Holiday Home Owners Accused of Avoiding Council Tax
Property investors exploiting a second home business rates loophole may cost councils millions in lost revenue, says the government. To find out if second home owners are avoiding council tax, the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government has launched a...
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Buy to Let Rents Rise by 2.1% in a Year
Rents across the country rose by 2.1% in October compared to a year ago, according to a new study. Tenants are paying an average rent of £928 a month. Rents in London are much higher - averaging £1,619 a month after going up 4% year-on-year, says the research from...
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Tenant Fees Ban on the Way for Wales
The tenant fees ban for letting agents is likely to stretch across Wales if a new law is passed by the Welsh Assembly. Lawmakers in Wales are already replacing assured shorthold tenancies with new standard contracts under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which may...
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Property Fraud Nets £20 Million From Investors
Fraudsters running a property Ponzi-scheme conned 800 would-be investors out of almost £20 million. Essex and London Properties collapsed with debts of more than £11 million in January after promising an 8% return on money invested for a year or 12% for three years....
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HMO Letters Another Financial Blow for Landlords
Tens of thousands of landlords are set to receive letters from their mortgage lenders after a change in the legal definition of which houses in multiple occupation require a licence. A legislation update on October 1 in England which changed the definition and meant...
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New Energy Upgrade Rules for Buy to Let Homes
New rules aimed at making rented homes warmer and cheaper to run for tenants are on the way for 200,000 buy to let landlords. Landlords must upgrade the energy efficiency of tens of thousands of homes in England and Wales if they want to continue to rent them out. The...
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Minister to Tighten Health and Safety Rules for Rented Homes
Landlords in England face a stricter health and safety regime as the government announces an overhaul of out-of-date rules. Housing Minister Heather Wheeler on rogue landlords renting out substandard homes to private tenants. The review will look at updating the...
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Tax Checks for Landlords Licensing Homes on the Way
Landlords may have to prove they pay the right taxes if they apply for licences to rent out property. Squirrelled away in Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s Budget 2018 documents is a scant paragraph outlining the measure. The move is a follow-on to the almost forgotten...
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Buy to Let Lender Backs Tenant Deposit Shake-Up
One in three renters have lost money from their deposits, while landlords and letting agents take too long to return the money at the end of a tenancy, says a new survey. Building society Nationwide is calling for a law change to help tenants find the cash to move...
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Budget 2018 – Tax for Landlords at a Glance
Chancellor Phillip Hammond restrained from tinkering with landlord tax too much in his Budget 2018. The major changes impact on the capital gains tax reliefs available to buy to let landlords when they sell a property that they had lived in as their main home for some...
read moreHow To Comply With The EPC Regulations
Introduction Since 1 October 2008, an energy performance certificate has been...
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Licence Conditions and Occupation by Students
Under the Housing Act 2004, where a licence is required and a local authority issue a licence, they may impose conditions on the licence holder under section 67 Housing Act 2004: (1) A licence may include such conditions as the local housing authority consider...
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Lawyers Called in as Court Defeats Undermine Licensing Schemes
Government lawyers are looking into how recent court defeats will impact how councils charge shared house licensing fees. In the first case, the High Court declared Richmond Council, in South West London, illegally levied a fee to cover the cost of managing a shared...
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Petition Protest Against ‘No Benefits’ Buy to Let Lenders
A buy to let landlord who could only remortgage a rented home if she evicted her tenant has started a petition protest calling for the government to outlaw lenders with a ‘no benefits’ policy. NatWest told the landlord, Helen McAteer, that she could only increase her...
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Buy to Let Rent Rises Slowing Down
UK average rents were up by 1.7% in the 12 months to the end of September, according to new data. Tenants are paying an average £943 a month. But they pay far more in London, where year-on-year rents increased by 3% to an average £1,640 a month. If the London figures...
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Landlords Pulling the Plug on Buy to Let
Buy to let property purchase data would suggest landlords are pulling out of the market. In the first six months of this year, buy to let purchases were £12.1 billion, down a third by £5.2 billion compared to £17.3 billion in the same period of 2015. The spend was the...
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Agenda Published for Cardiff Meet 23 October 2018
We are pleased to announce the agenda for our upcoming meet up in Cardiff on Tuesday 23 October 2018. The agenda has a ‘finding tenants’ feel and will begin with Ashley Aske, Housing Options Senior from Cardiff Housing Solutions talking about their free service for...
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Labour MP Pushes for Mandatory Landlord Licensing
Labour MP Phil Wilson is taking a second swipe at trying to make all landlords sign up to a national register for England. Wilson wants to push the Private Landlords (Registration) Bill through Parliament. But he has a fight on his hands as the government has refused...
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Buy to Let Landlords Flouting Fire and Gas Safety Laws
Buy to let landlords are ignoring fire and gas safety in millions of homes they rent out, according to a leading insurer. The insurer, AXA, claims that many landlords are breaking the law after asking 2,000 private renters about safety standards in their homes. The...
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What Tenants Want From a Rented Home
The easy way to become a successful landlord is to boost the appeal of a buy to let home by giving tenants what they want from a property. The problem is uncovering what they like and dislike about a home. To help, consumer watchdog Which? took the survey results and...
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