Category Archives: Landlord News

The new Refurbish-to-Let trend sweeping the UK

Posted on 9th October 2014

This week it was announced that if the Bank of England’s new proposals go forward landlords may soon have to come up with forty per cent deposits in order to be given buy to let mortgages. Landlords are already struggling to expand their property portfolios due to the rising cost of property and if the Bank of England’s plans go ahead they could make matters worse.
This is why so many landlords are taking part in a new trend: ‘refurbish-to-let’. The idea is pretty simple: buy […]

Should Landlords have Performance Reviews? Tenant Groups

Posted on 26th September 2014

Over the past few years a number of tenant groups have claimed that the private rental sector needs to be better regulated in order to tackle the issue of rogue landlords. However, it’s not just rogue landlords that tenant groups want more help managing, but also landlords who do not take their responsibilities seriously but are not bad enough to be considered ‘rogue’. In order to decipher whether landlords are looking after their tenants properly they need to be properly reviewed, but is this possible?

What does an Independent Scotland mean for Property Markets?

Posted on 12th September 2014

No matter where you go this week you will hear people talking about the Scottish referendum, and next Thursday the people of Scotland will decide whether to stay within the UK. At the moment figures are showing a predominantly fifty-fifty split between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes although they have been fluctuating over the past few days. As there is no getting away from the Scottish referendum PropertyQuoteDirect has decided it would only be right to report on what could happen to the property markets both […]

How can Landlords help Tenants save money?

Posted on 29th August 2014

How can Landlords help Tenants save money?
The above question may strike some landlords as a bit strange, as generally it is not their job to help tenants save money. However, as the property and private rental markets are currently so unstable, working with your tenants could actually help improve your business and secure your income. At the end of the day, if your tenant falls into rent arrears then you are going to take a cut to your earnings and may even have to start […]

Could you Let your Properties to Holidaymakers?

Posted on 4th July 2014

Hotel owners around the globe are concerned over a new trend in the holiday industry where instead of staying in a hotel, individuals rent out properties in popular cities such as Paris, London and Barcelona. In fact, you may have recently seen adverts on the TV for companies such as Airbnb which specialise in finding holidaymakers homes to stay in during their journeys. As a landlord, these types of services could help you expand your business and even make money during what may have previously […]

3 Reasons Rogue Landlords are back in the News

Posted on 20th June 2014

Rogue landlords are generally in the news as they are causing a number of issues in the private rental sector. However, this week we have seen even more reports than usual on rogue landlords as political leaders are discussing what changes they would implement if they came into power after the General Election. Here, PropertyQuoteDirect looks at the reasons why rogue landlords have been back in the news this week and what this means for the private rental sector:

How will the Immigration Act 2014 affect Landlords?

Posted on 6th June 2014

Immigration Act – Around this time last year the Queen announced in her annual speech that the government had introduced a new Immigration Bill which would require landlords to vet all their potential tenants in order to make sure that they are in the country legally. Naturally, many landlords and industry experts were concerned over this new Bill, however it is still planned to go ahead October of this year. Here, PropertyQuoteDirect explains the purpose behind the Bill, why so many landlords are against it, […]

How Landlords can prepare for the next General Election

Posted on 9th May 2014

How Landlords can prepare for the next General Election – Over the past few weeks PropertyQuoteDirect has mentioned the next General Election in a number of our blog and news articles, mainly due to the fact that whatever happens in the next twelve months will have a huge impact on the private rental sector. Therefore, it is wise for landlords to start protecting their businesses now, however how can this be done and what changes do landlords realistically need to protect themselves against? Here, PropertyQuoteDirect […]

Landlord Regulation Under Scrutiny

Posted on 2nd May 2014

Landlord Regulation Under Scrutiny – If you’re a landlord you probably feel like there’s quite enough regulation that you have to worry about at the moment. While a simple 2 bed property might be easy enough to run on a day-to-day basis, local and national regulation for HMOs can be an enormous burden for landlords. Couple this with things like council tax, landlord insurance and tenant management and it’s no surprise that many landlords find themselves having to give up other occupations to work full […]

The Growing Issue of Welfare Reforms and Landlords

Posted on 17th April 2014

The welfare reforms have been discussed at length in the news recently, mainly due to the fact that they are affecting thousands of people across the UK. The coalition government claim that the whole point of the welfare reforms is to make the benefit system fairer, however a number of schemes have already put some people in danger of losing their homes. Here, PropertyQuoteDirect looks at the issue in further detail: