A gloom has descended over the landlord community, it began when we were treated like no other business and had the interest on business loans/mortgages (which amount to the same thing in our business) excluded from tax exemption – known as Section 24 because it is Section 24 of the Finance Act 2017. 

This White Paper starts the process for new legislation leading to consultation and the publication of a Bill that will go through the Houses of Commons and Lords before receiving Royal Assent.  In other words, it will be some time before we see any changes and there is still time to make our MPs aware […]

There have been a lot of updates so far on legislation that is aimed at governing the private rental sector. In turn this will have an impact on landlords. In today’s post Mary Latham will be explaining what landlords can expect to see on the horizon this year.

On 13th April the Public Accounts Committee published its 49th  report of 21-22 Session – Regulation of private renting.  It’s important to keep an eye on these reports because they often lead to more legislation and it’s good to have an early warning. This report is very upfront, as can be seen from the title, […]

There are a couple of issues that are cropping up at the moment:   The landlord has decided to sell the property but there is a tenant in place.  The government is making an offer for us to offer a home to people coming from Ukraine. 

The government has revealed major plans to “level up” England dealing with issues like unemployment and local economies with the aim to close the North-South divide. In a White Paper, published in February, they laid out their plans to achieve this.  There is mention of a Landlords Register and the loss of Section 21 but […]

Spring is around the corner, and this will probably be the most welcome Spring in recent history. Hopefully we are going to return to unrestricted socializing and celebrating in the very near future. 

I share a lot of information through my social media accounts and often have some interesting online discussions as a result.  The amount of people who actually read the posts, click on the links or comment will depend on the subject of course, how busy people are offline and even the time of day.

Do I need an EPC for my HMO? THAT HAS BECOME A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION. The colder it becomes the more I think about the need to get rented properties up to a C. I always begin planning when new regulations are mentioned and 2025 will soon come around. In the meantime, investigating the options […]

Still no sign of new legislation being introduced and the Government announced last month that the much anticipated Rental Reform White Paper will now not be published until 2022. It had been suggested that it would be published this autumn and I was expecting to write about it today but I’m not complaining; when it is published, I expect that there will be more than just the […]

It has recently been reported that Shelter has launched a new campaign focussing on landlords and Letting Agents. This isn’t new; Shelter relies on charitable donations and government funding to pay for their activities, so they like to ensure they are in the public eye.  It is fundamental to their business plan to highlight to the public that some landlords and Letting Agents are operating illegally, and that Shelter is there on behalf of tenants to change […]

Back in the 70’s, when I first became a landlord, I didn’t tell anyone. There wasn’t the publicity that there is now and of course no social media, but it was generally  assumed that landlords were not “nice people”. In those days there was no Section 8 or Section 21, and legally removing a delinquent tenant was […]

It surprises me that, despite all the media stories, discussions on Facebook Property groups, blogs like this one and discussion fora, people still see becoming a landlord as “a bit on the side”. They come into the business with little or no knowledge of the legislation and regulation which surrounds the industry. They often consequently have […]

Since our distant ancestor searched for a cave in which to keep his family dry and safe we have known that the location of a place to call home is THE single most important consideration …. And yet mistakes happen because a T-Rex isn’t standing in the entrance and sometimes we don’t see the more subtle signs.   Great area, wrong road…