How can I verify property ownership when renting directly from the landlord? Nice easy question for a Friday afternoon. Search the Land Registry for the owner or leaseholder of the property; a search will currently cost you £4: worth it for peace of mind, we think. photo credit: William… Read more
George Osborne called it the unavoidable budget. As expected, there were swingeing cuts across many areas of government, plus tax rises to compound the pain. What will these mean for landlords? Capital Gains Tax increase for higher rate tax payers A new rate of CGT of 28% has been introduced for higher rate tax payers. For individuals, this means that if the total of your income and capital… Read more
One of the questions we hear from tenants most often is where can I find a landlord who’ll let to tenants on housing benefit? As many as one in ten renters may be receiving benefit, so when these tenants represent such a huge proportion of the market, why do so many landlords state “no DSS” in their adverts – and are they right to do so? For some, it’s because they have no choice. Some… Read more
Edinburgh police are running training courses to help landlords spot the signs that a cannabis farm is being run in their property. The Weed Them Out day-long conference advised landlords and lettings agents on the tell-tale signs that their accommodation was being used to cultivate the drug. A second conference takes place next Friday. Police raid three cannabis farms a day; most are in a… Read more
Under normal circumstances, the person who is living in a property is responsible for paying the council tax on that property. Usually, therefore, the lead tenant will take on the council tax when they move in. There are two fairly frequent exceptions to this: when the landlord is living in the property themself. If you have a lodger in your own home, then you’ll remain responsible for the… Read more
A Upad.co.uk survey of tenants found that they were overwhelmingly in favour of being able to find out information about their landlord before they rented a property. Last week, Housing Minister John Healey announced that the government would be establishing a “Trip Advisor-style website” on which tenants could leave feedback on their landlord and their accomodation. Our tenants… Read more
The government is considering a change in the way that Stamp Duty is calculated, to encourage more institutional investors to become professional landlords. The Treasury has issued a consultation document, Investment in the Private Rented Sector, asking the property industry whether changes to Stamp Duty bulk purchasing rules would impact property purchasing decisions, specifically with regard to… Read more
Housing Minister John Healey today announced a package of measures designed to offer more protection to private rental sector tenants. The package of measures outlined in The Private Rented Sector: Professionalism and Quality: consultation responses and next steps, following on from the Rugg Review published in 2008, are intended to ensure that tenants can make informed decisions before they… Read more
The government has given its backing to a backbench bill aimed at protecting tenants from the consequences of their landlord having property repossessed. The Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants etc) Bill, tabled by backbench MP Dr Brian Iddon, will allow judges to delay repossession of a property by up to two months, giving tenants the time they need to find a new home. The Bill… Read more
The Office of Fair Trading is launching a “Scamnesty” to help combat mass-marketed fraud and scams aiming to dupe people into parting with cash. More than 4 million Britons admit to having responded to a scam sent via email, letter or text – and a third of them say they have lost money. Email is the most common way for scammers to contact potential victims – 73% of those surveyed say they’d… Read more
A Carmarthenshire landlord has been fined £2,000 for failing to comply with the terms of an improvement notice served on his HMO. After several complaints from tenants, council environmental health officers carried out a full inspection of the property under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. They found numerous problems with the accommodation, including issues with fire safety, damp,… Read more
Most landlords will happily allow their tenants to have overnight guests now and again. But what if that guest stays on – a week, a month, or indefinitely? Is there any need to worry, and if so, what can be done about it? There is one compelling reason to try to regularise the situation and get both tenant and guest to sign a new contract which names them both. In a joint Assured Shorthold… Read more
Britain’s biggest public sector union is proposing the introduction of an “empty property tax” on residential properties which are left unoccupied. Unison has launched its own recovery budget ahead of Chancellor Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report on Wednesday, proposing that £74 billion of savings in public expenditure can be found without making any cuts in services. The union says that… Read more
To furnish or not to furnish – it’s a question many landlords ask. Surprisingly, the law has no particular opinion: since 1988 there has been no difference between furnished and unfurnished property in security of tenure for tenants, and in fact, there’s no legal definition of “furnished” or “unfurnished”. There are financial implications though: Council Tax isn’t payable on unfurnished… Read more
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