While the coronavirus pandemic has proved challenging in a variety of areas, the development and use of technology has been among the beneficiaries of this difficult time. After rising in the past couple of years, the rate at which new property technology, or proptech, with new services and apps to support letting agents, property investors and landlords has come online has accelerated.

The UK government and Ministry of Justice have launched a new online tool designed to help landlords and tenants understand their rights and responsibilities in relation to repairs.

As the UK begins to enjoy some normality after 18 months of Covid-19 fears and restrictions, the government is continuing to withdraw financial support from a variety of areas.

As the UK government attempts to look ahead to life without restrictions, it is once again moving forward with discussion on reforms to the country's Private Rental Sector (PRS).

As more typical activity returns across the UK, a recent industry survey shows that demand from tenants for homes in the private rental sector (PRS) surged in July 2021 to the highest level on record.

As more typical activity returns across the UK, a recent industry survey shows that demand from tenants for homes in the private rental sector (PRS) surged in July 2021 to the highest level on record.

While the property sales boom has been one of the surprise success stories of the past year and a half, the overall strength of the rental market has been less clear. Reports and news stories have tended to focus on particular issues like arrears or evictions, rather than getting a sense of whether the private rented sector is in a better or worse position than it was in 2019. However, a few recent studies have tried to shed a bit of light on this. 

As the UK government promotes its aspirations for homes across the country to have an energy or EPC rating of C or above, some tips have been shared to help landlords achieve this.

As the UK government promotes its aspirations for homes across the country to have an energy or EPC rating of C or above, some tips have been shared to help landlords achieve this.

The UK's supply of rental homes is once again coming under pressure as demand from tenants across most regions continue to recover from the lows seen during the height of the pandemic. Two separate surveys report that demand from tenants is rising across the country with London in particular experiencing a sustained period of increased interest.

Two separate reports show that rents have risen in recent months as demand for property in the lettings market remains high. The data suggests the recovery in demand for rental homes has continued over the third quarter of the year with one stating it expects demand to remain strong and push rents higher.

The UK government has extended temporary rules allowing Letting Agents to conduct Right to Rent checks via video rather than in person, from May 17 to June 20, 2021.

With more people in the UK renting than ever before, there have been an increasing number of calls for more regulation of the lettings industry including qualifications and licensing requirements.

With expectations growing that learning will be more 'normal' in the coming academic year, data suggests that demand for university housing will post a strong recovery from the patchy 2020-21 performance.

Tenant Safety Must Come First

As the country is once again living in lockdown, the government’s latest guidance to Letting Agents is to put the safety of their tenants first.

A recent survey snapshot suggests the number of rental homes across the UK rose to a record high in 2020 with letting agents managing over 200 properties on average. The survey also shows that even as many landlords and property investors chose to sell up, only around one third of tenants experienced rent rises.

As the UK increasingly homes a growing number of renters, research from a youth charity suggests renting remains unaffordable for working adults aged between 21-25.

With the UK's Covid-19 vaccination programme progressing well, optimism appears to be returning to various areas of activity in the UK.