Government Wants to Plug AirBnB Tax Loophole
Tax relief on AirBnB lets may get the chop as the government looks at revamping rent-a-room rules for short-term rentals. Rent-a-room allows householders to earn up to £7,500 a year from lodgers. But the Treasury feels holiday lets are an abuse of the rules that were...
Rogue Landlord Database Gets Green Light
Housing minister Sajid Javid plans to plug a hole in the fight against bad landlords with a national database of offenders. The system is due to go live from April 2018 and will list banning orders against rogue landlords. The measure will stop landlords with...
Tax Gurus Can Cost Landlords More Than They Save
Like all good business people, landlords are always looking at ways to maximise their earnings but recent tax changes have left many concerned about their profits. Between April 2017 and April 2019, both the way property profits are calculated and the amount of tax...
HMRC Flags Landlord Tax Crackdown
HMRC may be readying for a campaign against landlords after issuing a warning about tax avoidance. As the January 31 deadline for self-assessment filing nears, the tax authority is urging landlords to catch up with their financial affairs if they have undeclared...
Call to Plug Rent-to-Rent Complaint Loophole in New Landlord Laws
Property experts are calling on the government to give more clarity to landlords who let out homes to rent-to-rent firms. Tough new laws on the way to protect tenants mean landlords must join a redress scheme. The scheme will allow tenants in dispute with their...
Tenants Paying More Rent, but Rate of Rising Slows
The cost of renting a private home is rising, but the rate of increase is slowing, according to the latest official statistics. In the year to the end of October, buy to let and shared house rents rose by 1.5% - down from 1.6% in September. Private rents in England...
Updated Universal Credit Guidance for Landlords
As the rollout of Universal Credit continues throughout England and Wales, new Universal Credit guidance for landlords has been updated and published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The guidance explains various aspects to the claiming process for...
Cowboy Clients Ruin Business for Builders
Many buy to let landlords will be shocked to see that builders consider them cowboy clients. The builders claim cowboy clients fail to pay their bills and make unfair demands on them. Research by the Federation of Master Builders defines cowboy clients as customers...
You Don’t Need an Estate Agent to Sell a Home Online
Online property portals are bypassing costly letting and estate agents and have opened the door for thousands of people to give selling their own home a try. Selling or letting a home is easier than most people think, with plenty of experts making all the tools that...
Record Number of Tenants Quit in London Exodus
The number of tenants fleeing high rents in London has reached a peak of 65,000 in the past year, according to research by letting agents. Three out of four move to another rented home which is an average 89 miles away from the capital, with many moving to the...
Landlords in Wales Tied Up in More Red Tape
Buy to let and shared home landlords renting out homes in Wales face another raft of new legislation. The Welsh Government has already started a principality-wide licensing scheme and now wants landlords to complete a rental checklist covering almost 30 points for...
Property Agent Regulation Takes Another Step Forward
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has followed up his plans to make the property management industry fairer for tenants. He has already announced proposals to regulate letting agents, appoint a tenant ombudsman to make dealing with complaints fairer and easier and to...
New Home Buying and Selling Laws May Be Coming
Estate agents are the next target for the government overhaul of the property market as new rules are explored to ban gazumping and referral fees. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid revealed his plans in a surprise out-of-hours media release over the weekend. He wants...
London Downturn Drives Buy To Let Rents Down
Rents for private homes across the country rose by 1.6% in the year to the end of September 2017 – the same as the previous month. The average for England was 1.6%, but was slightly less in Wales at 1.4%, while Scotland saw a small increase of 0.3%. Rents in London...
Landlords To Plough Through 96 Pages For Energy Efficiency Guidance
After criticism for not confirming energy efficiency rules for private landlords early enough, the government has published a whopping 96-page manual online. The guidance is for buy to let and shared house landlords in England and Wales who must comply with a minimum...
MPs Look at How Councils Tackle Rogue Landlords
Lawmakers have launched a probe to see if councils have enough powers to deal with rogue landlords. The inquiry will also gauge how tenant complaints are handled and if landlord licensing is effective in raising private rental standards, and eliminating bad practice....
Homes With Elite School Neighbours Command Higher Prices
Homes near top state schools are in a class of their own as prices have shot up at double the rate of average properties. Investors with buy to let homes near the best performing schools have seen their property values soar by an average £116,696 to £415,844 over the...
Council Wins Penalty for Displaying “Administration Fees”
Camden Council has successfully appealed against Foxtons Ltd using the term “administration fees” in their lettings agency work. Background Initially in 2015, The Council’s Trading Standards team enforced against four branches of Foxtons within their borough who were...
Rogue Letting Agents Tackled in Day of Action Across London
Teams of trading standards officers mobilised across London in a day of action aimed at bringing rogue letting agents to book. In the past three months, letting agents breaking the law have been fined around £370,000 in the capital. The day of action against property...
Minister Pledges To Regulate Letting Agents and Landlords
The government has bowed to years of pressure to clean up the private lettings industry by signalling new laws are on the way to regulate agents and landlords. Communities secretary Sajid Javid made the announcement out of the blue as the Tory Party Conference 2017...
Coronavirus Guidance
Landlords Building Insurance
Guild subscribers can get preferential rates for landlords buildings insurance especially designed for landlords
