Archive

A buy to let investor has been found guilty of 35 HMO-related offences - and has to pay a total fine...

A leading lettings sector trade body has repeated its call on government to offer a range of incentives to landlords and...

West Midlands Police and Birmingham council teamed up to investigate a property in the city which was riddled with health and...

Some 43 per cent of all stamp duty comes from buy to let investors and holiday home purchasers - and almost...

The number of buy to let investors in the UK has hit a record high of 2.5m in the latest tax...

A leading Conservative peer says the government should cut taxes for buy to let investors and regard them as part of...

A property management company has been landed with a legal bill of almost £2,000 after admitting that it failed to keep...

Increased volatility in the private rental sector and rising costs for landlords and investors have combined to lead to an increased...

A lettings trade body says a major house builder has blamed, in part, recent tax increases on private landlords as a...

There has been a drop in the proportion of people becoming buy to let landlords in order to boost their retirement...

A trade body says new figures released by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility show that the government’s recent tax increases...

The Bank of England has issued gloomy figures on buy to let lending, suggesting the clampdown on mortgage interest tax relief...

An analysis of data released by HM Revenue and Customs shows that 1.9 million people earned money from property in 2015-16...

Tax increases on the rental sector are leaving young people unable to access the homes they need, an industry body claims. The...

The independent mortgage market monitor Moneyfacts says some buy to let mortgage rates have gone back to record lows. The monitor says...

Average rental values in prime central London fell 2.1 per cent in the year to February according to Knight Frank -...

Three head tenants who sub-let a three bedroom house to 35 men have been hit with over £23,000 in fines. Gheorghe-Valentin Lingurar...

A local authority has fined four landlords who failed to licence a total of seven properties under its selective licensing scheme. Hastings...

A rogue landlord has been fined twice in the space of two months for failing to provide a suitable standard of...

A range of factors - including fierce competition under the supplied housing market, rising property prices and political uncertainty – have...

Net buy to let investment has fallen 80 per cent in the past two years, a mortgage lenders’ group claims.  The Intermediary...

The trend towards reducing or eliminating deposits at the same time as edging towards a ban on letting agents’ fees on...

An agency operating in London and Essex has launched an online petition to oppose the ban on credit and debit card...

The Treasury has confirmed to Letting Agent Today that the ban on credit card surcharges which came into effect in recent...

The National Landlords Association says 20 per cent of its members plan to reduce the size of their portfolios in the...

A landlord has been ordered to pay £20,000 after being found guilty of nine offences in relation to a house in...

Average rents in prime central London fell 2.4 per cent year-on-year in November, which was the most modest decline recorded in...

Over two thirds of landlords are reluctant to invest in new properties as a result of the stamp duty surcharge on...

Rent Smart Wales, the licensing and training regime which is now a year old, has taken an agent and a landlord...

Rental growth is forecast to exceed house price growth in London, despite a glut of properties on the lettings market in...

A leading accountancy and business advice consultancy says residential landlords who want to downsize their portfolios because of recent tax changes...

The private rental sector in Wales is at risk of contracting next year, warns the Residential Landlords’ Association.   RLA Wales policy officer...

Letting agency Spicerhaart has been fined £2,670 after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed house in multiple occupation.   A prosecution was brought...

A lettings agency and its director have been ordered to pay more than £2,500 in fines and costs for illegally advertising...

A survey conducted for MyDeposits suggests some nine per cent of landlords - or one in 11 - is likely to...

Your Move says a shrinking supply of properties, in part created by government measures against the lettings sector, has led to...

Romans says one in four of its registered buyers in the first half of this year has been an investor, suggesting...

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a survey reveals that most buy to let and other property investors want the three per cent stamp duty...

Ian Duncan Smith is the latest Conservative to criticise his own government’s fiscal policies regarding buy to let.   Writing on the Conservative...

Paragon Mortgages says its most recent survey of buy to let investors makes it clear that the vast majority want the...

A local authority has clamped down on what it describes as illegal advertising boards, fining agencies thousands of pounds in the...

The number of buy-to-let mortgage loans fell by over a fifth during April, according to the latest figures from the Council...

A landlord has been ordered to pay over £10,000 after pleading guilty to breaching three separate fire regulations. Charles Thornton was fined...

The latest analysis of buy to let trends by letting agency franchise chain Belvoir has identified a specific lack of rental...

The Paragon Group of Companies has reported that its new buy to let lending totalled £556.2m for the six months to the end...

Mortgage lending for the buy to let sector has halved since the introduction of the stamp duty surcharge in April 2016 according...

Buy to let valuations fell to just seven per cent of the total valuations market activity in April as the sector...

The landlord of a west London property, described by a judge as a "deathtrap" and an "accident waiting to happen", has...

A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £17,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty at St Albans Magistrates'...

The remaining overhand of last year’s buy to let buying surge by landlords means the annual rate of rent rises has...

The speed at which rents across are growing has more than halved since a three per cent stamp duty surcharge on second...

Specialist buy to let lender Paragon Mortgages has given an upbeat forecast for the private rental sector, despite the arrival of...

As the new restrictions on landlords’ mortgage interest tax relief come into effect this week, ARLA Propertymark has restated its objections...

What does it say on your business card? Luke Burton Sales and Marketing Director, Rent4sure Who is Rent4sure? Rent4sure, is an established tenant referencing company. We provide...

The chief executive of Andrews Property Group says the government’s three per cent additional homes stamp duty surcharge on buy to...

A property firm has been fined £32,134 and ordered to pay costs of £260 and a victim surcharge of £170 after...

A landlord who admitted threatening violence against a tenant who left the property he was renting has been given a substantial...

The landlord of an HMO above a Chinese takeway in Cornwall has been fined for failing to comply with the requirements...

A landlady has been fined £15,000 for failing to license and manage a house in multiple occupation.    Sharon Jacobs was also ordered...

There was a sigh of relief amongst the lettings industry that yesterday's Budget introduced no new property taxes - but concern...

Letting Agent Today’s Conor Shilling was in the audience of The Great Buy To Let Debate - always one of the...

Tenant demand for private rented accommodation is continuing to rise according to a market report from specialist lender Paragon Mortgages.    While a...

Tenants face potential rent increases of between 20 and 30 per cent as a result of tax rises hitting landlords, says...

Countrywide claims that the proportion of landlords paying in cash for a property reached 61 per cent in January, the highest...

The head of MartinCo, the country’s largest franchise agency group, says the government’s buy to let tax changes and lettings fee...

The government should think again about punitive tax changes to the private rented sector after receiving greater-than-expected revenue from the three...

A landlord and letting agency have been fined more than £26,000 after being found guilty of housing offences at two properties...

The Residential Landlords Association has been quick off the mark to issue what it calls a seven point wish list to...

The Residential Landlords Association says new tax powers devolving to the Welsh Assembly should involve exemptions when it comes to the...

Gross buy to let lending increased in November to the highest monthly level since the stamp duty surcharge was introduced in...

The surge in properties to let which came on to the prime central London market after the April 1 stamp duty...

An assessment undertaken by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows property taxes accounted for 12.7 per cent of the...

The number of buy to let transactions across England and Wales has fallen 8.2 per cent in one month and is down an...

A council believes that a landlord was “putting tenants’ lives in danger” because he did not have local authority licenses for...

Members of the Association of Residential Letting Agents predict a fall in the number of homes being available to let next...

A Birmingham letting agency and a landlord have been fined £5,590 for failing to obtain an HMO licence and for breaching...

A private landlord has been fined by a London magistrates court for poor and potentially dangerous housing conditions.    Monojor Ali was fined...

Paragon Mortgages’ parent firm, the Paragon Group of Companies, remains bullish about the buy to let sector despite the series of...

More than 92 per cent of landlords believe the government is anti-landlord and want the Chancellor to back them in this...

The Residential Landlords’ Association says it stands by a claim that one in four landlords may sell up, and it refutes...

A lettings agent has poured scorn on a survey suggesting a quarter of landlords are about to quit buy to let,...

There’s been a significant drop in the amount borrowed by buy to let investors over the past year, despite a rise...

Another prominent mortgage chief has called on the government to show its support for the private rental sector by repealing some...

A 71 year old landlord has been fined £5,037.97 at Birmingham Magistrates Court for failing to obtain an HMO licence and...

Anyone who thought the buy to let sector’s recent anger at higher government taxes may have been misplaced may wish to...

Three quarters of a million private renters are stuck in the coldest and draughtiest homes, claims the Citizens Advice organisation -...

A well-known mortgage broker is quoted as saying that buy to let organisations are complaining too much over tax changes for...

The Welsh Government - which now has additional fiscal powers allowing it to be more independent from Westminster - has chosen...

The British Property Federation is urging Chancellor Phillip Hammond to bring in tax measures to help the purpose-built Build To Rent...

A Norwich landlord has been prosecuted “for putting lives at risk” according to the local council.  Piang Fui Pun has pleaded guilty...

  A council has taken a landlord to court for failing to licence his two buy to let properties under its selective...

Buyer enquiries from potential landlords and investors are now up 30 per cent since May according to Rightmove, suggesting that the...

Despite huge turmoil in the buy to let sector, there has been a significant rise in mortgage activity in the past...

The government must urgently deliver 1.8m new rental homes as new figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reveal a...

Details of the Bank of England’s statement outlining tougher rules on mortgage lending to buy to let investors have been shown...

The chief executive of financial consultancy Clayton Euro Risk says changes soon coming in to tighten the criteria applied to buy...

A letting agency has been fined after one of its landlords was found to be cramming six families into an unlicensed...

An East Midlands estate agency has opened its third lettings office, saying the rental market has 'defied expectations'. Richard Watkinson and Partners,...

Almost all of the UK's major towns and cities saw fewer available buy-to-let properties listed during August when compared with July. Property...

A landlord who endangered the lives of his tenants has been prosecuted and fined for failing to comply with 16 issues...

A company operating a number of buy to let properties has been ordered to pay more than £15,000 by magistrates for...

The owner of a series of flats to let in Cardiff has been fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £200 costs...

Kevin Hollinrake - the founder of franchise agency Hunters and now a Conservative MP - is calling for a cut in...

New data from referencing company Equifax Touchstone suggests that this July’s buy to let mortgage lending total is 39 per cent...

There are now 60,139 Build To Rent units constructed or in the pipeline across the UK according to the British Property...

A landlord’s company has been left with a bill of over £14,000 for letting unlicensed flats in north London.   Appearing at Highbury...

Property managers operating through a company have been ordered to pay more than £30,000 following a dawn raid that uncovered more...

A House in Multiple Occupation located on the third floor of a property with a restaurant at ground level was one...

Two landlords have received fines totalling £3,000 – and were ordered to pay costs of nearly £2,000 - after failing to...

A landlord has been fined £550 after failing to take action from a prohibition order issued by a council.   West Lindsey authority...

A consumer group dedicated to reducing tax says recent fiscal changes introduced by the government will end up hurting private rental...

The Residential Landlords Association says the build up to the new government‘s Autumn Statement - effectively its first budget - is...

The Residential Landlords Association is asking the Welsh Assembly to scrap the three per cent stamp duty surcharge imposed on buy...

New Chancellor Phillip Hammond has been urged by an industry trade group to reset the government’s approach to taxing the buy...

There was an eight per cent surge in the number of homes available to rent in the second quarter of the...

In the three months after the introduction of the three per cent stamp duty surcharge on April 1, landlord purchases accounted...

The government is being warned that without changes to the Finance Bill currently going through parliament it will effectively be forcing rent...

A senior mortgage lender is warning that government reforms of the buy to let sector could have wide-ranging and unintended consequences. Richard...

Burnley Council has brought a series of prosecutions against people responsible for unlicensed rented houses in the borough. The council has introduced...

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has told the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority not to add unnecessarily to the welter...

Rents in Scotland are at a record high, after the fastest month-on-month growth on record.  Data from Your Move shows that average...

Letting agencies Your Move and Reeds Rains claim rents have started to drop in many areas following the arrival of a...

There was a massive slowdown in buy to let lending by investors as the additional homes stamp duty surcharge passed -...

Rents across the UK continued to rise during May but at a decreasing rate, says HomeLet.  Data shows that rents agreed on...

The number of valuations for buy to let purposes last month was eight per cent up on the May 2015 level...

A new report claims that over a third of student property investors plan to expand their portfolios in 2016, despite the...

Landlords are increasingly favouring Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and more 'complex property types' due to the often higher yields available.  Mortgages...

Average rents for single rooms across the UK increased at a faster rate than those in London, according to spareroom.co.uk. The rental...

The supply of rental properties fell by 5% during April when compared to the previous year, according to figures from the...

A landlord has been fined almost £25,000 for a series of failings relating to a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). Birmingham-based Salih...

Burnley Council has named and shamed eleven landlords that have been prosecuted for ignoring its selective licensing scheme. One landlord, Pierce Mullally,...

A landlord has been prosecuted for both illegal sub-letting and illegal eviction at the same time - an occurrence which is...

Two landlords have been fined after being found guilty of fire safety failings in their rental properties. Both prosecutions were brought by...

A removals firm has claimed it is currently dealing with more tenants moving between properties than home buyers.  Aussie Man & Van...

Data released by Agency Express shows a massive spike in activity for the lettings market.  April’s national figures for new listings ‘To...

Chancellor George Osborne’s stamp duty surcharge imposed on landlords and other second home buyers from April 1 prompted an enormous 142...

An online letting agency is warning against investors angry at government attacks on the private rental sector looking for ‘easy alternatives’...

Average price for a property paid by investors in April fell by 8.3 per cent from £194,000 a month earlier to...

The frenzy of investor purchasing of buy to let units ahead of the stamp duty surcharge deadline has led to an...

The owner of a rented property in west London has received a penalty of more than £20,000 having pleaded guilty to...

A letting agent and four landlords face bills totalling more than £20,000 after being prosecuted by Islington Council for operating unlicensed...

A buy to let lender says new underwriting rules from the Prudential Regulation Authority could trigger another rush to snap up...

Private landlords’ confidence is at the lowest level since late 2006 according to market research company BDRC Continental, thanks to anti-buy...

The approaching of the April 1 stamp duty surcharge deadline led to a severe drop-off in buy to let purchasers seeking...

A letting agent who closed his New Malden firm leaving 17 landlords some £27,000 out of pocket has been jailed for...

Two professional property investors are giving away a Manchester flat valued at £110,000 in a protest against Chancellor George Osborne’s attacks...

Good news for agents having to work harder to persuade would-be landlords that buy to let makes financial sense after the...

Housing minister Brandon Lewis has backed the raft of measures seen by many as anti-buy to let, including the restriction on...

A financial journalist has lambasted the government’s anti-buy to let policies, describing them as “political short-termism ... a vote winner to...

Independent comparison website Moneyfacts says mortgage lenders are slashing rates on products designed for landlords, in a bid to buoy up...

Almost all landlords are considering increasing rents to pay for the higher taxes they now face. According to a survey by the...

A private landlord has been ordered to pay more than £1,000 after admitting operating in Burnley without a proper licence.  Matthew Hartley...

Countrywide says £28 billion worth of home sales were completed in March ahead of the stamp duty surcharge deadline, a 76...

Ian Wilson, chief executive officer of Martin & Co, has given David Cameron’s government a “two out of 10” score for...

Respected credit ratings agency Fitch says buy to let will thrive for the next 12 to 24 months but the effects...

The three per cent stamp duty surcharge being imposed on buy to let and other properties is set to hurt tenants...

The additional homes stamp duty surcharge is contributing to a slowdown in the central London development market according to JLL. The number...

Belvoir Lettings, which operates over 210 outlets across the UK, has seen its pre-tax profit surge beyond £2m at Belvoir Lettings. In...

The British Property Federation says George Osborne’s stamp duty surcharge will threaten the success of the Build To Rent sector, which...

An outspoken attack on Chancellor George Osborne’s fiscal measures against the private rental sector have questioned whether he is really a...

A substantial majority of new buy to let mortgage applicants are unaware of the mortgage tax relief changes, according to a...

The imposition of the stamp duty surcharge on additional homes would add another £4,500 to the cost of setting up a...

More criticism of Chancellor George Osborne’s raft of buy to let reforms has appeared in the mainstream media, with much emphasis...

The managing director of the Association of Residential Letting Agents says urgent action is necessary “to make the prospect of being...

An industry body says proposals by the Bank of England to curb buy to let lending are “premature.” The Bank’s Prudential Regulation...

The Bank of England has released new buy to let mortgage underwriting standards which are expected to set out stricter borrowing...

Banks approved 45,892 mortgages for house purchases last month - a 20 per cent rise on the February last year, with...

The new stamp duty surcharge on buy to let properties coming into effect next Friday will increase rent costs for tenants...

The government has been told to back off its criticism of buy to let landlords and instead do more to address...

Yesterday George Osborne delivered his eighth budget as chancellor, announcing an extra £3.5 billion in spending cuts by 2019-20. The Office for...

Later today chancellor George Osborne will make his latest budget speech. It has been speculated that the announcement could include new measures...

Almost a third of landlords surveyed by property crowdfunding platform Property Partner have little or no awareness of the raft of...

The proposed stamp duty surcharge on the purchase of second homes and buy-to-let properties will fail to deter landlords from expanding...

Some 66% of landlords predict more rental sector turbulence in this week's Budget, according to research by property crowdfunding platform The...

February has seen a further burst of buy to let activity, fuelled not only by the stamp duty surcharge deadline but...

There is more evidence that the buy to let sector has experienced a surge of activity as investors rush to complete...

Not one of the raft of buy to let rule changes being introduced by Chancellor George Osborne - ostensibly to help...

Returns from buy to let properties have risen to their highest level in over a year.  Data from Your Move and Reeds...

A survey claims that despite the apparent rush to purchase buy to let properties before the stamp duty surcharge deadline of...

A landlord has to pay over £16,500 after being found guilty of failing to licence her ex-council flat with the local...

A leading lettings expert says George Osborne’s proposed stamp duty surcharge of three per cent may be just weeks from implementation...

Prime Central London rents across the capital fell for the first time in two years during the final quarter of 2015...

The influencial cross-party Commons Treasury Committee says the whole economy could suffer is George Osborne’s fiscal measures against the private rental...

The Residential Landlords’ Association is standing up for the private rental sector in its response to the government’s inquiry into homelessness. The...

Government policies aimed at curbing the buy to let market are directly leading to more pressure on the lettings sector, according...

A surge in lending for buy to let properties ahead of April’s stamp duty surcharge means mortgage approvals have reached their...

A risk expert at a leading buy to let mortgage company says the industry should actually embrace the restrictions on lending...

One of the country‘s leading rental sector analysts is warning that tax changes for landlords’ mortgage interest relief, and the imminent...

The Residential Landlords Association is warning private investors not to be lured by firms offering schemes which allegedly promise to help...

A legal expert is claiming that changes to S21 eviction procedures introduced back in October are not being adhered to by...

Around a fifth of investors plan to sell their buy to let properties this year, thanks to the recent measures against...

Buying agency Black Brick says investment in prime London’s lettings sector remains buoyant despite the imminent three per cent stamp duty...

There has been another substantial increase in the number of buy to let mortgage applications made by limited companies - suggesting...

Landlords’ confidence in the buy to let sector has collapsed to an all-time low and is now “worse than levels witnessed...

The three per cent stamp duty surcharge proposed for purchases of buy to let and holiday homes risks being seen as...

Paragon Mortgages, one of the buy to let sector’s biggest and best-known lenders, says its buy to let lending in the...

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has again spoken out about possible “threats” to the economy posed by the increase in...

There has been an end of year surge in Scottish rents according to a buy to let index run by Your...

The lettings market is now enjoying ‘the calm before the storm’ according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents.  In its latest...

Prime Minister David Cameron has dismissed out of hand appeals and comments from Letting Agent Today readers to reconsider the recent...

A leading tax expert says there are likely to be unintended consequences of what he calls “half-cocked legislation” bringing in additional...

The Residential Landlords’ Association is taking legal advice on whether George Osborne’s buy to let tax changes are a breach of...

Fleet Mortgages is telling clients to choose an efficient conveyancer if they are buying an investment property with a view to...

A landlord who let out dark, damp and overcrowded rooms has been hit with a huge £67,000 fine. Rogue landlord Liakath Ali,...

Connells says that between December 2014 and December 2015 the number of valuations conducted for buy-to-let properties soared by 86 per...

Buy to let loans could outstrip remortgaging within a matter of weeks as landlords rush to beat the April 1 stamp...

Chancellor George Osborne’s buy to let tax proposals are set to hit domestic buyers far more than international investors, according to...

Many lenders are holding the equivalent of ‘mortgage January sales’ in order to kick-start the market for borrowers, according to a...

Investment advice company London Central Portfolio says the proposed three per cent stamp duty surcharge on the purchase of buy to...

Today is the last chance for Letting Agent Today readers to have their concerns about proposed stamp duty increases and recent...

A Conservative peer and former shadow chief secretary to the Treasury has become the first senior Tory to speak out against...

Letting Agent Today readers are being given the rare opportunity to have their concerns about proposed stamp duty increases and recent...

Chancellor George Osborne has “effectively declared war on individual landlords” according to the Residential Landlords’ Association - but don’t expect a...

An online petition seeking the reversal of the Osborne clampdown on buy to let tax breaks has secured around 47,000 signatures...

Almost half of landlords are set to increase their rents in 2016 in a bid to counteract tax changes and higher...

The government is asking whether its proposed three per cent stamp duty surcharge on the purchase of second and subsequent homes...

The man behind the Platinum Property Partners company are mounting a legal challenge to this year’s buy to let tax changes...

The Council of Mortgage Lenders is warning of a possible slump for the buy to let market in the next two...

Scottish finance minister John Swinney is to introduce a three per cent surcharge on the full purchase price of all ‘additional...

The Scottish Government is to announce today whether it is replicating the three per cent stamp duty hike on buy to...

Two landlords of HMOs have been prosecuted for failing to license their properties - and now have to pay fines of...

Financially-stretched landlords may want to think seriously about selling their investment properties - and quickly, advises Rightmove. In its latest monthly report...

The new three per cent stamp duty rate surcharge is the equivalent to 11 months income for the average mortgaged landlord,...

The new three per cent stamp duty on buy to let properties coming into force from next April will effectively redraw...

The chairman of Berkeley Homes is warning that George Osborne’s latest three per cent stamp duty hike for buy to let...

The research team at high-end lettings and estate agency Savills says the controversial three per cent ‘additional property’ stamp duty introduced...

The managing director of the mortgages division of deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations, says George...

The controversial three per cent stamp duty surcharge on buy to let and other second home purchases will cause conveyancing “mayhem”...

A landlord who did not remedy a string of safety concerns about a property he was letting has been ordered to...

Existing and would-be landlords are set to go on a buy to let buying spree, snapping up homes before the three...

The National Landlords’ Association insists that some media forecasts of the impact of the new three per cent stamp duty surcharge...

There’s been an angry reaction from letting agents and landlords to the shock news that an additional three per cent stamp...

- From April 2016 buy to let landlords and people buying second or holiday homes will have to pay an additional...

A rogue landlord has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £3,343 costs as well as a victim surcharge of £120...

A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £7,000 after failing to licence a house in multiple occupation in the...

A landlord has been ordered to pay a total of £8,680 after failing to comply with formal council notices to improve...

A letting agency has been ordered to pay more than £12,000 in fines and court costs after being convicted of seven...

The landlord of a house in multiple occupation is the latest to be prosecuted by a council for failing to licence...

A letting agency that failed to apply for House of Multiple Occupation licences at three properties in Birmingham has been fined...

An amnesty on the licensing of houses in multiple occupation is being held in Barnet in north London following the successful...

A landlord has been ordered to pay fines adding up to over £6,600.  Balwinder Singh Dhadwal was prosecuted at Dudley Magistrates’ Court...

A landlord has been prosecuted and fined for failing to carry out vital works on his rental property.  Victor Robbins of Leigh-on-Sea,...

A set of ‘fees templates’ have been created for letting agents to download ahead of the legal requirement to display details...

A landlord has been ordered to pay a fine £1,344.57 after failing to install fixed heating to a property she was...

A landlord described as a professional opera singer has been ordered to pay more than £15,000 for refusing to comply with...

A landlord who overcrowded his property has had to pay over £4,500 after being prosecuted by his local council.  The property in...

A rogue landlord who rented out a shoddy property in north west London has become the first to be fined under...