A rise in accidental landlords is contributing towards a surge in availability of smaller, newer flats and maisonettes to rent, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents.
Annual growth in student rents has slowed following the 7% drop in university admissions and the rise in tuition fees.
A new club for mortgage brokers has been launched, offering landlords the chance of exclusive deals.
An elderly tenant whose absentee landlord has been fined for appalling conditions in her rental home has called for landlords who live abroad to be forced by law to use a property management company.
Renting is over £130 a month more expensive on average than buying.
Rents are over-heating in London and the South-East, where the high cost of properties limits landlords’ plans to expand.
Rents will still be paid to tenants under Universal Credit.
Almost half of landlords have found it very difficult or impossible to obtain a buy-to-let mortgage, according to a survey by the Residential Landlords Association.
A group of cross-party MPs has called for a new form of statutory regulation of the private rented sector.
A new property web portal will connect agents and landlords with people claiming housing benefit and who are looking for private rental accommodation.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of landlords say their rental properties are returned to them in an average or poor condition when the tenants move out.
Families claiming housing benefit who have been unable to afford private rents in Westminster have been shipped by the local authority up to 30 miles outside the capital.
