Residential And Buy-To-Let Mortgage Lending Will Be Subject To New Regulations This Year  2014 is set to be a year of change for the UK’s mortgage market, with predicted lending requirements increasing, helped by optimistic employment and economic forecasts, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The Council of Mortgage Lenders are forecasting total [...]

A letting agent has been fined £41,200 (GBP) by Watford Magistrates court after they failed to comply with safety regulations and admitted a string of offences at five Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO’s). It is the first time Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has prosecuted a letting agent rather than a landlord and the council also said it [...]

UK Landlords are no doubt aware that local authorities have the discretion to charge full Council Tax on empty properties from 1st April 2013. The changes affect all rental properties that previously would have been automatically exempt from charges, including all empty furnished and unfurnished properties available for rent. Landlords with properties that are empty [...]

Under the next wave of welfare reforms, new rules set to be introduced next year, mean that the housing benefit allowance of the new Universal Credit system, will not be paid directly to landlords. Instead the Government proposes that all payments will be paid directly to tenants, even if they are vulnerable or in arrears! [...]

Landlords in the UK Private Rented Sector (PRS) face a new threat to their livelihood following a ruling by the Supreme Court. UK landlords may be unable to pursue the eviction of tenants who have failed to pay their rent or who have committed anti-social behaviour as a result of the Supreme Court ruling. Hounslow [...]

The Electrical Safety Council (ESC) have highlighted some confusion over electrical safety between PRS Landlords and tenants in private rented sector properties. 30% of landlords did not realise that they were responsible for the electrical safety within their Buy-To-Let properties, according to the ESC’s survey. This potentially could lead to very dangerous consequences for both [...]

Figures from a variety of trusted and respected sources offered a tentative boost for the UK property market as mortgage approvals, first time buyer numbers and residential property sales all increased during January. Data gathered from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), British Bankers’ Association (BBA), National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and HM Revenue [...]

Buy To Let Mortgage Borrowing Up 84,000 On 2010 2011 saw the number of UK residential properties bought using Buy To Let mortgages rise by 84,000 on 2010 figures. Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) figures show that landlords advanced a total of 34,800 buy to mortgages in the last three months of 2011 alone, with a [...]

Additional licensing schemes have been brought in by many local authorities. Cardiff Council introduced the scheme last year, for example, to raise the standards of properties in a popular student area of the city. It has just been reported that in its first year the scheme raised £300,000. On one hand, it’s a nice earner [...]