A woman who illegally sublet her York council house has become the first person in the North Yorkshire region to be successfully prosecuted. Beatrice Stanford, 43, admitted charging a tenant £450 a month for the City of York Council-owned property in Fenwick Street. She later increased the rent to £520 a month including utility bills. She…

The Mortgages for Business Complex Buy to Let Index for Q2 2012 has just been released in the latest issue of FirstRate. The main findings show: •  Yields on multi-units increase to 7.5% in Q2 •  Complex buy to let returns consistently higher than vanilla •  Mainstream vanilla buy to let yields fall to 6.1% in…

According to statistics from rightmove, the last 3 years has seen a 135% increase in demand for lettings, as measured by search activity. Across the country, according to rightmove statistics, 56% of tenants are “trapped renters”, unable to buy a property, and stuck on the lettings cycle.  With their latest figures showing that nearly 40%…

  Universal Credit is a new single payment for people who are looking for work or on a low income. Universal Credit will help claimants and their families to become more independent and will simplify the benefits system by bringing together a range of working-age benefits into a single streamlined payment. The new Universal Credit…

Following Conservative Party proposals to cut housing benefit for under 25s, charities have united to send a joint letter to the Prime Minister asking him to reconsider. The letter, which was published in The Times newspaper, calls for David Cameron to re-consider his proposals, or risk having a ‘disastrous impact on thousands of young adults.’ Ten charities in total…

ARLA is running its 2nd survey of 2012, which is aimed at residential investor landlords who have an existing portfolio of one or more properties. click here to take part in the survey now

According to government figures released in the department for Communities and Local Government’s English housing, the proportion of people living in the private rented sector rose again last year. The survey shows that 17% of households (3.62 million) lived in the private rented sector in 2010/11, an increase from 2.45 million in 2005. In contrast the number…

The Scottish Government has announced a private rent deposit scheme, which will become compulsory from November. The tenancy deposit scheme is free for landlords and letting agents, and tenants will have access to a free and independent dispute resolution service when the return of a deposit is in dispute, much like the Deposit Protection Scheme currently in…

The Communities and Local Government committee has recommended that the government simplify tax and regulatory structures that apply to private landlords. CLG has put forward proposals in an effort to create an environment in which small private landlords are encouraged to expand their portfolios and invest in new build housing. It said investment by large…

An influential government-commissioned review is set to recommend sweeping changes to planning and funding rules to favour the private rented sector over affordable homes. The proposals are likely to be included in Sir Adrian Montague’s review of the private rented sector, which is expected to be published next month. They include pushing councils to change…