Landlord challenge at High Court dismissed

This week we reported on Cherie Blair QC, wife of former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, representing  landlords fighting  proposed changes to the tax regime against the  Government and HMRC at the High Court. ‘Landlords Oppose Tax Regime Changes’ Yesterday,  Cherie Blair QC, argued that the changes were both “unfair and unlawful”, and that the…

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Landlords oppose tax regime changes

Cherie Blair QC, wife of former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, will represent landlords fighting  proposed changes to the tax regime against the  Government and HMRC at the High Court on Thursday. She will argue against proposed changes to section 24 of the Finance (No.2) Act 2015, these changes would stop buy-to-let finance costs being…

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Warning for ‘Rogue Landlords’ at Conservative Party Conference

The Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, announced yesterday at the Conservative Party Conference, that from December,  landlords  who knowingly rent out their property  to illegal immigrants will be committing a criminal offence, and that they could go to prison for doing so. Addressing conference she  unveiled a wide-ranging clamp-down on migrants coming to the UK, she…

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ZPG report continued growth in their Audience

News release from Zoopla Property Group yesterday headlined “ZPG reports over 53 million visits and 2 million leads in September” Over 53 million visits to its websites in September is up 13% year on year, the ZPG property apps also saw strong growth with total downloads now at in excess of 8.3 million. Mark Goddard,…

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Reminder to Landlords and Letting Agents in Wales

A reminder to Landlords and letting Agents in Wales  that from the 23rd November this year they must be licensed to be able to carry out letting or property management activities. The new rules require that all landlords with property in Wales must register themselves and their rental property addresses with Rent Smart Wales by…

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Tougher buy to let lending rules for landlords

bank of england interest rate

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA),  the supervisory arm of the Bank of England, has confirmed it will bring in tougher underwriting standards for buy-to-let lenders following an earlier consultation. Tougher lending restrictions are to be imposed on Landlords when applying for buy to let mortgages, the new rules will require banks and mortgage providers to…

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Increase in Number of households reporting to be homeless

Governement figures released yesterday showed that Local authorities accepted 15,170 households as being statutorily homeless between 1 April and 30 June 2016, up 3% on the previous quarter and 10% on the same quarter of last year. These are households that are owed a main homelessness duty to secure accommodation as a result of being…

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Landlords disadvantaged by tax relief cap.

The move to cap tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer which starts next year could put private landlords at a disadvantage when calculating their tax  returns. This situation is causing landlords to sell properties back to themselves in an effort to reduce tax liabilities on the property they rent…

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Client Money Protection Scheme Amendment

It is estimated that letting agents currently hold approximately £2.7 billion in client funds on behalf of renters and landlords, this can be for a for a range of reasons, including deposits, rental payments, and money for repairs. If the letting agent is not part of a Client Money Protection scheme (CMP) clients could possibly…

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Longer term tenancies for renters in the (PRS)

Newly appointed  Housing Minister Gavin Barwell  supports the concept of longer tenancies for renters in the private rented sector (PRS), in reply  to a recent House of Commons question he stated he was investigating how to make longer tenancies easier to obtain for tenants. He reportedly said: “My department [the DCLG] has developed a model…

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Landlords Hit With Extra ‘green tax’

Buy to let landlords are due to be hit with costs of £5,000 from April 2018 to comply with new government energy efficiency legislation introduced on rental properties. The Green Deal scheme which offered loans for improvements is no longer available and the government now expects landlords to finance the improvements themselves. Policy advisor at…

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Private Rental Prices increase most in South East.

Released yesterday 28th July by The Office for National Statistics ‘Index of private housing rental prices (IPHRP) in Great Britain. Results: June 2016. An experimental price index tracking the prices paid for renting property from private landlords in Great Britain. Main findings, Private rental prices paid by tenants in Great Britain rose by 2.4% in…

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house purchase lending up 8% yr on yr in May

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) in a press release published  today on their website states ‘May house purchase lending 8% up on a year ago’. In May (In Brief) according to CML, Home-owners borrowed £9.4bn for house purchase, First-time buyers borrowed £4.3bn, Home movers borrowed £5.1bn, Remortgage activity totalled £5.2bn and Landlords borrowed £2.6bn. Paul…

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NUMBER OF RETIRED RENTERS SOARS BY OVER 200,000 IN 4 YEARS

The number of people living in private rented accommodation in retirement has soared by more than 200,000 in the last four years, according to a poll of private renters*. Overall, the poll shows that the proportion of retired private renters has grown by 13 per cent since 2012 – approximately 220,000** – as more and…

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