Latest articles from The Landlord Blog

The number of buy-to-let deals on the market has more than doubled in the last three years.

According to new figures from financial research company Defaqto, there are currently 483 buy-to-let deals available to invest in, which represents a 104 per cent rise since October 2008. The amount of buy-to-let brokers has increased from 56 to 63 in the same time period.

The figures represent the growing demand for properties to rent since the beginning of the recession.

Read more about Buy-to-let deals increase by 104 percent in three years

An independent property website has confirmed that for the average British family, almost half of their take-home pay is accounted for by their private rental costs.

This is due to "record" rental prices, Mortgagesolutions.co.uk suggested. It reported that the average rental price for these families has shot up to £890. This is 46 per cent of the average tenant's income.

However for many, it is still proving a more affordable option than buying a home; despite rental prices rising by 1.6 per cent on average in September.

Read more about Record rental costs noted

Statistics released by the government have shown that house prices in Britain have fallen by 1.3 per cent, year on year.

According to the Department for Communities and Local Government, this has left the average price of a house at £208, 476.

This may mean now is the time is to find properties to rent; making a sound investment in the buy-to-let market. However, prices themselves increased on a month-by-month basis, so property investors may want to act now in order to capitalise on the yearly slump.

One UK economist, Howard Archer, told Press Association what he thought of the figures; calling them an "upward surprise". However he also commented that the data "does not change our view that house prices are likely to fall by five per cent through to mid-2012."

Read more about House prices fall, figures show

A spokesman for the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), Ian Potter, has advised first-time buy-to-let owners to use the most experienced letting agents they can find.

Read more about ARLA spokesman says use experienced letting agent

Potential tenants wanting to rent a property must have a gross income of at least two and a half times the amount of rent payable (it can be up to three times the rent payable, depending on an individual’s circumstances). For a property with a monthly rent of £800, a potential tenant with a good credit history would need to prove gross annual income of at least £24,000. Read more about Tenants find it hard to pass Letting Agent checks

A letting agent in Plymouth stops trading leaving landlords and tenants out of pocket. What can landlords do to protect against their letting agents doing the same? Read more about Plymouth Based Letting Agent Closes after 12 months

The average house has increased in price by £30 every day since the beginning of the year. What does this mean for landlords, tenants and the letting industry? Read more about £30 a day: That’s the rise in house prices so far this year!

Chancellor George Osborne has announced a reform in the way stamp duty is calculated on property purchases. The reforms will reduce the amount of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) paid by landlords buying property in bulk. Read more about Stamp duty reforms will attract more (and bigger) landlords to the rented sector

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is already a bit of a mess, with many landlords choosing to shy away from this sector of the rental market (see 2 reasons why landlords say "no" to housing benefit tenants). Now, with the Government's budget cuts, even more landlords will be turning away housing benefit tenants. Read more about Should landlords lower rents to fund housing benefit cuts?

Because there are more tenants around than properties available to rent, landlords and letting agents are quite rightly, selecting the tenants in the best position. And given the choice, landlords would rather rent their properties to people in employment than people claiming housing benefit. Here, we discuss the reasons why. Read more about The 2 reasons why landlords say "no" to housing benefit tenants