What rights do renters have against repossession?
With mortgage arrears on the rise, what rights do tenants have if the property they rent is repossessed? Rebecca Atkinson investigates. A decade of soaring house prices has priced many people off the property ladder, and the current credit crunch and lack of mortgage credit means increasing numbers of people are opting to rent rather […]
Right to Rent start date announced
The Government has announced that from 1 February 2016 all private landlords in England will have to check new tenants have the right to be in the UK before renting out their property. Under the new rules, landlords who fail to check a potential tenant’s ‘Right to Rent’ will face penalties of up to £3,000 […]
Scrapping buy-to-let tax relief will push rents up, warns lenders’ group
Scrapping tax relief for buy-to-let landlords will constrain the supply of rented property and make life harder for tenants, a lenders’ group has warned. The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (Imla) said measures that discouraged investment in private rental housing at a time of population growth and low supply would only push up rents. The organisation, […]
Councils told new law renders local licensing schemes redundant
Local councils are being urged to drop landlord licensing schemes following the publication of new laws showing that they are not needed. Measures in the government’s new Housing and Planning Bill make clear that local authorities can use council tax registration forms to ask tenants for details of a properties’ tenure and its landlord to […]
Buy-to-let tax amnesty raises record £50m for HMRC
HMRC has recovered a record £50m from tax-evading residential landlords in the latest buy-to-let property landlords settlement and disclosure campaign, which gave landlords an amnesty to get their tax affairs in order, making it one of the most successful voluntary disclosure. The Let Property Campaign, launched in September 2013, saw HMRC write to over 80,000 […]
Government Defends Changes To Landlords’ Tax Relief
The UK Government has responded to the Residential Landlords Association’s request that it should rethink plans to restrict mortgage tax relief and reform the “wear and tear” allowance. In a letter to the RLA, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said: “The Government wants a fair tax system. That means ensuring that landlords […]
Landlord ordered to pay over £400k after illegal letting
A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £400k after converting a property into flats without permission. Mr Gilbert Garrick rented the property in Harpenden Road, West Norwood, as flats despite being told that he was breaching planning controls and contravening Lambeth’s planning policies. He eventually pleaded guilty in court and was fined £30,000, […]
Buy To Let Still Attractive Despite Tax Relief Blow
Despite the announcement in the summer budget that mortgage interest tax relief is to be phased out for landlords over the next four years, the demand for rental properties in the UK remains strong and is expected only to rise. Recent research by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has predicted that 25 per cent of properties over the […]
Can councils cope with new Section 21 provisions?
Eviction specialists at Landlord Action are raising concerns as to whether there are sufficient resources, especially at local council level, to meet the demands of the new Section 21 legislation that came into effect yesterday. From October 1 a range of changes came into force, determining whether or not a landlord can serve a Section […]
9 out of 10 tenants unaware of new revenge eviction law
According to findings from The National Landlords Association, 88% of tenants say they are unaware of a new law introduced today (1st October) that is intended to protect them from so called retaliatory or revenge evictions. The new law, introduced as part of the Deregulation Act, will prevent landlords from ending a tenancy using a […]