Industry Blogs
So the Government wants us to carry out immigration checks on prospective tenants. Well, unlike a lot of those who have commented on the proposals, I support the general thrust of what is trying to be achieved but have a few questions of my own...
As head of social media at Angels Media, I am delighted to introduce my first in a series of blogs on how to use social media to benefit your agency...
The Johnson v Old appeal was in three parts: first looking at whether the tenancy agreement required the tenant to pay six months rent in advance...
It has taken a while for the penny to drop about the build-to-rent industry, but it is now clear that this will become the 21st century, privately-funded institutional successor to council housing...
Redress? Regulators? Why? The Government has been prodded towards a method of shutting the stable door once the horse has bolted – otherwise know as a redress system for letting agents...
Margaret Thatcher had a huge role in shaping the modern housing market as we know it today, and every letting and estate agent has cause to thank her...
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has come out and said what some have been saying for a while...
More and more landlords and agents are attempting to include additional damage into check-outs without any photographic or written evidence to support it...
Communication, education, transparency and fairness should underpin all dealings between landlords, letting agents and tenants...
As a landlord and letting agent with over 500 properties on my books, I am always surprised when I hear agents say they won’t touch LHA tenants because they are a ‘bad risk’...
The recent High Court decision in Phillips v Francis (No.2) has given a whole new meaning to the requirement to consult with residential tenants when carrying out works under section 20 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985...
Considering the nature of my business, it comes as no surprise that on a number of occasions I have argued the benefits that outsourcing a property management function brings to an agent...
Liverpool City Council has signed a statement of support for Shelter’s national campaign to stamp out rogue landlords...
It is an unfortunate part of the letting agency world that you are often viewed with mistrust. Sometimes would-be clients look at you warily, trying to size you up and decide if you are as straight a businessman as you say you are...
Regulating the lettings sector – will it ever happen? “It will be a while before light-touch regulation becomes politically acceptable again,” was the quote pulled out from a recent City Comment column by Anthony Hilton, one of the City’s most highly respected business journalists, in the London Evening Standard...
What is the future for the high street letting agent? Probably not that good is the short answer! Strong headwinds may be coming their way after recent work done in the sector by Shelter...
Ever since the recent campaign by Shelter Scotland called Reclaim Your Fees, we have seen letting agency fees in England and Wales come under scrutiny, forcing the small value placed on the work of letting agents to fall further...
UKALA: Q & A session with director Caroline Kenny 1) What are you proposing through this new offering? The Private Rented Sector (PRS) has grown considerably in the past ten years, and is only expected to grow further in the years to come...
We recently saw the publication of the Montague Report, compiled by Sir Adrian Montague on behalf of the Government, that looked into ways to tackle the UK’s housing shortage, particularly in the private rented sector (PRS)...
Housing for the elderly crept further down the Government agenda last week. We saw the departure of Grant Shapps, minister for housing, who whilst he talked a great deal about the housing crisis during his time in office, actually has achieved little...
Given that Sir Adrian Montague first called for evidence in February, and that a number of radical measures had been trailed, the final report is rather brief and cautious...
Are smartphone apps the holy grail as far as inventories are concerned? The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks decided to take a look...
As demand for rental property continues to rise, so too is the incidence of fraudulent tenants, who are costing landlords thousands in lost rental income and legal fees...
Jane Ingram is the new President of ARLA, and is head of lettings at Savills. The busy mother of a two-year-old son says she will juggle her presidential year with the help of a ‘superb’ team at Savills...
I have spent most of my career in the heavily regulated social housing rented sector. The Housing Corporation, Audit Commission, Tenant Services Authority and now the Homes and Communities Agency have all been regulators...
Upad is a perfectly reasonable proposition and there’ll be many that would think ‘yes please, why not’...
Lettings agents have long been slaves to the paper chase. From getting a landlord’s signature, to chasing tenant references and completing a tenancy agreement, the lettings and property industry is traditionally very paper-heavy...
The world has never undergone a more turbulent time: markets are in disarray, the Eurozone is in meltdown, caution is high and confidence is low...
Nearing the end of his year as ARLA president, Tim Hyatt does not seem to have had much time to draw breath...
The London Assembly’s report, ‘Bleak Houses– Improving the London Private Rented Sector’, and some London mayoral candidates have totally missed the point when they say private landlords should issue longer-term tenancies...
According to Pat Barber of the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks, writing a blog on LAT, “a glossy inventory that relies heavily on photographs will be of little use in a dispute”...
News of the tough sentence recently handed down to an Oxford agent who misappropriated client monies – or rather, the heated debate that it engendered – raises a key issue for the lettings sector...
Self-service agencies are popping up all over the place and claiming they will change the face of lettings in 2012...
London has seven universities in the world’s top 200 university rankings, which is more than any other city in the world...
Thousands of people across the country are affected by changes to housing benefit effective from January 1...
We hear much about anti-social behaviour in the press, but rather less about what should be done to deal with it...
When tenancy deposit protection was first introduced by the Government in April 2007, two types of schemes were authorised...
I strongly believe that a custodial-only scheme is the future for tenancy deposit protection. It’s great the industry is starting to recognise the need for some sort of change with regard to deposits and even better with the current debates featuring on Letting Agent Today...
Citizens Advice has hit out at charges levied by letting agents and accused us of ripping off the public...
With an undeniable shift from buying to renting in the UK, we are presented with a new generation of tenants...
Surprisingly, perhaps, there are landlords who find they really can’t afford to be in buy-to-let because they have not budgeted for maintenance and repairs...
Britain may be a nation of animal lovers, but pet owners often struggle to find suitable accommodation...
All over the globe, in practically every sphere of business, successful companies have long embraced the concept of outsourcing – of farming out to specialist suppliers all those essentially back-office functions such as human resources, expense management, office buildings maintenance and security that are not absolutely core to their business model...
Alex Vinter: Blog It’s snakes and ladders in the rental world. Not too long ago renting was for the short term...
Squatting to be criminalised… finally! By Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action In April, we presented our initial petition to 10 Downing Street calling for squatting to be criminalised...
Fees – and the way we charge them There has been much debate about the way letting agents charge their fees – and particularly whether or not they are entitled to charge for renewals...
Are letting agents falling behind in the technology stakes? We commissioned a research project recently, asking 100 letting agents a series of questions about technology – from how they use it today to how they intend to use it in future...
Should local councils become private letting agencies? Any effort to get vulnerable people into accommodation needs to be applauded...
Treat every renewal as a re-let. Whatever the reason, be it merely temporary tight-fistedness on the part of mortgage lenders (as our colleagues on the sales side would have everyone believe), or – just possibly – the final collapse of Britain’s 40-year love affair with property ownership, the growing mis-match between demand and supply in the private rental sector means that tenants are looking to stay longer in their homes...
The PPS Show goes off with a bang! This week saw the PPS Show at Olympia. With over 4,500 visitors, it was a pretty successful affair...
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A great way to educate your landlord on Inventories
- New agent-owned portal is planned by top names in industry........
- More competition in tenancy deposit schemes welcomed by minister........
- Immigrant checks would be 'light touch', Prisk promises........
- Lettings portal is rapped by advertising watchdog........
- Large-scale investment needed in private rental sector........
- New customer portals launched for letting agents........
- Capita enters into tenancy deposit protection........
- Crystal Horwood Blog........
- Rental services firm offered ministers free immigrant check service........
- Fresh expansion for Leaders after deal with Cotswolds agent ........
- LANDLORDS AND AGENTS URGED TO CHECK THEIR GARDENS AND WARN TENANTS ABOUT ALTERATIONS........
- Repairs: Reduce frustration, save time and money........
- Why should I use an inventory company? ........
- At Blinc Tenant Referencing, we believe it is our job to provide you with the service you desire, not for you to fit in with what suits us. ........
- Mortgage firm 'on track' to enter estate agency market........
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