March 2020

The property ombudsman has today warned agents must not discriminate against benefit tenants. We look at what she has to say, along with new figures on the number of elderly renters living in poverty and benefit overpayments. We also look at what the government has to say on support for tenants in flood risk areas. […]

The post Today in politics: Benefits, flooding and electrical safety appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Landlords with rental properties in the ward of South Wigston, Leicestershire, will have to apply for a licence in order to rent out their property lawfully. It comes as plans to introduce a selective licensing scheme in the ward were given the go ahead at a recent council cabinet meeting. The new selective licensing scheme […]

The post Selective licensing confirmed for South Wigston appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Here RLA trainer, housing benefit and Universal Credit expert Bill Irvine examines a recent case in which a local authority refused to pay housing benefit to an elderly woman renting a home from her son. “RLA members may recall an earlier article involving an aunt and niece, where Housing Benefit had been wrongly refused, simply on the […]

The post Elderly widow and her landlord son win fight for Housing Benefit appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Landlords with rental properties in Hastings are being encouraged to have their say on plans to renew a selective licensing scheme in Hastings. The council is proposing to introduce a scheme requiring landlords to licence all privately rented flats and houses that are occupied by one household (i.e. single persons or couples, or one family) in […]

The post RLA responds to Hastings licensing consultation appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Landlords invited to attend the National Landlord Investment show , which returns to London Olympia in two weeks. The free event will take place on Thursday 19th March, and is the perfect opportunity for landlords to hear from a superb lineup of speakers and network. Political broadcaster Andrew Neil will chair a panel debate on […]

The post Landlords invited to free conference this March appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Rent controls in London would be a disaster for aspiring tenants say landlords. The warning is being made by the RLA and NLA as the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, puts calls to introduce them at the heart of his re-election bid. His proposals come despite experts warning of the danger rent controls would cause […]

The post Sadiq Khan’s rent control plans would be a disaster for aspiring tenants appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Today we look at government plans to extend the deadline for mandatory CMP for agents by 12 months and a question on whether local authorities can introduce their own minimum room sizes in HMOs. Commons to give final approval to CMP rules Plans to extend the grace period for the introduction of Client Money Protection […]

The post Today in politics: Client Money Protection and HMO rules appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

This week the advice team were able to assist one of our members with a matter relating to their tenancy deposits. They had deposits that were protected in schemes for some of their tenancies that were above 5 weeks’ worth of rent, and wanted to know if and when they should go about refunding the […]

The post Call of the Week: Deposits and the tenant fees ban in England appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Each month in our Licensing Update blog, we share a list of councils that are currently consulting on licensing plans. We also take a look at some of the RLA’s most recent responses to licensing consultations, and look back on licensing related news from the past month. Licensing news Liverpool plan ‘alternative’ licensing scheme In […]

The post March licensing update for landlords appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Today we look at a question on the government’s policy regarding regulation and publish new DWP guidance on Universal Credit. Government considering ‘one-in-two-out’ policy Philip Davies MP (Conservative, Shipley) has received a response to his written question asking whether it remains government policy for new regulations to be subject to the one-in-two-out rule. Business Minister, Nadhim Zahawi MP, […]

The post Today in politics: Regulations and Universal Credit appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.