According to some, the main reason rents are rising across the board is because we landlords are a greedy bunch who are cashing in on the current high demand for rented properties. But is that a fair assertion, or are there other factors at play?

Well speaking as a landlord, I can categorically state that I do not make a point of increasing my rental charges so I can afford a nice foreign holiday! Sadly, the real reason I am forced to increase my rents periodically is to cover the rising costs I face on a daily basis.

Why are rents rising?

Rental payments very often cover the cost of a mortgage on the property and many lenders insist that rental payments are higher than the cost of the monthly mortgage payment, so if your repayment is £900 per month, you could be expected to pay £1,017 per month, or 130% of the mortgage payment.

If you use a letting or a managing agent, you can expect to be paying any number of rip-off fees and mysterious charges that rise inexplicably during the course of your business relationship, which means that your unfortunate tenants are going to have to foot the bill. Service charges on leasehold properties also have to be factored in, and these can also end up being extremely costly.

So quite aside from the fact that we landlords do actually prefer to make a profit from our rental property business, the rising costs associated with letting properties is the main reason rentals are continuing to rise!

As any landlord knows, a good business insurance policy is vital to help protect you from expenses arising as a result of accidental damage to your property, claims against you by your tenants, and a host of other potentially catastrophic and unexpected costs.

But not all polices cost the same, so smart landlords always shop around when it is time to renew their landlords insurance, and this year there is a further option to try when comparing your annual landlords insurance polices: the Post Office.

The Post Office is now offering business insurance policies to buy to let landlords. Their insurance policies include Employer’s Liability insurance up to £10 million, liability insurance for property up to £2 million, loss of rent and alternative accommodation insurance, legal expenses cover, plus buildings insurance cover that includes accidental damage.

In order to attract new business, the Post Office is offering a like for like price guarantee for all buy to let landlords with policies up for renewal within the next two and a half months. However, there are a few restrictions on the price match guarantee, including the fact you must have three years worth of no claims and an annual premium above £238.50. But if, like me, you are always keen to try and secure a competitive insurance policy when renewal time comes around once again, it is definitely worth obtaining a quote from the Post Office, either by going online, or by calling in to your local PO branch (assuming it has not been closed along with so many other small PO branches).

The NLA published a statement yesterday with their response to the latest Government plans to overhaul the way empty properties are subject to Council Tax. As all landlords know, under the current rules, if you have an empty property, you are still liable for Council tax, so even if the property is empty for the purposes of improvements, you still have to pay tax on it.

At present, the Government is considering changing the rules so that local Councils have the flexibility to give landlords and other property owners tax relief on empty properties or second homes.

The NLA believes this is a good thing, as it will help landlords to use the savings they make to fund repairs, maintenance programs and other property improvements, including essential “green” initiatives.

Personally I think this is an excellent idea and it would definitely help smaller landlords to keep their properties in tip-top condition. As things stand, there is no real incentive for landlords to deliberately keep a property empty in order to carry out essential improvements or repairs, but if landlords are given tax relief on their empty properties, the money saved should help to reduce the number of sub-standard rental properties on the market.

And as the NLA says: “At a time of severe housing shortage, it is imperative that empty homes are brought back into use, but it should not be at the expense of improvements which would otherwise be possible within the private-rented sector.

“Landlords are always keen to ensure that their properties are tenanted, but they must not be penalised during periods that allow them to maintain, repair and improve their properties.”