Making renting open for landlords & tenants
A new Act of Parliament was passed a few days before Christmas 2018, giving tenants in England new powers to fight unfit housing – including the ability to sue landlords for not carrying out repair work.
The Bill was originally championed by Karen Buck MP, and was given much attention after the fire at Grenfell Tower. Continue reading “Homes (Fitness) Act Allows Tenants to Sue Landlords over Property Condition”
The Government plan to ban tenant fees is getting closer to becoming law. The policy divides landlords with 64% supporting the bill and 36% opposing. Whatever you think of it, we want to help you understand exactly what the ban means for you.
Here to talk us through the finer legal details of the Tenant Fees Bill is Samuel Beswick, a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow at Harvard Law School and author of several papers on UK lettings law.
Continue reading “Tenant Fees Bill: a Legal Review for Landlords”
Next week could be scary for landlords!
No, we don’t mean Halloween… It’s time for the Budget, and landlords are worried they’re going to see more regulation.
More on that below, but first your monthly landlord update. Continue reading “Essential Landlord Update: October 2018”
Many landlords use their own tenancy agreements: sometimes using the same old agreement over and over again for years or even decades!
But the law around renting evolves rapidly and your trusty old contract is probably full of errors.
Continue reading “Three Big Mistakes Landlords Make with Tenancy Agreements (ASTs)”
Hi there!
Welcome to the first in a new series of monthly updates, bringing landlords essential property stories and updates on regulations each month.
Simply read the Essential Landlord Update once a month, and sleep easy knowing you’ll be up to date with the fast-changing world of UK property! Continue reading “Essential Landlord Update: September 2018”
Landlords have several options when ending a tenancy, but the best options, if possible, is always to come to an agreement with the tenant.
This flowchart decision tree tells landlords all the ways they can end a tenancy! Continue reading “[Infographic] How Landlords Can End a Tenancy [Flowchart]”
Imagine living so close to your football team that you could nip home at half time for a cuppa (or perhaps more likely, a consolatory drink).
We’ve found out which London clubs are cheapest to rent within one mile of. Continue reading “The Cheapest Football Clubs to Rent Next to in London”
OpenRent has always been committed to the protection of personal data and we have a company culture of data protection by design. GDPR does not change this, but it is a good time to explain everything we do to protect your data.
Here we answer your top questions about OpenRent and GDPR, including what landlords need to do to be GDPR compliant. Continue reading “How Does OpenRent Handle Your Data?”
There are two main ways to end a tenancy. The landlord or the tenant can serve notice, ending the tenancy according to the rules laid out in the contract. Alternatively, both the landlord and the tenant can agree to end the tenancy by mutual agreement.
In the first situation, the rules of the contract must be followed closely because only one party wants to end the tenancy, and the rules of the tenancy agreement are there to ensure this happens fairly and smoothly.
In the second, because both parties are happy to proceed according to new, agreed terms, the tenancy-ending mechanisms in the contract (e.g. how much notice to give) don’t have to be followed. This is called a surrender of tenancy.
Continue reading “Surrendering a Tenancy Agreement by Mutual Consent”
The tenant referencing process in the UK rental market is often seen as a big hurdle to get over before you’re allowed to rent a property. Most people have no idea what happens when they are being referenced or how the result (‘pass’ or ‘fail’) is reached. Continue reading “How Do Tenant Referencing and Credit Checks Work?”