London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced a new "Better Renting" training qualification for London's borough housing officers enabling them to supplement housing enforcement teams affected by shortages of qualified and experienced environmental health officers.

Originally set to close on 5th January then extended to 4th February, Lewisham Council's Selective Licensing consultation was restarted on 21st January and set to close in May.

The Government is asking private landlords to pledge offers of suitable accommodation to people evacuated from Afghanistan to the UK. Over 300 Local Authorities have already offered homes and private landlords are seen as being able to support those authorities with further housing offers from the private rented sector.

Coventry council is planning to institute an Article 4 direction to restrict residential property conversions that create more houses in multiple occupation.

The Government has proposed new amendments to the Building Safety Bill designed to protect leaseholders and private landlords in residential blocks above 11 meters which, if passed into law, will force property developers and cladding manufacturers/installers to pay for historic cladding problems.

In a guidance update on the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 for residential leaseholders, the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities has said that it will use civil penalties including fines of up to £30,000 against freeholders who charge ground rent in contravention of the Act.

The requirement for private rented properties to have an EPC rating of at least C from 2025/26 onwards appears to now be changing significantly the purchasing behaviour of buy to let landlords.

According to new research by the national residential landlords association (NRLA) 56% of english local authorities don't record the number of complaints they receive related to private rented accommodation.

The Home Office is asking for input from private rented sector landlords and letting agents on amending the unlawful discrimination provisions in the Right to Rent Code of Practice for Landlords carrying out such right to rent checks.

The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) bill is now an Act of Parliament. This means that once the act comes into force (in 6 months) new leaseholds will be subject to a "peppercorn rent", in other words the ground rent will be a nominal amount.