Rental crisis?

The Guardian newspaper recently ran a poll entitled ‘Is the Rental Market Working?’, which asked the public for it’s opinions on the current state of the sector. The findings, published on the Guardian’s website, revealed some interesting results.

According to…

Tenancy deposit changes come in from April

Landlords in England and Wales are reminded of changes to the rules on tenancy deposit protection that kick in this April under the Localism Act.

The main change is that landlords will now have 30 days (not the current 14)…

Landlord Regulation

In its ‘Housing Strategy’ report, the Government has stayed away from any form of landlord regulation or any form of regulation for letting agents. Deeming it to be “unnecessary”, the report stated that it did not wish to create any…

Landlords challenge missing LHA payments

A landlord has received compensation from a council who sent LHA payments directly to tenants who then vacated the property prematurely, leaving the landlord out of pocket for rent due.

The Local Government Ombudsman has supported the position of a…

HMRC cracks down on stamp duty avoidance

HM Revenue & Customs is looking to collect unpaid stamp duty of £35m after a surge in the number of companies offering ‘stamp duty tax planning’ deals that HMRC believes could amount to avoidance.

These companies, often operating almost entirely…

Are you properly covered?

Landlords are being reminded to check their insurance policies, as apparently many do not realise that ordinary home insurance doesn’t cover rental properties. With rents continuing to rise, landlord are well advised to ensure they protect their rental income with…

Buy-to-let is back

In its latest report, the Council of Mortgage Lending showed that, during the second quarter of 2011, remortgaging hit it’s highest level since the last quarter of 2008. Paragon Mortgages’ intermediary survey revealed capital raises was the primary reason for…

Landlords flee LHA

Market research firm, BDRC Continental, recently put together a panel of landlords which revealed some telling attitudes towards the local housing allowance (LHA) cuts.

According to the panel, a substantial number of private landlords who currently rent accommodation to people…