Archive

Trading Standards has stopped a lettings agency owner from being a company director after he defrauded customers by over £80,000. Francis Smart,...

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, organisations worldwide lose $4.7 trillion to fraud each year, with real estate suffering...

A former lettings agent has been jailed for almost three years after admitting conning landlords out of over £80,000. The sentence for...

Latest figures from the Tenancy Deposit Service shows a slight reduction in typical deposits for rental properties in England and Wales. At...

A letting agent who stole over £80,000 from landlords is awaiting sentence. Frank Smart - owner of Smart Residential Letting Agents in...

Troubled online agency Purplebricks says it’s going to finally release its full year figures in the first week of August -...

The average private rental tenancy deposit last year exceeded £1,000 new figures show. At an average of £1,005 per tenancy, the cost...

Fifteen years ago Take That’s ‘Shine’ was at number one in the charts, ‘Mr Bean’s Holiday’ drew crowds into cinemas and...

Purplebricks has revealed that it will cost some £3.6m to correct compliance issues in its lettings division. The agency continues to stay...

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

Purplebricks is refusing to say how many tenants and landlords were affected by its failure to comply with the law requiring deposits...

When it comes to gathering evidence for deposit disputes, the need for thoroughness is understandable. However, on occasion some landlords take...

New data from Rightmove shows that demand for pet friendly rental properties has increased by 120 per cent compared to last...

Through our FREE online deposit dispute webinars, we’ve trained thousands of landlords and letting agents about how the dispute resolution process...

Propertymark has joined four so-called ‘action groups’ advocating housing policy changes including the setting up of a national landlord register and...

The Dogs Trust campaign ‘lets with pets’ states: “Landlords and letting agencies who exclude pet owners from their properties are missing out...

Propertymark has waded into the controversy over whether private rental tenants should be allowed to keep pets in their properties. As reported...

With winter gone and spring now in full bloom, there’s no better time to inspect your property to check for damage...

Just over half the claims made by landlords against tenancy deposits in 2020 cited a need to clean or make repairs...

Did you know your deposit protection obligations don't end with paying the deposit? You also need to serve the Prescribed Information within 30...

Letting agents are being invited to additional courses from TDS Academy online. The courses, offering Continuing Professional Development training virtually, look in particular...

A new service claims it could help to avoid arrears by mediating in disputes between tenants and landlords or their agents. The...

There’s a claim this morning that the average rent in the UK has increased only five per cent since 2014. Research by...

A former letting agent has been censured over the handling of tenancy deposits following an investigation by a local council. Andrew Rhys...

One of the growing number of deposit replacement providers claims that there could be £1.2 billion in deposit monies that are...

The government - which over the weekend made a surprise move to try to stop landlords banning tenants from keeping pets...

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is to overhaul the model tenancy contract to make it easier for tenants to have pets. A surprise statement from the...

The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled in favour of deposit alternative scheme flatfair in a dispute which began with a complaint...

Letting agents are to be offered free training in managing tenancy deposits and disputes if they operate in Edinburgh. In the last...

The most reliable indicator of rental trends in the UK As the largest provider of deposit protection in the UK, our database...

The Deposit Protection Service has revealed that more than four out of 10 of the tenancy deposits it manages are currently...

An analysis of rental properties in Scotland to discover the most numerous overseas landlords has discovered, perhaps surprisingly, that they come...

Deposit alternative provider flatfair has teamed up with mydeposits - and claims to now be the first provider to bring tenancy...

A trade body has accused the government of going back on its promise not to introduce a national register of landlords. The...

Not-for-profit operator Tenancy Deposit Scheme says early intervention between landlords and tenants across the UK is resulting in many more deposit...

There’s been a big boost to the movement towards deposit alternatives in the private rental sector following a survey released this...

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme has launched a series of events to educate letting agents and landlords on deposit protection. Starting next month...

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

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme - which was hit by a serious fire at its Hemel Hempstead headquarters last evening - has appointed...

A rental campaigner claims the amount of money stolen this year by crooked lettings agents and landlords has topped the £1.3m...

Deposit protection provider The Dispute Service says it has seen a big rise in the number of deposits it protects in...

Agents and landlords have united against what is being seen as the latest attack on the private rental sector by the...

There has been widespread Industry anger at news of a possible U-turn by the government over the proposed cap on security...

Fewer than one per cent of private tenancies end in a dispute over the deposit - and the figure is this...

The Nationwide has called for greater consistency in the treatment and return of security deposits so that tenants leaving properties in...

Zero Deposit, one of the insurance-based schemes offering an alternative to traditional tenancy deposits, has signed up its first independent agency...

Some 1.5m tenants could be at risk of losing their deposits, claims a campaigner for insurance-based alternatives to deposits. Ajay Jagota, head...

Crooked letting agents and landlords have so far this year been convicted of illegally pocketing over £900,000 of tenant’s cash – and there’s...

Tenants, landlords and buy to let investors are the targets for new online rental guides introduced by the Ministry of Housing,...

The government has written to two senior MPs in a bid to clarify two detailed provisions in the Tenants Fees Bill,...

A prominent campaigner for alternatives to traditional rental sector deposits is welcoming the government’s commitment to consider the issue in the...

The cash value of tenancy deposits crooked landlords and letting agents have been convicted of pocketing in 2018 has already passed...

Crooked landlords and letting agents were convicted of stealing £1,162,037 of tenant’s cash in 2017 – a rise of 14 per...

The government's plan to cap tenancy deposits at six weeks rent threatens to cost Britain’s renters an average of £1391 –...

Campaigning lettings agency chief Ajay Jagota says he is unconvinced by government plans to make it a criminal offence for letting...

A campaigning lettings agent says proposals to allow renters to transfer tenancy deposits between properties are to be welcomed – but...

A survey of over 2,000 private renters for an animal insurance company apparently produces the result that 27 per cent of...

The government’s proposal to limit tenancy deposits to one month of rent and reservation fees to one week of rent will...

As the end of the academic year approaches, one deposit protection scheme is urging student tenants to reclaim their deposits.  SafeDeposits Scotland...

A prominent campaigner over the misappropriation of rental deposits has welcomed the news that government proposals to ban letting agent fees...

A leading letting agent campaigning against rental sector deposits is warning that the industry might be hit with “astronominal” insurance premiums...

  Renters are spending half their wages keeping a roof over their head, are twice as likely as homeowners to have no...

A campaigning lettings agent is demanding action over what he suggests is a tenancy deposit system that is in need of...

Crooked letting agencies have been convicted of stealing £1,018,100 of deposits this year alone – and one agent claims this figure...

A letting agency has been removed from a Scottish council’s approved list after failing to conform with rules protecting the deposits...

The typical deposit paid when a tenant moves to a new property in England and Wales is set to break the...

Tenancy deposits in England and Wales are typically £100 dearer than the Scottish equivalent.  Between June 2015 and May 2016, the average...

Two new custodial services are being launched today by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and Mydeposits. Custodial systems mean deposit money is held...

The ongoing court case involving a former letting agent has now heard that the nine cases of fraud being considered allegedly...

ARLA has issued guidance to students who may be using the Christmas break to line-up accommodation for the coming year.  Looking for...

A formal tenancy deposit dispute could be defused by something as basic as a simple conversation, says the Association of Independent...

After the passing of the Deregulation Act deposits deadline this week, Richard Price, Executive Director of UKALA, is in a contemplative...

A letting agent has been disqualified from acting as a director for 10 years following the collapse of his Hove agency,...

New tenancy deposit rules come into effect today have been given the thumbs-up by The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks.  Under the...

New tenancy deposit rules come into effect today have been given the thumbs-up by The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks.  Under the...

The Deposit Protection Service is reminding letting agents and landlords that they have to act with extreme urgency over older tenancy...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents says the government’s controversial Deregulation Act, which is now in force, is creating critical new...

Landlords and letting agents have been issued a reminder that they have less then three weeks to protect tenancy deposits with...

In 2007, the government introduced a compulsory deposit protection scheme as part of the Housing Act 2004 to help protect tenants...

The Deposit Protection Service says agents and landlords must act soon over older tenancy deposits now that new legislation has introduced...