Rent hotspots revealed: Ipswich and Northampton see huge spikes

New rent hotspots revealed: London demand crashes as capital ‘loses its appeal’ but towns like Ipswich and Northampton see HUGE spike Demand for rented rooms fell by 40% in some parts of central London, according to Spareroom, as people no longer needed to be close to offices In contrast, renters flooded to places like Ipswich, … Read more

Ten places where landlords can make the most profit now

Brighton has retained its crown as the most profitable place to be a landlord for the second year running, new findings have claimed. Taking into account rental fees charged to tenants and landlord costs, buy-to-let investors in the seaside resort can make a monthly profit of around £570, insurance group CIA Landlord suggests. At the … Read more

Pets in lets: Government moves against ‘blanket bans’ – but landlords want to charge higher deposits

Pets in lets: Government makes it harder to impose ‘blanket bans’ on tenants having animals – but landlords want to charge higher deposits The Government’s model rental contract now allows pets as the ‘default’ Landlords using it will need to provide a ‘good reason’ for not allowing animals  The industry body says they should be … Read more

Rents in London and Edinburgh plunge according to SpareRoom and Rightmove

Rental costs in pockets of some cities across Britain have fallen drastically in the last 12 months, two separate reports show. Rents in Birmingham, Edinburgh and London fell between 5 and 8 per cent in the last year, data from SpareRoom shows – and in one capital postcode, they have plummeted 26 per cent.  Meanwhile, … Read more

Number of buy-to-let mortgages is highest since March – but interest rates are still on the rise

More choice for landlords as number of buy-to-let mortgage deals on offer increases – but rates are also nudging higher There are nearly 2,000 buy-to-let mortgages on the market right now  Although more than last month, this is still far fewer than before the pandemic  Lenders are bringing back 20 per cent deposit products for … Read more

Record number of buy-to-let landlord companies set up in 2020 – beaten only by online shopping firms

A record number of buy-to-let landlords set up holding companies for their properties last year, in a bid to swerve higher taxes.  There were 41,700 new companies were formed in 2020 – an increase of 23 per cent on 2019, according to estate agent Hampton International.  Buy-to-let incorporations were the second most common type of … Read more

Buy-to-let investors’ pension plans wiped out by the cladding scandal

Faced with dwindling interest rates on savings, John and Veronica Ierston decided to invest their modest retirement savings in property. Fifteen years ago, the couple bought two flats in a brand new block in central Manchester. But when they attempted to sell up and release the equity last autumn, the building was found to be … Read more

Over 800,000 renters in arrears, with landlords demanding urgent government support amidst crisis

Around 840,000 private renters in England and Wales have built up rent arrears since lockdown measures began, according to new research. A survey of tenants for the National Residential Landlords Association, carried out by research consultancy, Dynata, suggested that seven per cent of all private renters had built arrears due to Covid. Whilst the average … Read more

London renters are leaving the capital for countryside locations

London renters are leaving the capital for countryside locations, expert warns, as others say the city will remain popular post-pandemic New research by SpareRoom shows 27% of London’s renters plan to move post-Covid-19 Half of those planning to move intend to leave the capital altogether  London is expected to experience a 13% net exodus in … Read more

A third of buy-to-let mortgages vanish but could an AI tool help

Landlords have seen the number of buy-to-let mortgages slide by almost a third over the past year and rates on offer rise, data shows. The buy-to-let mortgage crunch has seen 800 of the 2,592 deals for landlords on offer in November 2019 vanish, a drop of 31 per cent, according to data from Moneyfacts.  Meanwhile, … Read more