July 2016

Hundreds of landlords’ applications for Alternative Payment Arrangements (APAs) under Universal Credit are being deleted by the Department for Work & Pensions. (DWP)
Universal Credit expert Bill Irvine said he has been contacted by members complaining the DWP is refusing to deal with their applications claiming they ‘could not open attachments’ and as a result is entitled to delete them.

RLA members are being encouraged to donate unwanted items to good causes through new smartphone app Gone for Good.
The app matches businesses and individuals with charities in their postcode, who actively want to receive particular items and will collect them for free.

We have recently launched our first quarterly survey on the Tax and Finance issues affecting the private rented sector. We are delighted to announce that we have had over 2,500 landlords who have made their voice heard and shared their experiences. The more landlords that help the greater the confidence there is in our survey […]

RLA protecting landlords over Council error On Friday 22nd July, it was brought to our attention that Reigate and Banstead Borough Council had released thousands of landlords details into the public domain as part of a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request. The FOI request asked the council for details on landlords so an individual could […]

A damning new report showing how taxing landlords is actually penalising tenants has been welcomed by the Residential Landlords Association.
‘Taxing tenants: how taxes on landlords end up hitting tenants’, published by the Taxpayers’ Alliance, says the Government’s new tax grabs will inevitably force up rents – having a massive impact on the country’s PRS tenants.

Government policy is making it harder than ever for benefits claimants and the homeless to rent homes, according to a new report based on RLA data.
The Residential Landlords Association has been working with Sheffield Hallam University as part of an investigation into access to the PRS by the homeless and those on benefits.

Gavin Barwell was this week named Housing and Planning Minister by new Prime Minister Theresa May. But what is this likely to mean for PRS landlords?
Barwell, MP for Croydon Central said he was keen to work with landlords, councils, housing authorities and developers to tackle the UK housing crisis – and has been a vocal critic of the controversial licensing schemes being introduced throughout the country.

The Government has addressed the confusion over rules regarding Right to Rent checks on foreign students coming to start courses in the UK.
The RLA approached the Home Office asking for clarification on whether checks must be carried out twice – when agreeing the tenancy, potentially months in advance, and again 28 days or less before students were due to move in.

The new Government needs to back the nation’s landlords as a new report by Peers finds that institutional investors are failing to provide for the rental sector.

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) Cymru is asking the Welsh Assembly to scrap the 3% stamp duty levy on buy-to-let properties to boost the number of homes to rent.
The Welsh Assembly is set to adopt the new Land Transaction Tax – the Welsh equivalent to stamp duty – and the RLA is now lobbying AMs to drop the surcharge which was brought in by George Osborne.