A council claims that as many as a fifth of all the private rental sector homes in its area have a...
Archive
07 January 2021
From: Breaking News

The architect of the Regulation of Property Agents working group - which has called for agents to be trained and licensed...
10 December 2020
From: Breaking News

An overwhelming 98 per cent of agents who are members of The Property Ombudsman scheme pay compensation when an investigation is...
01 December 2020
From: Breaking News

Activists from the so-called renters’ union Acorn have held a protest outside the office of a lettings agency in Oxford. A photograph...
19 November 2020
From: Breaking News

Three lettings agents who kept tenants’ rent instead of passing it to the landlords have been ordered to pay almost £100,000...
30 October 2020
From: Breaking News

A major north of England local authority wants to introduce landlord licensing for HMOs where three or four tenants live, following analysis...
19 October 2020
From: Breaking News

A London council has launched a strategy it claims will protect private tenants and ensure they live in good quality and...
23 September 2020
From: Breaking News

Three agents have been expelled by The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay compensation awards. In the case of Foremost Lettings Ltd...
26 August 2020
From: Breaking News

A council has won a planning appeal banning the use of a property for short lets - considered a landmark case...
21 August 2020
From: Breaking News

The author of a book described as being about “insecure renters haemorrhaging cash” has used her newspaper column to make a...
19 August 2020
From: Breaking News

Airbnb is doing a U-turn with its global leader pledging to slash the number of professional landlords using the platform and...
10 August 2020
From: Breaking News

A new web platform is launching encouraging reviews of landlords - but it claims not to be another opportunity for tenants...
27 July 2020
From: Breaking News

The BBC has shone a spotlight on lockdown parties being held in contravention of social distancing rules at properties advertised on...
26 June 2020
From: Breaking News

There’s been a substantial 20 per cent rise in formal complaints about agents taken up by The Property Ombudsman. The figures refer...
11 May 2020
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman has announced the expulsion of eight agencies, all for contravening TPO codes of practice. Most of the expulsions were...
04 May 2020
From: Breaking News

A leading PropTech expert has urged lettings agents to improve their administration and paperwork if they want to avoid what could...
29 April 2020
From: Breaking News

A lettings agency has given a full apology after a letter - not approved by the company - was sent out...
30 March 2020
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman is warning agents not to discriminate against tenants through a No DSS or any similar policy. Following the legal...
05 March 2020
From: Breaking News

The controversial Acorn group of anti-letting agent activists has been accused of intimidation of female staff during a protest outside and...
05 March 2020
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman has expelled five agencies, mostly for failures to honour awards: four of them are lettings operations and one...
21 February 2020
From: Breaking News

Confusion among renters over the complex Tenant Fees Act could trigger a surge in complaints about agents to redress schemes -...
12 February 2020
From: Breaking News

Airbnb is reported to have banned under-25s in Canada from booking whole properties in their local areas to prevent potentially-violent house...
07 February 2020
From: Breaking News
Property auctions – online or otherwise – can be hugely helpful to sellers, buyers and estate agents. Online auctions, in particular, are...
06 February 2020
From: Sponsored Content

A leading trade body is voicing concern over yet another council private rental sector licensing scheme - with particular worry over...
29 January 2020
From: Breaking News

New research claims that one in every 50 homes in the capital is let on a short-term platform like Airbnb or...
24 January 2020
From: Breaking News

The Times claims there have been well over 200 complaints lodged with redress schemes, alleging that lettings agents tried to charge...
23 December 2019
From: Breaking News

A Southampton lettings agency owner has been jailed after defrauding landlords and tenants out of £230,000. Andrew Whitehead has been jailed for...
19 December 2019
From: Breaking News

The Liberal Democrats is the first of the major parties to release its party manifesto for the December 12 manifesto, and...
21 November 2019
From: Breaking News

A rogue landlord and the property company he ran have been fined £22,000 for dishing out ‘sham licences’ to tenants in...
20 November 2019
From: Breaking News

A local council claims it has received over 500 complaints from private rental tenants since the start of April - approaching...
19 November 2019
From: Breaking News

Citizens Advice wants the next government to radically alter the private rental sector in favour of tenants. The charity’s 2019 election manifesto,...
08 November 2019
From: Breaking News

The controversial tenants union Acorn has set up a web page where disgruntled renters can lodge complaints about letting agents. In the...
24 October 2019
From: Breaking News

Most landlords are wary of the potential damage, smells and noise complaints that can come with accommodating a tenant with pets....
23 October 2019
From: Sponsored Content

Three criminals have been sentenced after pleading guilty to money laundering involving an online lettings agency. The sentences follow an investigation spearheaded...
18 October 2019
From: Breaking News

There’s a warning from a leading agent that the unregulated proliferation of Airbnb-style short lets will lead to mainstream rent rises...
30 September 2019
From: Breaking News

A Labour councillor on Islington council - which is controlled by the party and has Jeremy Corbyn as a local member...
17 September 2019
From: Breaking News

London Trading Standards has made the startling claim that 46 per cent of almost 2,000 agents it has surveyed are falling...
13 September 2019
From: Breaking News

Campaigning charity Shelter has made a remarkable attack on a lettings agency, accusing it of “an abuse of power” over its...
05 August 2019
From: Breaking News

The government has published proposals for far-reaching changes to the way estate and letting agents are regulated, trained and licensed. The proposals...
18 July 2019
From: Breaking News

Junior housing minister Heather Wheeler MP has written to Hull City Council to express her concerns about the authority's controversial accreditation...
03 July 2019
From: Breaking News

Letting agencies can reduce the number of complaints about the industry and improve their own customer service and relationships by improving...
26 June 2019
From: Breaking News

Seven agencies have been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman after failing to pay compensation awards made by TPO. All are...
03 June 2019
From: Breaking News

A lettings agency chief in Scotland says the upcoming ban on agents levying fees on tenants - to be introduced in...
24 May 2019
From: Breaking News

The Property Redress Scheme, one of the two government-backed redress operators for the lettings and sales service, has outlined its work...
23 May 2019
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has released its annual report for 2018, showing that for the first time the value of awards...
08 May 2019
From: Breaking News

A husband and wife must pay joint fines, penalties and costs totalling over £8,000 after complaints about a bungalow they owned...
23 April 2019
From: Breaking News

A buy to let investor has received a hefty fine “for endangering the lives of his tenants by failing to meet...
12 April 2019
From: Breaking News

Today the long-awaited Homes (Fitness For Human Habitation) Act comes into force, pioneered by Labour MP Karen Buck and giving people...
20 March 2019
From: Breaking News

Independent inventory reporting is the perfect complement to the government’s proposed housing reforms. That’s the view of the UK’s largest provider of...
08 March 2019
From: Breaking News

Property management firm Mcilroy Smith has launched a mental health policy for its employees - possibly the first company in the...
04 March 2019
From: Breaking News

Short lets on Airbnb and similar platforms are causing increasing irritation for owners in residential blocks, according to a property management...
21 February 2019
From: Breaking News

A rental platform says it welcomes government plans to overhaul redress for tenants and others in the housing system but it...
04 February 2019
From: Breaking News

Outsourcing. Everyone has an opinion on it and there’s a stigma surrounding it in the lettings industry. But get this…letting agents ARE...
01 February 2019
From: Sponsored Content

The government’s new redress system, announced last week and to be implemented later this year, must be free for renters to...
30 January 2019
From: Breaking News
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There’s been broad support from the lettings sector for the wide-ranging reform of the redress system announced yesterday by housing secretary...
25 January 2019
From: Breaking News
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The council at Brighton & Hove has won an extra £34,820 in public money from the government to help it build...
23 January 2019
From: Breaking News

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme - which was hit by a serious fire at its Hemel Hempstead headquarters last evening - has appointed...
10 January 2019
From: Breaking News

Three letting agents who failed to return tenants’ deposits or pass on rent payments to landlords have been convicted of fraud...
12 December 2018
From: Breaking News

The first-ever pet think tank has launched to address what is claimed to be a lack of pet-friendly rental accommodation in...
29 November 2018
From: Breaking News

A council says it has been preparing prosecution and penalty notices “for hundreds of private landlords that have failed to apply...
01 November 2018
From: Breaking News

A city council has introduced highly specific guidelines as to the number, size and positioning of To Let boards following apparent...
22 October 2018
From: Breaking News

The head of a lettings agency has refused to sign a pledge document put to him by a protest group - and...
01 October 2018
From: Breaking News

Two more lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman as a result of unpaid awards following disputes involving landlords...
21 September 2018
From: Breaking News

An agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman after receiving over 100 separate complaints, and failing to pay over £419,000...
20 September 2018
From: Breaking News

There’s a growing call for more police action over tracing a lettings agent who is apparently missing - as is some...
17 September 2018
From: Breaking News

The landlord of an HMO who subjected his tenants to insanitary and unsafe living conditions has been told he will no...
13 September 2018
From: Breaking News

In our previous 2 blogs we have covered the definitions of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) and what...
29 August 2018
From: Sponsored Content

In our previous blog, we looked at the definitions outlined by the CPRs. In our next blog we’ll look at the...
29 August 2018
From: Sponsored Content

The government has outlined increases in powers it wants to give social housing tenants - but no details of increases in social housing building. The...
14 August 2018
From: Breaking News

A London landlord has been ordered to pay over £13,000 for breaching the conditions of his licence as a result of...
01 August 2018
From: Breaking News

Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme. The first is Bower & Bower (B&B), a sales and lettings...
22 June 2018
From: Breaking News

A survey suggests that 40 per cent of tenants have ‘issues’ with their agents or landlords and when they check out...
12 June 2018
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman has issued its annual report for 2017 and it makes grim reading for the rental sector - there’s...
17 May 2018
From: Breaking News

A local authority has described a lettings property as “a real House of Horrors that put the health and safety of...
10 May 2018
From: Breaking News

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an advertisement by the short let management service Airsorted because the firm was unable to...
02 May 2018
From: Breaking News

Central London agency Portico has removed a property listing from Rightmove after intervention by the Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA received a...
25 April 2018
From: Breaking News

Trade bodies have been responding to today’s report of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee deliberations on the private...
19 April 2018
From: Breaking News

The new sole chair of the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks says he wants the service to be at the heart...
13 April 2018
From: Breaking News

The government has given the go ahead to what will be one of the UK’s largest selective licensing scheme outside of...
15 February 2018
From: Breaking News

The city council in Nottingham claims it has taken action against no fewer than 561 unauthorised To Let boards under powers...
14 February 2018
From: Breaking News

The man behind a leading lettings industry PropTech company says the new Code of Conduct to clean up the rental sector...
05 February 2018
From: Breaking News

The former director of a lettings agency in Plymouth is to appear in court in March facing charges of fraud, false...
31 January 2018
From: Breaking News

Two letting agencies have removed advertisements after complaints were filed to the Advertising Standards Authority. The first case involved LSL Property Services...
17 January 2018
From: Breaking News

Romans’ lettings managing director Michael Cook has given details of his agency’s approach to identifying and responding to sub-letting. Cook says: “We...
11 January 2018
From: Breaking News

Two complaints linked to agency activity have been dealt with through the Advertising Standards Authority informal resolution process. In the first a...
20 December 2017
From: Breaking News

An eviction company called Remove A Tenant has been the subject of a complaint after a Facebook post which implied tenants...
06 December 2017
From: Breaking News

A leading legal expert specialising in the private rental market says the sector should set up basic procedures to protect against...
01 November 2017
From: Breaking News

PropTech company PayProp says the government’s outline proposal for greater regulation of the private rental sector should be treated as good...
23 October 2017
From: Breaking News

Newham council in London has published the UK’s first ever ratings scheme for letting agents, in which firms receive anything from...
18 October 2017
From: Breaking News

A London letting agency with connections to Westminster council is now being investigated by the same council’s trading standards department. CityWest Homes...
16 October 2017
From: Breaking News

The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks says it is not surprised the majority of complaints made to The Property Redress Scheme...
11 September 2017
From: Breaking News

The majority of MPs speaking at a House of Commons debate yesterday acknowledged they are wary of the 'unintended consequences' of...
07 September 2017
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman has expelled a London lettings and estate agency after it failed to honour a compensation payment to a...
24 August 2017
From: Breaking News

The Property Redress Scheme, one of three approved redress operations, says it saw a 33 per cent increase in membership in...
15 August 2017
From: Breaking News

Newham council is to set up the UK’s first letting agents rating scheme to protect residents and landlords from rogue agents. The...
07 August 2017
From: Breaking News

A PropTech firm claims more effective use of technology and automation by letting agents could reduce the number of complaints made...
03 August 2017
From: Breaking News

One of the leading eviction specialists is calling for unregulated companies offering similar services to sign up to redress schemes in...
26 July 2017
From: Breaking News

Council officers discovered men living mattress to mattress inside a run-down flat above a commercial premises during a dawn raid. Police and...
24 July 2017
From: Breaking News

Labour MP Karen Buck is to reintroduce her Private Members Bill into Parliament today - and if it is passed, she...
19 July 2017
From: Breaking News

Private renters aren’t pressing agents and landlords to carry out repairs to their home over fears they’ll be evicted, claims Citizens...
14 July 2017
From: Breaking News

A lettings firm and a property management company that converted a family home into micro flats have been found guilty of...
07 July 2017
From: Breaking News

The annual report of The Property Ombudsman, released today, reveals that the largest compensation award of the year has been made...
22 June 2017
From: Breaking News

Government watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld four complaints made against a Liverpool letting agency. The complaints were made against...
14 June 2017
From: Breaking News

Lettings industry regulatory trade body the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC) has announced the appointment of two new joint chairs...
07 June 2017
From: Breaking News

The Residential Landlords’ Association is demanding that the new government improves the “slow, complex, and underfunded” system which means that it...
23 May 2017
From: Breaking News

Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman redress scheme. As we reported when the story broke yesterday afternoon, one...
18 May 2017
From: Breaking News

Two lettings agencies have this afternoon been expelled from The Property Ombudsman redress scheme. In one case, TPO expelled Lettings Solutions Ltd...
17 May 2017
From: Breaking News

Airbnb has changed details on its website following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority. The short-let platform’s website, seen on December...
10 May 2017
From: Breaking News

A prominent campaigning letting agent has discovered that more than 6,000 tenants in one region alone have complained to local authorities...
08 May 2017
From: Breaking News

A council is warning agents and landlords not to sit on long term vacant properties. The warning, from Liverpool council, comes as...
20 March 2017
From: Breaking News

A landlady has been fined £15,000 for failing to license and manage a house in multiple occupation. Sharon Jacobs was also ordered...
13 March 2017
From: Breaking News

A letting agency at the centre of a controversy following a ruling by The Property Ombudsman has shut its office and...
15 February 2017
From: Breaking News

A fraudster has been jailed after being convicted on nine counts of fraud, theft and forgery relating to property firms which...
09 February 2017
From: Breaking News

Sheffield council claims it receives 2,000 complaints relating to private rental sector conditions each year - and in one month it...
29 December 2016
From: Breaking News

Almost one in four landlords say delays by tenants informing them about maintenance issues in their homes have resulted in more...
12 December 2016
From: Breaking News

A campaign group has been refocussed with the objective of making the government honour its Autumn Statement pledge to ban letting...
08 December 2016
From: Breaking News

The local council in Nottingham wants to introduce a city-wide licensing scheme of all landlords across its estimated 43,000 private rental...
05 December 2016
From: Breaking News

The Advertising Standards Authority has received a complaint about a claim which was on an online letting agency’s website suggesting it...
30 November 2016
From: Breaking News

Brighton and Hove council has failed in its bid to win government backing to ban To Let boards. The council sought government...
22 November 2016
From: Breaking News

Two complaints about an advertisement for a property have been upheld by a watchdog - which has now banned a letting...
26 October 2016
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman scheme’s annual report, just released, reveals that there has been a dramatic 32 per cent surge in the...
04 October 2016
From: Breaking News

On Friday afternoon Letting Agent Today broke the news of four letting agencies being expelled by The Property Ombudsman - and...
03 October 2016
From: Breaking News

Four separate estate and letting agencies have been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman and from registration for lettings redress...
30 September 2016
From: Breaking News

A letting agent who stole more than £400,000 from clients has had her sentence appeal dismissed by judges. Amy Williams, who part-owned Williams...
19 September 2016
From: Breaking News

A letting agency and one of its landlords have been fined over £20,000 and given criminal records for failing to licence...
15 September 2016
From: Breaking News

It appears that Wandsworth Council has backed away from a decision to implement a new landlord licensing scheme. Research by London Property...
08 September 2016
From: Breaking News

Campaign group Generation Rent has returned to attacking mode with an article criticising letting agents’ fees to tenants and effectively urging...
24 August 2016
From: Breaking News

An industry body says agents and landlords who ignore tenants' complaints about damp and mould could be putting their property at...
17 August 2016
From: Breaking News

A millionaire landlord who built an illegal outbuilding at his home has been forced to demolish it after pressure from his...
10 August 2016
From: Breaking News

A landlord has been left with a court bill totalling more than £6,000 after allowing a house in to fall into...
29 July 2016
From: Breaking News

Controversial licensing conditions for a city’s landlords have been changed following complaints from an industry group. Liverpool council has modified the conditions...
15 July 2016
From: Breaking News

Letting agents in Scotland have started to sign up to a new compliance programme which has the aim of stamping out...
25 May 2016
From: Breaking News

As we reported yesterday, The Property Ombudsman has expelled two letting agencies and is warning consumers about the firms, which are...
05 May 2016
From: Breaking News

Consumers are being warned by The Property Ombudsman redress scheme about the actions of two lettings agents based in Southampton. Both agencies,...
04 May 2016
From: Breaking News

A trade body is warning that the government’s new Universal Credit payments could have a disastrous impact on private lettings with...
20 April 2016
From: Breaking News

Three lettings groups have modified their advertisements after complaints were received by the Advertising Standards Authority. The UK Association of Letting Agents...
02 March 2016
From: Breaking News

A former letting agent has pleaded guilty of nine offences of fraud involving the retention of deposits and rents belonging to...
22 February 2016
From: Breaking News

A legal expert is claiming that changes to S21 eviction procedures introduced back in October are not being adhered to by...
08 February 2016
From: Breaking News

Labour MP Karen Buck is accusing local authorities of taking a ’softly, softly’ approach to rogue letting agents and landlords. Buck, whose...
19 January 2016
From: Breaking News

Who are you? I’m the Head of Redress at the Property Redress Scheme. I previously worked for Legal & General PLC dealing...
23 December 2015
From: 60 Second Interview
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The huge increase of social media as a business tool has changed the way in which we communicate with our customers....
16 December 2015
From: Sponsored Content

Another survey suggests that approaching 50 per cent of tenants experience unreasonable delays in getting repair work done - and one...
03 December 2015
From: Breaking News

One of Britain’s largest local authorities has beefed up its powers so it can issue fines of up to £5,000 on...
12 November 2015
From: Breaking News

The number of enquiries concerning lettings issues received by The Property Ombudsman in the past year was almost double the number of...
20 October 2015
From: Breaking News

Labour MP Karen Buck want private tenants to be able to sue their landlords if they rent in what are considered...
19 October 2015
From: Breaking News

Some 88 per cent of tenants say they are unaware of the new law introduced this week intended to protect them...
02 October 2015
From: Breaking News

A landlord whose Home in Multiple Occupation was closed down by the local council has been left with a court bill...
07 September 2015
From: Breaking News

New student tenants have been urged to be vigilent and not fall victim to fake online letting agents and landlords. The National...
04 September 2015
From: Breaking News

Bruten & Co Limited, a sales and lettings agent based in Notting Hill Gate, London, has been expelled from membership of...
03 September 2015
From: Breaking News

A survey of 500 landlords suggest the vast majority want to avoid contact with tenants and instead want letting agents to handle property...
02 September 2015
From: Breaking News

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation period for its proposed Code of Practice for Letting Agents. The proposed Code of Practice...
26 August 2015
From: Breaking News

The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks, known as the AIIC, has announced the details of two new training courses taking place...
25 August 2015
From: Sponsored Content

The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks, known as the AIIC, has announced the details of two new training courses taking place...
25 August 2015
From: Breaking News

Tenancy deposit protection scheme mydeposits says almost a third of its notified disputes between tenants and agents or landlords do not...
12 August 2015
From: Breaking News

The Property Redress Scheme has expelled a letting agency following non-compliance with a redress decision. The complaint regarded a holding deposit. The...
11 August 2015
From: Breaking News

A local authority has refused to issue a private landlord licence after it was revealed the applicant had a conviction for...
29 July 2015
From: Breaking News

A council in an area with one of the country’s largest private lettings sectors says it has launched investigations into more...
23 July 2015
From: Breaking News

Allen & Crane Estates, a sales and lettings agent based in Burnham near Slough, has been expelled from membership of The...
21 July 2015
From: Breaking News

A landlord who did not have the required licence for the number of tenants living in his property, and who also...
20 July 2015
From: Breaking News

An agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for a minimum of two years after failing to comply with...
13 July 2015
From: Breaking News

The internet and rapidly evolving digital landscape has revolutionised the way people buy and sell properties. With some reports suggesting 95 per...
03 July 2015
From: Features

Watch the latest weekly video roundup of news from Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today, featuring stories on complaints lodged...
03 July 2015
From: Video Articles

This month has marked a real change in the way the private lettings sector is perceived - and it’s a perception...
19 June 2015
From: Features

Yesterday we heard about the letter from the CMA warning agents about anti-competitive behaviour. Today, in a scoop for Estate Agent...
04 June 2015
From: Features

An officer from The Property Ombudsman Scheme (TPO) and a member of staff from Northwood recently switched roles for a week...
04 June 2015
From: Breaking News

Earlier this week we passed the official deadline for letting agents to fully publicise their fees as well as providing evidence of which...
29 May 2015
From: Features

OK, you’ve had your fun. Now let’s leave the regulators regulate and work for the public. If you don’t know what...