An important Bill that seeks to get rid of rogue landlords is about to have its second reading in parliament. The Bill, introduced by Dame Angela Watkinson, has taken on board Residential Landlords Association proposals to enable local authorities to use information on Council Tax forms for the identification of criminal landlords.
The Welsh Government has finally announced a start date for the Rent Smart Wales initiative. Previous press releases on the subject were frustratingly vague, but we can now confirm that the scheme will be launched on November 23rd.
As a responsible landlord, you probably spend quite a lot of time and effort making your rental properties comfortable and reasonably attractive to tenants. This might involve fitting new carpets when the old ones wear out and replacing an out-dated kitchen with a shiny new one.
A Home Office press released issued on 20th October confirms what many suspected would happen: as of February 1st. 2016, the Right to Rent Immigration checks on tenants will become mandatory.
Most landlords state “no pets” when advertising rental properties. The reason being pets can cause untold damage and even if the tenant has paid a deposit, the sum may not cover the cost of replacing carpets, skirting boards, doors, and anything else destroyed by an animal. These days, however, more and more tenants are looking […]
The government has announced changes to planning policy, so instead of developers being required to include a percentage of affordable homes in every new housing development, they will now have to build and sell starter homes instead.
Rent controls have been a frequent topic in the news in the last few months. Labour are keen to introduce them but the private rental sector believes that such a measure would be disastrous for landlords and tenants. Up to now there has been no real factual research to show what would happen if rent […]
The announcement by chancellor George Osborne that tax breaks for landlords would be reduced from next year was a huge blow for many people operating in the buy to let sector. Industry experts believe that the loss of valuable tax breaks could mark a decline in the buy to let sector as landlords see their […]
Landlords are required by law to install working smoke and CO alarms in their properties. However, trading standards officials from Leicestershire County Council have issued a warning to landlords to check whether the CO alarms they purchase do actually work.
When the recession hit in 2007, the UK housing market crashed in spectacular fashion. Tens of thousands of pounds were wiped off the value of properties all over the country and people who had bought at the height of the boom, were left in the unfavourable position of owning a property worth less than their […]
The current mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has chosen not to run for a third term in office now he is MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip. This leaves an opening for new candidates, one of whom has now been confirmed as Sadiq Khan from the Labour Party.
The National Landlords Association is asking landlords to take part in a survey so they can collect as much relevant data as possible. All data collected will be used to lobby the Treasury to amend the Finance Bill, which threatens to harm the private rental sector in the UK.
From October 1st, all landlords must have the correct smoke detectors fitted, so if you own a rental property, conduct a risk assessment now because if you don’t have fully functioning smoke alarms fitted, you will be in breach of the law.
Government statistics tell us that 95% of UK landlords own between one and four properties, most of them managing their portfolios part-time. Many of these landlords fear they will be forced out of business within twelve month.
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