The abolition of Section 21 isn’t really that big a deal, a prominent lettings agent claims. Kristjan Byfield, who runs the base...
Archive
The new Labour government is to bring in so-called ‘hardship tests’ to make it tougher to evict tenants, a newspaper claims. The...
05 August 2024
From: Breaking News
Letting industry doyen Valerie Bannister has celebrated 40 years in the industry with a party thrown by her employer, Your Move. Valerie...
19 July 2024
From: Breaking News
Five Labour MPs have put forward an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling for rent controls - even...
22 April 2024
From: Breaking News
A council that is buying private properties in second home hotspots to let to local people has struck a new agreement...
16 February 2024
From: Breaking News
Agents, landlords and others’ views are being sought in a consultation on proposals to introduce a borough-wide additional licensing scheme for...
09 January 2024
From: Breaking News
A tenant is reported to have sued a lettings agency after its alleged failure to return his £375 deposit. The Get Surrey...
30 October 2023
From: Breaking News
A prominent agent has called on politicians to scrap the Renters Reform Bill . He says it’s “ill thought-through and would be...
25 September 2023
From: Breaking News
New directives issued by the government put the emphasis firmly on private landlords and their letting agents to take responsibility for...
11 September 2023
From: Breaking News
The company which owned and was responsible for a five-storey block of rented flats in Bridlington has been ordered to pay...
23 August 2023
From: Breaking News
Agents representing landlords of HMOs In Portsmouth are being warned by the council that their need to be licensed or face...
11 August 2023
From: Breaking News
Three property management companies and a landlord have been fined approaching £80,000 for health and safety failings. Mohammed Ali Abbas Rasool, Cadogan...
22 June 2023
From: Breaking News
A seasoned property lawyer who has specialised in residential landlord and tenant law for 22 years says she is embarrassed at...
16 June 2023
From: Breaking News
I was surprised the other day to read statistics from the English Housing Survey about how many landlords use letting agents. In...
05 June 2023
From: Breaking News
A lettings agency claims eviction powers may actually increase - not reduce - thanks to the controversial Renters Reform Bill. Knight Frank...
01 June 2023
From: Breaking News
An estate agency has been prosecuted and ordered to pay £35,000 for falling foul of property licensing rules. Green House Estate Agents...
17 February 2023
From: Breaking News
Purplebricks has detailed the price it is paying for a lettings compliance blunder first spotted last year. It predicts that, at worst,...
08 December 2022
From: Breaking News
The Knight Frank lettings and estate agency is warning that it expects house prices to fall in 2023. Tom Bill, its head...
03 October 2022
From: Breaking News
A landlord has been fined a four figure sum for failing to produce documentation for a council. Fathima Syeda Kauser of Luton pleaded...
16 June 2022
From: Breaking News
The government is admitting that its rental reform agenda is aimed primarily at the north of England - which just happens...
12 May 2022
From: Breaking News
The government is widely expected to announce that Section 21 eviction powers will be scrapped in new legislation coming to Parliament...
10 May 2022
From: Breaking News
A property ownership and management company has been fined £20,000 for failing to carry out safety and fire safety improvement works...
28 April 2022
From: Breaking News
A company which operated an unlicensed HMO and its then-director have lost their appeal against the imposition of financial penalties. Gatwick and...
13 April 2022
From: Breaking News
A lettings company has been caught up in a case where rental accommodation has been described as “atrocious” and a landlord...
25 February 2022
From: Breaking News
Self-managing landlords who think they don’t have the same compliance obligations as agents could face serious repercussions, Trading Standards chiefs have...
31 December 2021
From: Breaking News
A former president of the Association of Residential Letting Agents has lifted the lid on how buy to let came about,...
31 December 2021
From: Breaking News
A report prepared by housing experts in Manchester shows a massive surge in the number of Airbnbs in the city -...
23 December 2021
From: Breaking News
‘Generation rent’ was a term first coined in 2011 by the Halifax in a survey on the future of homeownership. It...
01 December 2021
From: Breaking News
Labour has joined with campaign groups Generation Rent and Shelter in calling for the speediest possible ending of Section 21 eviction...
03 November 2021
From: Breaking News
One of the local authorities with the tightest clampdowns on letting agents has issued a statement celebrating its successes. Tower Hamlets council in...
19 October 2021
From: Breaking News
A leading buy to let mortgage expert has backed the government’s pledge to issue a White Paper and additional consultation before...
14 May 2021
From: Breaking News
A London council has taken a landlord company to court after complaints of poor housing conditions in five of its rented...
06 May 2021
From: Breaking News
An agency has been hit with a £330,000 bill after being found guilty of poor management of an HMO. Magistrates have found...
16 March 2021
From: Breaking News
A landlord who persistently broke residential lettings rules has been banned from operating in a landmark legal ruling. Julie Stoddern, of Camborne,...
08 March 2021
From: Breaking News
An online petition which appears to inaccurately say private tenants can still be evicted “for no reason” has won 30,000 signatures...
23 February 2021
From: Breaking News
Two landlords in the same town - one the director of a lettings firm - have been prosecuted as their properties...
08 December 2020
From: Breaking News
A new report from the Nationwide and campaigning charity Shelter puts letting agents in the dock over the standards in the...
06 November 2020
From: Breaking News
The announcement of the Renters’ Reform Bill in the Queen’s speech last December caused a collective groan across the country from...
29 October 2020
From: Legislation & Compliance
It’s a year today since the closure of the formal government consultation into scrapping Section 21 powers for agents and landlords. In last...
12 October 2020
From: Breaking News
A landlord taken to court by a council has ended up with a bill in excess of £20,000. Dennis Goodwin of Highbury...
21 August 2020
From: Breaking News
A law firm is warning that agents and landlords should carefully follow correct procedures if they suspect a rented property is...
03 August 2020
From: Breaking News
One of the country’s biggest lettings agencies is reporting that both revenue and operating profit are “comfortably” up on 2019 levels...
31 July 2020
From: Breaking News
The Welsh Government has temporarily increased the notice period landlords must provide from three months to six months to end Assured...
24 July 2020
From: Breaking News
Two Bristol landlords have been ordered to repay nearly £5,000 following investigations by the council’s so called rogue landlord unit. One, Lucy...
24 June 2020
From: Breaking News
A legal expert says the Court of Appeal ruling on S21 possession orders last week has resolved one of the most...
22 June 2020
From: Breaking News
It’s been revealed that a legal group is considering how courts will consider eviction cases when the current ban is lifted...
17 June 2020
From: Breaking News
Private rents are expected to fall across the UK in the coming three months, but stabilise over the course of the...
14 May 2020
From: Breaking News
A raft of measures from government and courts intended to help private tenants during the Coronavirus lockdown may be storing up a...
04 May 2020
From: Breaking News
Hello, and welcome to Wednesday’s guidance and advice for agents and suppliers trying to find a way through the current crisis. If...
15 April 2020
From: Breaking News
All court possession orders are being suspended from today as part of the changes to the private rental sector to cope...
27 March 2020
From: Breaking News
The government has been called upon to issue specific Coronavirus guidance for the rental sector. The chief executive of the Association of...
12 March 2020
From: Breaking News
With confirmation that Section 21 will be scrapped, how can agents get ready for life after no-fault evictions? The short answer is...
11 March 2020
From: Sponsored Content
A buy to let investor has been found guilty of letting out poor quality living accommodation that was said to pose...
10 March 2020
From: Breaking News
A council in a leafy area of south east England has issued an emergency prohibition order to a buy to let...
18 February 2020
From: Breaking News
The Renters’ Reform Bill worries many in the private rental sector but the government says there is still no date for...
05 February 2020
From: Breaking News
A judge has ordered two landlords to pay a total of £14,858 for illegally renting out an unlicensed house without working...
30 January 2020
From: Breaking News
A landlord in one of the most scenic parts of Devon had been served with a £18,000 civil penalty because he...
23 January 2020
From: Breaking News
The owner of a Derbyshire property must pay out more than £3,000 after being found guilty of failing to comply with...
02 January 2020
From: Breaking News
Letting agents can beat the upcoming ban on Section 21 by updating key documentation and automating arrears management to reduce the...
31 December 2019
From: Breaking News
A rogue landlord has been fined £1,384 for failing to get a council licence for two buy to let properties. The case...
27 December 2019
From: Breaking News
A landlord has been banned for two and half years after repeatedly putting tenants’ lives at risk by letting unsafe housing. This...
18 December 2019
From: Breaking News
A compliance consultant has explained why a local council’s penalty on a rogue landlord - initially £31,499 - was slashed to...
10 December 2019
From: Breaking News
A rented home in Mansfield was found to have serious health and safety hazards, including a leaking roof and a lack of smoke...
11 November 2019
From: Breaking News
A long-term legal critic of selective licensing is warning that letting agents could be held jointly accountable with the landlords, -...
22 October 2019
From: Breaking News
Former QPR and Nottingham Forest striker Dexter Blackstock has been fined over £25,000 and branded a rogue landlord after admitting 12 licencing offences. He...
21 October 2019
From: Breaking News
One of the country’s leading lettings experts has outlined why the government is wrong to suggest that Section 8 powers could...
17 October 2019
From: Breaking News
Research by safeagent - the new name for the National Approved Letting Scheme - has found over 130,000 unlicensed properties in...
14 October 2019
From: Breaking News
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has submitted its response to the government's consultation on scrapping Section 21 evictions, which closes tomorrow...
11 October 2019
From: Breaking News
The Liberal Democrat conference, which begins on Saturday, is to debate a resolution calling for the scrapping of Section 21 -...
12 September 2019
From: Breaking News
Housing minister Esther McVey has hinted that the government may finally decide as soon as next month on whether to introduce...
09 September 2019
From: Breaking News
A husband and wife pair of buy to let investors have been prosecuted after letting out a property that contained serious...
29 August 2019
From: Breaking News
A local council says it has now successfully prosecuted a landlord for flouting the law that protects the health and safety...
22 August 2019
From: Breaking News
The Guild of Property Professionals has received confirmation that the government’s proposed changes to Section 21 will not be retrospective. “What this...
19 August 2019
From: Breaking News
The first ‘state of the industry’ report on the lettings agency sector since the introduction of the fees ban suggests individual...
15 August 2019
From: Breaking News
An outspoken Conservative party figure says government policies such as the scrapping of Section 21 will play into the hands of...
30 July 2019
From: Breaking News
Tenants on state benefits could be the 'biggest casualties' of the government's 'ill-thought-out' plans to scrap the Section 21 evictions process,...
05 July 2019
From: Breaking News
A London council has successfully prosecuted a so-called “dodgy operator” landlord for failing to comply with fire safety regulations and carry...
12 June 2019
From: Breaking News
A lettings agency chief in Scotland says the upcoming ban on agents levying fees on tenants - to be introduced in...
24 May 2019
From: Breaking News
The Property Redress Scheme, one of the two government-backed redress operators for the lettings and sales service, has outlined its work...
23 May 2019
From: Breaking News
A buy to let investor has received a hefty fine “for endangering the lives of his tenants by failing to meet...
12 April 2019
From: Breaking News
One of the most pro-licensing local authorities in the country has extended its own scheme to include the entire centre of...
05 April 2019
From: Breaking News
Another think-tank has come up with reforms which it wants the government to make to the private rental sector - and...
21 March 2019
From: Breaking News
Sub-standard homes remain a key weakness in the private rental sector, which needs to get its house in order in the...
20 February 2019
From: Breaking News
A landlord has been ordered to pay over £5,000 in fines and costs in a licensing dispute with a local council. Almas...
15 February 2019
From: Breaking News
The Tenants’ Fees Bill has now become law, receiving formal Royal Assent yesterday afternoon - and within minutes, the government issued...
13 February 2019
From: Breaking News
A buy to let investor who let out a converted attic room despite it being the subject of a council prohibition...
23 January 2019
From: Breaking News
Councils have been accused of routinely pursuing the most serious enforcement option open to them if they find a local licensing...
14 January 2019
From: Breaking News
A council has prosecuted a buy to let investor for not making necessary improvements to his property. The landlord, Balwinder Singh Chandi,...
14 January 2019
From: Breaking News
The owner of a buy to let property already shut by police has been fined by a court in Devon. In June...
18 December 2018
From: Breaking News
A London property firm must repay no less than £60,000 in rent after a council obtained a Rent Repayment Order against...
20 November 2018
From: Breaking News
A council in the north of England has issued its first-ever Civil Penalty Notice on a landlord - and it involved...
07 November 2018
From: Breaking News
The heavy-handed administration of selective licensing schemes is driving out buy to let investors. That’s the claim from David Kirwan of Kirwans...
30 October 2018
From: Breaking News
Croydon council is reported to have become the first local authority to back the scrapping of Section 21 of the 1988...
10 October 2018
From: Breaking News
A London local authority which is part way through its five year additional HMO licensing scheme wants lettings agents to give their...
02 October 2018
From: Breaking News
Labour has outlined its proposals for the private rental sector if it gains power at the next General Election - and...
25 September 2018
From: Breaking News
An overcrowded property let by an unlicensed company with inadequate fire precautions and unheated rooms has led to a £46,620 fine...
21 September 2018
From: Breaking News
An Essex council claims it is one of the first to be granted a rent repayment order - part of legislation...
31 August 2018
From: Breaking News
The Residential Landlords Association has told another council that its plans to introduce selective licensing in areas of its town are...
09 August 2018
From: Breaking News
A buy to let investor has been fined £1,750 because of his alleged “aggressive practices”. Shafaqat Ali Sadiq, of Derby, has been...