Latest newsletter for landlords from DWP The Department for Work and Pensions has published the latest newsletter for landlords who let properties to tenants who are in receipt of Universal Credit. You can read The Department for Work and Pensions Guidance on Universal Credit and rented housing: Guidance for landlords here for more information. Recovering Rent Arrears and Service Charges …

2018 Buy to Let Lending Will Drop Far Short of Forecasts The buy-to-let market has been hit by many changes in the past few years. Changing taxes, regulations, and other alterations have all hit the BTL market, just as they were designed to do. It is perhaps not surprising then to learn that UK Finance’s original forecast for buy-to-let mortgage …

From 01 October 2015 a new prescribed form of section 21 notice was required to be used for any Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (‘AST’) commencing on or after 01 October 2015. The Form 6A was also amended following its first publication by the Department for Local Communities and Government. As confirmed by s.41 of the Deregulation Act 2015, from 01 …

About My Backyard My Backyard, FREE global property platform, powered by blockchain launches Friday 16th November 2018. With over 4 billion people online, this is a unique solution harnessing the power of direct-connectivity to shake-up the monopoly of web-portals and decentralise the $100bn global property portal market. The Future Is Blockchain For the first time, stakeholders can benefit from a …

Ali v Manaquel Company Limited, County Court at Central London (HHJ Hand QC), 15th April 2016 (Unreported). This was an appeal of a possession order made against Mr Bali at Lambeth County Court. Mr Bali was the assured shorthold tenant of Manaquel Company Limited. A tenancy deposit was paid by Mr Bali to Manaquel and the tenancy deposit was protected …

Private landlords will have to put up to £3,500 into upgrading Landlords will be required by law to improve homes with the lowest energy performance ratings to make them retain more heat, the government announced today. Private landlords will have to put up to £3,500 into upgrading the least energy-efficient properties, in bands F and G, to a more suitable …

£2 million additional funding for councils £2 million additional funding for councils Mr Heather Wheeler the Housing Minister has just announced a £2 million additional funding for councils to tackle irresponsible landlords.   A small minority of landlords continue to breach their legal obligations as landlords and offer unsafe housing. Some of the tenants include young families and others who …

Campaign to raise £250,000 for the homeless How long would you survive, it could happen to you??!!  It’s going to be very cold and freezing soon, So please give a £1 to help fund a new life for those less fortunate. The BLA & AFS launch the monthly “Help us to Help the Homeless” Cash Prize Draw. 1st Prize £200 …

Onslaught against buy to let landlords The Tory onslaught against buy to let landlords carries on with changes to the tax landlords pay on profits when selling a rented home. The controversial income tax on profits stays – slashing mortgage interest relief – together with the 3% surcharge on stamp duty for additional homes worth more than £40,000. Now, Chancellor …

Disappointment in the Autumn Budget Buy-to-let landlords suffered another disappointment in the Autumn Budget with the announcement from the Chancellor Philip Hammond MP, that from April 2020 lettings relief will be reformed so that it will only apply where the owner of the property is in shared occupancy with the tenant and that the final period exemption will also be reduced from 18 …

Summary of the Budget, anything that is property related or may have an impact on property is highlighted in blue.  Relevant parts of the Budget for Landlords Remote Gaming Duty to increase to 21% for online gambling on “games of chance” from 2019 All first-time buyers purchasing shared equity homes of up to £500,000 to be exempt from stamp duty …

Should hold off until after Brexit I want to buy property to add to my portfolio, should I buy now or I should hold off until after Brexit has been resolved? I doubt anyone can answer that question, if you could, then you would need to (1) predict the type of Brexit we’ll end up with (2) How it will affect …

Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill MPs have voted (26/10/18) to give tenants more power to fight rogue landlords The commons approving the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill, which gives both private and social tenants the power to take their landlords to court, if the let property is deemed unsafe. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill, Tenants will be given powers …

Serious issues including breaches of fire safety A Cardiff landlord, Mr Lvin George Chisholm was prosecuted after Cardiff Council investigated his property in Grangetown and found serious issues including breach of fire safety.   The matter was initially reported by Wales Online on the prosecution of Mr Chisholm, after a tenant living on his property contacted the council about the …

Fury from Councillors and housing campaigners as one of the Manchester’s biggest housing associations is selling off terrace houses to private landlords because it is ‘not economical’ to do them up. Social housing is being sold off to investors through Rightmove because housing associations don’t want to spend money refurbishing the homes. One association Jigsaw, has sold off of homes …

British citizens will need a visa to visit the EU The European Commission will decide next month whether British citizens will need a visa to visit the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit. A draft agenda for the college of commissioners, effectively the EU’s cabinet, shows the body will consider whether “to place the UK on either the ‘visa required’ …

Bringing their empty homes back into use Landlords can get an extra £2,500 to bring their empty homes back into use. Barnet Council is offering Empty Homes Grants, to encourage people to renovate empty houses. Owners can currently get £15,300 for a one-bedroom property, £20,400 for two bedrooms and £25,500 for three bedrooms or more – as long as they …

Home owners get the security Homelessness throughout England & Wales is a major problem now for all councils. Peterborough council has taken positive steps to deal with this, and it seems to be working too. The council said we are pleased to say the scheme has been a massive success, with over 30 families now housed in this way across …

The Best of British – Let the Challenge Begin!! What a British Summer!!! Hot & sizzling just like what we have instore for you!!  Our latest news is a whopper!! We have been working hard behind the scenes to give you a new, fresh and transparent approach in supporting the British Landlord Sector.  In this newsflash we will be teasing …

Prevention is better than cure – how to avoid bad tenants  We recommend you do the following before you let your property; Carry out a full credit & Referencing checks on your tenants. Credit and referencing is not expensive at all. This should show if the addresses and tenant names provided are correct. The report should show the tenant credit …

Tenant making it difficult for you to gain access? If you are a landlord and you want access to your property, whether that’s for a routine property inspection, gas safety check or any other reason. The current law as it stands, the tenant is entitled to “quiet enjoyment“, this means the tenant has a legal right to live in the property as his or …

UK fundamental factors short to long term The BOE Governor, Mr Carney’s comments were a worst case scenario” and not a prediction. Downing Street said it was ensuring it was prepared for “all possible scenarios”. If there was no Brexit deal, Mr Carney as one of the scenarios said this could cause the pound to dive, putting pressure on inflation, …

Reducing operating costs for Landlords & Letting Agents The Tenant Fees Ban has had its second reading in the House of Lords, and raises the fundamental question about how providers can demonstrate value in a globalised world, which is becoming increasingly digitised? Start Planning Now The ban is likely to result in loss of over 20% in revenue for agents, which for some …

“The concept of My Backyard is a brilliant innovation.” Mr Ahmad, CEO of the British Landlord Association.” FREE to private sellers/landlords, agents and suppliers, My Backyard’s platform delivers an innovative way for providers to create their own listings and connect instantly with the world via social media channels. To understand how the solution works, first you have to tear up …

‘Rent it Right’ marketplace event.  Bexley Council has just reported, Landlords of properties in Bexley made their way to Hall Place and Gardens last week (2 October) for the latest ‘Rent it Right’ marketplace event. ‘Rent it Right’ sees Bexley working in partnership with landlords to meet growing housing needs.  More than 90 landlords and property owners attended the event …

British Landlord Association asks – How water tight is your Guarantor Agreement? When you have a tenant with a poor credit rating, or the tenant falls in the category of high risk, taking on a guarantor may make you feel comfortable taking the tenant on. Amigo Loans -v- Hafiza Abbas The case Amigo Loans -v- Hafiza Abbas, although not a …

Spur landlords to offer longer tenancies A Sunday Times article has said: “Under plans that have found favour in Downing Street, landlords would not pay capital gains tax when selling to tenants who have lived in a property for three years or more.” “The plan is designed to spur landlords to offer longer tenancies and then to sell on to …

Funny Landlord stories to make you laugh Landlord Story 1 So I am 1 doing a viewing, a small Flat to a few tenant’s. A attractive lady in her late 20s shows up, I meet her and a man who was with her who i presume was her boyfriend.  The boyfriend basically did not say a single word during the …

Paragon’s PRS Trends Research Minimum three-year rental contracts, intended to give tenants greater security, could end up giving the government a headache. A recent report by Paragon’s latest PRS Trends research, shows 32% of investors would not buy the property if the minimum 3-year tenancy law came into play. Paragon’s latest PRS Trends research, also showed landlords are likely to …

My Backyard – FREE global property listing platform Mr Ahmad the CEO of the British Landlord Association said “the concept of My Backyard is a brilliant innovation. My Backyard way of communicating directly and indirectly with the seller, buyer or agent is efficient and free. The large property search engines are localised, accessible only to visitors who visit their websites, …

Tenant Fees Bill House of Lords Library has today published Tenants Fees Bill which provides information on the Government’s Tenant Fees Bill ahead of its second reading in the House of Lords on 10 October 2018. Jump to Full report In England, there is currently no cap on the level of fees that lettings agents or landlords can charge to …

Nationwide has revealed the UK house prices only rose 0.3% The latest figures from the Nationwide has revealed the UK house prices rose 0.3% to an average £214,922, in September 2018. This was 2% higher than the same time last year, as growth has held steady between 2% to 3% inflation over the course of the year. The national trend …

Comparethemarket.com has reported a survey conducted by them, reveals that about a third of landlords, which would (if calculated and amplified) represent over 1.5 million landlords across the UK. Comparethemarket.com results from the survey show tenants knew their landlord had not placed their money into a deposit protection scheme. It is a legal obligation that landlords must, within 30 days, …

FREE global property listing platform My Backyard is very pleased to be collaborating with the BLA to promote to its members our FREE global property listing platform, powered by Blockchain to launch in October. Our ambition is to turn the market on its head with a brand new property listing solution. We’re allowing providers to create their own listings, promote …

Expert: Has The Next Financial Crisis Already Begun?  by Weiss Ratings The early stages of what will be the most severe and painful financial crisis in U.S. history is now underway. That’s according to a top analyst with The Edelson Institute — the financial think-tank with a remarkably accurate track record for calling major economic shifts. They called the gold rally …

Some good news, the London Mayor approves 25 developments with 35% or more affordable housing through his fast-track planning system. The planning system, introduced in August last year, fast tracks developments of more than 10 homes through the planning system if they deliver 35% affordable homes. This Planning policy was part of a plan to allow developers to avoid viability …

Labour aim to repeal a thirty year law which labour claim to be the biggest cause of homelessness. Labour plans to scrap landlords rights to regain possession of their property after the fixed period of the tenancy. Laws allowing private landlords to evict tenants without giving a reason will be scrapped under a Labour government. Under section 21 notice when …

Some landlords, when issuing proceedings under section 8, run a potential risk of a defence and counterclaim. In some cases, their is no disrepair and a tenant erects an erroneous defence and counterclaim. Local authorities, upon a tenant seeking assistance for housing, will as standard advice to the tenant, advise them to stay put, until they are evicted by the landlord. …

This case although not a landlord & tenant case is never the less an interesting case. Landlord Advice UK one of leading tenant eviction company took on a major UK Loan company Amigo Loans assisting the defendant the Guarantor Miss Hafiza Abbas in September 2016 and won. Mr Sasha Charles of Landlord Advice UK said “This case ought to focus …

New section 21 rules 1st October 2018 Under the “Deregulation act 2015” hereinafter referred to as “new rules” – new rules came into force 1st of October 2015 the relevant part for purpose of section 21 the new rules stipulate; a. From 1st of October 2015, where landlords have granted a new tenancy (includes old tenancies which have been renewed) …