Posted on 22nd March 2013
A day after the Budget announcement where George Osborne called on banks to increase lending to those involved in the housing sectors it was revealed that BM Solutions decided to loosen its lending criteria for buy-to-let landlords. This comes as good news as recently there have been a number of buy-to-let lenders who have stated that they will no longer offer lending to landlords who have tenants that receive housing benefits such as The Mortgage Works and Lloyds TSB.
Even though The Mortgage Works – […]
Posted on 21st March 2013
Yesterday George Osborne officially announced the Budget for the next year, and as expected he discussed the importance of investing in and creating new housing. In order to improve the housing market and help get more families on the property ladder or move into second homes, the government have launched two new schemes under the ‘Help to Buy’ plans. The first scheme will be targeting would-be buyers, as the government is promising to give those that save up a 5% deposit a 20% […]
Posted on 20th March 2013
Landlords with large property portfolios or other occupations generally rely on letting or estate agents to manage their properties for them for a fee. The fact that letting and estate agents have so much control over a landlords’ property – and ultimately their income – means that there has recently been calls for stricter regulations to be applied to them. Rogue agents not only lead to landlords losing their livelihood, but also tenants living in houses which are not properly maintained with nowhere […]
Posted on 19th March 2013
In the past few weeks we have been discussing how landlords and local councils across the UK have been trying to find ways to help their tenants that will be adversely affected by the upcoming bedroom tax, and now it seems some are taking even more extreme measures. For example, in Scotland, Dundee City Council have decided that they will not evict social housing tenants who struggle to pay their rent after their housing benefits are cut as part of the scheme.
The Council is […]
Posted on 18th March 2013
We have recently seen a marked increase in the amount of housing associations that are changing the structure of their organisations in order to prepare for the challenges that will come as a consequence of the welfare reforms. Many associations are concerned that they need to adapt in order to protect their tenants from any housing benefit cuts and improve the efficiency of their companies in order to help alleviate the housing crisis.
This is why Pickering and Ferens Homes, who are based in Hull […]
Posted on 15th March 2013
Due to the huge demand for private rented accommodation throughout the UK, more and more landlords are choosing to expand their property portfolios and enlisting the help of letting agents in order to manage their houses and tenants. However, there have been complaints from both landlords and tenants over rogue letting agents who charge large fees yet do not provide the services they promised, which has led to the government deciding to introduce regulations for all letting agents.
Unlike estate agents, letting agents are currently […]
Posted on 14th March 2013
Due to the fact that many people living in the UK are struggling to get on the property ladder the popularity of right to buy programmes has increased dramatically, which is where those living in social houses are allowed to purchase their property after living there for five years at a discounted price. However, during the first five years the property is still owned by the landlord who can make decisions when it comes to maintenance and repairs for the property as long as […]
Posted on 13th March 2013
A considerable amount of recent news stories have been commenting on how many people living in the UK are not able to get onto the property ladder and therefore have to rent private accommodation instead. The articles usually talk to tenants who complain that the amount it costs them to rent a property is too high, and that they would prefer to buy a property yet cannot afford to save for a mortgage deposit. However, it now seems that there are some people […]
Posted on 12th March 2013
Many landlords both in the private and social sectors are concerned that the upcoming welfare reforms will lead to more tenants falling into rent arrears. However, it has been reported today that around twenty-five thousand housing executive tenants in Northern Ireland are already in rent arrears, meaning that the landlords and local authorities are already struggling with making sure tenants pay their rent on time.
The Housing Executive has said that it is extremely concerned by the fact that a third of their eighty-eight thousand […]
Posted on 11th March 2013
London is becoming known as one of the most difficult places to find affordable private rented accommodation in the whole of the UK, and with the increase in rent prices and upcoming cap on housing benefits it looks like this is set to continue. Now it has been revealed that even the Metropolitan police are having to give up properties at the end of their lease agreements, even though those living there used to work for the police force and claim they have nowhere […]
