News archives
Buy-to-let market update
BY: Doug Hall, director, 3mc Welcome to ‘Buy-to-let market’, a column aimed at providing you with recent criteria and product updates within the buy-to-let (BTL) lending markets. The information within this article is correct as at 28/03/2025. Buy-to-let market...
Making Tax Digital
As we have reported previously, some landlords will soon be required to keep digital tax records and submit tax returns quarterly rather than annually. This is part of the UK government’s “Making Tax Digital” (MTD) for Income Tax reforms which you can read about here....
6 ways for landlords to cut costs & boost efficiency
Article by Currys Business, March 2025 With 2025 ushering in ever-creeping interest rates and maintenance costs always looming, owning property can sometimes feel more laborious than lucrative. These six tech essentials from Currys Business can support you to: Improve...
Garden maintenance – your questions answered
As we are coming into spring, landlords maybe wondering where the responsibilities lie with regards to garden maintenance. Top gardening questions Does garden need to be included in inventory? Do I need to provide garden tools? Do electrical garden tools need to be...
Advice line top queries: maintenance
Just over one in ten queries to the SAL advice helpline are about property maintenance. Some queries are about what a landlord is responsible for when it comes to property condition/repair and this is set out in SAL’s factsheet on condition standards in the private...
Robust referencing – lessons from a lucky escape
From Landlord Focus magazine article – Autumn edition 2024 It is important to take your time and carry out all necessary checks when choosing a new tenant. Making the wrong decision can be a costly move One SAL member had a close call in May of this year after...
SAL in the media
Read the latest articles where SAL is featured in the media: 8 March 2025 – The Herald – Holyrood to consider permanent ban on winter evictions 7 March 2025 – The Scottish Daily Express – Scotland’s housing crisis has been made worse by...
New financial sanctions reporting requirements
As we previously reported in our member enews on 19 December 2024, letting agents will have to comply with new financial sanctions requirements from 14 May 2025. From that date, all letting agents in the UK must submit a report to the Office of Financial Sanctions...
Advice line top queries: ending a tenancy
The SAL advice team receive over 300 queries each week on a wide range of topics. The most common advice topic is how to end a tenancy, with just over a third of all enquiries to the helpline requiring assistance with this. Advice is often sought on how to give notice...
Check detector expiry dates
Landlords and letting agents are reminded to ensure they check the expiry dates of smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detectors in their rental properties and replace detectors on or before the expiry date. We previously heard from a member whose expired carbon monoxide...