How the Homeless Reduction Act 2017 Aims to Help Landlords
The Homeless Reduction Bill has now been agreed by both houses. and is awaiting Royal Assent when it will become an Act. No date has been set for the Royal Assent. Update: The Bill has now received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017 and so this is now the Homelessness...
Council Had No Power to Demand Landlord Licence Conditions
Local councils have had a strict limit applied to the conditions they can add to a selective licence for private rented homes after the Court of Appeal upheld a legal challenge from a landlord. Property investor Paul Brown complained Hyndburn Council was overstepping...
HMRC Wants to Collect CGT Within 30 Days of a Property Sale
The deadline for paying capital gains tax after a buy to let or shared home sale is due to shorten to just 30 days for landlords. HM Revenue & Customs has published a consultation outlining the new rules that bring UK landlords in line with overseas landlords for...
Bad Service Heads List of Property Agent Complaints
Poor customer service triggered more complaints to go before the Property Redress Service than any other factor. The PRS annual report for 2017 reveals 88 complaints out of the 742 received in the year related to poor service and the way complaints were handled by...Does my HMO / Bedsit type property require an EPC?
There have been changes to the regulations since this article was posted. Please see new guidance here. Residential From 1 October 2008 sellers and landlords will be required by law to provide an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for all buildings or parts of...
Revealed! The True State of Buy to Let in the UK
The number of private landlords has reached a record high, according to figures from HMRC. HM Revenue & Customs is well-placed to gauge the buy to let and shared markets as every landlord must declare their rental income on a self-assessment tax return each year....
Measures on the Way to Make Estate Agents More Professional
The government has rounded on making estate agents more professional after a recent crackdown on letting agents. Housing secretary Sajid Javid wants to raise standards in the property sector. He claims home buyers and sellers are subjected to unnecessary delays and...
Banning Orders – Housing and Planning Act 2016
As previously reported, from 6 April 2018, parts of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 commence introducing banning orders and a database of rogue landlords and property agents in England. Banning orders If a landlord is convicted of a “banning order offence” a local...
Landlord and Agent Legislation in the Pipeline for 2018
We thought it would be useful to provide a summary of upcoming legislation in 2018 affecting landlords and agents. This will be useful for our own use as a reminder for dates and articles too! It’s quite a busy year coming up but some of the legislation in the...
Buy to Let Taxes Set to Bite Harder for Landlords
Landlords should get ready for another dip in rental profits as buy to let tax income tax rules bite harder from the start of the new financial year. A year after the government changed the way how mortgage interest tax relief and rental business profits are...Death of a tenant
Assured Shorthold Tenancy Fixed term tenancies The general law applies. Where joint tenants hold a fixed term, the survivors become the tenants. If a sole tenant dies the tenancy dissolves according to his will or on intestacy – see below under general law. Periodic...
EPC Minimum Energy Levels Explained
We have previously reported on the publishing of guidance for the new minimum energy levels for rented property which are being phased in from 1 April 2018. Here, we will take a look at these regulations and guidance in more detail because now is the time to start...How To Comply With The EPC Regulations
This article has been updated to incorporate amendments made by The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 Introduction Since 6 April 2008, an energy performance certificate has bee required on rented property in England...
Minister Confirms Crackdown on Rogue Letting Agents
Housing Minister Heather Wheeler has confirmed landlords and tenants will have stronger protection against the worst excesses of bad letting and managing agents. She has set out three main protections for hundreds of thousands of renters and leasehold property owners...
Landlords Building Insurance
Guild subscribers can get discounted landlords buildings insurance especially designed for landlords
