Landlord News Category

The ban on unfair letting fees has forced landlords and letting agents to think outside the box. Because they can no longer charge cleaning fees or higher deposits to protect against the risk of extra damage, some have decided to target tenants with pets.

I’ve been to my fair share of disastrous inspections. Truth is, no matter how well you’ve vetted your tenant, you don’t know what you’re going to find when you step inside. Remember, cleanliness is subjective. What looks dirty to you and I may look clean to someone else…

Most landlords ask tenants to pay a deposit when they start a tenancy. New rules in England means this is typically 5 week’s rent, but where the annual rent exceeds £50,000, a 6 week deposit can be taken.

The deposit is there to cover any accidental damage or other issues, so the landlord is not left massively out of pocket in the event of problems at the end of the tenancy.

Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell has announced a radical new scheme that targets property owned by buy to let landlords. If Labour gets into power, it will give tenants the right to buy their rental property at a discounted price. John McDonnell says this will tackle the problem of rogue landlords, as well as making it easier for private tenants to gain a foothold on the property ladder.

Following a recent court case where a landlord was denied an eviction order because he didn’t give the tenant a Gas Safe Certificate before the tenancy began, the RLA launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for an appeal. In the week since the crowdfunding campaign was launched, it has already attracted more than £4,400 in donations, which is incredible. The target amount is £10k, and with 22 days to go before the crowdfunding page closes, it is possible the RLA will get there.