Entries by Joanna Plane

UK Property Market Predictions For 2013

What’s in store for the UK residential property and Buy To Let markets in 2013? Many of the predictions made by respected property analysts have so far been fairly positive in that the state of the UK residential property sales market can’t really get much worse, and the Buy To Let rental market should continue to […]

Property Prices Fall As Mortgage Lending Rises

UK Property Prices Still Falling But Its Not All Bad… UK property prices fell faster than expected in November2012, attracting many new buyers according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). In its latest analysis of the UK residential property market, RICS found that: 9% more of RICS surveyors reported property price falls rather than rises, […]

Property Values To Remain Subdued In 2013

UK Property values will remain subdued in 2013 It has emerged that while first-time buyers are continuing to struggle to secure mortgage loans on any type of property, according to UK mainstream mortgage lender, The Halifax. The UK mortgage lender said that while the overall outlook for UK property values “remains more unclear than usual” it […]

Rents Becoming Unaffordable

Landlords Urged To Be More Realistic With Rental Asking Prices With tenant demand for private rented sector (PRS) property easing due to the countdown to Christmas and New Year, it has come to light that many landlords have set rental asking prices that are beyond the affordability of many tenants. London-based property consultants have advised landlords to […]

Lenders Tell Landlords – No DSS!

Lenders tell Buy-To-Let landlords they are not allowed to house tenants claiming benefits. UK private rental sector (PRS) landlords with buy-to-let mortgages are being prevented by their mortgage lenders from letting rental properties to tenants claiming benefits. BM Solutions, the buy-to-let brand of the Lloyds Banking Group, is one lender, and Accord, a Yorkshire Building […]

Mortgage Approvals Higher Than Expected

British Bankers’ Association Announce Good News For Borrowers UK Mortgage lending reached an 11-month high in October, providing evidence that the housing market may finally be picking up, after a lull in recent months, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Gross mortgage lending rose to £12.9 Billion (GBP) and was 4% higher than […]

Landlords Suffering Financially Due To Unexpected Costs

Failure To Plan Is Planning To Fail A recent survey by a national lettings agency has highlighted financial losses incurred by landlords due to failing to plan for unexpected costs. Landlords pay an average of £1500 (GBP) per year out of their rental income on covering tenant rent arrears, maintenance and repair bills and void […]

Big Chill Could Equal Big Bills

Landlords Warned That Severe Winter Weather Could Bring Big Repair Bills The National Landlords Association (NLA) has issued a warning to all UK landlords to check that their landlord insurance is up to date and to prepare for bad weather and freezing temperatures over the next few months, as weather forecasters predict a bitterly cold winter […]

Rent Guarantee Is The Way Forward

  Rents Rise But Arrears Fall Regardless of all the media reports about PRS rents rising for the seventh consecutive month, it also appears that the level of late or unpaid rent has fallen to the lowest level since January, equating to 8.1% of all rent across England and Wales in October 2012. A survey by […]

Buy-To-Let Mortgage Lending Hits £4 Billion in 3rd Quarter

  The UK buy-to-let mortgage market continues to show signs of making a good recovery as lenders reveal that over £4 Billion (GBP) worth of mortgages were taken by active property investors during the 3rd quarter of 2012. The UK’s Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) stated that £4.2 Billion (GBP) worth of mortgages were taken […]

The Current Rental Market

The UK’s rental market has seen strong growth over the last year with rents stabilising in the third quarter to an average rent of £970 per calendar month after an initial fall in price in August. The market has seen a 2 percent increase in rents from September 2011, just 0.6 percent below the rate […]

How Landlords Should Deal With Tenant Rent Arrears

As many UK landlords already know, there are always some issues that can arise during the course of a tenancy. These can vary from essential repairs to rent arrears and with the UK still slowly recovering from a double dip recession, money is tight all around. With this in mind Legal 4 Landlords offer landlords […]

PRS Warning For Benefit Tenants

Government’s Own Watchdog Warns Ministers Over Housing Mayhem There will be a huge shortage of affordable Private Rented Sector (PRS) property for tenants claiming housing benefit if the Government Welfare reforms go ahead in the spring of 2013 as currently planned. The warning has come from the Government’s own spending watchdog, the National Audit Office […]

Avoid Tenant’s From Hell

As thousands of people struggle to sell their properties in the current financial climate, many are turning to renting them out in order to move on with their lives. However this comes with its own problems and responsibilities that many people are not really prepared for. Being a landlord means you have legal responsibilities towards […]

Things That Go Bump In The Night

 A spooky Halloween tale from Legal 4 Landlords   In a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) in Gravesend, on a dark stormy Halloween evening, the residents gathered in the communal lounge drinking and discussing ghost stories…  One young male tenant claimed that an old man who used to own the large house they lived in was […]

Tenant Evictions Increase

More PRS tenants are struggling with rent arrears The latest UK Court Statistics released by the Government continue to indicate a steady rise in the number of claims for possession by landlords that have resulted in orders for tenant eviction being made. The continued rise in severe rent arrears have lead to more than 25,000 landlords making successful […]

More Landlord Finance Is Needed

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) have discovered that finance for landlords is woefully inadequate with almost 50% of UK landlords struggling to get additional mortgages, remortgage or even obtain more finance. The RLA asked its members about obtaining further finance to expand their rental property portfolios 24.1% found it very difficult to get a Buy-To-Let […]

PRS Rental Prices Reach Record High

Rental prices in the UK Private Rented Sector have now reached a new record high, with the average PRS rent during September across the UK reaching approximately £741 (GBP) per calendar month (pcm). The startling cost of PRS rental was revealed by LSL property services and represents a rise of 1.1% on the previous record […]

Dealing With Tenants In Rent Arrears

The number of private sector tenants in severe arrears is still increasing, albeit at a slower rate, rising by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter of 2012. There are now more than 99,000 tenants in rent arrears greater than 8 weeks plus – the highest since 2008 and 15% more than last year. Tenants in severe […]

Section 8 – Grounds For Eviction

Section 8 – Grounds For Eviction. Taking the professional tenant eviction route may sound expensive to many UK landlords, but it can actually work out to be the cheaper option because professional tenant eviction specialists, like LegalforLandlords, know what they’re doing and work fast. Many landlords try to tackle the eviction process themselves by serving a Section […]