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One of the more onerous duties imposed on landlords in the past few years has been the obligation to carry out Right to Rent checks on their tenants. Since March last year, the requirements have been adjusted to allow for lockdown rules, but what will the future bring? What Are Right to Rent Checks? The Immigration Act 2016 made it a criminal offence to rent a home or part of a home to anyone whose immigration status

The perfect balance for any landlord is to ensure a regular, unbroken income from your property with a minimum of effort and hassle. And the best way of ensuring that is to keep any good tenants you already have. The obvious advantage of keeping a good tenant is that you won’t have gaps in the rent coming in, but there are other benefits. If the tenancy isn’t constantly changing, you’ll be spending

Early in the pandemic, the government brought in a moratorium on evictions for rent arrears. While this was good news for tenants struggling to pay, often through no fault of their own, it’s been a nightmare for some landlords, who have been unable to do anything about lack of rent. From 1st June, however, the moratorium no longer applies — but is this really back to normal for landlords? The History of the Mor

A landlord has a lot to do at the start of a tenancy, and it can be tempting to treat the inventory as just one more tick in a box. If you’re lucky enough to have a model tenant, that might be enough — but any problem during the tenancy can make a full and detailed inventory crucial. And that can include the need for photo and video evidence. Why Are Photos and Videos Necessary for an Inventory? If a dispute sh

A Government report released in April shows a stark picture of how households are coping with their housing costs and savings in the pandemic. The problems apply to both the home-owning and rental sectors, but renters seem to have been hardest hit. The Second Wave Household Resilience Study After more than a year of the pandemic, the Government has published a study of how households are holding up in the wake of the

On the 10th March, the Government announced that the current moratorium on evictions will be extended until 31st May, for both domestic and commercial tenancies. This is clearly good news both for people who rent their home and for struggling businesses, but not necessarily for equally struggling landlords. So, does this mean that no evictions can take place, regardless of the circumstances? The Extension of the Mora

The financial effects of the pandemic have been severe on many of us, whether we’re acting as companies, landlords or individuals. One lifeline has been the ability to take “payment holidays” in the repayment of mortgages, loans or debts. This has been invaluable — but is it really the straightforward benefit it seems? Recent research by Resolver suggests it may not be. Payment Holidays Early in the

If you take out a writ of control against someone who owes you money, there are currently extra hurdles to get over. Besides backlogs in the court system, in some cases, bailiffs won’t be able to enter the debtor’s property. However, it’s still possible to effectively enforce a writ. You just have to be careful that you get everything right. In What Order Are Writs Dealt With? There’s an old c

During the first Covid-19 lockdown, we were in unknown territory, and rules had to be worked out on the go. This time, we’re more used to being locked down, and regulations (many of which are much the same as for tiers 2 and 3) have been put quickly in place. And this includes the regulations for enforcement visits for writs of control, writs of possession and serving eviction orders. The Rules for Writs of Con

The options open for people who fall into debt have needed reform for some time, but the Covid-19 pandemic has made the issue urgent. The Money Advice Trust has now published a new briefing, urging the government to commission a full review of the options for debt management. The Debt Crisis The need for review of debt options was already being urged before this year. In 2018, the Money Advice Service (now part of th