Archive

A new guide from Propertymark explains the rights which private rental tenants have - and sets out how they can challenge...

A lettings agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme following itsfailure to pay £1,100 out of an adjudicated award...

There’s been a large rise in complaints and a huge increase in compensation according to figures out today from the Property...

A pressure group unhappy about lack of progress on the Renters Reform Bill wants MPs to be bombarded with complaint emails.  Over...

Two thirds of private renters have experienced a problem with the quality or condition of their property in the past six...

Labour is using a Bill currently going through Parliament as a backdoor method to introduce the regulation of lettings, estate and...

A new lettings franchise is being launched, which claims its franchisees can earn £100,000-plus annually.  The Sourced Group has launched Sourced Living,...

ARLA Propertymark has urged letting agents to take breaches of the Information Commissioner’s Office’s  data protection principle regarding GDPR seriously.   The call comes...

Measures contained in the Renters Reform Bill will fail without sufficient resources to ensure they can be enforced. The warning comes from...

Propertymark has set out its pro-agency position on a range of issues contained in the Renters Reform Bill, currently trundling through...

The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued advice to agencies on how to comply with data protection law.  The UK data protection regulator...

Controversial website content by the high profile website GetAgent must never appear again, according to the ad industry watchdog. The Advertising Standards...

Parts B and C of the process to improve material information disclosure in property listings are published today within comprehensive new guidance...

New directives issued by the government put the emphasis firmly on private landlords and their letting agents to take responsibility for...

The Competitioin and Markets Authority is to probe five activities involving letting agents and landlords and their responsibilities to private tenants. Sarah...

The Nationwide Foundation - a pressure group funded by the Nationwide - says more effective enforcement is required for the private...

A rogue lettings agency in London has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme but is still thought to be trading. Hawks...

New figures released this morning from The Property Ombudsman show that the overwhelming number of disputes in the past year involved...

A planning committee meeting discussion on an application for 100 new apartments in Manchester turned into a forum for complaints about...

Landlords of more than 5,000 homes must register for a license and ensure their tenants have good quality housing or face...

The Scottish Government does not intend to abandon its licensing scheme for Airbnbs and other short term lets, nor to delay...

A property firm which admitted misleading tenants on their rights and threatening them to leave has been ordered to pay £8,000. Four...

A property company director who admitted misleading tenants on their rights and threatening them to leave has been ordered to pay...

A trade body has criticised the various UK governments for “rushing blindly” into poorly-constructed regulation of short lets. The angry words from...

The Property Redress Scheme, one of two government-approved redress services, has produced a list of recently-expelled agencies. All agencies must be a...

Several lettings agents have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme; they are amongst eight named as having been kicked out...

Introduce yourself A: My name is Sean Hooker. I have worked for the HFIS group for sixteen years, originally helping set...

There’s been a big rise in the number of complaints about agents lodged with the Property Redress Scheme, which says it’s...

A council has prosecuted an agency and landlord for not producing the right paperwork. Luton local authority has prosecuted Poplar Homes Ltd...

Propertymark has hit out at a proposal from a group of MPs that there should be a single Ombudsman covering the...

A property firm has been fined £8,000 for operating an HMO on one of Britain’s most famous roads. Westminster council has won...

It’s been revealed that agents have been kicked out of The Property Ombudsman in recent months for failing to pay compensatory...

The head of a Martin & Co office in Wolverhampton has been jailed over fraudulent activity. A court heard that Bhavander Singh...

A landlord has pleaded guilty to four offences which involved the creation of fake letting agencies in order to help him...

The Property Redress Service claims to be the largest lettings redress service now, with over 13,250 letting agency branches on board. In...

The founder of a Barnsley based lettings and property management company is celebrating transforming his business - and winning an award...

A former lettings agent who now helps tenants take legal action against landlords says 25 per cent of the complaints he...

One of the leading deposit alternative services has called for a code of conduct to step, amongst other things, alleged pressure...

The Observer newspaper has investigated the way letting agents apply so-called zero deposit schemes - and claims that in some cases...

The allAgents review website has removed a claim suggesting it had been ‘endorsed’ by The Times and the Sunday Times newspapers. The...

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

Small and medium sized lettings agencies which have had running disputes with banks are being offered a lifeline - but must...

A council’s Trading Standards team is warning letting agents of a new clampdown on compliance failures. Stoke-on-Trent Trading Standards says it’s received...

The Property Ombudsman has reported a big rise in enquiries over last year and a huge rise since the pre-Covid year,...

One of the two official redress bodies, the Property Redress Scheme, has announced a beefed up advisory panel with a substantial...

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned advertorial material issued by the government department responsible for rental reform and housing. Two Labour MPs...

Five agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme - all for compliance failures. The first is Home Trader Properties, in...

The Advertising Standards Authority has stepped in to investigate allegations about advertising for shared ownership homes.  In 2021 an advertisement appeared on...

Trading Standards is calling for more due diligence checks to be made following the jailing of a rogue letting agent for...

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

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

Many agencies have long-standing and unresolved banking complaints, for example regarding client accounts: now it’s been declared they have only six...

Fourteen Trading Standards authorities across a swathe of England are embarking on an enforcement project to check lettings agency compliance.  The Central England...

Six agencies have been excluded from The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay compensation to wronged complainants. One was the Belvoir...

Senior figures in the agency industry have backed new guidance from the National Trading Standards Estate and Lettings Agent Team regarding...

One of Britain’s largest cities wants to regulate Airbnb and other short let platforms. The proposed scheme in Glasgow follows legal changes...

At Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), we're committed to making the deposit protection process as pain-free as possible. From our beginning of...

Agents with landlord clients who let properties in Central West Bromwich are being reminded to check if they should apply for...

The sole director of a lettings agency, who was recently made the subject of an anti-social behaviour injunction and banning order,...

More than four in 10 landlords claim their letting agents charge too much - and one in six has been hit...

A new survey gives an indication of how quickly properties with poor Energy performance Certificates are falling out of favour in...

Letting agents in one part of the UK need to be ready for the most significant changes to the private rental...

PRS, one of the two official redress services for the lettings and sales agency sectors, says it’s seen an increase in...

A property ownership and management company has been fined £20,000 for failing to carry out safety and fire safety improvement works...

Private rental property conditions and the enforcement of regulations by councils and government have all been in the firing line from...

A study by the Tenancy Deposit Service has found that garden maintenance remains one of the most common reasons behind deposit...

An agent’s plea to councillors to renew the HMO license for a landlord client fell on deaf ears in a controversial...

A lettings company has been caught up in a case where rental accommodation has been described as “atrocious” and a landlord...

Westminster council wants central London to have the same powers as Paris and Amsterdam to stop anti-social behaviour caused by Airbnb...

Two agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay compensation awards. Thamlet Estates, based in east London,...

ARLA Propertymark has launched a radical programme of reform for the private rental sector - getting in before the government’s own...

How can agents improve their position in society? A report has been published following a roundtable discussion between prominent agency figures...

A letting agency has been issued with penalty notices worth £3,000 for operating illegally. Back in 2014 it became a legal requirement...

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

Many young Britons allegedly live beyond their means, blaming high rents and “unforseen” agency charges as contributory reasons.  A home insurance company...

Six agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay compensatory awards - five of them for offences...

A lettings agent has been jailed for three years for defrauding tenants and landlords out of more than £182,000.  Lee Clarke, 42,...

Lettings once again dominated the complaints received by The Property Ombudsman according to its latest annual report - out today but...

New rules out for consultation concerning block management aim to improve professionalism across the sector, root out rogue agents, and increase...

The Property Ombudsman and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors are seeking views of agents, landlords and tenants on a new...

Propertymark has given its support to a free and independent dispute resolution service, the Business Banking Resolution Service, which is being offered to...

A Labour council leader has hit after being attacked for his support for buy to let and property investment. Last week we...

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

There’s a warning from an industry trade body that some agents may have failed to take compliance obligations seriously enough.  Paul Offley,...

Complaints referred to the Property Redress Scheme against its members grew by more than a quarter during 2020. In its annual report...

Westcountry agency Stags has been the subject of a low level complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority. The complaint concerned fees not...

A lettings agent who wants tenants to take out policies to fund complaints against agencies and landlords has branded the social...

The man behind an early version of deposit replacement for the private rental sector has now set up a service encouraging...

A London council has taken a landlord company to court after complaints of poor housing conditions in five of its rented...

Councils are failing to protect tenants in three out of four cases where they discover rental homes are unsafe, according to...

The managing director of Fixflo, Rajeev Nayyar, says the pandemic has changed the context in which agents should view tenants’ complaints. In...

Another lettings agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay an outstanding compensation award - but...

A lettings agency that failed to pay a compensation award ordered by The Property Ombudsman has been expelled from the scheme...

A lettings agent in Slough, called Saville Park Ltd, has been excluded from The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay an outstanding award of £300.  TPO received a complaint from tenants...

A charity is calling for a new national body to oversee the private rental sector. Citizens Advice makes this one of three...

The vast majority of tenants would pay more if rental properties better suited their needs, a prominent lettings agency claims. Manchester-based Ascend...

An agency has been hit with a £330,000 bill after being found guilty of poor management of an HMO. Magistrates have found...

As we emerge out of the pandemic there is a growing need for agents to reflect on how the lettings business...

A council claims that as many as a fifth of all the private rental sector homes in its area have a...

A family-run lettings and sales agency has launched an employee of the year award in memory of a late colleague.   The...