Letting agency - estate agency landlord property management packages

All in One. Save Money

Schedule a Call back

Back to all

Update for 2023 – 5 changes for Landlords in the UK

estate agency property management package
Picture of Donald Smith
Donald Smith

Founder and Co-owner

As of January 2023, here are five changes for landlords in the UK that have been announced or implemented for this year:

  • The introduction of the Renters’ Reform Bill: The Renters’ Reform Bill was first announced in 2019, but it is expected to be introduced in 2023. The bill includes several changes to the private rented sector, including the abolition of Section 21 evictions, as mentioned previously. It will also introduce lifetime deposits, which will allow tenants to transfer their deposit from one property to another and establish a new system of “lifetime tenancies” to provide tenants with greater security of tenure.
  • Changes to capital gains tax (CGT): In the March 2022 budget, the UK government announced changes to CGT that will impact landlords who sell rental properties. From April 2023, the rates of CGT will increase for higher rate taxpayers. Additionally, the government will reduce the annual exempt amount for CGT to £5,000 for individuals and £2,500 for trusts. This may impact landlords who are looking to sell properties soon.
  • Introduction of the Building Safety Bill: The Building Safety Bill is expected to be introduced in 2023 and will introduce a new regulatory regime for the safety of residential buildings. Landlords who own high-rise buildings will need to ensure that their buildings comply with the new safety requirements, which may include fire safety measures, electrical safety checks, and other safety measures.
  • Changes to the energy efficiency regulations: The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) were introduced in 2018, requiring landlords to ensure that rental properties have a minimum EPC rating of E. From April 2023, the MEES will be raised to a minimum of D, meaning that landlords will need to improve the energy efficiency of their properties to comply with the new standards.
  • Changes to the eviction process: In January 2023, the UK government introduced new legislation that changed the eviction process for landlords. Landlords are now required to give tenants at least 6 months’ notice before they can seek possession of their property through the courts. Additionally, landlords will need to provide a valid reason for eviction, and tenants will have more time to respond to eviction notices.

Being a landlord can be a complex at times. If you need any other support or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Linked Articles

Rental Affordability Calculator

Rental Yield Calculator

Negotiating Tenancy Renewals

The best time to contact your tenants is 12-16 weeks before the end of their lease. The objective is to allow yourself plenty of time to renegotiate lease terms with your tenants while also knowing in advance if you need to prepare to remarket your property.

Rent Collection & monthly Direct Debit

Rent collection service – involves collecting and chasing rent from tenants. As rent collection can be stressful and time-consuming, especially if you have a tenant who consistently makes late payments, using a rent collection service can save landlords time and money. We aim to pay all collected rents on the same day of receipt (as per bank clearance rules, weekends and bank holidays are paid on the next working day)

24/7 Live Chat Support

With 24 hour customer support You can receive help and find answers to questions 24/7 and in real-time.

Dedicated Property Manager

We will assign you a dedicated property manager, who will be in charge of assigning property in order to generate and maintain high-quality services.

Legal & Eviction advice

You must follow strict procedures if you want your tenants to leave your property.

Evicting tenants is something that landlords never want to do. Sometimes, as landlords, we may not have any choice but to evict a tenant, for example, if they’re not paying the rent.

On other occasions, our circumstances may have changed, and we may need to ask tenants to leave to make it easier to sell one of our buy-to-let portfolio properties, or even because we need to move into it ourselves.

No matter what your reasons as a landlord for wanting to evict tenants, there are clear processes that you must follow to ensure that the action you are taking is correct and enforceable.

Property Legal disputes advice

Property disputes can be extremely unpleasant and stressful. At British Estates, we understand how difficult it is to be involved in a disagreement relating to your home and we will do all we can to advise you about the issue as quickly as possible.

Health & Safety Advice

To ensure that tenants have a safe, pleasant place to live, the law requires private landlords to fulfil numerous responsibilities.

These mainly relate to the upkeep and safety of the building, but also include duties that ensure fairness and privacy for the tenant.

We guide you through all the legal responsibilities of private landlords, to make it clear what the landlord must do and what the tenant can reasonably request.

It also therefore clarifies what the tenant is responsible for, as both have to do their part in maintaining the property.

Complimentary re-advertising

Complimentary re-advertise your property if a tenant leaves the property before the tenancy agreement expires.

Repairs & Maintenance Management

Repairs Management – When you sign up with us, one of the things we’ll discuss is how you want to manage the ongoing maintenance of your property or properties.

Together, we must ensure your property meets and is maintained to the standards required by law and by our Local Authority clients.

We also know from experience, that well maintained homes cost less in the long term, so it’s important for protecting your investment.

To keep things simple, we can carry out all repairs on your behalf. We have a team of in-house multi-skilled operatives, as well as specialist gas and electrical engineers who are trained and qualified to keep your homes safe, well-maintained and compliant with legislative standards.

Or, if you prefer, you can take responsibility for carrying out repairs yourself. In this case, it is our responsibility to inform you about repairs that need doing and to ensure they are carried out.

Digital tenancy agreement

Once a draft is approved, a professional tenancy agreement is sent to all parties to be signed and stored securely online. No printing is required.

Holding deposit service

Landlord must protect tenant deposit under the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. This scheme makes sure tenant will get their deposit back when moving out if they looked after the property and paid their rent.

Tenant fully referenced

Tenant referencing is a way of finding out and confirming information about a prospective tenant.

This includes income validation, and references from previous landlords as standard.

It confirms that this information (such as how much tenants earn) is correct, and it helps to decide whether the tenant the right fit for your chosen property.

This helps you to make an informed decision on whether to rent your property to that individual.

Referencing can help build trust that a tenant will pay their rent on time, treat the property with respect and not be a nuisance to neighbours or others.

Advert on Rightmove, Zoopla & OnTheMarket

The biggest benefit of advertising rental properties on Rightmove, Zoopla or OnTheMarket is undoubtedly the number of people who use these platforms.

Those platforms are similar in design and function, with only a few small quirks between them, but the latest figures show just how popular they are.

People using Rightmove , Zoopla or OnTheMarket are possibly the single largest audience of interested people you can access online as a landlord, so it’s no surprise that these platforms are incredibly popular.

The whole property advertising process is usually faster when using Rightmove, Zoopla or OnTheMarket.

As the portals have so many visitors, there are a lot more people from your area looking for properties and as a result, properties don’t take as long to fill.

Rent Guarantee

What is Rent Guarantee Insurance for landlords?

For landlords, it’s no surprise that rent arrears and tenant debt can be concerning. Rent Guarantee Insurance (also known as Tenant Default Insurance or Rent Protection) makes sure that the landlord is covered in the event of rent going unpaid and also that any subsequent action needed is taken care of.

This includes any legal costs that may be incurred by the landlord. Having a policy like this is in line with the latest eviction laws, which state what landlords need to be aware of in terms of tenancy notice. For example, if a landlord is planning to evict a tenant, the tenant can stall the hearing if they can prove they can start making their payments.

This process can sometimes take a long time, which can result in the landlord losing income.

Property Repairs Cover

Landlord Home Emergency Cover provides protection for costs incurred for any contractor carrying out emergency repairs to your rented property.

This cover for rental properties is included in our Complete Platinum Plan and is also available as an add-on to the Silver or Gold Plans.

Give yourself total peace of mind – with up to £500 of cover for every incident.

Whether it’s a burst pipe, broken boiler, busted lock or even all three – you’ll have a network of trade professionals ready to help.

You or your tenant can call the emergency helpline any time of day, every day of the year – including Christmas Day.

24/7 emergency helpline for landlords and tenants No excess payment required

Calls answered with courtesy in a UK-based call centre

Full UK coverage with thousands of tradespeople