Entries by Joanna Plane

Landlords Fall Victim to Cannabis Factories

Latest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny Despite warnings, landlords are still leaving themselves vulnerable to criminal     activities undertaken in their properties. Last summer, we publicized a warning to landlords and letting agents concerning the rise in cannabis cultivation in rented properties adopted by drugs gangs, after Legal 4 Landlords met with Merseyside’s Matrix Unit. The […]

Ministers to Announce Housing Reform

Latest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny The Department of Work and Pensions has responded to private rented sector researchers regarding ministers’ incentives to landlords to reduce rents and in return pay housing benefit direct to them rather than the tenant on a temporary basis. The announcement made last month by Lord Freud prompted Legal 4 […]

A Good Start to 2011

Latest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny Positivity surrounds the beginning of 2011 for landlords, letting agents and property investors. Q4 2010 According to the recent rental index from leading property website Findaproperty.com, the increase in value of residential rental properties has resulted in a £55 per month increase in rents outside London since January 2010. […]

Big freeze – Christmas Chaos for Landlords

Latest landlord news………… by Madalena Penny More Freezing Temperatures on the Way. Landlords this week will be busy returning their insurance claims as the UK saw one of the worst bouts of freezing weather and snow since the 70’s. The plummeting temperatures experienced in December has caused chaos to many households due to frozen and burst pipes, […]

2010 A Year of Tenant-Demand…

Latest Landlord News by: Madalena Penny As landlords and letting agents draw a close to this year, 2010 has seen some vast changes within and around the private rented sector.  At the beginning of the year 3.1 million households were supported by private residential landlords, the figure is now estimated to be about 3.6 million. […]

Managing Rent Arrears

Latest Landlord News by: Colin Campbell A Mancunian song-smith wrote during the 1980’s “money too tight to mention”, and at no other time of the year is a lack of funds more keenly felt than at Christmas. With the spending review affecting employment levels, the rising cost of fuel and heating, compounded by inflation, arctic […]

Illegal Evictions? Landlords are Warned

By: Madalena Penny Landlords attempting to evict tenants without adhering to necessary procedures risk prosecution from the courts warned Sim Sekhon of the legal company ‘Legal 4 Landlords’. Urging landlords not take matters into their own hands, Mr. Sekhon warns that landlords who deliberately, illegally evict tenants face serious penalties, which could result in a […]

Landlords Count the Cost of Christmas

By:  Madalena Penny Christmas, a time of year to be enjoyed by all?  Unfortunately for landlords, the festive season of good cheer can be one of the costliest periods due to an increase in rent arrears, especially LHA tenants. The LHA (Local Housing Allowance) introduced in 2008 to replace the housing benefit system has caused […]

Renting 2011 and Beyond.

By: Colin Campbell With Christmas bunting turning many of the homes across Britain into grottos fit for Santa’s arrival, for the adults, thoughts at this time of year often turn to the following week and New Year’s Eve. Some of you may consider spending the evening in the fountain at Trafalgar Square or stumbling over […]

Tenant-Demand Still Rising

By:  Madalena Penny Demand for rental properties has risen again, according to latest survey from RICS (The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors).  Affected by the lack of supply of available housing stock the survey has also revealed a rise in rental value across the UK including Scotland. 47% more surveyors reported a rise in demand […]

Why Westminster Benefits from Tenant..

By:  Madalena Penny Current government housing & benefit reform is not lacking in irony, or so it seems.  As 102 MP’s have opted to rent out their state paid ‘2nd homes’ amid the falling house prices and a year of rent rises, the numbers of these unlikely landlords are swiftly gaining momentum as the new […]

Too much to bear for one landlord

By: Colin Campbell Without tenant referencing if you go down to your property today are you sure of a big surprise? One landlord in Ohio got much more than he bargained for, leading to an eviction notice for his tenants amongst whom was a man killing bear. In August this year, Lorain County property issued […]

Ministers Offer Direct LHA Payments

By: Madalena Penny Speculation surrounding the delays to government housing benefit caps was confirmed this week by the DWP. The cuts, which were due to be introduced next April and October will now only apply to new applicants in April 2010, while existing applicants will not be affected until January 2012. In response to the […]

European Landlords Steer Clear of Bail-Out

By: Colin Campbell With temperatures plummeting in Britain an icy chill is also drifting around Europe. Governments across the continent are fighting off an infection that some hoped landlords and property developers in the private rental sector would help find the cure for; the ‘European contagion’. A symptom born out of the banking crisis and […]

Delays Benefit PRS

By: Madalena Penny Speculation is surrounding reports this week that the government’s housing benefit caps will be put on hold by a further 9 months for existing claimants. The cuts, which were due to be introduced next April and October are said to only apply to new applicants, while existing applicants will not be affected […]

Social Housing Reform Flout's Human Rights

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ By: Madalena Penny In a bid to tackle the nations housing shortage, ministers have overlooked directives laid out by the European Convention on Human Rights (EHCR), which could seriously dent their social housing reform policy. As part of their intended Localism Bill, the government’s reform included fixed-term tenancies applied to new tenants in the […]

Compensation Claims for Tenant Suicides

By: Madalena Penny Landlords in the UK receive very little positive publicity.  Through historical renditions of Dickensian property owners that throw starving families out into the streets with Machiavellian pleasure, the UK’s private rented sector is in need of the business investment model delivering a new image to bring it in line with a more […]

Licensed to Let

By: Colin Campbell Landlords and the private rented sector received a boost last week as the National Association of Estate Agents announced that it was introducing a licensing scheme for the industry. It is hoped that the enterprise would help to improve and regulate standards within the sector by protecting tenants and landlords from rogue […]

£691 Average Monthly Rent

By: Madalena Penny After 9 consecutive months of rent rises, according to LSL Property Services, rents have increased a further 0.4% from September to an average of £691 per month. While on the surface it could look as though landlords are making hay while the sun shines, the rent-savvy landlord is all to aware there’s […]

Buy-to-Let Lending Shows Signs of Recovery

By:  Madalena Penny With about as much consistency as Cheryl Cole’s X-Factor status and all the buoyancy of Katie Price’s knicker elastic,  buy-to-let statistics are indicating some variable views on the BTL sector. According to UPAD’s recent research measuring landlord confidence, it’s something of a mixed bag.  Surprisingly in contradiction to a steady stream of […]