Mortgage approvals surge as landlords look to ‘diversify their property portfolios’
A growing number of buy-to-let landlords are looking to take advantage of cheaper borrowing rates, growing demand from renters, and the existing stamp duty holiday by adding to the property portfolio, new figures suggest. Mortgage approvals rose sharply in August to hit their highest monthly level for almost 13 years. Click on this link […]
Estate agents cash in on property market boom with nearly £1bn in commission
Newly released figures from homebuying platform, Yes Homebuyers, has revealed that estate agents have pulled in nearly £1bn in sales commission since the start of the year. The research looked at the average fee charged by estate agents in each area, the number of transactions that have completed so far this year, and what this […]
Welcome news for landlords in major UK cities as rental demand climbs 13%
Newly released figures from lettings management platform, Howsy, show that despite a tough economic climate, demand for rental homes across the UK’s major cities has increased by 13% since Q2. The firm’s research analysed rental listings across all of the major property portals, taking an average demand score for the nation’s major cities based on […]
Scottish Regulator publishes updated corporate plan and summary of current work to reflect COVID-19
The Scottish Housing Regulator has published an updated corporate plan and a summary of what it will do this year which take account of the impact of COVID-19 on its work and the operating environment for social landlords. The update to the corporate plan, which covers the period to March 2022, details how the Regulator […]
Retail rent arrears ‘to exceed £2bn’ as landlords predict lower payments
Retail rent arrears are set to exceed £2 billion as landlords anticipate receiving less than half of due payments for the third quarter of 2020, an industry body has warned. Revo said landlords are expecting another set of low payment figures after Tuesday’s deadline for quarterly rent. Click on this link to read the […]
‘They save lives’: the lettings agency that’s exclusively for homeless people
The affluent town of Walton-on-Thames in Surrey is probably the last place you would expect to find a lettings agency for homeless people. But on the corner of the high street stands RentStart, on the site of a former bank and estate agents, its shop window looking into a light-flooded space with high ceilings and […]
Home Office plans online checking for Right to Rent Scheme
The Home Office is planning to launch a new online service for landlords to check that potential tenants have the right to rent accommodation in the UK. Parliamentary Secretary Chis Philp MP has outlined the move, scheduled for November, in a statement to the House of Commons, saying it comes after a court ruled that […]
Working from home due to coronavirus? Claim £6/week tax back on extra costs
If your employer requires you to work at home, you can – and have always been able to – claim for increased costs due to working from home, eg, heating and electricity. Clearly, right now many firms have closed workplaces and that means across the UK millions of staff are temporarily required to work from […]
Mortgage approvals at highest level since 2007: BoE
The number of mortgage approvals for house purchase in August increased sharply to 84,700 the highest level since October 2007, according to Bank of England figures. The number was up nearly 30 per cent month on month and 15 per cent higher than February’s figure of 73,700 before the pandemic hit. Click on this […]
Buy-to-let rates rise amid increasing product choice
Buy-to-let product choice continues to increase from the lows seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest data from Moneyfacts. However, whilst the number of available products has increased, so too have average rates. Click this link to read the original article.