Date For Landlord Blacklist Revealed By Minister
An official blacklist of bad landlords and letting agents will be introduced by the government from October 1. The database will cover property people who are convicted of housing offences in England. These are mainly aimed at landlords with houses in multiple...
Give Tenants Longer Agreements, Says Consumer Group
A consumer watchdog is calling for buy to let landlords to give tenants with children longer rental agreements. Citizens Advice has disclosed 40% of families renting with children have less than six months to run on their agreements. Research by the charity shows that...
British Property Tax Highest In Developed World
Landlords may feel the government is waging an unfair tax war against them – and statistics from an international economic monitor back up their claims. The Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) has published figures that show Britain has the...
HMRC Wages A Tax War Against Buy To Let Landlords
The tax man is continuing to wage a financial war against landlords as the countdown to self-assessment filing day winds down. The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) deadline for filing returns and paying tax for the year to April 5, 2016 is January 31. Although this seems...
Letting Agent Was Unable To Charge Renewal Commission
Letting agents claiming renewal commission from landlords without doing any work for the money had their case kicked out of court by a judge. Cosway Estates, of Mill Hill, North London, wanted to charge 6.5% renewal commission when tenants signed up for another term...
Buy to let slows down but is still growing, says lender
Buy to let is still expanding – but at a much slower rate than in recent years due to government intervention, says a new industry report. Although the number of private rental homes has reached 5.3 million, the rate of growth has decreased to 5.4% a...
Best Company Mortgage Deals For Buy To Let Landlords
If you are a landlord financing buy to let property with a limited company sourcing the right mortgage can be a challenge. Although many landlords are considering moving to a corporate set-up, lenders will still consider mortgage affordability in the same way as if...
Escalating Ground Rents Trap New-build Investors
Buy to let landlords investing in new build leasehold properties that are almost impossible to sell will get a lifeline from the government. Thousands of landlords who have ploughed cash into leasehold new build properties have found the homes difficult to sell or...
Letting Agent Fees Axed – But Some Tax Cheer For Landlords
Buy to let landlords have yet another business cost to swallow as Chancellor Philip Hammond confirmed letting agent fees for tenants will be scrapped in England. In his 2016 Autumn Statement, Hammond spoke out against greedy letting agents who can charge up to £500...
If You’re A Landlord, You Should Feel Wealthy
Landlords do not have to earn a fortune to feel wealthy, according to the bank behind Britain’s biggest buy to let lender. Most people that feel rich have at least one buy to let home, says the survey by Lloyds Bank, which owns the Birmingham Midshires landlord...
Buy To Let Borrowing Upset On The Cards For Landlords
Portfolio landlords face another financial upset as the Bank of England tightens up the rules for buy to let mortgage lending. The Bank has already forced a shake-up of mortgage affordability rules in recent weeks as banks and building societies have been forced to...
What That Airbnb Ruling Says About Letting A Leased Home
The shock wave of what lawyers are calling ‘the AirBnB ruling’ are rippling out to towns and cities popular with tourists where landlords have switched from buy to lets to holiday lets. In Nemcova v Fairfield Rents, the Upper Tribunal clearly explained how renting a...
Do BICT Trusts Work For Buy To Let Landlords?
Lawyers argue beneficial interest company trusts allow landlords to avoid the new mortgage interest finance rules starting in April 2017 – but do they work? A beneficial interest company trust (BICT) is a legal arrangement between a property owner and a company which...
Buy To Let Investing – What Landlords Need To Know
Recent changes to buy to let tax and more legal responsibilities for landlords mean investing in property may not be as profitable as in the past. Landlords should think carefully before they tie up money in a rental home and should ensure they understand how the...
HSE Consults on Improvements to Gas Safety Checks
The Health and Safety Executive has published a consultation on minor changes to the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. The changes proposed are beneficial to landlords (for a change)! The part of the consultation of interest to landlords is the...
Three Landlords A Day Caught Breaking Housing Laws
Three rogue landlords a day face council enforcement action for breaking buy to let and shared home licensing, health and safety rules, according to Housing Minster Gavin Barwell. He revealed government funded task forces had brought more than 5000 bad landlords to...
Landlords Face More Cost And Red Tape To Evict Tenants
More red tape in the courts is likely to make evicting tenants who break suspended possession orders more expensive. The Court of Appeal in London decided that even though Cardiff City Council had an order concerning the tenant’s antisocial behaviour, they were wrong...
Dirty Homes Spark Record Number Of Deposit Disputes
Dirty houses and damage to furniture and fittings top landlord complaints to tenants who leave their buy to let homes in a mess. Landlords and tenants rowed about who should keep some or all of rent deposits in 28,100 cases last year, according to figures from the...
New Laws To Tackle HMO Overcrowding
Councils in England are to get new powers to tackle landlords squeezing too many tenants into overcrowded homes. The new rules will impose a minimum room size of 6.52 square metres in a shared house of multiple occupation (HMO) where five or more people live. The aim...
Jail For Landlords Ignoring Right To Rent Laws
Landlords who fail to carry out right to rent checks on tenants could face jail. Home Secretary Amber Rudd intends to make ignoring the right to rent rules introduced in February a criminal offence for landlords and letting agents. The new offence will come into force...
Coronavirus Guidance
Landlords Building Insurance
Guild subscribers can get preferential rates for landlords buildings insurance especially designed for landlords
