August 2016

New licensing schemes have been launched in the London borough of Ealing.
As of January 1st next year landlords who let homes in five wards of the borough must have licences, along with any landlords who rent out houses in multiple occupation (HMO) anywhere in Ealing.

As part of the Immigration Act 2014, landlords are responsible for performing Right to Rent checks on prospective tenants before signing them up to a tenancy agreement.

The RLA’s Landlord Action Team prides itself on keeping up to date with changes to legislation so it can always give the right advice to our members.
However, there are issues when legislation or court procedures change without adequate advertising.

Landlords in parts of Peterborough will need licences to operate after the city council’s selective licensing scheme was given the green light by the Government.

Jeremy Corbyn’s plans for rent controls and “secure tenancies” in the private rented sector would spell disaster for tenants, reducing the supply and the quality of homes to let. The plans were among 10 pledges announced by the Labour leadership contender today, but the RLA believes that introducing controlled rents would inevitably reduce the supply […]

This time last year, the Landlord Advice Team fully expected to be spending a large portion of the year fielding questions relating to energy efficiency improvements.

This was because from April 2016, landlords have been expected to consent to requests from tenants for energy efficiency improvements, but only where the landlord does not have to pay for it themselves.

Buy-to-let landlords will have to fork out up to £5,000 to make rental homes energy efficient under new Government plans.
A total of 330,000 buy-to-let homes, typically Victorian and Edwardian properties, will be affected and the Residential Landlords Association has warned the new ‘green tax’ could push rents even higher.

A new analysis of housing trends in England is wrong to claim that the private rented sector is not fit for purpose, says RLA chairman Alan Ward.
The report from the Resolution Foundation argues that private sector tenants are more likely to face insecurity as a result of short term tenancies.