Landlords can now join a register set up by the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) to make their rental property safer from fire and carbon monoxide risks.  New research, carried out among 1,500 landlords and 1,600 renters across the UK, has found that one in five (21%) landlords do not take adequate precautions to ensure…

According to new research by the National Landlord Association (NLA), which has looked into the student market in light of the upcoming new academic year, students are among the most reliable tenants. It found students are the least likely tenants to not pay their rent, with only 38% of landlords letting to the group experiencing…

Annie Harrower-Gray has had her appeal against Fife Council’s decision to cut her benefit upheld by a first-tier tribunal in Scotland following a hearing on 26 August. Under the bedroom tax, social housing households of working age have their benefit cut if they are deemed to have spare bedrooms. The Department for Work and Pensions…

The private rental sector is thriving, with increasing numbers choosing to live in rental accommodation, and increasing number of individuals being attracted by the prospect of becoming a landlord. The expansion of the market appears to be having an effect on the type of landlord that are investing in buy to let. An increase in…

In a landmark hearing, a Scottish landlord has been ordered to pay his tenants three times the value of their deposit for failing to protect it in under regulations which were introduced last year. Landlord Andrew Meehan was ordered to pay his tenants Ross Fraser and Alison Pease £3,450 for failing to secure their £1,150…

Landlord Dein Weinberg has been ordered to repay nearly £20,000 in housing benefit for five houses he rented out in Salford without a license. Weinberg, who lives in London, was fined £19,958.84 by the residential property tribunal which granted the rent repayment order at a hearing which he did not attend. Salford Council implemented the Charlestown…

The private rented sector (PRS) is central to providing more housing stock for people in the UK, according to Housing minister, Mark Prisk. Prisk said that successive governments have shifted between affordable housing and private ownership in trying to resolve the issue of a lack of available properties, meaning the PRS has been overlooked on…

An increasing number of people are moving into the private rental sector rather than buying their home according to the latest figures released in the government’s English Housing Survey bulletin. It confirmed the findings of an earlier report in February, which revealed the number of people in private rental accommodation is now at its highest level…

Tenants are typically viewed to be of higher risk than owner-occupiers, and for this reason regular homeowner insurance policies are often invalid for tenanted homes. Most mortgage lenders will require that you have buildings insurance in place. Landlords building insurance will cover you against a number of eventualities, and is specifically tailored to offer a…

A tenancy agreement is, or should be, an important document. It sets out the terms under which you agree to let your property to your tenant and, ideally, it should also set out all the legal rules that apply. The document can then stand as a reference manual – something to consult when problems arise…