Archive

The average water bill has risen by 6% in England and Wales in recent days, which could see households having to...

A mortgage firm that works with landlords claims an increasing number of them prioritise energy efficiency when assessing properties to buy.  Some...

Changes to empty home council tax rates could generate an additional £540m from Monday, a lettings agency claims. Since April 2013, billing...

A council has agreed a council tax rise of an additional 100% on second home and long-term empty homes, despite widespread...

Members of the union UNISON who participate in round-table discussions with activist group Generation Rents are to receive gift vouchers for...

Trading Standards has defended the introduction of ‘material information’ requirements on details of properties for sale, after a conveyancer warned landlords...

Landlords quitting the sector could have to spend hundreds of pounds more when selling their home owing to new Trading Standards...

A think tank is urging the UK government to consider tax perks for private renters to help them save faster for...

Cardiff council is proposing new measures to help bring long-term empty houses back into use. Tomorrow it’s considering introducing a council tax...

Media outlets in Scotland are reporting that Edinburgh council is considering charging short let landlords for bin collections. The plans are to be...

A landlord who was involved in a decade-long dispute with a London council has been hit with a £1.44 million penalty...

Countryside campaigning charity CPRE has given a warm welcome to Michael Gove’s clampdown on short lets. Last week Housing Secretary Gove announced...

Dorset councillors have approved proposals for a council tax premium on second homes and a tightening up on its existing premium...

Some local authorities are quick to criticise private landlords for trying to avoid rent arrears but it appears councils themselves have...

Labour-controlled Haringey Council in London says the owners of short lets and furnished holiday homes will be forced to pay double...

Airbnb has taken further steps to get in the good books of HMRC by issuing a guide on tax for its...

According to a London property management company, the profile of renters in prime London is varying hugely.  Glenfield Property Management says that...

A business consultancy claims the HMNRC Self-Assessment helpline - set up to assist those compiling and filing tax returns as the...

After the Autumn Statement unveiled a major tax cut for January, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’ll pay less tax in...

Landlords will have to include many more specific points about their properties when they list them in future - whether directly...

A range of grants, including new and enhanced schemes, are available to help landlords improve the energy efficiency of homes and...

The breakthrough on council tax and HMOs, announced just before the weekend, may not be all that it seems. That’s the view...

Renters in shared housing stand to save up to £1,000 - and the National Residential Landlords Association says it is the...

“Huge numbers” of small family-run holiday lettings businesses in Wales are selling up because of new restrictions and large tax hikes. New...

Parents and pet owners are paying as much as £460 per month more for rent and bills, it’s claimed. The claim comes...

New research shows that 676,000 homes in England are sitting empty. The research comes from property purchasing firm House Buyer Bureau which...

The Scottish National Party councillor for Oban North and Lorn - which includes the village of Plockton, made famous by the...

A local authority is reported to have said that a controversial new policy will reduce house values by five per cent. Gwynedd...

Bristol’s Labour-controlled council says it wants to spend some £17m of local council tax payers’ money on two new licensing schemes...

There are only a few days left for landlords to have input to a government consultation on council tax hikes for...

A long-standing and respected property firm has slammed the government for presiding over the “mess” of taxes applied to holiday lets...

Households are being hammered by higher council tax rates year after year with no sign of local authorities moderating the burden,...

A Tory MP representing a popular tourist area has attacked the proliferation of short lets, and wants a “locals first” policy...

An area has been identified for a two-year study of the impact which second homes, Airbnbs, other holiday lets and empty...

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, wants new powers to impose higher tax on empty homes - and even seize them...

Labour is considering raising the buy to let and holiday home stamp duty surcharge above the current three per cent if...

Rising numbers of landlords are likely to switch to specialising in holiday rentals and short-term lets in the months ahead, an...

Councils are to be given powers to enact huge tax increases on second homes and empty properties, the Scottish Government proposes. New...

As landlords face losses as high as £7,500 this year – thanks to increased mortgage and living costs alongside a tax overhaul...

The government’s Valuation Office Agency has set out the eligibility rules which now  apply to self-catering properties in England and Wales. Properties...

A mortgage chief has accused local authorities of treating private landlords like cash machines. Justin May, chief executive of EHF Mortgages, makes...

The plans of many local authorities to double the council tax levels for second homes and some empty properties from April...

Landlords have only until Friday to have their say on levying council tax on HMO properties.  This issue has been controversial in lettings...

According to the most recent statistics there are 676,452 vacant properties in England, nearly half a million of which have been...

A Labour candidate hoping to become the MP in a popular tourist area is on the warpath over what she calls...

A prominent property industry figure says he backs higher council tax for unlet and vacant second homes but warns that Airbnb...

Lettings agents’ body Propertymark says its proposal for tax incentives to be offered for landlords is one measure under consideration by...

Dorset council is the latest to agree a policy to double the council tax on second homes and to implement an...

The Welsh Government should consider tax incentives to support improvements to the energy efficiency of private rented housing, according to a...

Campaigners behind the National Empty Homes Week - running until March 5 - are accusing some second home owners of “flipping”...

The government has launched the consultation on the controversial subject of disaggregation - a system which has seen council tax bills...

Last week it was announced that North Devon's second homeowners could pay double the amount of council tax after one year...

A controversial new report demands that the government uses next month’s Budget to sharply increase tax burdens for landlords. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s...

A Labour MP has told the House of Commons that “families are being turfed out of their private rented homes under...

A Labour Party proposal to sell some long-empty homes to first time buyers for just £1 has been dismissed as the...

There’s been something of a love-in on a local authority in a popular tourist area of the UK - with second...

Three quarters of local authorities are set to increase their council tax by the maximum amount in April as they complain...

Landlords say housing standards in one of the UK’s biggest cities could sugar because of council tax changes for empty homes. Manchester’s...

The Valuation Office Agency has issued a reminder that changes to eligibility rules for self-catering properties will come into effect from...

A company which failed to declare its interest in a property which had health and vermin risks has been ordered to...

Plans to impose a premium on council tax for for second homeowners have been approved by Cornwall Council with all-party agreement. The...

If you’re looking to make some extra cash in 2023 as the cost of living continues to bite, you may consider...

The agents’ trade body Propertymark says it wants the Welsh Government to do more to support landlords letting in tourist hotspots. The...

The government has announced that it’s going to work on a new second homes policy with one particular council - if...

A holiday lettings agency has taken the unusual step of speaking out in favour of higher council tax for second home...

The government has announced plans for a £1 billion scheme - called ECO+ - which will see hundreds of thousands of...

A lettings network is urging landlords to back a campaign to abolish council tax re-banding for shared houses. Platinum Property Partners says...

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has delivered his long-awaited Autumn Statement - the fiscal event which he says will lead to “all of...

To put it mildly, landlords are very rarely subject to an outpouring of sympathy from the general public. When the economy...

A confused and complicated approach to holiday homes in England, Scotland and Wales threatens the future of the holiday letting sector...

The country’s main student body is calling on the government to implement a cap on student rents. The National Union of Students...

A controversial Labour council aims to make life more expensive for landlords who let out whole properties via Airbnb or other...

A landlord group is threatening legal action following a council’s approval of a new licensing scheme. York council - run by a...

Landlords have been warned they risk fixed penalty notices and the loss of HMO licences if students leave rubbish in public...

One of the country’s second home and holiday let hotspots has been told it will be unable to levy extra council...

As the cost of energy spikes and the government rolls out new support, landlords and tenants involved in ‘bills included’ rental...

The government has repeated its demand that landlords pass on energy rebates to tenants. A written parliamentary question on this issue was...

Labour wants to bring in a UK-wide licensing system for holiday lets to preserve the “spirit” of costal and rural communities. The...

Generation Rent, which typically attacks all landlords and especially those involved in buy to let, has instead focussed its latest social...

A Conservative MP who has already suggested a 25 mile limit around some rental properties to reserve them for people with...

Councils will be able to control numbers of second homes and holiday lets under new plans unveiled by the Welsh Government. There...

A review into the effect of short-term lets has been launched by the government.  The government says future policies could involve physical...

Ofgem has announced that the energy price cap will further rise from £1,971 to £2,800 in October this year, amid an...

A tourism chief has likened new anti-holiday let regulations to those of a Stalinist dictatorship. Ashford Price, secretary of the Welsh Association...

Don’t pick on landlords - that’s the message from a leading tax and advisory consultancy. Blick Rothenberg warns that the government needs...

An insurance chief with expertise in the holiday lets sector has stood up for owners who let their properties to holidaymakers...

A surprising call has come from a major industry supplier - it wants landlords to set up standing orders with their...

A Labour MP in the westcountry appears to be winning support for a campaign he has launched called First Homes, Not...

A Devon council is promoting a scheme to lease properties from private landlords to provide homes for those in need.  In exchange...

Local media in Scotland report that no fewer than seven landlords have been struck off the register of landlords operating in...

A senior Labour MP has written to the Housing Secretary Michael Gove seeking reassurances that landlords will not keep council tax...

The Welsh Government has announced an increase to the maximum level of council tax premiums for second homes, as well as...

Landlords of HMOs are being faced with a revaluation of their properties by HMRC which could result in many suffering tax...

Landlords are likely to be obliged to supply agents with additional details in future, before their properties are listed to let...

Covid-19 has upended most industries, at least for a short while, over the past two years. But the tourism sector has...

Generation Rent claims private rental sector tenants are set to be most disadvantaged by the 54 per cent rise in the...

The Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier is warning that some landlords of HMOs may receive the government’s financial energy assistance- and...

An MP has lobbied Chancellor Rishi Sunak about what he calls “tax avoiding absentee landlords” who have moved into the holiday...

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says Labour would increase tax on buy to let properties and on investment income for landlords.  Reeves was...

The Council for the Protection of Rural England is the latest body to blast Airbnb and other short lets for their...