March 2019

Councils across England are failing to use Rent Repayment Order powers to tackle bad landlords in the private rented sector. Figures given in a parliamentary answer reveal that during the 18 months until the end of September 2018 just three Rent Repayment Orders had been made by local authorities. Where the rent is paid directly […]

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The RLA is calling for more support to help landlords offer longer tenancies after it was revealed almost half the babies born in the UK are starting their lives in rented homes. The figures were revealed in a new report published today by insurance company Royal London. David Smith, policy director for the RLA, said: […]

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A Bill banning fees charged to tenants by letting agents and landlords will become law, after passing its final stage today. The Renting Homes (Fees etc) (Wales) Bill was debated for a final time in the plenary, and now is awaiting Royal Assent. The Renting Homes (Fees etc) (Wales) Bill The Bill was formally introduced […]

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A member posted on our Forum this week, concerned about a situation involving a smoke detector in the hallway of one of their rental properties. The tenants had initially complained about the lighting in the property, and when the landlord went to inspect the issue with an electrician, they noticed that the smoke detector in […]

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James Card of RLA tax partner RITA4RENT on the progress of the government’s Making Tax Digital plans. The one word that comes to mind when it comes to Making Tax Digital (MTD) is ‘delays’. There was a delay in the original timeline of introduction, and a delay in HMRC releasing information relating to MTD for […]

The post Blog: Making Tax Digital – the latest appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Universities Minister Chris Skidmore has issued a warning to criminal landlords who provide poor and substandard living conditions for students. Delivering a speech at an event for students in London earlier today, Mr Skidmore acknowledged that many landlords already ‘take their responsibilities seriously’ but added that some student landlords have been failing to provide basic […]

The post Universities Minister issues warning to student landlords renting out substandard homes appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Swathes of new legislation is heading our way, with landlords left in limbo as to how the PRS of the future will work. Here, in an article first published in RLA magazine Residential Property Investor, we look north of the border to Scotland where drastic change has already taken place. John Blackwood, chief executive of […]

The post Look North: How Scottish landlords have coped with a changing PRS appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

ONE of the Government’s flagship immigration policies has been branded a farce after a court ruling that a landlord who seeks to repossess property where the Home Office tells them a tenant does not have the right to rent, is breaching equalities law. Under the Right to Rent scheme landlords are responsible for checking the […]

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A new ‘rogue landlord hub’ to crackdown on criminal landlords and agents and those renting out substandard homes is being set up in Manchester. The new hub was announced by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham – and is being funded by a £128,000 grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) first […]

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Landlords with properties that have an energy performance rating of F or G will be expected to pay up to £3500 from 1st April, in order to improve the energy efficiency rating of the property. The majority of landlords will be unaffected by the change, because their properties will already be compliant. This is because […]

The post Energy Efficiency: £3,500 cost cap to take effect from 1st April appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.