Archive

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has appointed Victor Olowe as the chair of its new Valuation Assurance Committee. Oluwe is a...

Regulation of lettings and estate agencies must be a priority for the government elected tomorrow, a PropTech entrepreneur demands. Sián Hemming-Metcalfe of...

As the Renters Reform Bill makes its way through the House of Lords, Propertymark has advised peers not to miss this...

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

Propertymark is demanding equal treatment with the social housing sector. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove intends to boost standards in social housing...

Propertymark is urging agents to get ahead of the curve and be ready for the next big initiative - Regulation.  Propertymark has...

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

Hamptons is linking with retirement rental specialist provider Birchgrove, pledging to offer “a unique proposition for those seeking quality senior rental...

A survey of local council private rental licensing schemes says 19 selective and additional licensing schemes and consultations will be taking...

Labour is using a Bill currently going through Parliament as a backdoor method to introduce the regulation of lettings, estate and...

A Labour-run London council is consulting on a new licensing scheme for private rented property.  If it goes ahead it will be...

A lettings agency has initiated new systems to ensure there is no repeat of a mistake that left some client properties...

Propertymark has welcomed the government’s commitment to end the practice of council tax of banding single rooms in HMOs, potentially saving...

A new manifesto calling for rent controls and a raft of other measures is accusing the current rent rises of being...

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

An agency has been fined by a London council for failing to licence a property it was managing. Gracechurch Property Services has...

Two massive new rental licensing schemes are set to be approved in Brighton - and part of the reason is “uninterested...

There’s to be a consultation this autumn about a proposed selective licensing regime in Scarborough. The proposal covers parts of the Castle,...

Agents representing landlords of HMOs In Portsmouth are being warned by the council that their need to be licensed or face...

Propertymark has put forward a six-point plan to slash economic crime in the property sector. The trade body says a series of...

A new action plan to tackle issues around HMOs is being drawn up by a Midlands council next week. West Northamptonshire council’s...

The Labour-run London Assembly says it is concerned about government plans to allow landlords to house asylum seekers for two years without...

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

A trade body says inventories are set to play an increasingly important role in the private rental sector as fire regulations...

An estate agency has been prosecuted and ordered to pay £35,000 for falling foul of property licensing rules. Green House Estate Agents...

A property firm has been fined £8,000 for operating an HMO on one of Britain’s most famous roads. Westminster council has won...

A Labour MP has attacked Airbnb hosts and others in the short lets business, accusing them of “this exploitation of housing...

A senior Savills figure, who chairs the trade body known as The Lettings Industry Council, has issued a warning to the...

The government has made a general commitment to work with those who want council tax reforms for Homes in Multiple Occupation. Earlier...

Yet another revision to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations takes effect from October 1 - that’s just under...

The sole director of a lettings agency, who was recently made the subject of an anti-social behaviour injunction and banning order,...

A company which operated an unlicensed HMO and its then-director have lost their appeal against the imposition of financial penalties.  Gatwick and...

Industry trade body Propertymark says no Right To Rent checks will be required to be conducted by letting agents on Ukranian...

A PropTech supplier which helps agents and landlords identify private rental sector licensing issues has announced a new partnership. Geospatial technology firm...

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

Skipton International says it’s seen “remarkable growth” in the Buy To Let mortgage market for expats, with completions skyrocketing in comparison...

PropTech companies Kamma and Veri-Check are consolidating an existing partnership. Kamma users can already access Veri-Check’s instant property licensing checks, but in...

Opposition appears to be growing to the first major bid in the UK to regulate the spread of Airbnbs and properties...

Bristol-based lettings management company Iletpro Ltd has been ordered to pay a total of £2,700.06 in fines and costs for failing...

PropTech suppliers Kamma and CoreLogic UK have teamed up to help improve the process of buy to let lending and compliance. Kamma...

One of the local authorities with the tightest clampdowns on letting agents has issued a statement celebrating its successes. Tower Hamlets council in...

A bizarre fine imposed on a managing agent by a local authority appears to have been reversed because the council flouted...

A landlord and the property company of which he is director have been convicted and ordered to pay more than £17,000...

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

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

A London council has secured banning orders against rogue property agents who were previously fined over £70,000 for letting an unlicensed...

A bank has seen a surge in Honk Kong residents purchasing UK buy to let properties. Skipton International, the Guernsey-licensed bank, says...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents' wing of Propertymark says the recent expulsion of three agents from The Property Ombudsman demonstrates the...

A letting agent has been fined £11,500 for breaking HMO houses and fire safety rules at a property he manages. Agent Benjamin...

A property company and its director will have to shell out £10,000 after a blaze left six tenants homeless in the...

A head tenant who posed as a landlord has been taken to court by a London council. Sonia Nascimento rented a converted...

Earlier this week ARLA branded local councils pursuing private rental licensing during the pandemic as “socially irresponsible” - but one of...

Lambeth council is consulting agents, landlords and others on its latest licensing proposals for Houses in Multiple Occupation. The new proposals would...

A council claims that as many as a fifth of all the private rental sector homes in its area have a...

A new rental system allowing licensed lettings agents to offer landlords a year’s rent up-front has had hundreds of responses in...

The architect of the Regulation of Property Agents working group - which has called for agents to be trained and licensed...

A new assessment of legislation and council rules surrounding the private rental sector suggests a severe crackdown may be coming in...

The Advanced Rent Option, which allows licensed lettings agents to offer their landlords a year’s rent upfront as part of their...

A new report from the Nationwide and campaigning charity Shelter puts letting agents in the dock over the standards in the...

A major north of England local authority wants to introduce landlord licensing for HMOs where three or four tenants live, following analysis...

Two landlords have been served with civil penalty notices for operating unlicensed HMOs.  The notices were from Wellingborough council; one was for...

Oxford council, which has 49 per cent of its housing stock in the private rental sector, is starting a formal consultation...

A London council is telling its private rental sector residents to use a new tool to check whether they may be...

A landlord taken to court by a council has ended up with a bill in excess of £20,000.  Dennis Goodwin of Highbury...

A local authority has extended its consultation process for a selective licensing system which, if it goes ahead, would see some...

Four buy to let investors have each been fined £10,000 for letting out unlicensed HMOs. The unlicensed properties , all in the...

Harrow council in north London has launched a formal consultation on its plan to renew its landlord licensing scheme in the...

Rent to the value of £10,982.25 is to be returned to tenants by a landlord who was operating without a licence. Mrs...

Residents at home during lockdown who may have seen families crammed into overcrowded HMOs are being asked to report the properties...

Liverpool’s Labour council, which was prevented by the government from extending its city-wide licensing scheme for another five years, is seeking...

A lettings agency and its director have pleaded guilty to renting out an overcrowded house in the first case brought to...

A local authority has taken the unusual step of saying that a £600 surcharge will be added to the licensing costs...

The controversial Liverpool council licensing scheme is to be policed through the use of what the authority calls “cutting-edge big data...

A buy to let investor has been hit with a bill of almost £9,500 after being accused of allowing a tenant...

A room-finding portal, along with the owners of a London lettings agency and management firm, must pay over £100,000 for letting...

A landlord has ended up with fines totalling over £90,000 after repeatedly ignoring a council’s selective licensing regime. Stephen Ige pleaded guilty...

A prominent member of the House of Lords has given a surprising insight into how the fiscal and regulatory clampdown on...

A judge has ordered two landlords to pay a total of £14,858 for illegally renting out an unlicensed house without working...

A London council has caught out a rogue lettings agency for illegally operating two properties, with issues ranging from gas safety...

Another Labour council wants to introduce a city-wide landlord licensing scheme - a proposal that would require government approval to implement. Last...

Officers from a local council simultaneously staged 10 dawn raids on properties owned by unlicensed landlords. All the terraced homes, in Slough,...

A council is lobbying the government to ask for landlords using Airbnb and other short let platforms to be charged business...

A council getting government cash for rental enforcement is using it to introduce a review service allowing tenants to comment on...

A dawn raid by enforcement officers from a London council has discovered 17 men sleeping on mattresses in a three bedroom...

A controversial private rental licensing regime that has already made the headlines for the wrong reasons has now been branded a...

A Labour council is leading a trial by local authorities of a new digital platform that checks whether agents, landlords and...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents and the National Association of Estate Agents have issued their manifesto for next month’s General...

The government is being urged to speed up the release details of the future it sees for selective licensing following revelations...

A seaside council has issued over £15,000 in fines to owners of unlicensed HMOs.  Torbay council in south Devon adds that “a...

A long-term legal critic of selective licensing is warning that letting agents could be held jointly accountable with the landlords, -...

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...

Research by safeagent - the new name for the National Approved Letting Scheme - has found over 130,000 unlicensed properties in...

An online letting agency which launched last month has announced the recruitment of two former Purplebricks staff. Michael Booth, the hybrid agency's...

One of the UK’s highest profile lettings agencies - Countrywide band Beresford Adams - has been fined £22,500 for health and...

The most controversial local council rental licensing scheme in the country has been deemed a success - at least by the...

Birmingham council has issued its first civil penalty against a House in Multiple Occupation landlord - and it says that move...

A council has used a drone with a thermal imaging camera to identify illegal ‘sheds’ where tenants are being rented beds...

A local council says it has now successfully prosecuted a landlord for flouting the law that protects the health and safety...

A rogue landlord who housed more than 25 tenants in a rundown property has been found guilty of serious housing and...

The government has published proposals for far-reaching changes to the way estate and letting agents are regulated, trained and licensed. The proposals...