Landlords have only until Friday to give their views on a controversial licensing consultation from a council known for its aggressive...
Archive
HMRC is today launching a pilot scheme for Making Tax Digital, the controversial proposal for quarterly reporting for landlords and the...
22 April 2024
From: Breaking News
Responding to confirmation that the Renters Reform Bill will return to the Commons next Wednesday, Ben Beadle of the National Residential...
19 April 2024
From: Breaking News
Consultation time is short for landlords wanting to comment on a new licensing scheme proposed for Scunthorpe. The public consultation closes at...
19 April 2024
From: Breaking News
A government-supporting newspaper says the Renters Reform Bill will be back in the House of Commons next week. Observers have been expecting...
18 April 2024
From: Breaking News
MPs return to the Commons today after a substantial Easter recess - and with progress on the Renters Reform Bill on...
15 April 2024
From: Breaking News
Amendments to be made to the Renters Reform Bill when it returns to the Hoise of Commons next week won’t significantly...
11 April 2024
From: Breaking News
Fines for rogue landlords and agents in London have surged past the £10 million mark. With 19 council licensing schemes and...
10 April 2024
From: Breaking News
Property logbook company Chimni is trialling a new form of Digital Property Logbook aimed at the rental markets. The new logbooks...
05 April 2024
From: Breaking News
An industry supplier is analysing licensing schemes and whether they achieve anything to improve rental housing standards. Yuno says questions need to be...
03 April 2024
From: Breaking News
The government has committed to returning the amended Renters Reform Bill to the House of Commons in mid-April. MPs return from their...
02 April 2024
From: Breaking News
The government has written to Conservative MPs promising changes to the Renters Reform Bill to ease concerns over its anti-landlord bias. Amendments...
28 March 2024
From: Breaking News
A charity is calling for landlord licensing schemes which cost enough to fund annual inspections, and the issuing of “sentencing guidelines”...
28 March 2024
From: Breaking News
There have been more changes to buy to let mortgage ranges from lenders. Coming into effect today, The Mortgage Works will be...
26 March 2024
From: Breaking News
An all-party House of Commons committee is calling on Local Housing Allowance to be updated automatically and annually. LHA rates have been...
21 March 2024
From: Breaking News
Private landlords applied for licences covering more than 12,000 homes during the first year of a controversial council’s selective licensing scheme. The...
20 March 2024
From: Breaking News
Another council is consulting about a controversial selective licensing scheme. North Lincolnshire council says the proposed scheme is “designed to improve housing...
11 March 2024
From: Breaking News
A landlord has quit the private rental sector after a battle with his council over why his properties were put into...
05 March 2024
From: Breaking News
Yet another council is consulting on whether to continue a selective licensing scheme. The scheme applies to several areas of Burnley and...
04 March 2024
From: Breaking News
Supporters of council selective licensing start rearguard action Some of those involved in local councils have started a campaign to save selective...
01 March 2024
From: Breaking News
The National Residential Landlords Association says it wants a speedy implementation of the Renters Reform Bill to avoid uncertainty - and...
29 February 2024
From: Breaking News
Generation Rent has issued an angry statement about amendments to the Renters Reform Bill - just as one MP says agreement...
29 February 2024
From: Breaking News
A London council is consulting on another controversial landlord licensing scheme. Barking and Dagenham council’s existing Selective Licensing Scheme has been applied to...
21 February 2024
From: Breaking News
A landlord has warned her local authority that high charges for licensing are unaffordable without the fee being passed on to...
20 February 2024
From: Breaking News
Bristol’s controversial Labour council is extending previous licensing schemes to other parts of the city at some £1,800 HMO per licence...
13 February 2024
From: Breaking News
A Selective Licensing scheme proposal is out for consultation in the Scunthorpe area - with a harsh message from a council...
13 February 2024
From: Breaking News
A council has won an appeal to enforce a Financial Penalty Notice that was served on a landlord who let out...
13 February 2024
From: Breaking News
A survey of local council private rental licensing schemes says 19 selective and additional licensing schemes and consultations will be taking...
13 February 2024
From: Breaking News
Buy To Let lender Paragon Bank has added five-year fixed-rate ‘green’ products to its range of BTL mortgages. Rates start at 4.89...
05 February 2024
From: Breaking News
A legal services provider is claiming that landlords risk criminal prosecution for breaches of licensing rules that are often “unreasonable and...
02 February 2024
From: Breaking News
A think tank claims that the government will pay landlords in the private sector six times the expected spend on new affordable homes in the five-year period between 2021 and 2026. The New...
01 February 2024
From: Breaking News
New additional and selective licensing schemes are to be considered by the controversial Bristol city council. The council’s Labour Mayor - Marvin...
01 February 2024
From: Breaking News
A council claims “hundreds of residents have been made safer in their homes” thanks to a licencing regime. Sheffield council insists the...
31 January 2024
From: Breaking News
Amendments to the Renters Reform Bill, designed to give landlords more protection, have won the backing of a prominent industry figure. Neil Cobbold,...
23 January 2024
From: Breaking News
The identify of the service running the upcoming Private Rental Sector Ombudsman scheme has been thrown into doubt once more. The Renters...
23 January 2024
From: Breaking News
The Generation Rent activist group has called for a series of reforms about damp and mould. It wants the reinstatement of energy...
23 January 2024
From: Breaking News
The National Residential Landlords Association is urging MPs to back what it describes as “pragmatic” changes to the Renters Reform Bill...
19 January 2024
From: Breaking News
A Labour-controlled council is inviting private rental sector representatives to a round-table event which it pledges will not be a talking...
10 January 2024
From: Breaking News
The Penrith Building Society has scrapped mortgage application fees for all buy to let and residential products, including further advances, until...
10 January 2024
From: Breaking News
Four landlords are contemplating seeking a judicial review of a council’s proposed licensing scheme extension. Middlesbrough council is consulting on extending its...
08 January 2024
From: Breaking News
Middlesbrough is the latest council wanting to expand its landlord licensing regime. It’s consulting on extending its existing scheme to another ward. The...
05 January 2024
From: Breaking News
An additional licensing scheme for HMOs has come into effect in a London borough. The new scheme will cover properties in Greenwich which...
03 January 2024
From: Breaking News
A new council licensing scheme has been given the go ahead by the government. Peterborough council’s selective licensing scheme will be run...
29 December 2023
From: Breaking News
It’s emerged that Housing Secretary approved yet another vast landlord licensing system just days before Christmas. On December Gove gave approval to...
28 December 2023
From: Breaking News
One in five (20 per cent of) landlords plans to reducing their buy to let holdings according to a new survey. The...
19 December 2023
From: Breaking News
Paragon Bank has launched new five-year fixed-rate buy-to-let mortgages with nil product fees. Rates start at 5.80 per cent and there is...
19 December 2023
From: Breaking News
Gedling council in Nottinghamshire is launching a consultation to renew yet another selective licensing scheme. The scheme was launched in 2018 and...
19 December 2023
From: Breaking News
Landlords providing much-needed private rented accommodation in part of Merseyside are to fall under an expanded licensing regime. Wirral councillors have voted...
18 December 2023
From: Breaking News
Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has campaigned for a selective licensing regime in her Leeds constituency. She joined the city council leader...
14 December 2023
From: Breaking News
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health has given a warm welcome to many of the provision in the Renters Reform Bill...
13 December 2023
From: Breaking News
Councils in Greater Manchester admit to charging landlords over £14,000 for “officer time” involved in licensing schemes. There are currently eight selective...
11 December 2023
From: Breaking News
Almost all landlords letting out properties in a London borough will soon be legally required to have a selective license. It’s one...
07 December 2023
From: Breaking News
I recently attended the NRLA’s annual conference in Birmingham and a theme that still dominates discussion in the industry is the...
02 December 2023
From: Tax & Finance
A controversial licensing scheme is due to come into force tomorrow - just as the council administering it has declared itself...
30 November 2023
From: Breaking News
The first meeting has been held of the Housing Coalition, a new group including a number of local and regional landlord bodies...
27 November 2023
From: Breaking News
Stockton-on-Tees is the latest council seeking people's views on the introduction of Selective Licensing for private rented housing. It launched a consultation...
09 November 2023
From: Breaking News
Just days after the government revealed it was not scrapping Section 21 until court possession processes had been overhauled, so the...
03 November 2023
From: Breaking News
A north of England council says it’s reviewing the fees for its selective licensing scheme “in terms of potential impact on...
31 October 2023
From: Breaking News
It’s being forecast that there are likely to be major changes made to the Renters Reform Bill during its next stage...
30 October 2023
From: Breaking News
A landlord has been ordered to pay almost £50,000 for failing to adhere to licensing legal requirements on several rental properties,...
30 October 2023
From: Breaking News
The respected engineering institution the Building Research Establishment says the government must row back from its recent U-turn on rental property...
27 October 2023
From: Breaking News
Housing Secretary Michael Gove says a healthy private rented sector is a “critical” part of the housing market. The comments came as he addressed...
27 October 2023
From: Breaking News
A council’s new selective property licensing scheme for rented properties will be live and open for applications from Wednesday November 1. Ilford...
27 October 2023
From: Breaking News
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has ruled out any reversal of Section 24 or other tax changes which have hurt landlords in...
24 October 2023
From: Breaking News
MPs have given the Renters Reform Bill its Second Reading - a procedure which means it now continues into the Committee...
24 October 2023
From: Breaking News
More details have emerged of what appears to be a stay of execution for Section 21 eviction powers in the short term. The...
23 October 2023
From: Breaking News
The chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association says the controversial Renters Reform Bill will only succeed if landlords’ feel...
23 October 2023
From: Breaking News
The government has pledged that section 21 repossessions will not be scrapped until improvements have been made to the way courts...
20 October 2023
From: Breaking News
Plans to introduce Selective Licensing of privately rented properties have been agreed by leading Stockton-on-Tees councillors and now go for consultation. Under...
20 October 2023
From: Breaking News
The National Residential Landlords’ Association’s annual conference next week is a sell out with all 800 or so tickets sold to...
16 October 2023
From: Breaking News
Blackpool council will next week consider a new selective licensing scheme for some of the town’s privately rented properties. The scheme will...
13 October 2023
From: Breaking News
The National Residential Landlords Association has suspended its link with Less Tax 4 Landlords. This follows publicity surrounding Less Tax 4 Landlords...
09 October 2023
From: Breaking News
There’s been a strong personal attack on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak by anti-landlord activists over the subject of energy efficiency. The Generation...
05 October 2023
From: Breaking News
Next weekend sees a crash course event for landlords to bring them up to date with the 160 pieces of legislation...
03 October 2023
From: Breaking News
A council is telling landlords that its new selective licensing fee is so low it should be entirely tax deductible and...
25 September 2023
From: Breaking News
The government must safeguard the private rented sector and the only way to do that is to lend its support to...
23 September 2023
From: Rental Reform
The main landlords’ trade body wants justice ministers to speed up the time taken for courts to process legitimate possession cases. In...
20 September 2023
From: Breaking News
Brent council in North London has launched a new selective licensing regime across part of the borough. Landlords who let properties in the...
19 September 2023
From: Breaking News
A London council is looking to introduce new licensing for landlords. Currently Wandsworth council operates mandatory licensing for HMOs with five or...
18 September 2023
From: Breaking News
A veteran Tory MP who has been a junior minister in the department responsible for housing now says the rental market...
14 September 2023
From: Breaking News
The Generation Rent group of activists says Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey is on their side about Section 21 evictions. Bailey...
11 September 2023
From: Breaking News
Landlords are being advised to be on their guard and not be duped by social media messages urging them to flout...
01 September 2023
From: Breaking News
Bristol’s Labour-controlled council says it wants to spend some £17m of local council tax payers’ money on two new licensing schemes...
31 August 2023
From: Breaking News
A Labour council says local landlords have only a week to apply for a licence before a big rise in the...
23 August 2023
From: Breaking News
A council is boasting that it’s taking a "really hard line” over HMO regulation. New rules in Blackburn with Darwen prevent family...
22 August 2023
From: Breaking News
A London council is telling landlords that if they don’t apply for a licence in the next nine days they face...
21 August 2023
From: Breaking News
Landlords are unwittingly exposing their tenants to the serious danger of fire because they opt for the cheaper option when hiring...
16 August 2023
From: Breaking News
I recently had the opportunity to challenge a lot of nonsense in Parliament. Or to put it another way, I was...
05 August 2023
From: Rental Reform
A statement from Oxford’s Labour controlled council says private landlords in the city have under a month to apply for a...
03 August 2023
From: Breaking News
A controversial licensing scheme will come into force this winter with the blessing of Housing Secretary Michael Gove. Nottingham council’s selective licensing...
01 August 2023
From: Breaking News
Landlords providing accommodation on the Wirral are likely to get further licensing as a new consultation goes ahead. The proposals suggest continuing...
31 July 2023
From: Breaking News
Landlords of more than 5,000 homes must register for a license and ensure their tenants have good quality housing or face...
28 July 2023
From: Breaking News
A council in the south east of England says it is “exploring the possibility” of introducing a huge landlord licensing scheme. Councillors...
26 July 2023
From: Breaking News
Southwark’s Labour council has won the backing of Housing Secretary Michael Gove for one of the largest private landlord licensing schemes...
19 July 2023
From: Breaking News
A landlord who did not hold licences for her six properties, has ended up with a criminal conviction and a hefty...
19 July 2023
From: Breaking News
A new law requiring landlords in three wards of the London borough of Brent to pay for a selective licence will...
14 July 2023
From: Breaking News
It appears almost certain that the Second Reading of the Renters Reform Bill - expected some weeks ago - will not...
12 July 2023
From: Breaking News
London landlords and letting agents have so far been hit with more than £900,000 in fines in the first half of...
10 July 2023
From: Breaking News
Barclays is working with TV guru Phil Spencer to give home owners some £2,000 to make selected energy-efficiency improvements to their...