Once Rental Property was regarded with suspicion by tenants who expected lower quality accommodation often in need of renovation. While there are still examples of such Rental Property, the market has by and large moved on. Landlords have become more professional and with an eye to the resale value of their Rental Property, ensure that they are well maintained and presented.

They have been encouraged in this attitude by various rules and regulations demanding that Rental Property should be safe in all respects. Those Rental Properties thought likely to pose the greatest risks – larger houses in multiple occupation, for example, are now subject to licensing requirements.

Both market pressure and regulation have tipped the balance towards newer Rental Property best suited to today's family units.

Landlords are prime movers in the residential Investment Property market. With the advent of buy to let mortgages, Investment Property has become more accessible to individuals, and the preferred option for many looking for immediate returns and long term security. And with pensions becoming more problematic and uncertain, many have also looked to Investment Property for their retirement needs.

However, Investment Property cannot be bought and left to appreciate. ‘Buy to leave’ is frowned upon by the Government and recent legislation has given local authorities power to take over empty properties.

Landlords, of course, wish to maximise the return from their Investment Property, and therefore to make the most of the rental market in other words be businesslike and effective ion their approach to tenants and their Investment Property. This is where our website comes in, providing information on the property and lettings markets, on rules and regulations, and on landlord-tenant relationships – with advice and comment, plus a landlords’ forum.

Just over 10 years ago the private rented sector took off with introduction of ‘buy to let’ mortgages by major lenders.

Previously financing the purchase of properties specifically to let out had been more problematical. Commercial mortgages were restricted to relatively low percentages of property value. Buy to let mortgages allowed much high loan to value percentages and were much more widely available.

The result has been a surge of buy to let landlords entering the market, and many existing landlords increasing their investment portfolios with the help of buy to let mortgages.

This means that there are currently an estimated 500,000 buy to let landlords operating in the UK, many with just one or two properties.

Not all landlords begin their buy to let investment careers on purpose. Some have turned their homes into buy to let investments for some unrelated reason – as when moving to live with a new partner or because their work has taken them away.

When more experienced landlords seek particular types of buy to let investment – either existing properties or frequently off plan properties yet to be built – typically flats. Recently, in line with demographic trends, smaller properties have become a sought after buy to let investments.

Accident or not, buy to let investment has proved profitable for the vast majority. As with all residential property, buy to let investment has increased sharply in value over recent years, in some cases doubling and re-doubling in value.

UK rental laws are complicated and demanding and getting more so. And because most private rented sector landlords are not full time landlords, but are individuals with relatively few rental properties, there are many occasions when they can find themselves in need of help or support. One source for such support is the landlords forum operated as part of Residential Landlord.

The landlords forum is extremely active with over 50,000 page views every month and new questions, comments and answers being posted every day. The landlords forum allows both new and more experienced landlords to benefit from the experience of others as well as raise issues of importance to landlords – such as letting agents’ charges.

Allowing a free exchange of ideas, recommendations and advice, the landlords forum provides a valuable resource for members and regular users, as well as more infrequent visitors.

There is a constant stream of UK property news to report: ranging from the results of house price surveys to Government announcements about new laws and regulations; from house builder results to health and safety warning.

Residential Landlord aims to keep its users up to date with latest UK property news of particular relevance to landlords and property investors. Included are items about individual tenants and landlords, as well as developing trends of a more general nature and specific property developments.

Our UK property news is generated in-house and is objective and unbiased. And by featuring UK property news we aim to help investors who visit our website number amongst the best informed about property matters.