Archive

A lettings agency set up by a council to buy properties on the open market and let them at open market...

A council says it’s secured the first banning order in its area, securing a stop on a rogue letting agent renting...

Deputy prime Angela Rayner will tomorrow unveil a new National Planning Policy Framework in a move that will strengthen requirements for...

The right wing think tank the Adam Smith Institute has launched something called the Cost Of Rent Day. The institute has calculated...

A lettings agency which has given broad support to the Renters Reform Bill now says it’s concerned that shadow housing Secretary...

Labour has stepped up its programme clamping down on what it calls “unscrupulous landlords strangling growth.” Specifically this means ending bidding wars,...

Knight Frank is suggesting that a growing degree of uncertainty is hitting the rental market, particularly the high-end sector in the...

Agents, and others in the lettings industry, have given a sceptical response to the Conservative manifesto and its varied pledges about...

A prominent solicitors’ firm says the failure of the Renters Reform Bill to become law may have attracted headlines but the...

Four fifths of developers believe that the next government needs to do more to support first time buyers, according to the...

The failure of Labour and Conservatives to agree that the Renters Reform Bill should become law by July 4 has been...

A politician is claiming that second home council tax premiums, where owners pay up to double the normal rate, is resulting...

Campaigning charity Shelter is demanding an overhaul of the Renters Reform Bill, which will shortly begin its passage through the House...

A council has placed a Banning Order on a lettings agency operating unlicensed Houses in Multiple Occupation. Trophy Homes Ltd was hit...

A new guide from Propertymark explains the rights which private rental tenants have - and sets out how they can challenge...

The government’s failure to act on the Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) working party - chaired by Lord Richard Best and...

Managing agents in London have been instructed to pay a £15,000 fine for operating a House in Multiple Occupation without the...

A lettings agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme following itsfailure to pay £1,100 out of an adjudicated award...

A Parliamentary committee has heard that thousands of small and medium-sized letting agencies were debanked in 2023, with financial institutions forcibly...

A figure in one of the country’s highest profile lettings companies has hit out at a government proposal to penalise the...

Shelter is warning that the government’s failure to abolish Section 21 evictions will backfire and that “renters will remember who stood...

A trades union has slammed the Bank of England over its decision to keep base rate at 5.25 per cent, saying...

Seventeen housing organisations have sent an open letter to the government rejecting its idea of prioritising British families when it comes...

Thousands of lettings and estate agencies, and other property businesses, are in ‘critical’ or ‘significant’ financial distress, it’s been claimed. The latest...

Fines for agents and landlords who breach Right To Rent rules increase today from £80 per lodger and £1,000 per occupier...

Propertymark has urged the Scottish Government to build more affordable homes. The latest data from the Scottish Government itself shows that the...

A London lettings agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman for not paying compensation to a landlord following a failure...

The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued advice to agencies on how to comply with data protection law.  The UK data protection regulator...

A trade body representing short lets operators has slammed government housing failures. The Short Term Accommodation Association says it’s analysed local authority...

Shelter says there are nearly 139,000 children officially homeless and living in temporary accommodation - and it’s blaming the private rental...

Average rents in Scotland for new tenancies in the private sector have risen by double digits for the fourth quarter in a...

A tenant is reported to have sued a lettings agency after its alleged failure to return his £375 deposit. The Get Surrey...

A client account is essential to your lettings business, but the rules and regulations you need to follow to keep this...

Harlow council says it wants to take a harder line against agents and landlords who knowingly let unsafe and substandard properties...

Labour deputy leader and shadow housing secretary Angela Rayner has given her party’s conference an outline of future policy plans. She says:...

A high profile lettings agent has written to his local council seeking information about an Additional Licensing scheme which has expired...

The company which owned and was responsible for a five-storey block of rented flats in Bridlington has been ordered to pay...

Airbnb has issued a statement responding to the call for a clampdown on short lets demanded by Labour’s outspoken London Mayor,...

The Property Redress Scheme has released its latest list of expelled agents - mostly for rental misdemeanours and/or failure to pay...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has this morning said his government should ‘relax the pace’ of EPC reforms expected from private landlords. In...

Three property management companies and a landlord have been fined approaching £80,000 for health and safety failings. Mohammed Ali Abbas Rasool, Cadogan...

A management company and a lettings agency involved in running a London HMO have been prosecuted for fire safety failures. Monsoon Properties...

Two prominent trade bodies representing elements of the private rental sector are fighting back against the latest attempt to impose rent...

Propertymark is backing the installation of carbon monoxide alarms in all residential buildings in Wales. The Welsh Government is proposing to amend...

A chief executive who pledged to beef up her agency’s lettings division - but failed to do so - is leaving...

As a dedicated letting agent, or estate agent with a lettings portfolio, you already have a lot on your plate. Managing...

A lettings agency chief says tighter EPC targets will be “devastating” for the private rental sector. Ben Quaintrell - managing director of...

Several lettings agents have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme; they are amongst eight named as having been kicked out...

The government has indicated that the delayed publication of the latest How To Rent document is to be Friday March 24. The...

The government has delayed publication of the latest How To Rent document - it had been expected today.  The How to Rent...

Rightmove says it’s helping to digitise the rental processes, making the process less fragmented and frustrating for agents.  In its trading statement...

It’s been revealed that Propertymark contributed its thoughts to a Parliamentary committee which has slammed the failure of the government’s Boiler...

The chief executive of Purplebricks, who eight weeks ago claimed to have “a plan to grow our lettings business”, is now...

We’re only in February and it’s already clear that this year will set the future direction of the private rented sector...

A prominent lettings agent has resumed his attack on politicians for failing to build sufficient numbers of social housing properties -...

Agents and landlords are to face even longer waits for eviction court cases following the spending cuts announced in the Autumn...

A council’s Trading Standards team is warning letting agents of a new clampdown on compliance failures. Stoke-on-Trent Trading Standards says it’s received...

Propertymark has reiterated its opposition to rent controls in its latest statement on proposals in Northern Ireland. The NI Assembly has published...

Trading Standards is describing a penalty imposed on a London letting agent as “a landmark” after the company failed to comply...

There seems to be an industry-wide sigh of relief that Rishi Sunak has become Prime Minister. His coronation marks the end of...

Propertymark says it’s opened compliance cases against five member agencies following the latest HMRC publication of businesses who have failed to...

Five agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme - all for compliance failures. The first is Home Trader Properties, in...

GetGround - which until now has been a service to help landlords form companies - has launched GetProperty, a service guiding...

The government should do more to promote energy efficiency or risk finding itself in an even more difficult position next year. That’s...

The National Audit Office has made scathing criticisms of government efforts to build more affordable housing. The public spending watchdog says the...

The government is intervening further in the running of Liverpool council, which operates a controversial private rental sector licensing scheme. Housing Secretary...

A retired estate agent has pleaded guilty to three charges of breaching fire safety in Devon. Retired Force and Sons agent David...

A warning has been issued that as many as 250,000 homes - some likely to be in the private rental sector...

A county council is urging people to complain if they believe letting agents are failing to comply with consumer legislation. Staffordshire county...

The government is relying on the private rented sector to bolster its high-profile Homes for Ukraine programme - despite a series...

Propertymark says letting agents should be aware of the financial implications of failing to deregister tenant deposits. This kind of failure after...

Fourteen Trading Standards authorities across a swathe of England are embarking on an enforcement project to check lettings agency compliance.  The Central England...

Troubles at Purplebricks continue with an activist investor who has a four per cent share in the firm called on the...

Troubled online agency Purplebricks says it’s going to finally release its full year figures in the first week of August -...

A prominent lettings industry supplier has asked whether the earlier-than-expected arrival of the rental reform white paper was a distraction from...

A new and huge private rental licensing scheme has launched in County Durham. A total of at least 29,000 properties, or 42...

It’s a frequent question in lettings: Who should carry out inventory checks and create reports for a rented property? Should it...

A prominent industry supplier has hit out at what he calls “the merry go round of housing ministers” following yet another...

A lettings company has been caught up in a case where rental accommodation has been described as “atrocious” and a landlord...

The online lettings agency Howsy is reported to have been acquired by a national chain after a ‘distressed sale’ following its...

Purplebricks has revealed that it will cost some £3.6m to correct compliance issues in its lettings division. The agency continues to stay...

Propertymark has expressed a sigh of relief at a decision this week by the Appeal Court, which ruled in favour of...

A council is warning letting agents to adhere to health and safety laws or else face the legal consequences. Telford & Wrekin...

Purplebricks says a newspaper story suggesting it will sell off its rental business is not true. A company statement this morning, issued...

Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson has given his prediction as to what the big issues will be in the 2022 lettings...

The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Purplebricks could face a bill of as much as £30m “after it put thousands of landlords...

A London property managing agent has been ordered to pay more than £80,000 for safety failings which “exposed a potentially large...

Purplebricks is refusing to say how many tenants and landlords were affected by its failure to comply with the law requiring deposits...

Private tenants and landlords across the country face a cliff edge as the end of furlough coincides with cuts to benefit...

There’s been a 21 per cent rise in demand for properties from buy to let investors according to a new analysis...

Two lettings agencies are amongst three property agents which have been fined by HM Revenue & Customs for breaching anti-money laundering...

Agents’ body Propertymark says it wants a dedicated housing court because it’s lost faith in the mainstream court system to handle...

There has still been no formal response to a government consultation on the database of rogue agents and landlords, 25 months...

There’s a warning today that office-to-resi conversions - popular with landlords in recent years - are at an increased risk of...

A ruling of the First Tier Property Tribunal has put a London property management firm in the clear following a dispute...

A local Trading Standards team is clamping down on rogue letting agents. Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service has launched...

A proposal for one of the country’s largest ever private rental sector licensing schemes has gone out to consultation. Manchester’s Labour council...

The activist group Generation Rent is urging tenants to scrutinise the paperwork they get from agents to use against possible eviction.  Failure...

An outspoken property investor has launched an online petition on the government website to oppose the threat of rent controls. YouTube influencer...

Many letting agents fail to conduct the obligatory identity checks on landlord clients according to an industry supplier. Blinc UK says that...