Archive

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

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

A prominent lettings agent says banning agents and landlords conducting bidding wars for a rental property is not addressing the real...

The trade union UNISON has partnered with activist group Generation Rent to demand root-and-branch reform of the private rental sector. Four key...

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

London Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan says he will build 6,000 “affordable” rental homes by 2030 - with their rents capped. Khan, standing...

Shelter is asking for public support for radical changes to the Renters Reform Bill, now going through Parliament. The campaigning charity is...

Propertymark has called on the UK Government to prevent a mass exodus of student landlords.   The news comes as a poll conducted...

Franchise giant Belvoir is the latest agency group to sign a deal with geospatial technology firm Kamma. The partnership will offer all...

Changes put forward to the Renters Reform Bill to crack down on rogue landlords, protect vulnerable residents and improve the safety of...

The lettings agency Winkworth has taken the unusual step of criticising policies of a series of councils. The councils are all Labour...

London Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan is calling on the government to allow him to levy effectively uncapped council tax bills on...

The Renters Reform Bill can be the perfect opportunity for the industry to become more professional - just so long as...

A management company and a lettings agency involved in running a London HMO have been prosecuted for fire safety failures. Monsoon Properties...

I was surprised the other day to read statistics from the English Housing Survey about how many landlords use letting agents. In...

Propertymark has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove outlining its concerns about the latest licensing scheme proposal from a local council. The...

Propertymark has given its backing to a clampdown by Housing Secretary Michael Gove on private landlords - although landlords themselves appear...

The large majority of players in the lettings industry wants the rental reform programme outlined by the government, an agent claims. Laura...

An accreditation scheme says the government database of rogue letting agents should be expanded.  The government is committed to creating a new Property...

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

David Votta from the Kent-based Votta Sales and Lettings has been revealed as the new ARLA Propertymark President. He has been in...

An activist group in London has launched a scathing attack on councils which it claims have been ineffective in regulating rogue...

Walsall council is proposing additional licensing to improve conditions and management of HMOs in five wards where there are high numbers...

One of the country’s major regional newspapers has launched a campaign for the urgent introduction of rent controls. The Bristol Evening Post,...

Politicians across the UK appear to be growing more vocal in their support for rent controls. The Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru...

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

It’s now been made clear that there will be a detailed White Paper in the spring explaining radical changes to the...

ARLA Propertymark has identified a key weakness in the government’s ambitious plans to reform the private rental sector as part of...

The government’s new Levelling Up White Paper, revealed this morning, includes a radical reshaping of the private rental sector. Section 21 eviction...

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

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

ARLA Propertymark is calling on the government to properly fund local authorities so they can combat rogue operators in the private...

A new survey has revealed that just 11% of people think Michael Gove, who was announced as the new Housing Secretary...

There has still been no formal response to a government consultation on the database of rogue agents and landlords, 25 months...

A controversial lettings agent who has set up a business to sell rental insurance has accused landlords of not taking their...

The online lettings platform Mashroom has set out a list of guidelines it’s offering to prospective tenants to avoid them falling...

Some 39 agents and landlords have had banning orders over the past three years according to a report in The Guardian. Under the...

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

A London council describes two new licensing schemes as ‘making renting fairer’ - even though they are launched during the pandemic. Islington’s Labour...

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

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

A London council has launched a strategy it claims will protect private tenants and ensure they live in good quality and...

A Liberal Democrat Baroness says she is to make a last-ditch bid in the House of Lords tomorrow to stop evictions...

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

A new report demands that online rental platforms and portals allowing direct advertising by clients do more to deter fake landlords...

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

The author of a book described as being about “insecure renters haemorrhaging cash” has used her newspaper column to make a...

Rogue landlords have been accused of tax evasion which could cost the Treasury as much as £1.73 billion a year. The accusation...

A Liberal Democrat bid is underway to accelerate the government timetable to scrap Section 21. The Renters’ Rights Bill put forward by government...

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, has told the government of “illegal evictions by letting agents” - without specifying the incidents he refers...

The council in Liverpool is likely to propose a scaled-back private rental licensing scheme after its original suggestion was rejected by...

The council at the centre of one of the planning controversies involving Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has issued a warning to...

Two Bristol landlords have been ordered to repay nearly £5,000 following investigations by the council’s so called rogue landlord unit. One, Lucy...

Government advice to local authorities to sit tight with new licensing proposals during the Coronavirus pandemic appears to have been ignored...

Pressure group Generation Rent claims half of London’s councils did not fine any landlords for letting out unsafe homes in the...

The government has failed the private rental sector says the Residential Landlords Association. In a statement released even before the resignation of...

The government’s hugely-publicised database for rogue letting agents and landlords has been running for almost two years and has…wait for it…just...

A London Labour council wants to introduce rent controls to its borough. The South London Press reports that Lambeth councillors have voted through...

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

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

Councils that have been awarded additional cash injections by government could use their windfalls to enhance their enforcement of the private...

The fallout continues over the government’s shock refusal to allow Liverpool council to continue its huge landlord licensing scheme. Yesterday we reported that...

The Labour party has mocked the government’s £4m new funding for councils to combat rogue agents and landlords as “puny.” A statement...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents and The Guild of Property Professionals have both given their backing to the government’s latest...

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

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

You don’t need to go far for news about the UK lettings market. From the banning of tenant fees to proposed...

Labour has given shocking new details of its proposals for the private rental sector including £100.000 fines if properties are deemed...

The Liberal Democrats is the first of the major parties to release its party manifesto for the December 12 manifesto, and...

A local council claims it has received over 500 complaints from private rental tenants since the start of April - approaching...

The safeagent accreditation scheme says the next government should not scrap landlord licensing as some trade groups have requested, but should...

London’s Labour Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has returned to his campaign to win powers which would allow him to impose rent controls. Khan...

The government has given an extra £3.8m to councils to come up with ways of catching rogue landlords - and in...

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

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

Government plans to end so-called ‘no fault’ evictions may backfire and not improve tenants’ security at all. That’s the warning from Osbornes...

The government has this week published a learning toolkit for local authorities to help them with enforcement against rogue landlords and...

A Shropshire man has become the first in England to be banned from being a landlord.  In a case brought by Telford...

A Labour councillor on Islington council - which is controlled by the party and has Jeremy Corbyn as a local member...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents wants agents and tenants to have access to the government’s high profile but so far...

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

The Labour Party appears to be entering the arena of organising private rental sector tenants who have grievances. Party leader Jeremy Corbyn...

A Labour council which has become famous for its critical approach to the private rental sector has now been given almost £200,000...

The Association of Residential Lettings Agents says it fears the government needs to do more to prevent the possibility of banned...

There’s been a sceptical response to news leaked from government over the weekend suggesting that a database of rogue landlords would...

The chairman of Hunters estate agency, who is also a Conservative MP, has hit out at the government over its handling...

In the past 18 months more than 200 landlords from across Scotland have been found to be in breach of a...

A managing agent has been convicted by a local council for failing to properly license his property. Leon Hill, of Leighton Buzzard,...

A managing agent and several landlords have been fined almost £5,000 after forcing tenants to live in unacceptable conditions in a...

An activists’s group which in the past has held protests immediately outside letting agents’ offices is appealing for £10,000 to develop...

A group of activists has expressed outrage over a council’s private rental licensing scheme, claiming it is too small to catch...

A new PropTech start-up that claims to make student house-hunting easier is offering free listings to lettings agents with London properties. Polygon...

Two rogue landlords have been convicted of failing to comply with a Prohibition Order on the rental property they owned. Sandeep Jarjapu...

A husband and wife must pay joint fines, penalties and costs totalling over £8,000 after complaints about a bungalow they owned...

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

The government has beefed up its support for councils identifying and prosecuting rogue landlords. Yesterday the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local...

Two buy to let investors have been fined thousands of pounds after failing to carry out improvements to unfit rental properties. Adur...

Figures given through a Parliamentary answer have revealed just how bad councils in England are at policing and enforcement action against...