New measures will require landlords to apply for planning permission when purchasing a property to let to three of more unrelated people, such as students or professional sharers. Read more…
According to property website FindaProperty.com buy-to-let landlords are seeing rising rents as a result of falling stock levels within the market.
Its March rental index found that rents rose 0.7% to £820pcm which is the second consecutive month of rising rents meaning average UK asking rents are now £16pcm higher than in January. Read more…
Since the recession the media has covered numerous stories about homes being repossessed and borrowers struggling with their mortgage payments. Some towns have been more affected than others and if you live in one of these areas then your property is more likely to be de-valued by local repossessions. Read more…
In a recent survey 97% of landlords said they would prefer the payments of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to be paid directly to their accounts rather than being paid to their tenants.
The respondents, 90% who are currently letting to LHA tenants, want changes in the regulations to allow landlords to receive benefit payments directly. 81% of respondents had requested direct payment in the past, and of these, 70% had been owed more than 8 weeks rent arrears. Read more…
The economy may have limped out of recession earlier this year but the road to recovery is a long one, where spending seems like the last thing anyone wants to do. It is entirely forgivable then, for landlords to cut back and try to save as much as possible. One area where this is not a good idea however, is on their landlord’s insurance policy or buy-to-let insurance policy, where a small saving now can mean catastrophic losses later on. Read more…
How to buy the Homeowner Insurance Policy you need.
“Sorry mate, that’s not covered.” These are probably the five words every home owner most dreads hearing after a claim, and with insurance being a necessity in the United Kingdom, it is shocking just how often claims are repudiated simply because the peril insured simply isn’t covered. Read more…
Residential landlords in financial difficulties could soon benefit from a new Mortgage Market Manifesto published by The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
The new manifesto calls on the next government to provide better support to borrowers in financial difficulties and to address the £320bn mortgage funding gap. Read more…
A survey of 1,000 landlords found that the most desirable tenant is a female medical professional, aged between 36 and 45, living in London and earning between £20,000 and £30,000 a year.
Halifax Landlord Insurance found that more than 75% of landlords would prefer a female tenant as they viewed them to be more reliable and less likely to cause damage to their property. Nearly 25% of landlords said they would prefer tenants from London and almost a third favoured tenants with an income of between £20,000 and £30,000 instead of tenants with an income of more than £70,000. Read more…
Buy-to-let finance may finally be improving with reduced requirements for deposits and interest rates being charged at a more manageable level being implemented after 18 months of limited finance.
Fee free broker, London & Country, was one of the first lenders to introduce a three-year fixed rate of 6.49% with loans of up to 80% of the properties’ value. Up until this week buy-to-let investors and landlords were required to have a deposit of at least 30%. Read more…
The highest increase in house prices was in London where average property values rose by 0.7% in February, which hasn’t been experienced in London since June 2007. Read more…