October 2017

Private renting in Wales is experiencing massive change. The introduction of Rent Smart Wales marked a huge shift in approach, with the new Renting Homes Act and safety and minimum property standards now on the horizon. Here RLA senior policy officer for Wales, Dorine Pannarale looks at where the sector is now, and what the future […]

The post Renting in Wales – what does the future hold? appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

The week started with the Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid MP, suggesting to Andrew Marr that the government could borrow to build more homes. He sought to make a clear distinction between bringing down the deficit and taking advantage of low interest rates and borrowing to invest in homes and infrastructure. While the minister was light […]

The post Looking back at whats happened in Westminster appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

No-one wants their rental property to be trashed by a party animal, complaints from disgruntled neighbours or – even worse – the police. But when does due diligence become something more sinister? Have you ever looked at social media for an insight into a potential tenant’s lifestyle? Sneaked a look at Facebook for photo- graphic […]

The post Checking out potential tenants on Facebook? You may be breaking the law appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

The Welsh Local Government Association has written to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, David Gauke MP calling for the rollout of Universal Credit to be paused. In those areas of Wales where UC has already been rolled out, Flintshire and Torfaen to date, delays have been reported which have led to claimants finding themselves […]

The post Welsh LGA Calls for pause to rollout of Universal Credit appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

The DWP has published an updated form for landlords to complete to request payment of rent from a tenant’s Universal Credit. The DWP has made changes to the way landlords using both Managed Payment to Landlords and Third Party Deduction for rent arrears APA (UC47) forms on gov.uk can access the paperwork. Landlords who click on […]

The post DWP improves access to Universal Credit direct payment forms appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

MPs have considered the Government’s response to last week’s parliamentary defeat on Universal Credit following in an emergency debate in the Commons. The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Debbie Abrahams MP, called for direct payments of the housing element of UC to be made to the landlord, with John Redwood MP asked if Ministers were considering direct payments […]

The post Direct Payment of Universal Credit to Landlords IS available argue Tories appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Rats, bats and scary shadows with pointy hats. They’re all things commonly associated with Halloween, but what happens when as a landlord you find yourself facing an issue with one of these things in your property? In this week’s Halloween Special Forum Spotlight, we take a look at just that, as a member posted on […]

The post Halloween Forum Spotlight-Claiming compensation for rat infestation appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

BBC Wales broadcaster Lucy Owen has been confirmed as the host for the RLA’s Future Renting Wales conference taking place next month in Cardiff. Lucy, a broadcaster with over 20 years industry experience, presents BBC Wales’ flagship news programme Wales Today. As well as this, she also present popular consumer programme ‘X-Ray’ as well as […]

The post BBC Wales presenter to host Future Renting Wales conference appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

As Wales prepares for the provisions of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act to come into force, England and Wales have moved further and further apart in what is required of a landlord. Worse, as Wales waits for implementation of this sweeping change, an effective freeze has been in place on amending existing notices like the […]

The post Call of the Week: Issuing a Section 21 notice in Wales appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

The RLAs work on plans to include rent payment history within credit scores was cited by a number of MPs during a Westminster Hall debate yesterday. The RLA has called for these proposals to be introduced after a survey of almost 3,000 landlords found that 61 per cent would support such a move. At present, credit […]

The post MPs quote RLA campaign in credit score debate appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.