A house hunter who was recently looking for a room to rent was surprised when the landlord gave her a list of 31 house rules. The rules included a fine of £100 for using additional heaters in bedrooms, and £15 for leaving dirty dishes in the sink. The rules also stipulated that tenants were not…

A bill to criminalise the subletting of social housing in England and Wales has completed its latest stage in parliament. The Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Bill was passed by the House of Lords yesterday, and will now go back to the House of Commons before becoming law. The bill creates a new criminal offence…

Landlords are traditionally resistant to letting to pet owners. With statistics showing that over 50% of households in the UK own a pet, landlords could be cutting down their potential market by more than half. The reason that landlords are so resistant is usually the fear of the damage that a pet can cause, be…

Ed Miliband, leader of the Labour Party, has proposed a national register of landlords and more powers for councils to tackle rogue landlords. A “national register” of landlords, the likes of which already exists in Scotland, was proposed under the last Labour government.  This was abandoned by the coalition which said it did not want…

The number of tenants in severe arrears fell in the last quarter of 2012, according to receivers Templeton LPA, part of the LSL group. There was a 15.6% drop in the number of tenants in severe arrears, which translates to 16,000 tenants. Although that still left 86,000 in serious arrears of two months or more,…

The buy-to-let market looks buoyant for 2013, with 55% of landlords planning to increase their property portfolios over the next six months. But, according to research by specialist broker Mortgages for Business, landlords are highly critical of lenders. 76% of investors say lenders should be doing more to help them get the finance they need….

Happy new year! 2012 proved to be a good year for the rental market.  Tenant arrears dropped to the lowest levels since 2010 and gross yields on buy to let properties increased from 6.3% to 6.7% in the third quarter of 2012. For further information on how we can help you to secure your next tenant(s)…

Homeless Link, and the charities The Children’s Society and Barnados are among 20 charities and organisations backing the call to the government to scrap its latest welfare cuts ahead of a key commons vote tomorrow.  An open letter, published yesterday in the Observer newspaper, warns that plans to cap increases in benefits will cause hardship…

ARLA have release a Christmas holiday guide for tenants. You can view the guide by clicking here

The direct payment of benefits scheme is being tested by landlords across Great Britain in six pilot projects. 6,200 tenants were paid directly in the first four months of the pilot project, according to figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions.  On average, 92% of rent was collected, meaning that 8% of those tenants…