Archive

From this month, private tenants in Northern Ireland will have sufficient smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms installed in their homes for...

Propertymark is lobbying Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to suggest that letting agents have a vital role to...

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

Propertymark has come out with a strongly-worded statement accusing politicians in the Scottish Parliament of ignoring the industry’s views on rent...

One in 10 UK tenants are now spending at least 60% of their take home salary on their rent, according to...

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

The new Labour government has a “golden opportunity its” to resolve the rental crisis, but must give clarity to the industry...

Kate Davies, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), says rent controls are not the magic answer to problems...

Propertymark has renewed its call for agent comments on Material Information.  The trade body - in collaboration with TDS, The Guild of...

Propertymark says stricter rules for EPC ratings in the private rental sector must be backed up with incentives and financial support. The...

The new Labour government is to bring in so-called ‘hardship tests’ to make it tougher to evict tenants, a newspaper claims. The...

A new analysis by Zoopla suggests and one in eight homes currently for sale were previously let out. The portal says this...

Zoopla lettings chiefs have told the government it should tighten up its imminent Renters Rights Bill by demanding all lettings agents...

A controversial council has launched a 12 week consultation on its policies restricting Airbnb-style short lets. Edinburgh council insists that new Airbnb...

New figures from lettings agency Hamptons suggest that investors purchasing buy to let properties are increasingly looking to the north of...

London high end agency Eccord has bolstered its property management team with two experienced new hires. Steve Wilson joins as Senior Property...

A lettings agency chief says there’s growing discussion about rent controls in his area - and he fears this may be...

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

Leaks over the weekend from what would appear to be government sources suggest some 35 new Bills will be in the...

There’s a call from a prominent international building science service for the new Labour government to review the Energy Performance Certificates. EPCs...

The biggest rental sector headline from Labour’s manifesto may well be its pledge for the “immediate” abolition of Section 21 eviction...

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

Knight Frank says tenancies agreed in June for properties asking over £1,000 per week were at a level below the asking...

Labour is likely to make rental sector reform and regulation a priority - at least partly because it will be low-cost...

A review of Edinburgh’s controversial short term lets licensing will take place this summer. City councillors agreed to publicly consult on the...

The embattled short let and holiday let industry has hit out at what it calls the “rampant hypocrisy” of councils when...

The decision of property developer Berkeley Group to enter the private rental sector is bad news for tenants, it’s claimed. Berkeley plans...

A ban on so-called bidding wars, which Labour now proposes, would have to include letting agents as well as landlords a...

Outstanding council tax arrears have soared according to new government figures. Data from he Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities shows...

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

A small survey by a bank suggests that almost 100% of buy to let investors surveyed have received requests from tenants...

Reapit has launched a new feature to help agents comply with material information guidelines from the National Trading Standards Estate and...

Shelter has spoken out in favour of what it calls “bold” commitments by Labour on the private rental sector and house...

Labour’s manifesto, just released, makes a pledge to enact the “immediate” abolition of Section 21 eviction powers, along with other private...

Mandatory smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms will be introduced to private rented sector properties in Northern Ireland.    Under the Smoke, Heat...

Software company COHO has presented wards to agencies, suppliers and individuals involved in the HMO business. The firm says the awards honour...

The Property Institute - a body for the residential property management sector - has announced the appointment of a Labour baroness...

PropTech platform Goodlord has partnered with safety certificate provider Safe2 to offer compliance work for the lettings sector.  Safe2 - recently acquired...

The agents’ trade body says many in the industry will be pleased that the Renters Reform Bill has bitten the dust...

London councils have slammed government plans for regulating the short-term and holiday lets sector. In a letter to Housing Secretary Michael Gove,...

Propertymark wants Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities to regulate property agents via professional bodies such as itself. The Department for Communities is...

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

Propertymark has come out in support of the National Trading Standards Estate and Lettings Agency Team’s probe into Rent-to-Rent.    NTSELAT has...

Some 50% of tenants who moved last year did so because their landlords decided to sell the property.  By contrast, eviction was...

Propertymark has given its view on why private rents have risen so much - 6.1% in England, 7.0% in Wales and...

The pressure on rents for new tenancies in Scotland’s private rented sector have started to ease with all major cities now...

Propertymark has urged Scotland’s new First Minister to end the country’s housing emergency. John Swinney is now First Minister and says he...

A housing company has been fined £528,000 after an employee repairing a fence post inadvertently struck an underground cable, suffering burns...

The latest market report from Propertymark’s lettings agents suggests the demand is slowing. The latest data - for March - shows that...

The head of a lettings agency in Kent says it would be a “practical solution” for second home owners to become...

Housing minister Lee Rowley will be taking centre stage at the largest property agency conference in the UK this summer, Propertymark...

There’s a huge number of amendments to the Renters Reform Bill, which has its Third Reading in the House of Commons...

Propertymark says it will continue lobbying government for the implementation of the Regulation of Property Agents - even though the government...

Recent substantial fines issued by HMRC are a harsh reminder to agents to ensure that their Anti-Money Laundering policies are up...

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

You don’t have to simply accept things as they are when it comes to managing your client accounts. If your bank...

The chief executive of one of Britain’s largest franchise agency chains is warning that rents may no longer be able to...

A deposit alternative service claims the cost of rent has outpaced salary growth by 5.2% over the past 10 years, leaving...

Political parties should stop bickering and instead work together to improve the private rental sector. That’s the view of the Lettings industry...

A lawyer says radical rental reforms proposed for Scotland - which could be a model for change in England and Wales...

A prominent lettings agency claims the Renters Reform Bill is not proving a deterrent to buy to let investors. The Leaders Romans...

A prominent PropTech entrepreneur is urging agents and other in the property industry to engage with those wishing to introduce regulation...

A representative of the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agents team has told agents to accept new rules about material...

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

Propertymark wants HM Land Registry to provide more accessible and affordable services to its members.  HMLR launched a consultation last month as...

There’s been at most a one per cent reduction in landlords in the buy to let sector, a think tank claims...

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

Agents have expressed their anger at permanent rent controls proposed by the SNP and Green Party politicians running the Scottish Government. The...

A new borough-wide landlord licensing scheme is set to launch in the London borough of Brent on April 1, the council...

The all-party House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has urged the government to get on with establishing a regulator of...

It’s not easy for anyone - even professionals like lettings and estate agents - to keep up with the blizzard of...

Propertymark has emphasised the importance of retaining fixed term tenancies under the Renters Reform Bill. Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson met Housing...

Propertymark is urging the government to tackle the problem of banks closing down undesignated or pooled client accounts of letting agents. HM...

Propertymark says the regulation of agents has come a step closer.   The trade body gave evidence at a House of Lords Industry...

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

Propertymark will appear in front of the House of Lords’ Industry and Regulators Committee tomorrow morning, urging the regulation of lettings...

Nationwide has taken the unusual step of using its buy to let lending arm - The Mortgage Works - to make...

A prominent rental activist is tomorrow going to tell a House of Lords committee about the need to regulate letting agents. Conor...

Countryside campaigning charity CPRE has given a warm welcome to Michael Gove’s clampdown on short lets. Earlier this week Housing Secretary Michael...

There’s growing anger over restrictions on private homeowners using their properties via Airbnb and other short let platforms. Earlier this week Housing...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has this morning announced wholesale changes to planning and regulations surrounding short lets. His proposals include: - planning permission...

Propertymark says the regulation of property agents and the creation of a statutory Code of Practice can improve the transparency of...

Belvoir Group has linked up with Propertymark in a deal which they say will “help further improve standards and enhance financial...

The government has done a U-turn on its original policy to relax HMO regulations on private rental properties used by asylum...

The number of private tenants in properties that are hard to heat has fallen, a council claims. As agents will know private...

Propertymark’s property auction division - NAVA - has given ringing endorsement to the Material Information changes demanded under new Trading Standards...

A buying agent claims that rents could finally be tailing off despite some indices showing rises still taking place. According to Rightmove,...

The Building Research Establishment - which undertakes research, advice, training, testing, certification and standards-setting for the housing sector - is calling...

A law professor has dismissed a Labour call for agents to have qualifications as “eye poppingly silly” and “snobby.” Labour’s shadow housing...

The long-awaited Third Reading of the controversial Renters Reform Bill will not happen this week according to the Leader of the...

Glasgow has been revealed as the UK city with the biggest rise in the number of buy to let properties in...

Propertymark's latest research report suggests some letting agents want radical changes to the Renters Reform Bill now going through Parliament.  The aim...

The Property Institute has welcomed a Labour Party move to introduce the regulation of property agents across much of the sector. Tabled...

Qualifications for property managers in the social housing sector should be extended to the private rental sector too. That’s the view of...

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

Summer looks like it’s going to be a hectic period for lettings agents and the private rental sector according to TV...

The letting agents’ trade body Propertymark says one of the UK governments should go further in ensuring the safety of tenants...

Letting agents’ body Propertymark is throwing its weight behind a mandatory licensing and registration scheme for short let landlords. Anyone who lets...

Propertymark has urged its members who feel frustrated by the changes to the Scottish Government’s so-called Cost of Living regulations ending...

The UK rental market is experiencing a gradual easing in demand, marking a shift from the peak levels witnessed in recent...