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The last two years have seen a number of changes announced that could adversely impact your letting business. This includes changes to mortgage interest relief, stamp duty land tax, proposed letting agent fee ban, capping of tenancy deposits, licensing schemes and more. Last year we launched our first quarterly survey on the finance and tax […]

The post Launch of Finance and Tax Quarterly Survey appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

This week is Gas Safety Week, and a member asked a question on our forum recently asking a question about advice she had received from an engineer about gas safety certificates. The member was in the situation where two gas safety certificates had expired at two of her properties. She had booked her usual engineer […]

The post Forum Spotlight: Gas Safety Week-make sure your engineer is registered appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

A former letting agent from Kettering has been ordered to pay a confiscation order of £1 million after lying to landlords and tenants about the cost of repairs. Harpreet Garcha, who ran property lettings franchises Belvoir in Kettering, Desborough and Corby, was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison in 2016. The court […]

The post Rogue letting agent hit with £1m penalty appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

New civil penalty regulations give local authorities powers to fine landlords up to £30,000 for breaching housing rules. The RLA is encouraging landlords to make sure they are familiar with new rules to ensure they are meeting their responsibilities – and to avoid potentially hefty fines. Take our quick quiz to test your knowledge. QUIZ […]

The post Civil penalties – could you be hit with a £30,000 fine? appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Letting agents are being warned to act with caution, as fraudulent ‘buyers’ have been targeting agents with a computer virus scam. The warning comes from The Property Ombudsman (TPO), which was alerted to a case by a member agent who received emails from a potential buyer in China. The individual emailed the branch several times […]

The post Warning to letting agents over computer virus scam appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

More than a third of private landlords with tenants receiving Universal Credit say they are owed rent, up by over 10 percentage points since last year. According to a recent RLA survey of almost 3,000 landlords, of those with Universal Credit claimants as tenants, 38 per cent reported experiencing tenants going into rent arrears. In […]

The post Universal Credit forcing PRS tenants into rent arrears appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

The RLA has given evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee on the troubled roll out of Universal Credit. RLA senior policy officer Natalie Williamson asked the committee to recommend halting the roll out of Universal Credit until more work is done with PRS landlords to iron out the glitches and snags they are […]

The post RLA presents Universal Credit evidence to Select Committee appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

A landlord contacted us recently regarding a problem tenant, who has been living in their property for the last three months. The tenant had gone into prison, and was behind paying their rent. The landlord was keen to know what their options were regarding the property. We advised the caller that there are two options […]

The post Call of the week-possession options for tenant in prison appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

The RLA has secured a £1.5m funding pot from energy company E.ON to install energy efficiency improvements in members’ properties – the only funding dedicated exclusively to work on Private Rented Sector (PRS) homes. From April 2018, unless a valid exemption applies, landlords must have an EPC rating of E or above to let homes […]

The post RLA secures £1.5million energy funding pot for members appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

Rain and high winds have been battering the country over the last few days – with gales of up to 75mph set to hit the UK this week. Earlier this year Storm Doris saw 94mph winds rip off roof tiles and fell trees – with insurance companies seeing claims rocket by 300%. The RLA is […]

The post Severe weather warning – are your tenants safe? appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.