The immigration status of tenants will only have to be checked under a ‘light touch’ regime, housing minister Mark Prisk has said.   Prisk was speaking to MPs who were asking questions about proposals unveiled in the Queen’s Speech which will make landlords responsible for checking whether their tenants have a right to be in the UK...

Claims on a website advertising “unlimited access” for £4.99 to properties that accept tenants on housing benefits have been banned by the advertising watchdog...

A new property disputes service has launched for private landlords. The new service from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) will allow both commercial and private landlords, and tenants of both sectors, to settle their property disputes...

Lending by Paragon Mortgages to buy-to-let landlords rose to £102.3m in the six months to the end of March. The figure was up 14.6% on the £89...

Software supplier CML is launching bespoke portals for letting agencies which allow both landlords and tenants to keep individual track of events. Landlords can, for example, use the portals to access statutory information and review rental statements, while tenants can use them as internet banks, to view deposit details and pay in money, and also to report maintenance problems...

A tenancy referencing firm approached the Government three years ago and offered an immigrants’ checking service which would have cost taxpayers nothing...

Capita has launched a new insured tenancy deposit scheme which has been approved by the Government Capita Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) will offer dispute resolution services via an existing ombudsman scheme, Ombudsman Services, and becomes the fourth provider in England and Wales...

Rents in April rose right across England and Wales, with average rents 3.9% higher than the same month last year – but tenants struggled to keep up with their payments...

A Newham landlord charged with offences relating to letting out properties without a licence failed to show up at hearings. Newham, in London, is the first local authority in England and Wales to have introduced mandatory licensing of every single private rental property within its borough boundaries...

Landlords planning to expand their portfolios have been warned to steer clear of so-called student pods, Investors Chronicle has reported. It says that while they are widely marketed as low-risk property investments with ‘assured’ yields of up to 10%, both prices and returns are inflated, while the risks are not disclosed...

Almost a quarter of buy-to-let landlords are planning to purchase at least one further property over the next 12 months. According to a study by agents Allsop and market research firm BDRC Continental, 23% of landlords plan to grow their portfolios over the next year, and 61% are confident about the future for their businesses...