Articles by Sally Walmsley
Right to rent fines to hit £20,000
Landlords could be hit with fines of up to £20,000 for failure to ensure tenants and lodgers have the right to rent in the UK. For landlords who take on illegal immigrants, the fines will increase from £80 per lodger and £1,000 per occupier for a first breach to up to £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier. Repeat breaches will be up to £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier, up from £500 and £3,000 respectively.
Landlords and council work together to help with student housing changeover
The Leeds Property Association (LPA) has teamed up with the University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds City Council and student housing charity Unipol to help reduce the impact of this year’s annual student housing changeover and promote the recycling and re-using of unwanted items.
Local Housing Allowance rates cover just 18% of cheapest rents
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates now cover just 18% of the cheapest private rents, widening the gulf between the support benefits tenants receive and the rent they have to pay.
NRLA reaches national award finals
The National Residential Landlords Association has reached the finals the Association Excellence Awards 2023, in six different categories.
‘Rome is burning’: NRLA boss warns Select Committee immediate action is needed to tackle PRS supply crisis
Change is needed if the Government is to avoid a mass exodus of homes from the private rented sector once its Renters (Reform) Bill is implemented. Giving evidence to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee yesterday, NRLA Chief Executive Ben Beadle said that, against a background of rising interest rates and increased taxation, adjustments must be made to ensure landlords have the confidence to continue to provide the homes to let that the country so desperately needs.
Call for action on supply as property listings plummet in capital
As new data shows property listings in London have plummeted by 40%, the NRLA is calling for positive action to stimulate the supply of homes to let.
Minister ‘sympathetic’ to landlord calls on energy efficiency
Landlords’ concerns over delays to energy efficiency plans have been laid before Government minister Lord Callanan. NRLA Chief Executive Ben Beadle had a private meeting with the Minister for Energy Efficiency to express landlords’ frustration at a lack of movement, following a consultation on plans to introduce new minimum Energy Performance Certificate ratings more than two years ago.
NRLA landlord conference wins top award
The NRLA’s inaugural Landlord Conference has won Silver in the Best Association Event category of the Conference & Events Awards 2023. The team picked up the award for its hugely successful sell-out 2022 conference, held in Coventry in November last year, beating off competition from a wide range of events from across a variety of trade associations.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove MP writes exclusively for the NRLA
In what is a huge coup for the NRLA, Housing Secretary Michael Gove has written exclusively for members in NRLA members’ magazine Property. He says independent landlords are vital to ensuring a fair and functioning private rented sector and provide tenants ‘with flexibility and choice, and the value for money options that go with them’. Read the full story here.
Win for NRLA as Labour u-turns on rent controls
The Labour Party has abandoned plans to introduce rent controls should it come to power, with Shadow Housing Secretary Lisa Nandy admitting proposals could in fact increase homelessness.
