Majority of landlords have not installed carbon monoxide alarm, say tenants
Some 71% of landlords have not yet organised a carbon monoxide alarm in their rental property, according to a survey of tenants carried out by Axa Business Insurance. The poll of almost 500 tenants also found that 68% of landlords have not yet organised an annual electricity check, while 54% are yet to install a […]
Council prosecutes 492 landlords in two and a half years
Newham Council has reported that in the two and a half years since its licensing scheme came into force it has made 611 prosecutions against 492 landlords. The figures were released last week after a house in East Ham was raided and a tenant claimed he was paying £500 a month to stay in a […]
Buy-to-let landlords face “severe” profits shock
Buy-to-let landlords face a “severe dent” in post-tax profits following Chancellor George Osborne’s tax crackdown. Individual landlords will face extra tax bills of £2,000 a year and some will have to pay even more. In his July Budget, the Chancellor announced that new restrictions on higher-rate mortgage tax relief for buy-to-let will be phased in […]
Petition against rental tax change nears 14,000 signatures
A petition to oppose the proposed change in buy to let landlords’ tax breaks is nearing the 14,000-signature mark – but still has some way to go to force the government to consider a debate on the subject. By passing the 10,000-signature threshold, as it did last week, the petition will now receive a formal […]
Tenant kept huge 50-stone pig in living room
A landlord got a shock when he visited his property in Lea to find his tenants had been keeping a large pig in the house. Dr Gary Armstrong rented out his father’s home in Green Lane, Lea, after he moved away to Barton. Gary said: “Friends, family and the professionals involved have all been stunned […]
Rents have gone up by nearly 12 per cent in the past year
Landlords have increased rents by nearly 12 per cent over the last year, according to an index of housing costs. The average rent for new tenancies in the three months to July 2015 was £977 – 11.8 per cent higher than the same period last year. The figures, from the HomeLet rental index, show that […]
Government must respond to 10,000-signature online petition
An online petition demanding the reinstatement of buy to let landlords’ tax breaks has broken the 10,000 signatures mark which means the government has to make a formal response. The petition, which is entitled ‘Reverse the planned tax relief restriction on individual landlords’, was set up London-based landlord Ruhal Uddin and looked for some days […]
Pilot scheme forcing landlords to check tenants’ immigration status ‘has failed’
Damning assessment presented by government’s own data and separate investigations will raise fears the scheme could prove unworkable. A pilot scheme to force landlords to check the immigration status of prospective tenants has been a failure, the government’s own data suggests. In the nine months since the rules were implemented across the Black Country, only […]
A Tenancy Deposit or Rent in advance?
An interesting decision from Dundee has highlighted the distinction between a tenancy deposit and rent collected in advance. It is important to note that the decision is not a binding decision, nevertheless, the case deals with a common issue, writes Robert Mullarkey, a paralegal in Anthony Gold’s housing and property dispute team. The Housing Act […]
Government to consult on rogue landlord crackdown
In a discussion paper published today the government said: “The private rented sector is an important part of our housing market, housing 4.4 million households in England. “The quality of privately rented housing has improved rapidly over the past decade with surveys showing that 84% of private renters are satisfied with their accommodation, and staying […]