Archive

A court has heard that a trusted lettings manager was discovered to have been diverting company funds to her personal bank...

ARLA Propertymark and a number of other property industry bodies wants Housing Secretary Angela Rayner to regulate letting and sales agents. An...

Measures contained in the Renters Reform Bill will fail without sufficient resources to ensure they can be enforced. The warning comes from...

New figures have shown that 2,086 people were found to be sleeping on London’s streets for the first time between July...

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

Two animal charities - Cats Protection and Dogs Trust - have started recruiting MPs to their campaign in favour of pets...

A keynote speaker at the upcoming Propertymark One event is Gerald Ratner. In 1991 Ratner - then chief executive of a down...

Lettings agency Hamptons, now part of Connells, has hired a former Strictly Come Dancing and Countryfile star to front a property...

Lloyds Banking Group and homelessness charity Crisis have joined forces in a new two-year partnership including the establishment of a so-called...

Agents Together, set up by Purplebricks founders the Bruce Brothers, has reached the milestone of arranging 800 mentorships. Agents Together is a...

A property firm is claiming that nearly half of the UK’s younger generation of renters stay up at night worrying about...

One of the most controversial subjects affecting letting agents, tenants and landlords alike is back on the agenda. Two of the UK’s...

Today we are publishing a letter sent to us regarding the death of a relative who was living in rental accommodation.  We...

Tenants should brace themselves for soaring rents in the New Year, a property expert warns.  The National Association of Property Buyers predicts...

Campaigners who turned on the Prime Minister on Tuesday were cock-a-hoop just 24 hours later when Liz Truss did another U-turn...

A property management company with a portfolio of over 130 properties in the Telford area has been fined £5,100 for failing...

A newspaper probe has discovered that sow-called exempt accommodation - often for the most vulnerable tenants - has received a Hugh...

A student lettings platform now operating in seven cities is reported to have raised £700,000 in its first funding round. HYBR –...

Proceedings against a bankrupt letting agent have been delayed 10 weeks to allow mental health reports to be prepared.  Madelaina Eftekhari is...

The Association of Residential Managing Agents and the Institute of Residential Property Management have been merged under the name The Property...

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wants is introducing a new qualification and training for borough council housing enforcement officers to...

A senior Welsh politicians has urged anyone who has fallen behind in paying rent because of the pandemic to contact their...

Self-managing landlords who think they don’t have the same compliance obligations as agents could face serious repercussions, Trading Standards chiefs have...

Early results from a survey into wellbeing suggest that agents are changing their working practices to help staff have a greater...

PropTech platform Lavanda says urban property is changing thanks to the pandemic, and it tells agents, landlords and other providers to...

Shelter claims the health of one in five renters in England is harmed by poor housing, and says grants covering Covid-related...

A high profile and respected lettings sector legal expert is inviting questions from agents at a webinar next week - and he’ll...

A £360 million wall of rental debt built up during the pandemic, combined with cuts to Universal Credit, threatens to leave...

As a letting agent in the UK, you might think what happens in China has no bearing on your work here....

A new idea put forward by a student-focussed Build To Rent operator is likely to increase the momentum behind campaigners wanting...

Guidance from Trading Standards suggests that it is possible, in some cases, to charge tenants to view a property to let...

The government has admitted that “hundreds of thousands” of people will use the new Breathing Space system, during which they cannot...

A prominent industry figure says lettings agents will have a key role educating landlords over the controversial Breathing Space scheme introduced...

There’s been an urgent change to the arrears process over the weekend to dovetail with the government’s new Breathing Space initiative. From...

A leading veterinary body - the National Office of Animal Health, or NOAH - wants pets to be allowed in private rental...

Momentum is building to have the Tenant Fees Act amended, allowing agents to charge tenants for damage insurance which would then...

ARLA Propertymark is reminding agents about the controversial Breathing Space legislation coming into effect on May 4. The new rules are known as...

A council says it’s looking for lettings agencies that worked with a rogue landlord who's been issued with a four year banning order. Bristol...

Agents Together, the agency charity set up by Purplebricks and Boomin founders Michael and Kenny Bruce, says it’s hit an important...

An online petition which appears to inaccurately say private tenants can still be evicted “for no reason” has won 30,000 signatures...

The new chief executive of Propertymark, Tim Balcon, says he’s putting mental health and wellbeing within the property sector high on...

A major agency and property consultancy has initiated ‘Wellness Wednesdays’ amongst a programme of activities to prioritise staff mental health during the...

Restaurant staff were kept in “dangerous and overcrowded” conditions by a property company and its landlord-director, a court has heard. The company...

Rightmove is hosting a live webinar this morning to help agents protect and maintain mental health.  Agents will be able to watch live...

A Labour MP and a newspaper have joined forces to campaign against so-called ‘exempted rental accommodation’. One of Birmingham’s MPs - Jack...

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

Pressure appears to be building for more pet-friendly lettings properties with two Build To Rent operators promoting animal-friendly tenancies. BTR operator Fizzy Living...

A local authority is launching a six month probe into rooms let out but exempt from rental sector regulation. The project is...

A student accommodation search portal has speculated on how the sector could change in the long term as Coronavirus hits education. “Whilst...

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

The next formal review of lockdown processes in Wales takes place today, with high expectation that the housing market is likely...

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Conquering Corona, our daily update helping the industry cope with the current crisis. If...

Hello and here’s the next batch of guidance and advice from different sectors of the industry, many from influential trade groups. It’s...

It’s easy to forget in the Coronavirus frenzy but from tomorrow, Friday March 20, all tenancies are to become subject to...

A shocking case of a buy to let HMO that did not even have a working smoke detector has led to...

A buy to let investor has been found guilty of letting out poor quality living accommodation that was said to pose...

The government has announced an additional £4m in funding for local councils to combat rogue agents and landlords - but it’s...

The national homelessness charity Crisis has unearthed shocking findings about a common but under-reported form of homelessness – sofa surfing. The report,...

Consumer charity Citizens’ Advice says government proposals to reform or possibly scrap S21 eviction rights do not go far enough.  The group...

A letting agency has denied that 'highly toxic' gas is leaking into one of its tenant's homes in Worcester. Leaders has said...

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

Housing minister Esther McVey has hinted that the government may finally decide as soon as next month on whether to introduce...

A husband and wife pair of buy to let investors have been prosecuted after letting out a property that contained serious...

A respected lettings and sales agent has opened up about his own mental health issues and those which exist thanks to...

A London council has successfully prosecuted a so-called “dodgy operator” landlord for failing to comply with fire safety regulations and carry...

A buy to let investor has received a hefty fine “for endangering the lives of his tenants by failing to meet...

The government is back to business attacking the lettings sector with an extraordinary claim by a minister that many students are...

An 18 month probe by different authorities has led to a £4,000 fine for an HMO owner in the Highlands. The local...

A rogue lettings agent has been fined over £72,000 after being found guilty of 15 separate offences relating to three illegally established houses...

Property management firm Mcilroy Smith has launched a mental health policy for its employees - possibly the first company in the...

New research on private renting and mental health in Wales has concluded that more support is required.  The research was undertaken for...

Over half of the Millennials consulted in a survey say they want to get away from renting so badly they would...

A buy to let investor who let out a converted attic room despite it being the subject of a council prohibition...

A buy to let investor has been fined more than £5,000 and ordered to pay a further £4,000 after HMO offences.  John...

Nottingham council - which recently introduced one of the largest and most controversial selective licensing schemes in the country - now...

The private rental sector is not fit for purpose when it comes to housing vulnerable tenants, claims debt charity StepChange which...

The industry’s first property management franchise scheme, SDL Property Partners, has been given a presentation on how members could be key...

Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay awards. One is OJ Residentials Limited trading...

Two private landlords have been found guilty of managing Houses in Multiple Occupation with dangerous and sub-standard conditions, following a successful...

An overcrowded property let by an unlicensed company with inadequate fire precautions and unheated rooms has led to a £46,620 fine...

Last week Shelter and the National Housing Federation took a swipe at lettings agents, and now Citizens Advice has joined the...

The council behind a controversial private rental sector licensing scheme is trying to justify its introduction on health and safety grounds. On...

Online accommodation platform Student.com has linked with mental health charity Student Minds in a bid to prioritise mental health awareness amongst...

Oxford’s Labour council has given its support to a lettings review website because it claims it will help drive up the...

The sittings of the select committee looking into government proposals to ban letting agents’ fees levied on tenants resume this week...

A landlord has been fined a total of £7,298 for operating an unlicensed house in multiple occupation in Oxford that was...

ARLA Propertymark says letting and managing agents should be aware that they can raise ‘safeguarding alerts’ if they are concerned about...

Large letting agents found to be flouting the incoming ban on letting agent fees should receive fines up to £30,000 to...

A Newport landlord has been fined £4,400 for operating a dangerous, unlicensed house in multiple occupation and failing to comply with...

The landlord of a west London property, described by a judge as a "deathtrap" and an "accident waiting to happen", has...

Labour says there would be a ‘consumer rights revolution’ for the private rental sector if the party won the June 8...

A body representing 370 councils in England and Wales wants the government to close a legal loophole which allows the conversion...

A landlady has been fined £15,000 for failing to license and manage a house in multiple occupation.    Sharon Jacobs was also ordered...

It hasn’t been a happy Christmas for one London landlord, who has been told to repay £40,000 in rent received in...

A council believes that a landlord was “putting tenants’ lives in danger” because he did not have local authority licenses for...

The landlord of an overcrowded flat which lacked proper fire precautions and had a dangerous boiler has been fined £162,000. Abbas Rasul...

A landlord has been fined £7,000 for letting two properties which were unfit for habitation. Shahzad Mehmood was prosecuted at Swindon Magistrates'...

A House in Multiple Occupation located on the third floor of a property with a restaurant at ground level was one...

A letting agent and his landlord client have been fined thousands of pounds for a number of offences relating to what...

The Supreme Court has ruled that rights to a private and family life need not get in the way of legitimate...