Renting and repairs: My landlord won’t fix the heating, what can I do?
Landlords are responsible for certain repairs in your home. Find out what you can do if they refuse to repair your heating or boiler.
The Housing Market in 2022
The housing market could “cool off” in 2022 because of rising inflation and the much-talked-about rise in interest rates.
Housing Growth Partnership funding for developers
Housing Growth Partnership funding has been granted £300m by the Government to build 10,000 new homes by 2025!
New legislation for residential landlords
Residential landlords are under pressure to keep on top of a raft of new legislation and guidelines this year, including many protections for tenants extended by the government during the pandemic. They include a continuing hold on evictions, the new debt moratorium scheme, and changes to validating the right to rent, through to permission for pets, new rules on electrical testing and the anticipated extension for carbon monoxide monitoring later in the year. Landlords must also comply with the shift to online reporting to HMRC, under the Making Tax Digital…
Blog: COVID-19 – Advice for commercial landlords and tenants
In this article we provide advice for commercial landlords and tenants impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected almost every industry in the UK, with many businesses experiencing a severe strain on their cashflow as a result. While commercial tenants may be struggling to pay rent in full and on a regular basis, their landlord could also be under pressure if they rely on these payments to maintain their own cashflow. Both parties to a commercial lease contract should understand how their liabilities and obligations have been affected by…
New: Law Society calls for review of end of SDLT holiday to prevent sales collapsing
The Law Society has made a press release that calls for urgent action to prevent the end of the temporary increase in the residential SDLT nil-rate band. This is due to end on 31 March 2021, resulting in possibly, thousands of aborted sales. The Law Society is urging people to write to their MP to call for action. It has also suggested three possible options for the government to address the problem: Extend the temporary increase in the SDLT nil-rate band, thereby providing more time for buyers to complete transactions.…
News: Avanton is to tackle London’s housing crisis
The build-to-rent (BTR) group Avanton is to tackle London's housing crisis with massive plans to increase its landbank in the capital. The Avanton Group is to tackle London's housing crisis and has acquired a £500M fund to be utilised over a three-year period and will target the purchase and development of sites across London boroughs, including Islington, Southwark, Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Hammersmith, Lambeth, Camden, and Brent. The group seeks to acquire sites with values of between £20m to £100m, providing for 300 to 1,000 units per development. Avanton is targeting up…
The construction industry to adapt to be more energy efficient
Tony Chauhan, Property Partner at Bowling & Co Solicitors comments on the Government's response to the consultation on Future Homes Standard (FHS), and consults on Future Buildings Standard. He explains that "the changes are going to have a positive impact upon the environment and will require the construction industry to adapt to be more energy efficient in the way they build. This will mean more cost and careful planning for construction methods." Background: In October 2019, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published a consultation on the…
Long leases for London’s tenants
Sadiq Khan leads the way with long leases for London's tenants looking to get on the shared ownership property ladder. Affordable Housing Programme The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has outlined plans to sell shared ownership homes delivered as part of his new Affordable Housing Programme with long leases for London's tenants on a standard 999-year lease term. Sadiq is determined that London leads by example and sets the benchmark for higher standards for leaseholders across the UK. The new expectation, which was set out in a letter written by…
Upcoming leasehold reforms
Upcoming leasehold reforms are planned to make it easier and cheaper for people to buy their homes In July 2020, the Law Commission (Commission) published Leasehold Home Ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease, which set out recommendations to make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to buy the freehold of their building or extend their lease. Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, announced on 7 January 2021 that, millions of leaseholders will be given the right to extend their lease by a maximum term of 990 years at zero ground rent…