Archive

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

Propertymark’s training arm, Propertymark Qualifications, says there’s been a strong uptake across the board with the first of its candidates passing...

The chief executive of Propertymark has made an outspoken attack on the government in response to its latest attempt to extract...

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

The government has ruled out any reform to the council tax system. There has been long standing criticism of council tax because...

Controversy surrounds a government idea - floated over the weekend - to allow renters to secure mortgages with just one per...

A trade body representing short lets operators has slammed government housing failures. The Short Term Accommodation Association says it’s analysed local authority...

Last week’s Autumn Statement - which fell short of expectations in terms of help for the private rental sector - is...

A lettings agency has removed a video of an apartment where a murder took place, following an approach by a national...

HM Treasury has published a consultation on reform of the anti-money laundering supervisory system, giving four options. Currently the supervisory system is...

  The Renters’ Reform Bill is finally due to be published and introduced into Parliament next week. Housing Secretary Michael Gove has told Sky...

Energy Performance Certificates must change to properly support reaching net zero, tackling fuel poverty and improving buildings, according to an energy...

A news website is reporting that a landlord cut the asking rent of a property after social media criticism of its...

Boomin, the online property portal founded by the former boss of Purplebricks, has called in liquidators according to a Sky News...

The National Audit Office has made scathing criticisms of government efforts to build more affordable housing. The public spending watchdog says the...

Foxtons has issued a welcome statement to its new chief executive as it seeks to return to past glories. Guy Gittins -...

Holiday lets and second homes in one hotspot in the UK have not, after all, impacted on house prices and affordability,...

Speculation in national newspapers suggests that the government is considering giving local mayors some powers over parts of the private rented...

Propertymark is the latest part of the lettings sector to fight back against criticism and claims of extreme evictions made by...

ARLA Propertymark has hit back in this week’s debate on the quality of private rental property, following sharp criticism in a...

The criticism by landlords aimed at Housing Secretary Michael Gove for some of his comments regarding the cladding issue, has now...

An agency has issued a statement strongly rejecting the negative mood music surrounding the private rental sector. Chris Wood and Ross McDonald...

A politician is raising the possibility that people who live in private blocks and let out their apartments via Airbnb or...

The government says it’s finalising plans for a new tax regime to apply to additional homes, and in particular those used...

Labour has joined with campaign groups Generation Rent and Shelter in calling for the speediest possible ending of Section 21 eviction...

The short lets sector - already receiving political and community criticism for eroding the wider private rental sector - needs better...

The House of Commons Library, an independent body not controlled by government, has published a detailed history of the many measures...

The farcical implementation of the government’s Green Homes Grant scheme has been sharply criticised by Propertymark. Timothy Douglas, the organisation’s policy and...

A lettings agent who has made a series of outbursts against landlords and councils, has now turned his anger on proposed...

Airbnb has issued a lengthy statement in response to a recent raft of criticisms about the effects of soaring numbers of...

A fund instituted by Airbnb to help compensate for the effects of short let accommodation should be extended, local politicians say. In...

Airbnb, which has been criticised by some for its impact on local rental markets, is to set up its own ‘tax’...

Letting agents body ARLA Propertymark has joined the criticism of London Mayor Sadiq Khan who wants to be given the power...

An influential group of MPs wants an end to repeated last minute extensions to the ban on evictions and instead wants financial support...

Rent controls are being discussed again as candidates prepare for May's local elections. In London Green Party mayoral candidate Sian Berry -...

An influential group of MPs has called for the replacement of “outdated” Energy Performance Certificates with new ‘Building Renovation Passports’. Currently EPCs...

Recent debate about urgent need for reform and better collaboration within the property industry, has once again come under the spotlight...

Government intervention, which in recent years has seen scores of legal and regulatory changes to the private rental sector, may be...

A rent guarantor service has rejected criticism of so-called Coronavirus break clauses in rental contracts. There’s been criticism in recent months of...

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

A leading lettings sector trade body has set out reasons why the eviction ban should be lifted - which may help...

Housing minister Chris Pincher has entered the row over Labour claiming that the stamp duty holiday announced last week was in...

Campaigning charity Shelter, which has been outspoken in its criticism of many letting agents in recent years, has now produced a...

One of the major deposit alternative operators has announced 31 new letting agency branches have signed up, from three high-profile brands. Zero...

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

Three more deposit alternative supplier have issued statements seeking to distance their product from criticisms raised in a BBC investigation. Yesterday we carried...

A trade body has come out against a council’s HMO licensing scheme, claiming that its consultation period was too short -...

The appeal by Labour’s Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to be given powers to introduce rent controls have been dealt a...

A new trade body is being set up in a bid to professionalise the short lets sector. The sector - which embraces...

The controversial tenants union Acorn has set up a web page where disgruntled renters can lodge complaints about letting agents. In the...

A group of landlords in the North East are the latest to criticise Labour's plans to introduce a Right to Buy...

The Association of Residential Lettings Agents appears to have joined the chorus of criticism against Labour’s controversial right to buy policy...

Claims that the use of Section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notices is the leading cause of homelessness in the UK are...

The first ‘state of the industry’ report on the lettings agency sector since the introduction of the fees ban suggests individual...

A short lets management firm which was earlier this year at the centre of an advertisement controversy is now partnering with...

A leading industry trade body says the latest English Housing Survey report proves that criticisms of the private rental sector’s costs...

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt have been given a message from a consortium of groups this morning - Scrap Right To...

Despite criticism from some within the industry about the effects of short lets, the high-end agency Knight Frank has spoken of...

Airbnb has issued a statement distancing itself from controversial advertisements from a short lets management service. Hostmaker - which describes itself as...

A prominent consumer group claims that one in 10 tenants currently renting say they have at some point been evicted “for...

Airbnb and short let management service Hostmaker - at the centre of a dispute involving a landlord trade body and the...

A company appearing to call on landlords to abandon tenants and instead let their properties to short-let visitors is now trying...

A crooked letting agent took £220,000 from tenants and landlords and has been exposed as buying a home in Florida, renting...

Another controversial scheme licensing landlords who let their homes out may face legal challenge. Middlesbrough council’s formal consultation on the introduction of...

A legal firm has renewed its criticism of local authority licensing schemes, accusing them of “persecuting” landlords. David Kirwan, managing partner at...

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

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

Airbnb, the short lets platform that has received substantial criticism from the buy to let sector over its largely unregulated status,...

Britain’s most controversial buy to let investor, Fergus Wilson, has hit back and given his side of events on a series...

A high-profile landlord says the upcoming ban on letting agent fees 'can't come soon enough'. Writing a column in the Evening Standard's...

The industry has reacted angrily to the announcement yesterday that the Tenants’ Fees Bill is now formally starting its progress through...

A leading property disputes solicitor has joined a growing chorus of criticism of how Right To Rent will cope with issues...

A lettings agency has written to MPs setting out an eloquent case for a cap on agents’ fees levied on tenants...

London’s Labour Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has repeated his criticism of the government’s decision to cap security deposits at the level of...

Trade organisatons have reacted predictably to the government’s latest announcements and publications concerning the private rental sector. Yesterday the Department of Communities...

The housing charity Shelter - which in recent years has been aggressively critical of letting agencies and landlords in the private...

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

A prominent lettings industry campaigner says the head of a tenancy deposit scheme has “serious questions to answer” after his comments...

The Residential Landlords’ Association says recent fiscal changes hitting the private rented sector are hurting tenants but failing to achieve their...

After criticism of many younger voters allegedly failing to turn out during the June 2016 EU Referendum, new analysis of voter...

Agencies are responding to the latest criticism of their fees on tenants, levied by the pressure group Generation Rent.    The group -...

Opponents of the proposed change to mortgage interest tax relief for landlords have promised what they call a “shock and awe”...

Airbnb’s new protocol seeking to stop London hosts short-letting their properties for more than 90 days a year without formal consent,...

The news editor of London financial daily City AM has made an outspoken attack on the government’s fiscal assaults on the...

An outspoken attack on Chancellor George Osborne’s fiscal measures against the private rental sector have questioned whether he is really a...

More criticism of Chancellor George Osborne’s raft of buy to let reforms has appeared in the mainstream media, with much emphasis...

The financial editor of The Guardian newspaper claims that - despite widespread criticism within the lettings industry of the latest buy...

The government has been told to back off its criticism of buy to let landlords and instead do more to address...

A letting agency has been criticised by local students after sending a touting letter to landlords saying it could increase rents...

The Residential Landlords’ Association is taking legal advice on whether George Osborne’s buy to let tax changes are a breach of...

Treasury proposals to hand greater powers to the Bank of England to make access to buy to let lending harder risks...

It is not often that a national newspaper dedicates an article to praising buy to let - and even rarer for...

The publication of the Immigration Bill giving details of the government's expectations of letting agents and landlords to conduct checks on...

If supporters of Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget restrictions on tax breaks for buy to let landlords thought opposition would die off...

A London letting agency is playing down the impact of Chancellor George Osborne’s proposed changes to buy to let tax breaks,...

The rising phenomenon of agent-rating and review websites is a topic that seems to have caused considerable division and controversy among...

This month has marked a real change in the way the private lettings sector is perceived - and it’s a perception...

Belvoir remains unrepentant after criticism from some quarters over an email sent to tenants last week intimating that a vote for...

Around 40 developers, property consultants and block managers have sent an open letter to the new government - being elected today...

Gentrification is a divisive, provocative issue, but why are estate agents (especially Foxtons) appearing to bear the brunt of the public’s...