It looks like house prices are going up again according to the latest figures. In April 2019, house prices showed their biggest increase for two years. This could be good news for anyone who is hoping to invest in a property to let, so is now the right time to buy?
Homeless charity Shelter has recently launched a new fund to help support vulnerable private sector renters across Greater Manchester. The £600,000 fund is part of a larger investment from the Nationwide Foundation and will be operated through the Fair Housing Futures Partnership Board.
The early months of 2019 suggested that following the increase in powers and money to seek out and punish rogue landlords in the private rental sector, there had been an increase in warnings, court action and fines. While there was some scepticism that this might not last, the flow of reports suggests it has and that more landlords are being punished for illegal and unscrupulous behaviour towards tenants.
New research from the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) suggests that 25% of PRS landlords plan to sell at least one of their rental properties in the coming year. That’s the highest proportion ever recorded in the survey, since it became a regular research item, in 2016.
On 20 March 2019, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 came into force. While some landlords might feel nervous about this, there’s really no need to. In terms of maintenance obligations, you’re not being held to any higher standard than you were before, and the act is really just empowering tenants to take action more effectively against sub-standard landlords.
The month of April is over, but much of the news that was reported lingers on, particularly in the housing market. Among the top topics that caught ours and the nations interest related to Brexit and housing market activity, rogue landlords and news that lender NatWest lifted its Buy-to-Let mortgage restrictions to allow so called ‘social security’ tenants.
