August 2017

Rent payments should be included when calculating credit scores to support tenants wanting to buy a home of their own. That’s the call being made following a survey of almost 3,000 landlords carried out by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), which found that 61 per cent of landlords would support such a move. At present, credit […]

The post Include Rent Payments in Credit Scores appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

As Universal Credit, slowly, rolls out across the country, more and more landlords are having to cope with applying for direct payments. This week’s case is quite a common one for the Landlord Advice Team. Our landlord rang in to complain that his tenant ‘was not paying their housing benefit’ and that the council had […]

The post Call of the week – direct payment and Universal Credit appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

The popularity of short term rentals is increasing with a 27% increase in London between February and June last year. Our previous research on short-term lettings has identified that 11% of landlords found their tenants sub-letting their property online. We have been asked for further information on this issue, and we are keen to find out […]

The post Have your tenants advertised your property on Airbnb? appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

We all love small and independent businesses, except, it seems, in the PRS. RLA policy manager John Stewart looks at the obsession with institutional investment at the expense of the individual landlord. It’s seen as a push back against globalisation and big corporates – backing small, local independent businesses like coffee shops, craft breweries and […]

The post Small is beautiful – isn’t it? appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Private sector tenants face a perfect storm with the supply of homes to rent set to fall as demand increases. According to a survey of almost 3,000 landlords published today, 22 per cent plan to sell at least one of their properties over the next year, with just 18 per cent planning to buy additional properties […]

The post Tenants face dwindling supply of housing appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

It is something that seems a million miles from our comfortable existence her in the UK, but human trafficking is happening in this country, right here, right now. Tens of thousands of people in this country are thought to be victims and now police say landlords are in a unique position to help. This week […]

The post Human trafficking: How landlords can help police tackle this evil practice appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Now that 18 months has passed since the introduction of the right to rent legislation, many landlords will be facing a follow up right to rent check to ensure that they are still safe from prosecution. This week’s call is a classic example of this kind of case and landlords who rent out to anyone […]

The post Call of the week – time limited right to rent appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

It is almost two months since the fire at Grenfell Tower and since then a formal inquiry has been launched to establish how and why a fire could spread so quickly and claim so many lives. The RLA is fully supporting the work the government is doing to prevent such an atrocity ever happening again. […]

The post Cladding tests – the facts appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Landlords have been left horrified – and out of pocket – after local authorities re-directed direct payments from landlords to tenants, without explanation. Here welfare expert and RLA trainer Bill Irvine talks through what can be done if this happens and looks at the case law surrounding the issue. “One of my clients recently contacted […]

The post Local Housing Allowance Direct Payments – changing the “payee” appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

According to latest figures 20% of landlords still not registered with Rent Smart Wales almost two years on from the introduction of the registration and licensing scheme. Now Cardiff Council, which runs the scheme, is reviewing its enforcement policy so that the 22 different local authorities can better coordinate their efforts. Here at the RLA we […]

The post 20% of landlords still not registered with Rent Smart Wales appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.