The Residential Landlords Association is calling for the government to scrap the 3% stamp duty land tax on second and subsequent homes. It says the 3% SDLT should not apply to properties that add to the overall housing stock.

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A rogue landlord has been jailed for 16 weeks after illegally evicting 35 men from a three-bed property. Ilie Florin Dragusin had illegally sub-let his three-bed property in London to make extra money.

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A rogue landlord convicted of letting out illegally converted flats in London had been ordered to repay the £300k he made in rental income. If he fails to pay the money back within three months, he could be sent to prison.

The landlord illegally converted a house in Crouch End into nine tiny dwellings. Haringey Council became aware of the illegal conversion in 2012 and ordered the landlord to stop renting the flats out. The landlord appealed to the Planning Inspectorate 21 months later, but his appeal failed. Despite this, he continued to let the flats out. Read more…

Thanks to tax changes implemented by the government in a bid to dampen down the buy to let market, many smaller landlords have been selling up and leaving the sector. There is now new evidence that it isn’t all doom and gloom. Recent research suggests that student lets perform well in popular student towns and cities where properties are cheap to buy. A study has found that rental yields in Middlesbrough and Liverpool are seven times higher than in London.

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A property search engine is claiming that landlords are deserting the private rental sector in their droves. Home.co.uk says there has been a 12% drop in listings for rental properties in the last year, and a 20% drop in London, where prices are much higher.

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