November 2017

Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn has called for this month’s Budget to include funding for the retrofitting of sprinklers in high rise buildings housing social tenants. Launching the “Making Homes Safe” Campaign, during a speech today he said: “The campaign’s aim is for sprinklers to be fitted in all social housing throughout the country which is 30 […]

The post Corbyn calls for retrofitting of sprinklers in high rise towers appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake MP has called for mortgage interest relief adjustments to be offered to landlords who offer longer tenancies. The suggestion was made during a debate on temporary accommodation held in Parliament yesterday. Mr Hollinrake said that longer tenancies should be voluntary for landlords, but there should be incentives. He said: “I wonder whether one […]

The post Tory MP wants MIR adjustments for landlords offering longer tenancies appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Last month we outlined our key asks of the government in our budget submission, ahead of November 22nd. Here we break down the document to run through what we believe the government could do to support you, the residential landlords out there offering vital homes to let at a time of housing crisis. In this […]

The post Bitesize Budget – tax incentives for longer tenancies appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

A landlord contacted us recently with an issue around a HMO that has six tenants. One tenant had been renting a room for three years and paid on time. For the past two years they had not lived in the property, because they moved in to live with their partner, but they still paid the […]

The post Forum Spotlight: HMO tenant gave notice then changed their mind appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Last week there was welcome news that the Government are going to make a U turn and no longer apply the Local Housing Allowance rate freeze to those tenants who live in supported and social housing from next year. However, this sense of relief did not stretch as far as the Private Rented Sector. We […]

The post Why ‘freezing’ out the PRS and treating smaller landlords differently to Social Landlords will result in an increase in homelessness appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Landlords and letting agents in Bedford have until the 18th December 2017 to respond to Bedford Borough Council’s proposal to renew their existing HMO additional licensing scheme. Bedford’s current scheme is due to come to an end next year in May, if this scheme is approved, it will extend the scheme for a further 5 […]

The post Bedford Announce HMO Licensing Consultation appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Residents in high rise blocks of flats are being let down by a system in which it is hard to hold to account a single person or organisation for fire safety measures. At present responsibilities for various aspects of fire safety are shared between the owners of a block, the fire services, the local authority […]

The post Residents let down by confused responsibilities on fire safety appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Wednesday brought the promised draft bill on banning up front fees paid by tenants and capping deposits. The bill proposes to apply the ban to assured shorthold tenancies and licences to occupy in the private rented sector, and prohibits all payments except rent, security deposits and holding deposits. The ban applies to both agents and […]

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

The law around being a landlord or a letting agent can often be complex, and frequently changing. With landlords facing heavy fines in some cases for breaching the law, can you really afford not to keep up to date? From changes to EPC legislation, to new minimum room requirements for HMO’s 2018 will be a big […]

The post Quiz: Test your knowledge on Housing Law appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Anti-social behaviour is one of the worst traits a neighbour can have. Whether they are screaming and shouting at each other or pounding out obnoxious music at 4am, they can make life a living hell for those around them. It’s not surprising then that dealing with this sort of behaviour crops up regularly for the […]

The post Call of the Week-Fireworks and antisocial behaviour appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.