There’s a lot to understand as a successful landlord in the current housing market. It can be tricky, but we’ve got your back.
Whether you’re an independent landlord handling properties yourself, or if you have agencies that take care of everything for you, we dive into some of the key areas you need to know about.
In May 2023, a new bill was published (the Renters’ Reform Bill), which sought to give more rights to tenants. But what is the renters’ reform bill? And what should landlords know?
There are a few main changes that the bill has introduced, including:
As of the time of writing, the bill is yet to become legally enforceable in England. It remains at the very beginning of its journey through parliament, with a long road ahead. However, it is beneficial to all landlords to familiarise themselves with the bill to avoid any unexpected changes to their rental contracts.
As of April 2023, cuts were made to the tax-free allowance of capital profits. Such cuts will likely result in a higher rate of capital gains tax.
This means that landlords will have to pay an even greater amount of capital gains tax on any profits from the sale of their property. With this in mind, it’s more important than ever to consider your savings profile.
Is your money working for you? Check out our suite of savings accounts that offer competitive, variable interest rates to help it do exactly that.
Prior to this, the profit threshold was set at £12,300. However, from April onwards, this threshold was reduced by more than half to just £6,000. There are plans to reduce this threshold even further in April 2024 to around £3,000.
Rental increases depend on the type of tenancy agreement that is in place.
For example, in rolling tenancies (those paid week-by-week or month-by-month), rent cannot be increased more than once every year without the tenant’s agreement. Fixed-term tenancies, however, leave no freedom for rental increases without the tenant’s agreement unless the fixed term ends.
Rental increases must also be deemed reasonable and justified, which introduces an element of subjectivity to the equation, as this varies on a case-by-case basis. Mortgage rate increases are usually deemed justifiable reasons to raise rent, but this isn’t a clear-cut rule.
To learn more about Aldermore’s range of mortgages for buy to let landlords, visit our buy to let mortgages or buy to let mortgages for limited companies page.
Subject to status. If you fail to keep up with payments on your mortgage a ‘receiver of rent’ may be appointed and/or your rental property may be repossessed.