Two years ago I did a review of Roof Magazine on my Landlord Law site, where I said how good it was. I have just finished reading the January / February 2010 issue, and have decided I need to write about it again. It really is excellent, this issue in particular. For example articles I…
As mentioned in my last post, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has now published a report and consultation on housing benefit. The paper sets out the departments thinking on Local Housing Allowance (e.g. direct payment to landlords) and makes interesting reading. The report starts with a bit of self congratulatory backslapping, for example…
As previously mentioned on this blog, tenants often get a raw deal when, unbeknown to them, their landlord has defaulted on his mortgage, putting them at risk of eviction. Tenants can be evicted with only a few days (or even less) notice, even if they are completely up to date with their rent. Ministers have…
At the recent CLT Conference I attended, there was an excellent talk by Professor Martin Partington OBE (former Law Commissioner) on possible future developments in the Private Rented Sector (PRS). I set out below a very condensed version of his notes (with his permission). He started by saying that the PRS is now a key…
When speaking to Simon Gordon of the National Landlords Association (NLA) recently at the Landlord & Buy to Let Awards dinner, he was telling me about their lobbying work, and how they attend all of the party conferences. Well it seems as if all this has paid off as the conservative party have now announced…
Homeowners in distress who have sold their property to a ‘sale and rent back’ company in the belief that they will be able to live their for the rest of their lives, only be to kicked out a year later, will be pleased to learn that this sector is now to be regulated by the…
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HMO planning law changes causes consternation among landlords
HMO landlords be warned – the government has announced that the law is to be changed from 6 April, introducing a new planning category for HMOs (the definition to be based on that set out in the Housing Act 2004): we have decided to amend the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) order 1987 as…