A letting agency has been accused of illegally evicting tenants and taking their belongings. According to the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme, three tenants, who rented rooms through Flintons, said they arrived home to find locks had been changed and rooms emptied. Some said their possessions had not yet been returned. Others said their belongings were
A woman has been awarded compensation after her landlord was taken to court. Andrew Watson, from Chapeltown, was fined £6,500 and ordered to pay victim compensation of £1,000 after he repeatedly ignored legal notices served by Leeds City Council regarding the condition of a house he was renting out in Chapeltown. A council officer likened
A landlady has been fined £24,000 after lying to her tenants and the local authorities. Diana Thompson was prosecuted by Brent Council and prosecuted for failure to licence a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and failure to comply with fire safety regulations. Thompson convinced tenants living in her unlicensed, detached two-storey HMO property that she
A tenant caused over £7,000 worth of damage to a property before leaving the premises whilst still owing 11 months of rent. Landlord Michael Walker claimed his three-bedroom property was left in devastating condition with every room vandalised. Mould was found all over the ceiling, dirty dishes were piled on the kitchen counter and the living
Latest statistics from the UK House Price Index show properties in February had an average cost of £145,762 – a drop of 0.2% on the same month in 2018. This is the first annual decrease in Scotland since March 2016. House prices also fell by 3.1% between January and February this year. Janet Egdell, Registers of
No-fault evictions are now to be banned in England. This ruling means private landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants at short notice without good reason. The government says the new plans are in place to protect renters from “unethical” landlords and give them more long-term security. First Minister Mark Drakeford has
New research reveals the number of last-time buyers in the housing market has increased. The research found that one in three home moves are now made by last-time buyers aged 55 and over. The study from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) shows that the numbers have almost doubled in the last decade and many
A landlord has lost his fight to be able to hold a licence to rent properties again after a tribunal found he wasn’t a “fit and proper” landlord. Derrick Morgan appealed to the Residential Property Tribunal after Rent Smart Wales (RSW) refused to grant him a landlord licence. However, the tribunal has now dismissed
A tenant who caused £25,000 worth of damage to the flat she was renting out has been evicted. The property East Yorkshire was found in a ‘disgusting’ condition by its landlord, with holes in the walls, smashed windows and ripped up floorboards. The radiators were ripped from walls lying on top of mounds of rubbish.
A new law has come into force enabling people living in rented accommodation the opportunity to sue their landlords over unfit homes. On Wednesday, March 20, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act came into effect, allowing tenants to go to the courts if they feel their landlord is not keeping their property well maintained.