Councils Challenge Government Over HMO Policy Latest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny There’s some controversy this month surrounding HMO legislation with four local authorities challenging the Coalition’s classification reform via a judicial review. Pre-election/ BC (before Cameron) Labour introduced a UK blanket policy affecting licensing of HMO’s in a bid to control residential areas where […]
Read MoreLatest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny Landlords are still not acting fast enough when it comes to unpaid rent, experts warned. Landlord and lettings specialists, Legal 4 Landlords, advise that both private and social sector landlords respond quickly to rent arrears. Rent arrears and lengthy court hearings have been cited as the main reason possession […]
Read MoreLatest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny A recent piece of research by website, MyVoucherCards revealed 58% of people they surveyed do not think they will ever own a property. Just under 67% of this group believed they would never be able to afford the 25% deposit and 77% claiming they would more than likely be […]
Read MoreLatest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny A tenant was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment last week for fraudulently selling his landlords properties. Conman, Trevor Jones posed as his landlord. Keith Ferguson, The 60-year-old tenant then signed transfer deeds in his landlord’s name then used Mr. Ferguson’s driving license to obtain the funds raised through the […]
Read MoreLatest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny While landlords and LHA tenants in England brace themselves for the impact of ground zero through welfare reform detonation, Scotland’s government have formed an alliance with experts within housing and welfare agencies to gain control and liberate themselves from the UK’s national housing benefit policies due to be introduced […]
Read MoreLatest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny Increase in LHA Tenants With 2.5 million people currently unemployed and the figure expected to rise through the year due to public spending cuts, for landlords it’s relatively likely that they can also expect a rise in the number of tenants in receipt of housing benefit. The Chartered Institute […]
Read MoreLatest landlord News By: Madalena Penny Rent-savvy landlords are picking up on the markets demand for rented accommodation it appears. Not by increasing rents as you would expect but by capitalizing on tenant-demand by securing reliable and constant tenants and offering them longer tenancies for a reduced rent. Indicators by landlord experts, Legal 4 Landlords […]
Read MoreLatest landlord News by: Madalena Penny Concerns about the impact of impending housing benefit cuts were voiced by peers last night at the House of Lords amid fears of the effect the legislation will have on vulnerable sections of society. The debate followed Labour’s attempt to have the housing benefit reform measures thrown out by […]
Read MoreLatest Landlords News By: Madalena Penny Rent arrears soared in December by a further 2% up on November, increasing the national figure to 11.7%, according to research by LSL. The increase has been blamed on housing benefit being paid direct to the tenant and in a number of cases it has not been passed onto […]
Read MoreLatest landlord News by: Madalena Penny HMO regulations have been highlighted recently by 2 cases this month that caused landlords to be convicted on different grounds. One property was deemed ‘not fit for an animal’ and ‘absolutely appalling’ when a court was given evidence by environmental officers in Leicester. The landlord was duly fined £17,000, […]
Read MoreLatest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny Half way through the first month of the year and the nations’ obsession with property is still dominating the news. Conflicting data and statistics still continues to flood the press reporting negative and positive threads surrounding the home-ownership issue, property prices and the plight of the first-time buyer. The […]
Read MoreLatest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny ‘In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.’ Friedrich Nietzsche The budget and spending review by the coalition government last year is now beginning to have an impact on both social and private sector tenants. In the social rented sector, the […]
Read MoreLatest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny A lot has been reported on increasing interest rates this week resulting in further anxiety and sleepless nights for landlords and property investors. In such a fragile economy, any rise on the base rate at this time would result in a significant deterrent of investment in the buy-to-let sector […]
Read MoreLatest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny Housing Minister, Grant Shapps revealed plans yesterday for new measures and support for landlords to evict ant-social tenants. The ‘Fast-Track’ evictions will speed up the lengthy waiting times currently applied to evictions in England. Under the new measures, tenants could be served with an eviction notice on the grounds […]
Read MoreLatest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny Despite warnings, landlords are still leaving themselves vulnerable to criminal activities undertaken in their properties. Last summer, we publicized a warning to landlords and letting agents concerning the rise in cannabis cultivation in rented properties adopted by drugs gangs, after Legal 4 Landlords met with Merseyside’s Matrix Unit. The […]
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