Exceptional demand continues in the UK’s private rental sector, new figures from estate agency firm, Countrywide, show. In the three months to the end of September, tenant demand per property increased 10.8% compared to a year earlier, having shot up by almost 12% since the summer. The group, which operates across 1,300 branches, also recorded [...]
private rental
Landlords keener on family homes
Family-sized homes are gaining in popularity with landlords, as the UK’s private rental sector enters its latest phase. Research from buy-to-let mortgage specialist, Paragon, suggest that landlords looking to expand their portfolios this autumn are more likely to be considering semi-detached and detached properties for investment. Forty-one per cent of landlords with a purchase in [...]
Responsible landlords penalised over Green Deal
Recent proposals announced by the Energy Secretary could mean responsible private rental landlords are penalised, should tenants refuse to participate in “Green Deal” energy efficiency work. So says the Residential Landlords’ Association (RLA), which points out that 40% of properties in the UK’s private rental sector were built before 1919, making energy efficiency a major [...]
Rise in family homes for rent
The start of 2011 saw an influx of higher-value property into the UK’s private rented sector, with an 11.6% increase in the average capital value of a rented house in the first three months of the year, to £447,900. According to research from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) the rise comes alongside an [...]
HomeLet launches new eviction guarantees
HomeLet has launched two specialist services offering protection to landlords who may need to reclaim a property in the event of a tenant breaching their tenancy agreement.
“Optimum” is a tenant referencing service which includes a guarantee to remove the tenant if they don’t pay their rent.
Claiming to be a market first, Optimum costs £26 for [...]
Tenant arrears rise as rent increases loom
The UK’s private rental sector saw tenant arrears rise to almost 12% of all private rent in December, up 2% compared with a month earlier, according to the latest survey from property group, LSL.
Total arrears, estimated at £276 million, were at their highest since December 2009, with rising unemployment likely to drive the figure into [...]
MPs wary of benefit cuts in the private rental sector
An influential committee of MPs has expressed “a level of uncertainty” regarding the impact of the Government’s proposed housing benefit cuts.
A new report from the Work and Pensions Select Committee focuses particularly on claimants of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the private rental sector, who face new caps in LHA on property size, plus an [...]
