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…

If you are looking for a buy to let investment, we have the lowdown on the latest property hotspots! Location  Property Price  Average Monthly Rent  Average Rental Gross Yield  1. Southampton £138,311 £901 7.82% 2. Blackpool £75,943 £494 7.81% 3. Kingston upon Hull £69,519 £450 7.7% 4. Manchester £102,631 £650 7.60% 5. Nottingham £83,313 £524…

Letting agents are calling for Shelter’s charitable status to be withdrawn, and for the organisation to be reported to the Charity Commission. The call, supported by Martin & Co’s Ian Wilson, was sounded loudly and clearly in a number of comments made on LAT to our report of Shelter’s bid to get letting agent fees…

Leeds council has been using a loophole to avoid some of it’s tenants falling victim to the bedroom tax. They have reclassified more than 800 “spare” rooms in its social homes as “non-specific rooms”  in order to sidestep the controversial bedroom tax. This means that tenants in affected properties are no longer classified as underoccupying their homes, and…

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has accused Shelter of playing the ‘anti-landlord card’ with its campaign to end the fees lettings agencies charge to tenants. According to the RLA, the charity’s stance will only hurt tenants, as it will lead to increasing costs for landlords, which will result in rents rising. “Once again we have Shelter…

Housing and homelessness charity, Shelter, have described the fees charged by letting agents across Britain as “out of control”, and claim that they are forcing millions into debt. It claims that on average tenants are being charged £350 for everything from fees to set up a tenancy, administration fees, holding fees, credit check fees and check-in…