As the Renters Reform Bill makes its way through the House of Lords, Propertymark has advised peers not to miss this...
Archive
17 May 2024
From: Breaking News
A Labour MP is calling for rent controls to be introduced, with powers for councils to tweak them as they see...
17 May 2024
From: Breaking News
The corporate freeholder which has been obliged to fix serious building safety issues at a tower block has issued a statement...
14 May 2024
From: Breaking News
Housing minister Lee Rowley will be taking centre stage at the largest property agency conference in the UK this summer, Propertymark...
30 April 2024
From: Breaking News
A coalition of higher education and student housing organisations have called on the government to make further changes to the Renters...
26 April 2024
From: Breaking News
Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities hit back overnight at critics of the government’s Renters Reform Bill. The Bill...
25 April 2024
From: Breaking News
Propertymark says it will continue lobbying government for the implementation of the Regulation of Property Agents - even though the government...
24 April 2024
From: Breaking News
The government’s failure to act on the Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) working party - chaired by Lord Richard Best and...
22 April 2024
From: Breaking News
Propertymark is demanding equal treatment with the social housing sector. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove intends to boost standards in social housing...
11 April 2024
From: Breaking News
The Open Property Data Association has released a new version of its property data standards framework to help letting agents comply...
25 March 2024
From: Breaking News
Sharpened rules to double council tax on long term empty properties will come into force from April 1, says the government. A...
13 March 2024
From: Breaking News
A national newspaper says the Renters Reform Bill is “on the brink of collapse” as Tory MPs are divided on their...
08 March 2024
From: Breaking News
Labour has waded into the increasingly-fractious debate over the Renters Reform Bill. Activists in groups such as the Renters Reform Coalition and...
29 February 2024
From: Breaking News
Ukrainians who came to the UK following the Russian invasion will be able to apply for 18-month extensions to their visas,...
19 February 2024
From: Breaking News
Propertymark is urging the Sunak government to introduce specialist housing courts with expert Judges who can expedite cases and create a...
15 February 2024
From: Breaking News
Qualifications for property managers in the social housing sector should be extended to the private rental sector too. That’s the view of...
22 January 2024
From: Breaking News
A prominent housing market commentator says Labour would introduce a tougher version of the Renters Reform Bill if it forms the...
27 December 2023
From: Breaking News
The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to bring in an emergency ban on no fault evictions and banks repossessing people’s homes...
21 December 2023
From: Breaking News
The first meeting has been held of the Housing Coalition, a new group including Propertymark and some landlord bodies. A statement from...
24 November 2023
From: Breaking News
Senior Labour MP Clive Betts says the party’s official house building policy won’t actually solve the shortage of homes. Labour deputy leader...
17 November 2023
From: Breaking News
A row has broken out over Section 21 between Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and an all-party...
16 November 2023
From: Breaking News
Propertymark wants Housing Secretary Michael Gove to continue with ground rent reforms for leaseholders following the launch of a consultation into this...
14 November 2023
From: Breaking News
The new Housing Minister is Lee Rowley - who was a former housing minister during the short lived premiership of Liz Truss. Rowley...
13 November 2023
From: Breaking News
The government is considering five different options for ground rent as the reform process for the sector begins. The government is committed...
13 November 2023
From: Breaking News
Propertymark has welcomed the pledge by Housing Secretary Michael Gove not to introduce rent controls in England. The trade body says such...
31 October 2023
From: Breaking News
PropTech supplier Lettspay has launched a new client account banking service for letting agents and property managers in partnership with Griffin...
25 October 2023
From: Breaking News
A government minister has pledged to act on the threat to lettings agents posed by banks acting against pooled client accounts. Many...
20 October 2023
From: Breaking News
A charity claims the Renters Reform Bill, which gets its Second Reading in the Commons next week, will help reduce homelessness. New...
19 October 2023
From: Breaking News
The National Audit Office says the government will soon have to take hard decisions on the future for the Homes For...
17 October 2023
From: Breaking News
Government data shows that as of 2022 some 15.29 per cent of homes in England are privately rented, with 14.9 per...
13 October 2023
From: Breaking News
The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities says a new How To Rent guide will be issued today, October 2. Letting...
02 October 2023
From: Breaking News
The Select Committee that shadows the work of Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is complaining that its...
20 September 2023
From: Breaking News
A lettings trade body is urging the government to make clear how it will help courts tackle a growing backlog of...
19 September 2023
From: Breaking News
Automated client accounting platform Lettspay is set to launch a new client account banking product for letting agents. The supplier has worked...
19 September 2023
From: Breaking News
Rental sector organisations have been given an indication by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that a new How...
15 September 2023
From: Breaking News
Labour’s new shadow Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, Angela Rayner, says she will put council Housing at the heart of...
13 September 2023
From: Breaking News
New directives issued by the government put the emphasis firmly on private landlords and their letting agents to take responsibility for...
11 September 2023
From: Breaking News
Crisis, the homelessness charity, has slammed the government over the growing gap between housing benefit levels and even the lower end...
28 July 2023
From: Breaking News
The Renters Reform Bill will cost letting agents over £275m in the next decade as fewer landlords use their services. That’s the...
26 July 2023
From: Breaking News
It appears almost certain that the Second Reading of the Renters Reform Bill - expected some weeks ago - will not...
14 July 2023
From: Breaking News
It appears that a “wider range of behaviours” are likely to be taken into account in future when tenants are considered...
14 July 2023
From: Breaking News
The Renters Reform Bill is being discussed by MPs this afternoon - although not as part of its long-running passage through...
10 July 2023
From: Breaking News
A Liberal Democrat council leader says all properties - even those in properly established lettings businesses - should be charged council...
15 June 2023
From: Breaking News
Propertymark has given an insight into how letting agents are likely to be expected to use a new Landlords Database. The database...
23 May 2023
From: Breaking News
In a surprise move, Housing Secretary Michael Gove has given the stand-in leader of activist group Generation Rent a prime role...
17 May 2023
From: Breaking News
New government figures show how overdue the government's reform of private renting is, claims campaigning charity Shelter. The charity says the figures...
11 May 2023
From: Breaking News
The government has back-tracked on its decision to publish the long-awaited Renters Reform Bill this week. The Mirror newspaper reports that “procedural issues”...
10 May 2023
From: Breaking News
Housing Secretary Michael Gove says the long-awaited Renters Reform Bill, first promised in 2019, will finally be introduced into Parliament this...
09 May 2023
From: Breaking News
Propertymark has thrown its weight behind the idea of a compulsory national register of landlords and hosts operating Airbnb and other...
26 April 2023
From: Breaking News
Airbnb is warning the UK government not to be heavy handed in its planning controls restricting the short lets sector. At the...
17 April 2023
From: Breaking News
The new trade body for short lets has reacted angrily to a government plan for AirBnb and other short let hosts...
13 April 2023
From: Breaking News
The government has taken the first step to introducing a mandatory ombudsman scheme which private landlords must join. This is effectively the...
29 March 2023
From: Breaking News
The government has indicated that the delayed publication of the latest How To Rent document is to be Friday March 24. The...
20 March 2023
From: Breaking News
The government has delayed publication of the latest How To Rent document - it had been expected today. The How to Rent...
17 March 2023
From: Breaking News
Campaigning charity Shelter is angry with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt over his Budget While most in the property industry have expressed relief that there...
16 March 2023
From: Breaking News
West Oxfordshire council is the latest to demand new government legislation to increase council tax on empty and second homes in...
15 March 2023
From: Breaking News
A much-hyped government proposal to introduce a Rental Mediation Service to resolve disputes, sustain tenancies and reduce pressure on the courts...
07 March 2023
From: Breaking News
Propertymark says current government policy over leaseholder protections is too weak. The letting agents’ trade body has thrown its weight behind a...
01 March 2023
From: Breaking News
We’re only in February and it’s already clear that this year will set the future direction of the private rented sector...
15 February 2023
From: Features
Propertymark has hit out at a proposal from a group of MPs that there should be a single Ombudsman covering the...
13 February 2023
From: Breaking News
The activist group Generation Rent is backing a call by MPs for the government to tighten up proposals to scrap Section...
10 February 2023
From: Breaking News
It appears likely that Rachel Maclean is set to become the sixth housing minister in 12 months, replacing Lucy Frazer. In the...
08 February 2023
From: Breaking News
Agents’ body Propertymark wants more government action to boost housing supply - and it wants the views of the industry on...
01 February 2023
From: Breaking News
The Labour Party is to launch a major review of the private rental sector, led by the head of a London...
30 January 2023
From: Breaking News
Legal & General Capital helped fund over 17,000 new homes last year across a range of tenures, chiefly Build To Rent. Chief...
05 January 2023
From: Breaking News
A warning letter signed by 330 major players in the private rental sector has been delivered to Housing Secretary Michael Gove. The...
03 January 2023
From: Breaking News
A buy to let investment site has used Artificial Intelligence to identify 10 top property investment opportunities in 2023. Based on analysis...
28 December 2022
From: Breaking News
The government claims buildings will be made safer under new proposals including compulsory second staircases for new tower blocks. It says this...
28 December 2022
From: Breaking News
Over the last decade, the proportion of people aged 24 to 64 living in their own home has fallen and the...
19 December 2022
From: Breaking News
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has sent a letter to the Competitions and Markets Authority saying the watchdog is independent - but...
07 December 2022
From: Breaking News
The government is to open a consultation on whether residential properties should require planning consent to be used as short lets...
06 December 2022
From: Breaking News
Three councils will be sharing £1.21m in public cash over the next two years to tackle poor quality properties in the...
06 December 2022
From: Breaking News
A not-for-profit company that matches rental properties with vulnerable tenants in need of accommodation has partnered with a maintenance firm to...
30 November 2022
From: Breaking News
The government has made a general commitment to work with those who want council tax reforms for Homes in Multiple Occupation. Earlier...
25 November 2022
From: Breaking News
Propertymark has given its backing to a clampdown by Housing Secretary Michael Gove on private landlords - although landlords themselves appear...
25 November 2022
From: Breaking News
A lettings network is urging landlords to back a campaign to abolish council tax re-banding for shared houses. Platinum Property Partners says...
23 November 2022
From: Breaking News
A holiday lettings agency has taken the unusual step of speaking out in favour of higher council tax for second home...
21 November 2022
From: Breaking News
Propertymark backs government plans to introduce a social housing-style Decent Homes Standard in the private sector. But it says there must be...
11 November 2022
From: Breaking News
Labour’s new housing spokesperson, Matthew Pennycook, says his party would go further than the government on the subject of private rental...
07 November 2022
From: Breaking News
As the Rishi Sunak government’s lower ranks finally take shape, the junior ministers working with Housing Secretary Michael Gove have been...
31 October 2022
From: Breaking News
There seems to be an industry-wide sigh of relief that Rishi Sunak has become Prime Minister. His coronation marks the end of...
25 October 2022
From: Breaking News
The Advertising Standards Authority has banned advertorial material issued by the government department responsible for rental reform and housing. Two Labour MPs...
12 October 2022
From: Breaking News
The government may be changing its mind on scrapping Section 21 eviction powers according to a bombshell story in The Times. Outlining what...
11 October 2022
From: Breaking News
The latest update from industry discussions about allowing more pets in private rental properties suggests there’s not been a solution yet...
05 October 2022
From: Breaking News
There appears to be no space for discussion on the government’s private rental sector reform policies at the Tory Party conference...
30 September 2022
From: Breaking News
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced that stamp duty will be cut. In future there will be no stamp duty on the first...
23 September 2022
From: Breaking News
The cost of living crisis could have a ‘catastrophic’ impact on homelessness unless an immediate eviction ban is introduced. That’s the view...
22 September 2022
From: Breaking News
In a late night announcement it was confirmed by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that Lee Rowley MP...
21 September 2022
From: Breaking News
The National Audit Office has made scathing criticisms of government efforts to build more affordable housing. The public spending watchdog says the...
13 September 2022
From: Breaking News
Two new ministers have been appointed to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities - but at this stage it’s...
12 September 2022
From: Breaking News
A leading lettings agency has warned the government not to forget the importance of small-scale landlords in its plans for the...
07 September 2022
From: Breaking News
Agents are calling for a pilot project to measure the impact of the government abolishing Section 21 eviction powers. In its response...
31 August 2022
From: Breaking News
The government is intervening further in the running of Liverpool council, which operates a controversial private rental sector licensing scheme. Housing Secretary...
25 August 2022
From: Breaking News
It’s been confirmed that the controversial Renters Reform Bill will still be introduced by the end of this session of Parliament,...
24 August 2022
From: Breaking News
Agents have only until Friday to respond to the committee of MPs currently calling for evidence concerning the reform of the...
17 August 2022
From: Breaking News
A Build To Rent promotional website appears to be ruing the day that Boris Johnson sacked Michael Gove from his role...
16 August 2022
From: Breaking News
One of the country’s second home and holiday let hotspots has been told it will be unable to levy extra council...
04 August 2022
From: Breaking News
A prominent trade body is warning Tory leadership candidates not to put rental reform on the back burner and add to...
03 August 2022
From: Breaking News
Agents have only four weeks to respond to a committee of MPs’ ‘call for evidence’ ahead of an investigation into the...