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For landlords in the private residential rental sector, having the right to regain control of your property when you need to is a vital power. Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 allows landlords to end an assured shorthold tenancy by serving notice, without having to show any fault on the part of the tenant.  Stephen Eccles, Head of Dispute Resolution law at Pinney Talfourd in Upminster, is our expert in landlord and

The government has released details of the new tax allowance for landlords who furnish their residential properties. It replaces the old wear and tear allowance, but how does it differ and how should you plan for its introduction? Current wear and tear allowance If you’re a landlord of residential accommodation which you let furnished you’ll already know that you can claim a tax deduction for wear and tear of equipme

Property letting is generally a good deal for everyone. There’s a small minority of unethical landlords, of course, as well as unethical tenants who can cause problems. In general, though, the more profitable letting is to the landlord, the better choice tenants have. Could this be changing, though? Various recent measures by the government could end up both cutting into the landlord’s profit and creating extra probl

A bailiff (‘enforcement agent’) may visit your home if you don’t pay your debts, eg a Council Tax bill, parking fine, court fine, county court or family court judgment. This will happen if you ignore letters saying that bailiffs will be used. You might be arrested if you don’t pay criminal debts, eg fines or penalty notices. A bailiff may also visit your home for other reasons, eg to serve court documents or give not

Consultation has just closed on proposals by the Communities and Local Government Secretary, Greg Clark, that add up to a double whammy for illegal immigrants and rogue landlords. The government wants private sector landlords to take on the responsibility of policing access to rented homes by checking the immigration status of prospective tenants. There’s quite a big stick to make sure they do the job properly, too.

Residential landlords have to check the immigration status of prospective tenants under a government pilot scheme that started in the West Midlands on 1 December. Failure to do so could result in a civil penalty of up to £3,000. Under the Immigration Act 2014, landlords and lettings agencies are required to establish if new tenants have a right to rent as a legal resident in the United Kingdom. The pilot scheme only

Lettings agents have taken the private rented sector a step along the road to regulation of the industry that many tenants and politicians have been demanding. Since 1 October it has been compulsory for letting agents in England to join one of three redress schemes designed to give tenants somewhere to complain about discrimination, unexpected fees, missing deposits and the myriad of other disputes that have been hur

  Landlords in the private rental sector will be watching closely the progress of Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather’s private member’s bill to ban retaliatory evictions. The bill follows claims by housing charity Shelter that there is a crisis in the sector because landlords have been evicting tenants who complain about the standards of their property. Launching her bill, Teather said: ‘All too often tenants out