Category: landlord insurance

Landlords are again being urged not to forget about tenants on benefits

Posted on 5th November 2012

The owner of a lettings company that specialises in finding tenancies for pensioners has pleaded with private landlords not to turn their backs on tenants who are on benefit. Peter Girling feels it is wrong to stigmatise those who are on benefits for various reasons.
The latest research from the NHF (National Housing Federation) shows there has been a massive 484,000 rise in the number of social housing tenants during the past three years. This huge increase has coincided with the number of private landlords with […]

Landlords offered cheap loans in coastal resort

Posted on 2nd November 2012

Property investors looking for new opportunities may want to consider a letting business in the coastal town of Withernsea, Lincolnshire as the local council looks to offer landlords in the town loans for improving properties.
The scheme is to be operated in five areas of the run down town and the council say there is up to £1 million up for grabs for property owners with an interest in landlord insurance. The project will offer homeowners and landlords low coast loans to improve their properties in […]

Landlords in the East are tops when it comes to yields

Posted on 1st November 2012

Although landlords in the South East and in particular London still enjoy the highest rental achievements across the UK, holders of landlord insurance policies in the East of England have also got something to cheer about.
Research commissioned by leading buy-to-let loan providers, Paragon, shows that property investors in the eastern corner of England are leading the way when it comes to rental yields. The figures, collated by BDRC Continental show that landlords in the East of England averaged a 7.5% rental yield in the third […]

Waltham Forest next in line for landlord licensing scheme

Posted on 31st October 2012

Prospective landlords in a London borough may have to buy a licence off the council in future before they can even think of purchasing landlord insurance on their property, if plans put forward by a local councillor get the go ahead.
Councillors in Waltham Forest are considering making homeowners and letting agents in the borough register and get a licence before setting up business in a bid to cut down on anti-social behaviour that is plaguing the area. Councillors believe such a plan would reduce the […]

West Country landlords get advice on fire safety from the experts

Posted on 29th October 2012

Landlords in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset have been offered free advice and support on how best to combat the dangers of fire to their properties.
As every major property and landlord insurance provider will testify, fire in the home is one of the major causes of claims on home insurance policies, and unfortunately doctors and emergency service workers will back up their assertions.
Landlords in Plymouth and the remainder of the West Country were treated to a free demonstration on how the rules and regulations surrounding health […]

Thin end of the wedge?

Posted on 26th October 2012

With the confirmation that private landlords in Northern Ireland will now be allowed direct payment from housing benefits when applicable, landlords in the rest of the UK are asking why they can’t be treated the same.
It has long been a bone of contention for private landlords that they cannot be paid direct from housing benefit and it has led to many landlords refusing to take tenants who are on housing benefit fearing their clients will fall into arrears. Now that Lord Freud, the Welfare Minister, […]

Landlords urged to improve energy efficiency and save tenants cash

Posted on 16th October 2012

As the UK’s leading power suppliers announce they are putting up their prices, a national landlords association is asking its members to help out its tenants by bringing their fuel bills down.
In the last few days npower have announced price hikes of 9% for gas and electricity customers and British Gas have followed suit and upped their prices by about 6%. The increases will affect millions of customers and will include many tenants who live in homes covered by landlord insurance.
David Salusbury, leader of the […]

Residential Landlords Association at loggerheads with Shelter and British Gas

Posted on 15th October 2012

Britain’s biggest energy supplier, British Gas, and homeless charity Shelter have announced a five year partnership. The campaign, called Better Homes for Britain, will commission the widest ever census of private rental living with the long term aim being improving standards in the privately rented sector. However, statistics used by the partnership to highlight housing problems has angered many holders of landlord insurance policies.
The figures being used by the partnership show 610,000 rental homes allegedly too cold, 879,000 damp or unsafe, and 327,700 being in […]

More private landlords are being reported by unhappy tenants

Posted on 12th October 2012

A new investigation by housing and homelessness charity Shelter has revealed that complaints about private landlords are increasing at an alarming rate. The research was conducted via Freedom of Information requests sent to all 326 local authorities in England.
Statistics from the 90% of authorities who replied to the request shows that the total number of complaints made to councils about private landlords has risen 28% since 2009 and during the last twelve months there has been over 85,000 complaints made by tenants. Almost 62% were […]