Landlords have been advised to be super-vigilant about electrical products that they already have in their properties, plus any new ones they supply, such as fridge freezers, cookers and tumble dryers.
The number of people looking to rent rooms in shared houses and flats appears to be growing as more seek to save money on their living costs.
Landlords are reminded that as from this week, local authorities now have the discretion to charge full Council Tax on empty properties.
The council which has been the first in the country to force all private landlords to join a mandatory licensing scheme says it has so far registered 15,000 landlords and 28,500 properties.
A letting agent who failed to protect tenants’ deposits and did not pass rent on to landlords has been jailed.
The Prudential is to enter the UK private rented sector and is close to finalising a deal to buy over 500 homes from the Berkeley Group.
Void periods are steadily falling, along with rent arrears.
All landlords would be regulated and would, by law, have to belong to a landlord organisation, if new proposals from the Association of Residential Letting Agents are accepted.
Former London mayor Ken Livingstone has called for rent controls, saying that “our private rented sector has become a scam”.
The spectre of more beds in sheds, operated by illegal landlords, has been raised by the Residential Landlords Association after David Cameron said new immigrants will have a two-year wait before going on council house waiting lists.
The Chancellor’s new measures in the Budget aimed at boosting home ownership could have significant implications for ‘Generation Rent’.
The ministers responsible for housing, Eric Pickles and Mark Prisk, have spoken of their support for the Help to Buy scheme – as criticism of the idea was mounting.
