Letting agency staff may have to check millions of tenancy agreements after fees ban
Letting agents will soon have to check all their existing tenancy agreements to ensure they do not refer to fees that will soon be illegal when the ban goes live on June 1st this year, a leading national estate agency has warned. Strutt & Parker has made the claim within its advice to landlords ahead […]
Buy-to-let lending slumps as landlords deterred by tax changes
Buy-to-let mortgage activity continued to slow in December with landlord investors taking out just 5,100 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages, down 5.6% on the corresponding month in 2017, data from UK Finance shows. According to the industry body, the total value of buy-to-let loans dropped by 12.5% to £700m, as fewer buy-to-let investors actively look […]
Why the age of people who rent a home is on the rise
THE number of people renting a home aged 35 to 54 has risen by 15 per cent in the last three years, as they struggle to get a mortgage, according to new research. Those who rent say that not being able to afford a deposit or not meeting mortgage criteria is the main reasons for […]
Landlords accused of ‘exploiting’ student renters
Landlords are taking advantage of first-time student renters by failing to carry out repairs, according to a new poll. A fresh report by the National Union of Students (NUS) reveals that students are finding renting difficult, in terms of affordability, poor conditions, and a lack of bargaining power with landlords. More than a third of […]
How to Tell if My Computer Was Hacked
If you’re wondering whether your computer has been hacked, we have some bad news and some good news. First the bad news: if you suspect you’re infected, then you’re probably right. The amount of new malware on the internet – particularly the kind intended to infect home computers and small businesses – is still growing […]
Landlords: what do tenants want from your buy-to-let property?
With rental income shrinking for the first time in a decade, landlords need to consider what their tenants truly value in a property. Rental income fell by £1.9bn from 2017 to 2018, according to a report from Hamptons International – the first year-on-year decrease since the firm’s records began in 2008. The fall was most […]
Has the UK property market peaked?
According to property management firm, Apropos, not only has the market peaked, it has begun to fall back on itself with average prices sliding across all parts of the country. The family-run property management businesses, run by brothers David and John Alexander, has analysed official data and found that average prices in all parts of […]
New tenant packs could help save lives
New tenant packs designed to help landlords raise awareness of fire and carbon monoxide dangers have been launched Aico Ltd. Aico, a major provider of residential fire and carbon monoxide alarms in the UK, hope that the new tenant packs, part of its #AlarmsSaveLives campaign, will highlight how important it is to regularly test your […]
Property repossessions ‘lowest since 1980’
The number of homes repossessed in the UK fell to its lowest level since 1980 last year, industry figures show. There were 4,580 homes repossessed by mortgage lenders from owners who were unable to keep up with repayments on their home loans. Low mortgage rates and a less aggressive attitude from lenders has meant low […]
Landlords starting to feel ‘the pressure’ to increase rents to offset tax changes
The increasing tax burden on landlords is likely to result in increased rents, according to research from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA). While rental prices continue to be subdued and below the rate of consumer price inflation across much of the UK, as reflected by the latest ONS data, landlords are now facing the […]