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The government has been urged to allow social landlords greater flexibility over setting rents on a local basis as part of the affordable rent model. The call from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors comes as part of a wide-ranging review into the UK’s residential housing policy. In the review, published this week, RICS said… Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
Zoopla/DPG Merger Gets the OFT Green Light
The merger between Zoopla and Digital Property Group (DPG), which owns Primelocation and Findaproperty, has finally been cleared by the OFT today. DPG has been purchasing smaller property websites for the past few years, and their latest move is being seen as an effort to loosen rightmove’s firm grip on the online property advertising market.… Continue Reading
Government Pledges £85m For Empty Homes
There are currently 720,000 empty homes across England. The government have announced an allocation of £85 million of empty homes funding, which will be given to councils and community groups. Following a bidding round, twenty councils have each won a portion of a £60m funding pot, designed to target clusters of empty homes in low… Continue Reading
Waltham Forest Council Halts Long Distance Rehousing Plans
Waltham Forest Council has been forced to suspend plans to rehouse tenants outside of London, in areas as far away as the West Midlands. The council owns 27 properties in Walsall, and has offered them to their current tenants. The uptake has been poor, with just 6 tenants accepting the relocation. The long-distance re-housing plan… Continue Reading
The Base Rate and Buy To Let Mortgages
The current Bank of England base rate is at a historical low of just 0.5%, but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested that further cuts to the base rate may be needed in order to boost the UK economy. Whilst some consumers with a tracker rate mortgage would benefit from a cut in interest… Continue Reading
Top Tips for Novice Buy to Let Investors
Current market and economic conditions are ripe for buy to let property investment, with low property prices, unprecedented demand for rental properties and soaring rents. On top of this, concerns over pensions, low returns on cash savings and instability in global stock markets are all fuelling demand for safe investments. These are just some of… Continue Reading
Court Ruling Could Change Government’s Bedroom Tax
The government could be forced to make changes to its controversial bedroom tax policy following a Court of Appeal ruling this week. The “bedroom tax” comes in to force from April 2013, and effects social housing tenants of working age with spare bedrooms. The policy means tenants who’s houses are deemed under occupied will face… Continue Reading
The Rental Boom Continues in 2012
According to Homelet, the UK’s largest supplier of referencing and specialist insurance to the lettings industry, the average rent is still rising, and the private rental sector continues to boom. In March this year, the average rent achieved across the UK was £764, a huge 5% increase on the same time last year. London saw… Continue Reading
£1.8m Fund To Get Rid of ‘Beds in Sheds’
Housing minister, Grant Shapps, has pledged that criminal landlords trapping vulnerable people in ‘suburban shanty-towns’ will get the justice they deserve. He allocated a £1.8 million fund to areas blighted by so-called ‘beds in sheds’, to tackle the problem head-on and end this growing practice by ruthless landlords. Mr Shapps appealed to councils who may… Continue Reading
Social Landlords are Ignoring Fire Safety Rules
Fire enforcement notices are issued where a landlord has failed to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. They set out corrective measures that landlords are legally obliged to complete within a specific timescale. Research carried out by Inside Housing reveals that over the last six months for which records are available (between… Continue Reading