According to the National Landlords Association (NLA), the number of so called “accidental landlords” is on the rise. Research by the associations has shown that 43% of its members did not buy the first property they let out with the intention of becoming a landlord. according to Auction Finance Limited, there are five reasons for…

The National Landlords Association has urged landlords to use the green deal scheme to cut energy bills. This comes after the announcement of the latest price rises from energy companies. British Gas have raised their prices by an average of 6%, and Npower have announced average rises of 8.8% for gas and 9.1% for electricity…

Yet another social landlord has had to ask for help after getting into trouble with it’s loans. Cosmopolitan Housing Group, who are the largest social landlord to get in to difficulties so far, own nearly 14,000 properties in the north-west of England.  With over £110 million of government funding, sources have revealed that it may…

Britain’s biggest energy supplier, British Gas, and the housing charity Shelter have announced a five-year partnership aimed at improving standards in the private rented sector. The campaign, called Better Homes for Britain, will commission what it calls the widest-ever census of private rental living. Figures cited by the campaign include statistics from the Government’s English Housing…

Launched just a year ago, Shawbrook Bank, is offering buy-to-let landlords a range of short-term loans. These include a loan for investors looking to buy, refurbish or release equity from the after-works value of a property, and short-term loans for acquisition, such as at auction. The bank also offers a short-term loan for light refurbishment….

A Norwich landlord has been ordered to pay £53,500 after being prosecuted by Norwich City Council for putting his tenants at risk. Joseph Howman from Grosvenor Road in Norwich pleaded guilty to nine offences and was deemed not to meet the standards required of a landlord. Norwich Magistrates Court heard how Howman’s house on Unthank…

The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, speaking on BBC Radio 5 on Friday, was asked whether he agreed with proposals from senior Conservatives to restrict housing benefit for people under 25 years of age.  When asked whether he supported a ban on under 25’s receiving housing benefit, he said: “A complete blanket ban on providing…

Housing association and council tenants may receive rent increases of no more than 3.1 % (not including up to £2 a week extra that some tenants could pay under rent convergence rules) following the inflation figures announced this morning by the Treasury. The retail price index, one of the key measures for economic growth, fell in September to 2.6…

The latest report from Buy to Let Mortgages has revealed that gross yields from rental properties continues to rise as demand for properties remains strong. Gross yields have increased across all types of buy to let properties in the last quarter (except for semi-commercial, eg flats above shops). Across the last 4 quarters, multi-unit freehold…

The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) has been granted approval by the UK government to run an insurance-based deposit protection scheme in England and Wales.  The new scheme will run alongside the DPS’s existing custodial scheme. The DPS currently operates the only custodial based deposit protection scheme in England and Wales and will be the only…