pumps
01 Sep 2021 Ministers looking at quadrupling funding for existing Clean Heats Grants scheme and extending it by a year Homeowners could be given grants of at least £7,000 to replace their gas boilers with heat pumps under plans being considered by Boris Johnson. The...
Tenant Demand is Highest Ever Says Propertymark
25 Aug 2021 The scale of demand in the private rental sector is now the highest on record according to ARLA Propertymark. The average number of new prospective tenants registered per branch increased in July to 102, from June’s figure of 88. This is the highest...
The Rental Market according to Shawbrook Research
25 Aug 2021 The value of the Private Rented Sector in England, Wales and Scotland grew by 5.8 per cent to a jaw dropping £1.4 trillion in the last year according to a new report from Shawbrook Bank. Since the first national lockdown, house prices have rebounded...
EPC law change likely to create havoc across rental sector
25 Aug 2021 An analysis of new government legislation on energy efficiency suggests it may lead to chaos in the private rental sector. Geospatial technology company Kamma has studied the proposed increases to Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards contained in...
Lloyds Bank plan to become UK’s biggest private landlord revealed
25 Aug 2021 Internal job advert reveals that recently launched Citra Living is targeting 50,000 homes by 2030 Lloyds Bank has plans to become a 50,000-home build to rent landlord via deals with UK housebuilders, according to details revealed in an internal job advert....
Exposed by Newspaper – the council that flouted policies to fine more landlords
19 Aug 2021 (and then says it has no legal obligation to follow its own policy!) London Borough of Redbridge Council “secretly and informally” flouted its own policy in order to fine over 100 landlords in just six months. Testimony from...
Landlords Beware – stamp duty probes likely to soar in near future
13 Aug 2021 The many thousands of landlords who have snapped up properties have been advised to be on alert - a tax consultancy suggests HMRC probes are likely to soar. Boodle Hatfield, which describes itself as a private wealth law firm, says the number of Stamp Duty...
Another bank enters rental sector with plan for 2,500 homes
12 Aug 2021 A retail bank has announced the launch of a £500m project to fund the construction of up to 2,500 suburban, purpose-built family rental homes across the North and Midlands. Gatehouse Bank already has two large Build To Rent schemes and this new project...
Tories declare State of Emergency as Holiday Lets decimate rental homes
03 Aug 2021 A Conservative MP says he is to declare a “state of housing emergency” in his constituency because of the loss of stock away from long-term renting towards Airbnb-style short lets. Anthony Mangnall, the Tory MP for Totnes in Devon, has told The Times:...
London Borough of Camden secures ASBO injunction & exclusion zone against landlord
30 Jul 2021 Camden council in north London has become the first local authority to secure an anti-social behaviour injunction against a landlord in order to protect private tenants from illegal eviction and harassment. The council secured the injunction against...
BREAKING NEWS: Change to which Landlords can receive Rent Repayment Order.
Rakusen v Jepson and others appeal upheld and Upper Tribunal Decision Overturned. In what is the most important news for Landlords who find their property has been sublet unknowingly in Rent to Rent Residential to HMO situations. the Rent to Rent company will be held...
HMRC knows where landlords live! Data revealed
29 Jul 2021 HMRC has released data showing how many landlords live in each county, city, London borough and town within the UK. The figures also reveal that the total landlord population now exceeds 2.65 million people. HMRC has released data showing how many...
Lenders should not ask for EWS1 forms on blocks below 18 metres, says Jenrick
22 Jul 2021 Robert Jenrick (photo: BBC) These forms – which were introduced by Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors guidance in December 2019 – provide a framework for surveyors to assess the compliance of a building’s facade. Following consolidated government...
Nowhere for HMO landlords to hide as Councils turn to Artificial Intelligence
21 Jul 2021 How long does it take for your Council to work out you’re running an unlicensed HMO? Less than one day! This was confirmed for us this week when a worried landlord got in touch with our landlords defence consultancy team. Here’s the situation: Landlord...
HMRC homes in on Landlords using Artificial Intelligence
15 Jul 2021 There’s been a sharp fall in money raised from a campaign encouraging landlords to voluntarily disclose tax owed on rental properties according to an accountancy firm. Like local authorities, HMRC knows more and more about taxpayers and their behaviours...
Letting agents warn of widespread evictions as government fails to support tenants
14 Jul 2021 The UK Association of Letting Agents trade body is warning of “widespread evictions” unless government support is offered to tenants. UKALA chairman Tim Clark says: “The restrictions on evictions during the last year, whilst very appropriate for the time,...
27% rise in complaints about lettings agents to Property Redress Scheme
14 Jul 2021 Complaints referred to the Property Redress Scheme against its members grew by more than a quarter during 2020. In its annual report for the period December 1 2019 to November 30 2020 - only just released this week - the scheme received 1,829 initial...
Should Landlords keep wearing facemasks after July 19? ARLA tells letting agents they should
14 Jul 2021 New guidance has been issued to agents as the government confirms that most remaining Coronavirus restrictions are to be lifted from July 19, next Monday. However, and perhaps controversially, the guidance recommends continued use of masks and face...
Is this a kinder, effective way to deal with rent arrears
13 Jul 2021 When faced with non-paying tenants, most landlords tend to think of eviction. However, this is a dreadful solution just now: For landlords, it means a stressful and often expensive court claim, which could take up to a year or more to complete,...
Average UK rent breaks £1000 barrier for the first time
12 Jul 2021 The HomeLet rental index for June is reporting the average rent in the UK is now at a record high of £1,007 pcm, up 5.9% on the same time last year, and up 9% on June 2019. Despite adversity, the London rental market has seen the first price increase...
New for landlords: A pet referencing service!
12 Jul 2021 A pet referencing service is courting controversy by suggesting more animals should be allowed in rental properties - and that landlords, not tenants, should pay for references. PetsScore is launching in August and says its service will be the first...
Is this the end of the small landlord? John Lewis moves into the Private Rental Sector
12 Jul 2021 John Lewis is planning to expand and develop into the PRS to divest risk from its struggling retail portfolio, saying it wants to address national housing shortages and support local communities with plans for building 10,000 new homes. 7,000 of the...
Fire Prevention Association Roasts Government saying Inadequate Building Safety Bill puts lives at risk
09 Jul 2021 Yet gain, the Government is not listening to the experts says Jonathan O’Neill OBE, Managing Director of the FPA responding to the publication of the Building Safety Bill. “The failure to grip the problem of fire safety defects in all buildings shows the...
Government tells councils to close the hotels used for homeless
09 Jul 2021 Councils have been told that they must close the hotels they used to house homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic as a condition of the latest round of rough-sleeper funding from the government. A letter has been sent to councils who received...
Landlord opportunity as UK population tops 67 million for first time
09 Jul 2021 Guest post Rich Pereira of the Office for National Statistics The latest Office for National Statistics mid-year estimates suggest the UK population has reached 67 million for the first time. But the year to June 2020 saw considerably...
Is this the beginning of the end for Serviced Accommodation in the UK?
07 Jul 2021 In the wake of many councils throughout the UK beginning to use planning enforcement procedures against Landlords in an attempt to close down Serviced Accommodation in residential areas, the Labour-led Welsh Government has decided to use taxation laws to...
Regulatory issues are the biggest reason for landlords wanting to sell, survey discovers
01 Jul 2021 Nearly a million landlords plan to review their buy to let portfolios over the next two years with the number planning to sell outnumbering those planning to buy more properties. This is according to new research from the Nottingham Building Society. Its...
Landlords must make their voice heard as House Lords reviews housing supply and planning
01 Jul 2021 The new House of Lords Built Environment Committee, chaired by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, has launched an inquiry into housing demand in the UK and how barriers to meeting this demand can be overcome. The Committee invites interested individuals and...
More council lunacy as they order landlord to replace triple glazing with single destroying EPC
30 Jun 2021 A landlord has been ordered by his local council to remove energy efficient triple glazed windows installed at a cost of some £10,000. The council’s action has even made the BBC News which reports that Mike West replaced single-glazed sliding sash windows...
Rogue Tenant tries to bribe agents over cannabis factory
29 Jun 2021 A tenant who rented a flat in Exeter tried to bribe estate agents who discovered he had converted it into a cannabis growing factory. Anisi Hamollari, 25, paid a cash deposit of £6,438 to rent a three-bedroom house in the city. But when neighbours...
Agent spots illegal rental scam – and police refuse to get involved
29 Jun 2021 A lettings agent has told the BBC that he has spotted illegal rental scams using online platforms, but the police have chosen not to act. The BBC investigation has found that one tenant, Mary Whitbread from Bournemouth, has lost around £3,000 after paying...
Another trading standards unit looking into letting agencies
24 Jun 2021 A local Trading Standards team is clamping down on rogue letting agents. Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service has launched a new campaign to help prevent renters in the region being caught out by fees that have now been banned....
Rishi Sunak is making landlords the Scapegoats
18 Jun 2021 The NRLA is accusing the Chancellor of making landlords the scapegoats for the Covid-19 rent debt crisis as he turns his back on the support the sector needs. A new report published by the National Residential Landlords Association outlines the toll that...
Agents tell politicians they don’t understand the cost of pets in rental properties (what a surprise).
18 Jun 2021 Propertymark has waded into the controversy over whether private rental tenants should be allowed to keep pets in their properties. As reported yesterday on our sister publication Landlord Today, various Conservative and some Labour and cross-bench peers...
Overseas student letting enquiries up 400%
17 Jun 2021 A Manchester agency says there’s been a 400 per cent increase in enquiries from international students. This huge number of enquiries for May is an indication that the international student accommodation market is on the road to recovery despite travel...
London rental market recovering upwards at last
17 Jun 2021 There’s a large scale recovery underway in London’s rental sector according to the website Home. The site says that while average rents are still down overall on a year ago, most boroughs show significant rises over the last three months. The...
Agents join Landlords to demand government support for tenants in arrears due to Covid
17 Jun 2021 Propertymark, the trade body for letting agents, has joined landlords in writing to junior housing minister Eddie Hughes to call for public cash to be used to help clear Covid-related arrears. Propertymark says urgent action is needed because renters and...
Judge tears into Northampton Council’s Samantha Ling and her department
14 Jun 2021 In a shocking, and embarrassing for Northampton Borough Council (NBC), determination by Judge Wayte of the First Tier Tribunal property, he went so far as to suggest that the landlord should make a claim for costs against the Council. A move...
Yet another landlord fined massively for unlicensed property
11 Jun 2021 A London council has prosecuted a landlord for renting out an unauthorised and unsafe House in Multiple Occupation. Daniella Mbachu, who owns property in Mitcham, was found guilty of failing to apply for an HMO licence from Merton council, and failure to...
Council announces free property licensing!
10 Jun 2021 Instead of charging landlords around £1,000 like most UK councils - for the dubious honour of going into a database - which the council will then use so they can easily inspect properties and issue eye watering fines, Jersey (which is of course part of the...
Is your town on the £610m Town Deals funding list?
10 Jun 2021 Twenty-six councils have been awarded funding by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government programme, intended to boost local economies and create jobs through projects including housebuilding.It is especially aimed at upgrading neglected...
‘Responsible’ approach to short lets welcomed by UK trade body
10 Jun 2021 Airbnb says it’s working to consider new approaches to short-term letting and the burgeoning holiday lets sector - and this has been welcomed by a trade body. Last week Airbnb, which has been criticised by some for its impact on local rental markets,...
HMO deemed dirty & unsafe. Lettings firm fined £21,000
09 Jun 2021 A council investigation found no fire alarms, routes of escape blocked, and a broken window covered with a 'to let' sign A Manchester letting and management company has been fined more than £21,000 after one of their properties was found to have multiple...
The strongest five-year rental yield, only 5.5% says research
09 Jun 2021 Manchester had the best rental yields between 2015 and 2020, averaging at 5.5% per year over that time, analysis has revealed. The second-best hotspot between 2015 and 2020 is Sunderland (5.4%), followed by Nottingham (5.3%) and Newcastle (5.2%). In 2020...
One in the eye for council ‘Anti-Planning’ departments as 40% increase in approvals needed if housing targets to ever be met
09 Jun 2021 Planning permissions must rise by 40% if the government is to meet its target of building 300,000 homes by the mid-2020s, a report has said.Research produced by planning consultancy Lichfields and commissioned by the Land Promoters and...
Mortgages to become more expensive the worse your EPC
08 Jun 2021 Under new legislation being considered, homeowners living in poorly insulated and draughty homes (meaning they would have a low EPC rating) could pay more for their mortgages and lose value from their homes under Government plans to prioritise mortgages on...
Council declares war on Landlords while stealing housing from them
07 Jun 2021 A council has explicitly announced it’s “on the side of tenants against landlords”. Totally ignoring the fact that landlords are its citizens too. And citizens they are legally required to serve! To date, this council boasts that is has stolen...
Generation Rent wants Landlords to be forced to take even more risk. Will it all end in tears?
07 Jun 2021 Many people will have heard on the radio over the Bank Holiday weekend reports about the eviction ban ending. A Joseph Rowntree Trust claim that 800,000 households face losing their homes was repeated throughout the day. Not once did Radio 4 or Times Radio...
Rental properties could boost EPC rating for £100 or even less
09 Jun 2021 Some low-cost energy efficiency improvements to a property could boost its EPC rating according to an analysis undertaken by Rightmove. The portal has looked at over 15m homes across England and Wales, and has suggested five low-cost means of improving...
Landlords threaten council with Judicial Review over HMO Licensing Scheme
27 May 2021 For once, well organised LANDLORDS are threatening to take the council to the High Court over plans to expand a housing licensing scheme. York Residential Landlords Association claim City of York Council's proposals are "unlawful and irrational". The...
Enfield Selective Licensing in 14 Wards confirmed
25 May 2021 Every single rental property in 14 wards of Enfield will need a licence soon. They will need either a selective licence, an Additional HMO licence or a Mandatory HMO licence. The civil penalty fines for failing to licence are punitive and almost...
Duty is on owner to prove building is NOT a section 257 HMO – states Upper Tribunal
24 May 2021 Converted buildings are frequently “section 257 HMOs” under the Housing Act 2004. As such they must comply with the HMO Management Regulations for s257 HMOs and increasingly, councils are requiring the building to be licensed under their...
