Suzanne Smith and Richard Jackson discuss their first impressions of Labour's new Renters' Rights Bill in this special episode of Good Landlording, shortly after Bill was published. They go through the big ticket items in the new Bill, how it compares to the old Renters (Reform) Bill, and what landlords should do to prepare for the new Bill. They'll be discussing the Renters' Rights Bill in more detail in the coming weeks and months, but this episode provides a useful overview...

Almost 40% of the properties in the PRS in England are leasehold, so the chances are that if you're a private landlord listening to this podcast, you'll have at least one leasehold property in your portfolio.  If you do own a flat in England or Wales, or are thinking of buying one, you need to listen to this episode of the Good Landlording podcast. This is because the government plans to "take steps to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end", by "reinvigorating commonhold...

In this summer special episode of Good Landlording, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith pick the brain of Wendy Whittaker-Large about what makes a successful, systemised HMO business. The episode a fantastic source of information for anyone who has HMOs, is thinking of converting a property into an HMO or is just "HMO-curious". Wendy gives an insider's view of how to make HMOs a success, and build an efficient systemised HMO business. >> Ask a question: Click...

In the third of four summer special episodes, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith speak to Lisa Brown, nurse turned property developer, who explains how landlords can make a success of leasing their properties to providers of supported living housing. In this episode, Lisa explains what supported living is, how it works, what type of properties are suitable, adaptations, choosing a provider and the advantages and risks for the landlord. You can also connect with Lisa...

In the second of four summer special episodes, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith speak to Bushra Mohammed, who guides us through how to buy and sell properties successfully at auction. Not only is Bushra a property solicitor with particular expertise advising clients who buy and sell at auction, but she is also a property developer and landlord. This enables her to understand the perspective of property investors, and what the key issues are to look out for. Suzanne first met...

For our first summer special episode of Good Landlording, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith pick the brain of landlord and interior designer, Charlotte Richardson, about how good interior design can benefit both landlords and renters alike. As always, it's a practical episode, with lots of actionable tips to help landlords use interior design to help them attract and keep good tenants. >> Ask a question: Click here for question form What we cover in...

This episode of Good Landlording is the rental market update for mid-2024, and has the latest Q2 data for rent in England in the 12 months to June 2024. Richard and Suzanne also discuss inflation, the likely impact of population growth on demand, and prospects for future growth. As well as referring to data from ONS and Rightmove, they also talk about the findings in recent reports by Paragon Bank's Next Generation Landlord Report 2024 and Savills' UK Build to Rent Market...

This episode is on the hot and controversial topic of tenants' rights to have pets in rental properties, which is on the horizon again with Labour's new Renters' Rights Bill. Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith discuss what this right to request a pet is likely to look like, specific examples of when it might be reasonable to refuse for both single lets and HMOs, flats and houses. They also coverthe steps that landlords can take to reduce the risk of damage and being left out of pocket...

In this episode of Good Landlording, Suzanne Smith and Richard Jackson discuss what the King's Speech said today about the contents of the new Renters' Rights Bill, which will apply to the private rented sector in England. The discussion includes the key provisions, the extent to which it differs from the Renters Reform Bill, what doesn't appear to be in the Renters' Rights Bill and the situation with EPCs. >> Ask a question: Click here for question form...

Now that the new Prime Minister has appointed his front bench team and made clear his priorities, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith discuss what the Labour government has in store for landlords in England in the 16th episode of Good Landlording. They include answers to lots of questions from listeners, and go through what we know about leasehold reform, energy efficiency and leasehold reform. They also discuss Labour's plans to build 1.5 million homes in the next five...

In this episode of Good Landlording recorded in the week of the General Election on 4 July 2024, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith discuss whether buy to let properties in England are still good investments in 2024. They analyse what make buy to lets so popular, what has changed, and what makes a successful buy to let in 2024. After going through the pros and cons of other investment strategies, they close with reasons to be positive about the future of the private rented sector....

For this special election episode of Good Landlording, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith pick apart the pledges that the political parties make in their general election manifestos for leasehold reform in England and Wales. (This episode does not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland, where the law is different). This episode is useful for all leaseholders, not just landlords who own leasehold flats and houses. Suzanne and Richard explain what ground rent is, why it's become...

What might a new government have in store for landlords in England? In this week's episode of Good Landlording, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith discuss what the 2024 election manifestos actually say about landlords, rental reform and energy efficiency. As with everything on this podcast, our analysis is practical, measured and objective, to help landlords understand what a new government may bring. In this episode, we look at each of the key policies that matter to landlords,...

In this episode of Good Landlording, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith share lots of practical tips to help landlords manage their buy to lets successfully themselves, without using letting agents. Richard and Suzanne are both very well qualified to talk about this subject. Suzanne has always self-managed her properties, even with her first as an accidental landlord, and Richard self manages many of his properties. They discuss what self-managing involves, whether landlords need...

This week's episode of Good Landlording discusses one of the first questions that landlords ask themselves when they're looking for a buy to let: should they buy a flat or a house? Richard and Suzanne go through the pros and cons of both flats and houses, drawing on their own experiences as landlords, with Suzanne only now investing in houses, and Richard having only ever bought flats as rental investments.  Suzanne explains the difference between "leasehold" and "freehold",...

With the fall of the Renters Reform Bill, and the upcoming general election, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith pick the brain of leading solicitor David Smith from JMW to explore what the election is likely to mean for landlords in England. In this episode we discuss what happens to the Renters Reform Bill now, and analyse what a new Labour or Conservative government might bring for landlords. We step away from the hyperbole and catastrophising, and take an objective look at what we...

In this week's episode of Good Landlording, we discuss one of the most difficult aspects of our jobs as landlords, and that's handling rent arrears. Rent arrears are challenging, even if landlords use an agent. The essence of the agreement between a landlord and a tenant is that the landlord provides a well maintained and legally compliant property to live in. In return, the tenant pays rent. If tenants don't pay the rent when it's due, they are in what's called rent...

This week's episode is about a key issue for landlords: setting and increasing rent. Suzanne Smith and Richard Jackson kick off the podcast episode by discussing what the key rent indices say about what’s happening to rents now. Then they share tips about landlords should go about both setting rent at the beginning of the tenancy, as well increasing rent once the tenants have moved in. They also talk about how the Renters Reform Bill will change the way landlords will be able to...

In this week's episode, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith discuss what landlords can do when things go wrong with letting agents, and how to make a complaint. It's the third in a series of three episodes on what landlords need to know about letting agents. While the vast majority of interactions with letting agents are positive, it’s important for landlords to know what options they have when things go wrong. Richard and Suzanne discuss how to make complaints to the letting agents and...

In this week's episode of Good Landlording, Suzanne Smith and Richard Jackson discuss tips to help landlords understand what to look out for in the contract with letting agents, so they know how to strike a fair deal when signing up with them  This is a practical episode that not only gives the perspective of letting agents, but also explores the experience that landlords have when dealing with agents, the ins and outs of the different services letting agents provide, what to look out...

This is the second special episode of Good Landlording on the Renters Reform Bill. Richard and Suzanne talk about how and why the renter reforms may well start to come into effect in May 2025, and what this means for landlords. This includes the likely timetable for implementation of what will be the Renters Reform Act, and when the key provisions will start to apply to new tenancies. The new rules could come in for new tenancies as early as May 2025, assuming Royal Assent is in...

This is the second special episode of Good Landlording on the Renters Reform Bill. Richard and Suzanne talk about how and why the renter reforms may well start to come into effect in May 2025, and what this means for landlords. This includes the likely timetable for implementation of what will be the Renters Reform Act, and when the key provisions will start to apply to new tenancies. The new rules could come in for new tenancies as early as May 2025, assuming Royal Assent is in...

In Good Landlording Episode #3, Richard and Suzanne broach the big subject of letting agents by giving an overview of what landlords need to know about agents to help them make the right choice, in the first of a series of three episodes on agents. For many landlords, agents are a vital part of letting and managing their properties, while for other landlords, they prefer to manage every aspect of the properties themselves. As experienced landlords themselves, Suzanne and Richard...

In this special episode of Good Landlording, Suzanne Smith and Richard Jackson discuss how recent government amendments to the Renters Reform Bill kick the implementation of some unpopular provisions for existing tenancies into the long grass, and some welcome amendments. They include changing the way the abolition of Section 21 will come into force for existing tenancies. The government introduced these amendments to address "concerns" of some Conservative MPs about the Renters Reform...