An absentee landlord has been fined £7,000 for not doing any work on the garden of his property for seven years as part of a council’s crackdown on empty properties.

With less than a month until the Tenant Fees Act becomes law, letting agents are being urged to reduce their staffs’ admin burden to allow them to focus on delivering a good service for landlords and tenants at what is an increasingly difficult time for the buy-to-let sector.

Fewer landlords put rents up in March, according to the latest report from ARLA Propertymark but property experts have warned new buy-to-let legislation will mean bigger rent rises.

Landlord representatives have warned of the “serious dangers” of the government’s decision to abolish snap evictions in England, which will prevent landlords being able to evict tenants at short notice.

A petition calling for Rightmove to end ‘no tenants on benefits’ adverts has reached 40,000 signatures. The petition is the latest measure to outlaw the advertising practice of ‘no DSS’ tenants and was launched on 38 Degrees, a not-for-profit political activism organisation.