Latest Articles

Year long contracts to be made mandatory by the Welsh Government

Landlords in Wales will soon be unable to regain possession of their property for at least 12 months under a new law announced today. The new law applies unless a tenant breaches the terms of their contract. For example if they are committing antisocial behaviour or are in rent arrears, or if a tenant decides to leave.

Landlords would pay for tenants council tax under new labour plan

Renters would no longer have to pay council tax under plans being considered by the Labour Party. The charge would be replaced with a new “progressive property tax” set nationally instead of by local councils and paid for by landlords instead of tenants.

Appeal court win for NRLA

Call of the Week: Responsibility for repairs

The UK has been battered by some Storm Dennis this week, with many parts of the country experiencing incredibly strong winds. One NRLA member gave our advice team a call this week, because heavy rainfall had meant that several things needed repairing at his rental property and he had a question responsibility for this.

How to avoid gardening disputes

In the summer months, some tenants will be planning on spending time outdoors in the garden if the weather is good. In this article first published in our Residential Property Investor magazine, we take a closer look at the issue of gardening related disputes. Sandy Bastin, Head of TDS Adjudication Services at Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), explains how to avoid being led down the garden path and come out of a gardening-related dispute smelling like roses.

Fire Safety: Making sure your tenants are safe

In the year ending June 2019, 215 people lost their lives due to house fires, including tenants in rented homes.In response to this the Home Office has re-launched its fire safety campaign which including information and advice for landlords and tenants.

Forum Spotlight: Are wasps nests a landlords or a tenants responsibility to remove?

A landlord posted in our Forum recently a question relating to wasps nests. They were having trouble with wasps. The tenant moved in to the property in December, and the landlord recently found the wasps nest at the bottom of the garden.

Landlords welcome calls for benefit boost for tenants

Landlords have supported calls from the Mayor of London to ensure the benefits system covers the cost of private rents for those tenants adversely affected by coronavirus. Sadiq Khan is calling on the government to introduce a new "triple lock"of measures aimed at protecting private renters.

Landlords urged to back legal case protecting their repossession rights in rent arrears cases

Landlords are being urged to back a legal case to protect their rights to repossess their properties when a tenant stops paying rent. This follows a recent court case in which a landlord’s attempt to regain their property was deemed invalid because of a licensing technicality.

General Election 2019 - What we know so far

Ahead of political parties launching their election manifestos over the next week, we look at some of the statements politicians from each of the three major parties have made when it comes to housing, and in particular the private rented sector.