Do you need a UK guarantor?

A new report suggests that local authorities are still failing to tackle criminal landlords, despite having extensive powers to do so. Coming at a time when many councils have implemented additional/selective licensing schemes for landlords, this does seem to cast some doubt on the value of these schemes, and poses some interesting questions in the context of upcoming rental reform.

As the subject of the regulation of short property let activity on sites such as Airbnb remains a hot topic, Edinburgh will be one of the first UK cities to introduce rules for the sector. This will include identifying areas of the city where short lets will be permitted, to help manage the supply of longer-term residential lets and short holiday lets in the popular Scottish capital.

As UK house prices have surged during the past few months, spurred on by the stamp duty holiday and pent-up demand following lockdown, some potential landlords might find it a struggle to find the right area or city for investment.

The year 2020 will go down in history as the year of coronavirus, lockdowns and staying at home. However, recently published data shows that 2020 was also a record-breaking year for landlord and tenant activity.

The year 2020 will go down in history as the year of coronavirus, lockdowns and staying at home. However, recently published data shows that 2020 was also a record-breaking year for landlord and tenant activity.

The UK's Ministry of Justice is piloting a new dispute resolution service to help avoid disagreements between tenants and landlords from escalating and reaching costly and time-consuming court proceedings. While mediation is something that a number of letting industry trade bodies support, including ARLA Propertymark, the group says any investment needs to focus on ensuring the service is available to those involved much earlier in the process.

Following months of pressure from various bodies representing landlords and tenants, the UK government has provided new funding for local authorities across England to support tenants who have fallen into arrears due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The £65 million fund will be allocated via local councils to ensure vulnerable people living in rental accommodation will not end up homeless this winter due to financial problems related to the pandemic.

The UK government and Ministry of Justice have launched a new online tool designed to help landlords and tenants understand their rights and responsibilities in relation to repairs.

As more typical activity returns across the UK, a recent industry survey shows that demand from tenants for homes in the private rental sector (PRS) surged in July 2021 to the highest level on record.

When searching for a property many factors and extra amenities may be attractive to different tenants depending on their budget and circumstances. In this instance we will be discussing renting a furnished property vs an unfurnished property.

The UK government has extended temporary rules allowing Letting Agents to conduct Right to Rent checks via video rather than in person, from May 17 to June 20, 2021.

As the end of a difficult year comes into sight, recent research delivers an unusual result in the UK's rental market; average rents in countryside locations rose in October, while city properties proved less popular with tenants and rents fell. This dynamic, which is a reversal from the same time a year earlier, means the difference in average rents between the two locations has narrowed.

With more people in the UK renting than ever before, there have been an increasing number of calls for more regulation of the lettings industry including qualifications and licensing requirements.

With expectations growing that learning will be more 'normal' in the coming academic year, data suggests that demand for university housing will post a strong recovery from the patchy 2020-21 performance.

Tenant Safety Must Come First

As the country is once again living in lockdown, the government’s latest guidance to Letting Agents is to put the safety of their tenants first.

As the UK government adopts a cautious approach to ending a lockdown that's been put in place to protect the population and the NHS from the spread of coronavirus, a recent report shows that among households, tenants have fared worse than homeowners.

As the UK's private rental sector (PRS) landlords work hard to support their tenants during the coronavirus pandemic, the industry has come under fire for the quality of housing on offer and a lack of future planning. Two separate reports from Shelter and the Institute of Housing (IOH) each criticise the provision of rental homes now and in the future, with accusations levelled mainly at the government.