Archive

Propertymark has responded to the formal consultation schemes being imposed by a string of local councils - but says such measures...

It’s been revealed by Propertymark that HM Revenue & Customs has fined agents over £1.6m for branches of anti-money laundering regulations. The...

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

Paying staff too little is a sure-fire way to hinder growth and profits, according to letting expert and former ALRA President,...

Three directors from two letting agencies and a landlord have been fined £27,500 after failing to secure the appropriate license for...

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

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

A lettings agency has pleaded guilty to seven offences relating to an HMO. IHomes Letting Limited has been fined £16,970 for failing...

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

Law firm Brevis Law is shedding light on the difficulties agents and landlords have in meeting Right To Rent requirements in...

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

The Nationwide Foundation - a pressure group funded by the Nationwide - says more effective enforcement is required for the private...

Landlords of more than 5,000 homes must register for a license and ensure their tenants have good quality housing or face...

A property firm which admitted misleading tenants on their rights and threatening them to leave has been ordered to pay £8,000. Four...

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

What objections are you hearing when you try and convert let-only landlords to fully-managed? Because the latest figures show just 18 per...

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

A former lettings manager has pleaded guilty to defrauding her agency employers for almost five years - but there’s uncertainty over...

The Register of Overseas Entities, which came into force back in August, requires all overseas entities owning property in the UK...

A controversial database which will allow widespread access to the identities of rogue letting agents and landlords has been backed by...

A property ownership and management company has been fined £20,000 for failing to carry out safety and fire safety improvement works...

A property management company has been fined for failing to repair an open sewer in the garden of a rental property. SRA...

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

A lettings agency employee who diverted over £50,000 of landlords’ money into his own account has been given a suspended sentence. Paul...

Propertymark is advising agents to prepare for substantial changes to the Right To Rent process arriving in just two months time. As...

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

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

A lettings agent who also runs a tenant complaint insurance service has renewed his attack on landlords and local authorities. Ajay Jagota...

Purplebricks says its head of lettings has left after just eight months - and just days after a crisis involving tenant deposits. A Purplebricks...

A lettings agency has been prosecuted by Birmingham council for unlawfully evicting a tenant. Principal Homes is based at Great Barr and was...

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

A landlord who persistently broke residential lettings rules has been banned from operating in a landmark legal ruling. Julie Stoddern, of Camborne,...

A landlord who built unlawful extensions to a family home and squeezed up to 14 people into the rooms has forfeited...

Two landlords - one of them an agent - have been given fines totalling £135,000 and must pay costs for failing to...

A 24 month community order and 200 hours of unpaid work are the price being paid for an unlawful eviction.  Buy to...

One person had to be rescued from a fire after their landlord failed to ensure they had a working fire alarm...

The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the government’s controversial Right To Rent scheme, overturning a decision reached last...

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 Liberal Democrat MP is seeking to amend the Renters’ Reform Bill to make it illegal for tenants to be offered...

The clampdown on referral fees, until now concentrated on the sales sector, will extend to letting agents too. James Munro, head of...

A landlord has been ordered to pay nearly £6,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to harassing and financially exploiting...

The government has given the green light to a council’s huge licensing scheme, set to cover 18 of its 20 wards...

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

The government says it’s working on an online digital Right To Rent status checking service for agents and landlords to use,...

A council has prosecuted five private landlords who failed to get licences for the properties they let out. Oldham council says its...

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

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has backed a five year extension for a massive London council landlord licensing...

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

A landlord in one of the most scenic parts of Devon had been served with a £18,000 civil penalty because he...

A newspaper in Liverpool has sharply criticised the government for refusing to allow the city council to continue a huge landlord...

The owner of a Derbyshire property must pay out more than £3,000 after being found guilty of failing to comply with...

A landlord has been banned for two and half years after repeatedly putting tenants’ lives at risk by letting unsafe housing. This...

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

A landlord has been hit with court fines for a fourth time for failing to properly manage his rental properties.  Landlord Jack...

A rogue landlord and the property company he ran have been fined £22,000 for dishing out ‘sham licences’ to tenants in...

A rented home in Mansfield was found to have serious health and safety hazards, including a leaking roof and a lack of smoke...

One of the industry’s leading trade bodies has revealed that the number of laws creating an obligation on landlords in the...

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

A call has been made for the best letting agencies and other rental sector professionals to show how they comply with...

A rogue landlord who divided his three-bedroom home in central London into eight flats has ended up with a bill of...

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

London Trading Standards has made the startling claim that 46 per cent of almost 2,000 agents it has surveyed are falling...

A joint operation between Avon and Somerset Police and North Somerset council has uncovered a string of issues connected with rental...

A man who claimed he needed a council house but was actually a landlord has been ordered to pay back more...

Another local authority has announced that it wants to introduce another selective licensing scheme and designate its entire patch for HMO...

A campaign by HM Revenue & Customs to encourage buy to let investors to ‘fess up’ to their unpaid tax has...

Both sides of the Right To Rent debate are squaring up for their latest court battle. Earlier this year the High Court...

The number of landlords admitting to not paying tax has soared in the past year, according to new data. During 2018/2019, 16,110...

A buy to let investor has been fined £4,800 and ordered to pay £2,200 in costs for failing to keep his...

The government has agreed that a council in London where all 51 councillors are Labour should go ahead with a five...

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme says that success of its information centre shows that the industry wants more information on the deposit...

A rogue landlady has been hit with a fine of £24,000 after conning her tenants and the local authorities with a...

The Association of Residential Lettings Agents says it backs a new Trading Standards-led body which will enforce the Fees Ban starting  on...

A Freedom of Information request by The Guardian newspaper has produced the startling admission from government that not even one landlord...

A lettings sector trade body says EU citizens may face problems getting private rented accommodation after Brexit. And the body - the...

A buy to let investor who hid families in windowless rooms after failing to get planning permission for a block of...

A lettings agent who stole over £350,000 is reported to have been told to pay back…£1. Local media in the south of...

With the government already on the ropes over Brexit, there’s a call today for one of its flagship immigration policies to...

A leading trade body says the argument that councils have insufficient powers to tackle rogue operators isn’t supported by the facts...

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

There’s been general support for last week’s judgment by the High Court that the government’s Right To Rent policy breaches human...

The High Court has ruled that the government’s Right to Rent scheme breaches human rights law. Under the Right to Rent landlords are...

The Tenants’ Fees Bill has now become law, receiving formal Royal Assent yesterday afternoon - and within minutes, the government issued...

Councils have been accused of routinely pursuing the most serious enforcement option open to them if they find a local licensing...

In an announcement made just hours before much of the industry started its Christmas break, the government has clarified its guidance...

The High Court today begins a Judicial Review of the government’s controversial Right to Rent scheme. The scheme began operating nationwide in...

Famous buy to let landlord Judith Wilson has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay almost £15,000 costs for failing to...

Two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales brought no prosecutions against private landlords in 2017/18 according to research by the...

We regularly carry stories about fines for landlords and letting agents who have apparently broken council or national laws - but...

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

One of Britain's highest profile landlords is to be sentenced on December 11 - and she must show the court details of...

A council says it has been preparing prosecution and penalty notices “for hundreds of private landlords that have failed to apply...

The heavy-handed administration of selective licensing schemes is driving out buy to let investors. That’s the claim from David Kirwan of Kirwans...

The Home Secretary has been asked by a leading lettings sector trade organisation to ensure hard copy documents are given to...

A man who submitted false VAT returns for the Lincoln franchise branch of Martin & Co for a period of six...

A buy to let investor that let at least eight people from six different families rent space in his three-storey property...

The Labour-led local authority in Hackney has issued a statement pledging fines or even bans if landlords fail to get appropriate...

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

The landlord of an HMO who subjected his tenants to insanitary and unsafe living conditions has been told he will no...