Can you really trust house price statistics?
The Halifax House Price Index has thrown up some questionable figures for the second month in a row, but should homeowners and buyers really go along with what the statistics say? The Halifax claims home values have increased 5.2% in the year to the end of May,...
Legal Update 2019 Course in Wales
Training for Professionals is holding a “Legal Update 2019 Wales” course in Colwyn Bay on the 3rd July and Swansea on the 4th July 2019. Here at the Guild of Residential Landlords, we work very closely with Training for Professionals and have been to a number of these...
Updated Holding Deposit Form and Form 6A
We have updated the combined holding deposit receipt and agreement used for England under the Tenant Fees Act. At the top, we had “prospective landlord” details which needed to be entered but we have now changed this to be details of the person receiving the holding...
CGT Stealth Tax Will Cost Landlords More
Another stealth tax is likely to add to the woes of landlords selling an investment property. HM Revenue & Customs wants to slash the tax relief on selling homes. Currently, under principle residence relief (PRR) investors benefit from an 18-month capital gains...
P2P Investors Holding £160m in Loans as Lender Collapses
Property peer-to-peer funding platform Lendy has collapsed leaving investors holding around £160 million in outstanding loans. Lendy pooled funding from private investors with pledges of up to 12% returns. The money was borrowed by homeowners and developers and...
Landlord Confidence is Key to Possession Reforms
Groups representing landlords and letting agents forming a ‘Fair Possessions Coalition’ have united in warning that plans to abolish Section 21 repossessions without a new system in place would undermine investment in the sector at a time when private landlords are...
We Can’t Keep Up With Property Tax Tinkering, Say Experts
Ministers should hold off tinkering with stamp duty rules for landlords and property investors after a slew of changes in recent years, says tax experts. The changes impact home buyers and buy to let investors, who along with their advisors, are hard-pushed to keep up...
How to Rent Guide Updated for Tenant Fees Ban
Today (1 June 2019) the Tenant Fees Act 2019 commences in England. To coincide with this, the legally required How to rent: the checklist for renting in England has been updated. This How to Rent guide is the prescribed information must be given to all new tenants as...
Tenant Fee Ban Q&A FAQ for Landlords
A ban on charging tenants fees for arranging a private tenancy starts on June 1 across England. For landlords who need to get up to speed with the new rules, here are the answers to some frequently asked questions: When does the ban start? For new tenancies that start...
Landlords Given a Say Over Tenant Fee Ban in Wales
The Welsh Government is asking landlords and property professionals for their views about banning tenant fees. The assembly has already voted to start the ban from September 1. But the decision about which fees to ban has yet to be finalised. The government wants help...
Features Tenants Are Willing to Pay More Rent For
Landlords and letting agents would be forgiven for thinking tenants want the best house for the cheapest rent - but they are willing to pay more for the right property. New research has highlighted the top nine features private renters will pay more for. Keeping fit...
Date Set for Start of Tenant Fee Ban in Wales
The new law banning landlords and letting agents from charging private renters fees to start or renew a tenancy agreement will start in Wales from September 1. Under the rules, landlords and letting agents can only make a limited number of charges to tenants, such as...
Landlord Evictions Drop for the Fifth Year Running
Despite housing charities complaining about the number of landlords evicting tenants, official figures show the number has steadily dropped over the past five years. The latest data from the Ministry of Justice for the first three months of 2019 show landlord legal...
Buy to Let Sales Give Landlords a £80,000 Cash Boost
The average landlord sold selling a buy to let last year made a gain of almost £80,000, according to new data. The biggest profits were in London, where landlords scooped an average £248,000 gain. But while 85% of landlords managed to sell for an impressive gain after...
Landlords Ease Impact of Tenant Fee Ban by Raising Rents
Buy to let rents are going up so that landlords can cover letting agent costs when a tenant fee ban starts, claims a property expert. Tenants have seen rents rise at the fastest rate for three years - at an average 3.3% to an average £942 a month in the year to the...
New Holding Deposit Forms and Templates Added
We have added to the website new forms and templates specifically for the holding deposit provisions of the Tenant Fees Act 2019. The forms are only suitable for use in England at the moment (but a similar ban is on the way to Wales). You can see the procedure for...
Thousands of Rented Homes Riddled With Faults
Thousands of renters are living in homes with health and safety hazards, according to a new survey. The most common danger is a missing or broken smoke detector - which was flagged in 40% of home compliance inspections. The other main issues in rented homes are trip...
Buy to Let Warning for Armchair Landlords
Profitable buy to let is over and amateur landlords ought to get out while they can, according to the boss of a leading build-to-rent firm. Helen Gordon, chief executive of Grainger, the UK’s biggest private rented home business, claims amateur landlords would do...
New Section 21 Notice Prescribed Form 6A From June 2019
The Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies (Forms) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 amends the Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies (Forms) (England) Regulations 2015 and creates a new prescribed form 6A for when section 21 is being used. The...
Tenancy Deposit Prescribed Information by New Landlord
An interesting case has been reported on the NearlyLegal blog, Sebastiampillai v Parr. Central London County Court, 11 April 2019. When tenancy deposit schemes were first introduced in 2007, it was the position that the deposit needed protecting and new prescribed...
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