Fraud-busting Councils Recover £135M From Benefit Cheats

In its Protecting The Public Purse 2010 report the Audit Commission finds that last year England’s councils detected around £99 million worth of benefit fraud, over £15 million worth of council tax fraud, and £21 million worth of other types of fraud including false insurance claims, and abuse of the disabled parking ‘blue badge’ scheme.

Landlord Assist is advising landlords to consider the impact of tenants who could lose their jobs due to the Government cutbacks and to take preventative measures

Over 800,000 jobs were lost during the recession, and with another 490,000 public sector job losses announced as part of the Government Spending Review many tenants could come under increasing financial pressure over the coming months.


(Another reason to consider Rent Guarantee)

Landlords Ripping Off The Tax Payer Over Benefit Tenants' Claim

Private landlords with housing benefit tenants are charging the maximum amounts possible – and ripping off the taxpayer.

Industry "Experts" ?

Two comments by two different property industry "experts" make us wonder why the word "experts" is ever used to describe them !!!

Landlords Struggle To Raise Finance To Expand

More than six out of ten landlords are finding it difficult to get finance to expand their portfolios.

Ombudsman Calls For All Letting Agents To Join A Redress Scheme

Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer is pressing the Government to make it mandatory for letting agents to belong to a redress scheme.

Tenant Demand For Private Rented Property Continued To Rise In Third Quarter Of 2010

The Paragon Group’s Private Rented Sector (PRS) Trends quarterly snapshot report of developments in the PRS and buy-to-let market showed that 36% of landlords reported rising levels of tenant demand during the period, compared to 6% who said it was falling.

Rental Scams On The Increase, Say Fraud Police

Online rental scams are on the increase, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has warned.

It is dealing with 95 complaints – half from London, but with cities in the north-east also targeted. Many victims are students or new graduates starting their first jobs.

Campaign Launched To Speed Up Evictions

A campaign has been launched for Parliament to change the law to speed up the eviction process and give landlords more right of access to their own properties.

Confidence amongst homeowners about the outlook for the property market has fallen sharply amid growing concerns over the availability of mortgage finance

The latest Zoopla.co.uk Housing Market Sentiment Survey reveals that only 63% of homeowners now expect property prices to rise over the next six months, compared to 78% of homeowners three months ago, showing a staggering decline in confidence in the housing market.

Could British Banks Need A Second Taxpayer Bail-out?

Britain’s banks may need to be bailed out by taxpayers again, an economic think tank has warned.

Tenants protected If Landlord Defaults On Mortgage

Wednesday 6th October 2010

Tenants will no longer be kicked out of their home with no warning if their landlord defaults on their mortgage.