According to figures published by the National Landlords Association, around 36% of landlords have had a property where tenants have simply disappeared overnight, often leaving rent arrears in their wake. The problem is even worse in the North of England, with 58% of landlords reporting property abandonment.
The Housing and Planning Act has finally been given Royal Assent. So how does this important Act affect landlords? The main purpose of the Act is to weed out rogue landlords, many of whom make tenants’ lives a misery. There are various measures contained within the Act. These include:
March saw a stampede of landlords racing to complete on new buy to let purchases before George Osborne’s stamp duty changes kicked in. This sudden flurry of activity has had a knock-on effect on the UK housing market, leading to an increasing gap between supply and demand.
The NLA has issued a challenge to the new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Whilst the NLA welcomes the appointment of Mr Khan to the role, they would like him “to use just a fraction of his £17bn budget to help support London’s private rental sector.”
A recent study by leading insurer, Direct Line, has revealed that tenants now spend around 18 months in their properties before they move on to pastures new. It has also revealed that in some parts of the UK, void periods are longer than others.
A prolific scammer is facing jail for a string of property fraud offences in Luton. Moses Ogoe has pleaded guilty to six charges of rent-to-rent fraud, whereby he rented several large properties under false pretences and proceeded to sub-let them to multiple tenants.
Rental property in London is typically around £1,600 a month, which is unaffordable for many people. As a result, many tenants are forced to share homes or live in less than perfect properties.
London is the most expensive place in the UK to rent a home. It costs, on average, anywhere from £1,300 to £2,200 to rent a studio or one-bed flat in the capital. For graduates and young professionals in entry level jobs, this is completely unaffordable, so their only option is to live in a flat-share.
It was not too long ago that buy to let lenders were queuing up to offer landlords great mortgage deals. Now, though, the buy to let mortgage market is undergoing a radical change in response to government tax cuts and Bank of England’s regulatory changes for buy to let mortgages.
Credit card provider, MBNA, claims their research shows that landlords are to blame for a drop in the number of young people undertaking DIY projects in their homes. MBNA says Generation Rent can’t afford to spend money on DIY because they are too busy trying to scrape together enough money to pay the rent.
The introduction of a 3% surcharge for landlords and investors who own a second property has caused uproar in the private rental sector. Landlords and landlord groups have all been quick to condemn the move. They say that the move will have unintended consequences.
A Liverpool landlord has been fined £40k plus costs at Liverpool Crown Court following a catastrophic fire at his rental property in the city, after he admitted failing to install a working fire alarm. The fire broke out in the early hours of the morning in January last year. Those tenants who were awake at […]
A recent episode of Channel 5’s Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords featured a West London home owner who decided to let out her property so she could travel to Africa to do charity work.
House prices have risen by 1.3% in the last few months, in response to a surge in activity as landlords rushed to buy properties ahead of the rise in stamp duty. This sudden flurry of activity has sparked a chain reaction says leading property website Rightmove, with landlords buying cheaper homes at the bottom of […]
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