Frustrated house sellers put their properties in the lettings market

The rental market has boomed as housing sales have diminished, says the RICS Lettings Survey published recently. New instructions (an indicator of supply) to let increased at the fastest pace in the survey's history as many would-be-sellers found that becoming a residential landlord is a better option than selling in the current climate. MORE

Top tips for new landlords

With Many home owners deciding to rent their homes out instead of selling The Money Centre has provided a list of top tips to help landlords stay within the law. Lindsey Swales, director of The Money Centre and herself a landlord comments: "I think it is a sensible idea for some homeowners to look to rent their properties out, to sell in our current climate may lose homeowners money. MORE

 

London and the South-East will lead the recovery says Savills

The number of transactions in the housing market is half last year's levels and the number of housing starts is likely to fall even further. Supply could therefore become constrained in many markets over the coming months.
This means that when the market does bottom out, it may be difficult for investors to make acquisitions says Savills Research. MORE

Residential Landlord - In brief - Tighter mortgage lending standards look set to stay

Gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £24.8 billion in July, up 5 percent from June and down 27 percent from July a year ago, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). MORE

£8,000 fine for having 13 people living in four-bedroomed house

A Lincolnshire landlord has been fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs after a police discovered 13 people from five different countries living in one of his properties. Boston Magistrates Court heard how Manuel Ridierp was illegally using a four-bedroom house in Queens Road Boston for the tenants. MORE

Enforced self-regulation will make 'good' landlords better but 'bad' landlords worse

As the third and final part in its series on housing law reform, the Law Commission has announced its proposals for better regulation of the private rented sector. The report, Housing: Encouraging Responsible Letting, follows consultation with both landlords and tenants. It focuses on improving the overall coherence and stability of the current private rental... MORE

'Realism' returns to property market as sellers drop asking prices

The average number of transactions per surveyor fell further in July as a lack of mortgage finance continued to weigh heavily on the market. However, sales expectations have improved, driven by sellers beginning to offer more realistic asking prices says RICS' UK housing market survey published 12 August... MORE

Leeds joins the top five cities for landlords

Leeds has moved into the number four spot in the list of top cities where residential landlords own property says the latest research carried out by BDRC on behalf of a syndicate of buy to let mortgage lenders and brokers. Cambridge was previously listed in the top five with 3 percent of UK landlords owning their rental properties... MORE

Residential Landlord - In brief - Mortgage broker fined £100,000

A London mortgage broker has been fined £100,000 and banned from operating after submitting false mortgage applications. Omotayo Fawole of Oasis Mortgage and Financial Services in Woolwich, was found to have obtained a mortgage after submitting an application which significantly overstated the profits of his... MORE

Landlord became suspicious of 'policeman' who couldn't spell

A prospective tenant who pretended to be a police officer in an attempt to fool a landlord almost ended up in jail.
The landlord became suspicious when he visited his Colchester property in July to collect a tenancy agreement from 23-year-old Simon Lucas. He had listed his employers as Essex Police but the landlord noticed there were spelling anomalies. MORE

Rental demand is on 'fast forward' but stocks are low

If the pause button has been pressed for some sectors of the housing market, rental demand is on fast forward, according to David Lancaster at Savills in Chelmsford.
"Tenants are crying out for good rented accommodation, particularly family sized farmhouses and cottages in areas of Essex within striking distance of a train to London," he said. MORE

CML not surprised by repossession figures

Despite media headlines trumpeting the number of repossessions in the UK, the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) show no surprises in terms of the number of mortgage arrears and possessions cases in the first half of 2008. While both have increased from their low base as expected, the overwhelming majority of the UK's borrowers... MORE

Bank of England's decision to hold rates was no surprise says property industry

Although the property industry is searching for any way to stabilise the market most agree that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee had little option but to keep the UK base rate on hold at 5 percent last week. Inflation is already well above target and likely to push higher and so the committee could not... MORE

Delay over Stamp Duty decision will cause market to stagnate even further

"Would the government please take off its hobnail boots and tread carefully over the tender shoots of new business, said Graham Lock, co-founder of on-line estate agency Housenetwork.co.uk. Lock believes the stop-start behaviour over stamp duty has simply frozen many exchanges as clients are calling a halt on their deals to see if the 'holiday', if it goes ahead... MORE

One tenant jailed and another fined for attacking landlord

A tenant who repeatedly attacked his 60-year-old landlord over a period of time causing her several injuries has been jailed for three years and two months.
Stephen Johnstone, aged 39, of Sandy Lane, Weston Point, pleaded guilty at Warrington Crown Court to causing grievous bodily harm to... MORE

Bank holds its nerve - and the base rate

Amid widespread calls to help boost consumer confidence, The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 5.0 percent this week. There were some prior predictions that the committee could raise the rate to slow consumer spending. MORE

 

New rules aim to reduce risk of property fraud

Buy to let landlords and property investors face new land registration rules. They amend the Land Registration Rules 2003 and come into force on 10 November 2008. The decision to introduce new legislation follows a consultation on proposals to amend the 2003 rules that ran from October 2007 to January 2008. The Land Registration (Amendment) Rules 2008 aim... MORE

 

Repossession should only be made as a last resort says CML

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has welcomed the FSA's confirmation that mainstream lenders are largely complying with its arrears and repossessions requirements. The CML is surprised at the FSA's observations on specialist lenders, who have been working extremely hard to manage arrears, but urges the FSA to work constructively with those lenders to ensure there is shared understanding and agreement... MORE

House closed down to protect tenants

Two more landlords have been fined over the state of their properties. In one case emergency powers were used by a local council to shut down a landlord's house so stop his tenants coming to harm. Later at Abergavenny Magistrates Court Mohammed Sallem Ullah, of High Cross Lane, Newport, pleaded guilty to two offences under the Housing Act 2004. MORE

 

Landlord discovers large cannabis growing operation in his property

More cases in which premises belonging to buy to let investors have been used as cannabis factories were discovered recently. One has resulted in a prison sentence while police are still hunting the tenants from another house which according to police housed one of the biggest growing operations ever found. MORE

Mixed reaction to Crosby's interim mortgage review

There has been a varied response to the release by the Treasury of Sir James Crosby's interim review of the mortgage finance markets. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) welcomed the analysis and the recognition that a shortage of mortgage funding will persist for years without intervention. MORE

HIPs extension will allow government to snoop on property owners claim Tories

The controversy over Home Information Packs (HIPs) continues with what Conservatives claim will threaten 'backdoor revaluation' following Government plans to extend the scheme. Tory minister's claim Labour plans to snoop on things like home extensions and parking spaces. Residential Landlords selling their properties will be forced to fill out a compulsory 'Property Information Questionnaire' containing details... MORE

London house prices see biggest fall but North East bucks the trend

Average house prices in England and Wales fell one per cent in June, taking the average price to £180,781, according to the latest figures from Land Registry. Annual house price growth shows a decline for the 10th consecutive month, with an increase of 0.1 per cent. MORE

Tenants do like to be beside the seaside

Buy to let investors and residential landlords planning to purchase property in one of the government's planned eco-towns may have to wait a while longer. The Local Government Association (LGA) is considering a legal challenge to the 10 new towns on the grounds that they bypass normal planning procedures. MORE

Jail for tenant who filmed landlord having sex

A tenant who secretly used his mobile phone to film his landlord having sex has been given a nine-month prison sentence. Scott Jones, 33, of Chelmer Road, Medway, Kent, Jones was convicted of two charges of voyeurism at Peterborough Crown Court on 13 July and was eventually sentenced at Doncaster Crown Court this week. MORE