A rogue landlord who divided his three-bedroom home in central London into eight flats has ended up with a bill of over half a million pounds. Farook Owadally has been fined £90,000 and ordered to pay a Confiscation Order of £400,000, plus £40,000 in costs. Owadally is accused of ignoring warnings from...
As expected, the Liberal Democrats’ conference in Bournemouth has backed a motion calling for the scrapping of Section 21 - effectively what the government is already doing. Those moving and supporting the motion, including Lib Dem MEP Luisa Porrit, gave a familiar list of shortcomings in parts of the private rental...
Members of the industry’s two major landlord bodies have backed a merger which will now take place on January 1. Members of the National Landlords Association and the Residential Landlords Association have formally voted for the two organisations to unite to form the National Residential Landlords Association. The new organisation will have...
A landlord who failed to provide information regarding a buy to let property has been fined £2,080. Tenants contacted Colchester council in December with concerns about the property in the town. As part of its investigation into potential breaches of housing standards legislation, the council served a notice requesting information about the...
A home being pet-friendly is the most desirable attribute in a rental property, according to research by a specialist mortgage lender. The study by Landbay found that nearly one-in-seven renters rated ‘pets being allowed in the property’ as their most important requirement. That figure nearly doubles in the North East but...
With new research showing that direct payment of benefits to landlords contributed most to reductions in rent arrears, the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) is calling for greater support for its position that tenants in receipt of Universal Credit should have the right to choose whether the housing element is paid...
Soaring rents are tempting investors back into the capital's lettings market, according to September’s Home.co.uk Asking Price Index. A revitalisation of the London sales market is being initiated by rock-bottom sales and rental stock levels, with several key boroughs leading the way. Wandsworth, Hackney, Haringey, Hammersmith & Fulham, Southwark and Islington...
Buy-to-let mortgage approvals increased in July, up 5.5% year-on-year, suggesting that market conditions are improving, the latest UK Finance report shows. There were 5,500 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages completed in July, up 5.5% on the corresponding period in 2018, while buy-to-let remortgaging also increased. There were 15,100 remortgages in the buy-to-let...
The average UK rent hit an all-time high of £970 last month, according to the latest HomeLet Rental Index. The data shows that there was an increase in rental values between August 2018 and August 2019 across all 12 regions monitored. This time last year, the average rent across the UK was...
The Liberal Democrats have pledged to abolish Section 21 repossessions in the private rented sector if they come to power at the next general election. Members voted for the new policy at their party conference in Bournemouth yesterday by an overwhelming majority. The existing government’s current consultation on the abolition of Section...