Archive

Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities hit back overnight at critics of the government’s Renters Reform Bill. The Bill...

Five Labour MPs have put forward an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling for rent controls - even...

A statement from a city council claims that a property company failed to attend court in a case of deposit protection,...

Political parties should stop bickering and instead work together to improve the private rental sector. That’s the view of the Lettings industry...

A lawyer says radical rental reforms proposed for Scotland - which could be a model for change in England and Wales...

An influential Labour website says a raft of proposed reforms for the private rental sector will be unveiled next month -...

Property logbook company Chimni is trialling a new form of Digital Property Logbook aimed at the Lettings markets.   The new logbooks...

Agents have expressed their anger at permanent rent controls proposed by the SNP and Green Party politicians running the Scottish Government. The...

Managing agents in London have been instructed to pay a £15,000 fine for operating a House in Multiple Occupation without the...

NatWest Group has announced a new package of what it calls ”targeted lending and support” to help local councils provide more...

A new borough-wide landlord licensing scheme is set to launch in the London borough of Brent on April 1, the council...

England’s county councils want the next government to set out a long-term plan for housing, as a new report claims there’s...

A think tank is urging the UK government to consider tax perks for private renters to help them save faster for...

Propertymark has urged the Scottish Government to resolve the country’s ongoing housing emergency. The news comes as Scottish Labour MSP Mark Griffin...

Owners of vacant properties are being offered an improved incentive to bring their house back into use. Plymouth council is re-launching its...

An umbrella group called London Councils has expressed “extreme concern” at the government’s decision to stop letting local authorities keep money...

Sharpened rules to double council tax on long term empty properties will come into force from April 1, says the government.  A...

Caerphilly council in Wales has bought privately owned properties to provide housing for families who would otherwise find themselves in temporary...

Labour has waded into the increasingly-fractious debate over the Renters Reform Bill. Activists in groups such as the Renters Reform Coalition and...

A building society has launched a pilot project banning mortgage lending on holiday lets in two tourist areas for 12 months. Leeds...

Countryside campaigning charity CPRE has given a warm welcome to Michael Gove’s clampdown on short lets. Earlier this week Housing Secretary Michael...

Respected energy industry consultancy Cornwall Insight says the price cap for the April to June period this year - to be...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has this morning announced wholesale changes to planning and regulations surrounding short lets. His proposals include: - planning permission...

The trade body representing short lets providers and support companies has reacted angrily to government proposals for a radical shake up. Housing...

Ukrainians who came to the UK following the Russian invasion will be able to apply for 18-month extensions to their visas,...

A council that is buying private properties in second home hotspots to let to local people has struck a new agreement...

While most agents remain relatively tight lipped about party politics, the chief executive of Purplebricks has said the Tories should take...

The excessive enforcement of council rules on private landlords while social housing is so poorly run will be ‘the next Post...

Birmingham’s Labour council is considering closing its social housing waiting list to new applicants - and this is likely to trigger...

A survey of local council private rental licensing schemes says 19 selective and additional licensing schemes and consultations will be taking...

The number of private tenants in properties that are hard to heat has fallen, a council claims. As agents will know private...

The government has ruled out any reform to the council tax system. There has been long standing criticism of council tax because...

Propertymark’s property auction division - NAVA - has given ringing endorsement to the Material Information changes demanded under new Trading Standards...

The Renters Reform Bill cannot succeed without proper engagement with letting agents and landlords, Propertymark argues.    According to a Freedom of Information...

Scottish councils must engage with letting agents and landlords if radical rental reforms have any chance of working. Propertymark argues that the...

Seventeen housing organisations have sent an open letter to the government rejecting its idea of prioritising British families when it comes...

Winchester council is setting up its own agency to let and manage privately rented homes. Venta Living pledges to provide “high quality,...

Summer looks like it’s going to be a hectic period for lettings agents and the private rental sector according to TV...

Propertymark is hosting an Understanding Material Information for Lettings Agents on Thursday January 18 from 1230 to 1400. The National Trading Standards...

Agents, landlords and others’ views are being sought in a consultation on proposals to introduce a borough-wide additional licensing scheme for...

A council is considering borrowing £50m to buy properties to rent on the private market and for affordable housing. West Norfolk council...

The UK Apartment Association - effectively a trade body for the Build To Rent sector - is beefing up its top...

A historic former school and hospital building in Glasgow City Centre will be restored as part of a plan to create...

Propertymark is telling member agents to be aware of potential risks and help educate tenants to lookout for common scams, especially...

Labour says it will keep the controversal Right To Buy policy in England if it wins this year’s General Election. This is...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has given what some commentators have interpreted as a sign that private rental sector licensing from councils...

One of the UK’s leading lettings agents is bemoaning what he calls “the missed opportunity “ to help the rental sector...

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

A Labour-run London council is consulting on a new licensing scheme for private rented property.  If it goes ahead it will be...

Low-income renters will get a boost next spring - but a pressure group wants more government help for this sector. The Chancellor’s...

A lettings agency has pleaded guilty to seven offences relating to an HMO. IHomes Letting Limited has been fined £16,970 for failing...

A lettings agency has initiated new systems to ensure there is no repeat of a mistake that left some client properties...

Scores of councils that enforce licensing regimes on the private rental sector claim they are on the verge of bankruptcy. Almost one...

New housing minister Lee Rowley has spoken out in favour of Build To Rent. At the inaugural Build To Rent Innovators conference...

I think we can all agree that the National Trading Standards Material Information reforms are a good thing for the property...

Portsmouth and Southsea lettings agency Chinneck Shaw has been appointed to manage the first purpose-built Build to Rent project from Ravelin...

A trade body representing short lets operators has slammed government housing failures. The Short Term Accommodation Association says it’s analysed local authority...

Second homes in the area of Essex known as Tendring - including popular holiday lets resort Frinton on Sea and the...

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

Another large Build To Rent scheme is in the offing, this time in Devon’s capital city, Exeter. Plans to build 246 BTR...

Propertymark has told politicians that an additional homes tax will not succeed in increasing housing supply. Timothy Douglas, head of policy and...

A prominent housing expert has told MPs that letting agents could be used to police the standards off homes made available...

Changes put forward to the Renters Reform Bill to crack down on rogue landlords, protect vulnerable residents and improve the safety of...

A new report suggests London’s Build To Rent sector is being held back by a “stark inconsistency” from local councils in...

A private lettings agency run by a council is holding open days to woo potential landlord clients. Test Valley Lettings is later...

Propertymark has welcomed the government’s commitment to end the practice of council tax of banding single rooms in HMOs, potentially saving...

A council’s lettings service - first set up a decade ago - says it is stepping up its campaign to recruit...

The lettings agency Winkworth has taken the unusual step of criticising policies of a series of councils. The councils are all Labour...

A council has launched its own social lettings agency to work with private sector landlords in tackling the record numbers living...

A business consortium is calling for bold measures to encourage landlords and owner occupiers to retrofit their homes, with the introduction...

Councils have become increasingly hostile towards agents in recent times, with increased regulation and licensing of the private rental sector in...

Harlow council says it wants to take a harder line against agents and landlords who knowingly let unsafe and substandard properties...

Reapit has inked a deal with fast-expanding PropTech service Kamma to automate information about private rental sector council licensing. This year is...

A charity claims the Renters Reform Bill, which gets its Second Reading in the Commons next week, will help reduce homelessness. New...

The National Audit Office says the government will soon have to take hard decisions on the future for the Homes For...

A PR exercise has discovered that 89 per cent of UK MPs would not give priority to Build-to-Rent schemes in their...

Five councils are delivering what they call “a ground-breaking project” aimed at improving the experience and environment for landlords and tenants...

Labour deputy leader and shadow housing secretary Angela Rayner has given her party’s conference an outline of future policy plans. She says:...

Social housing provider Caridon Property is hosting a series of free seminars to prepare letting agents for the migration of Housing...

A new manifesto calling for rent controls and a raft of other measures is accusing the current rent rises of being...

Parents and pet owners are paying as much as £460 per month more for rent and bills, it’s claimed. The claim comes...

A high profile lettings agent has written to his local council seeking information about an Additional Licensing scheme which has expired...

Local media in one of Britain’s busiest cities for rentals says tenants have been left in tears as a result of...

Airbnb has taken the unusual step of buying space on an influential Labour Party website, just ahead of the party’s conference. Amanda...

Westminster’s Labour controlled council is stepping up its war on Airbnbs and other short lets. It was a mandatory registration system for...

The Scottish Government is proposing to give local councils the discretion to charge Council Tax premiums of up to 100 per...

An agency has been fined by a London council for failing to licence a property it was managing. Gracechurch Property Services has...

Two massive new rental licensing schemes are set to be approved in Brighton - and part of the reason is “uninterested...

Labour’s new shadow Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, Angela Rayner, says she will put council Housing at the heart of...

The Head of the National Trading Standards Scams Team is one of two new non-executive directors at The Property Ombudsman. Louise Baxter...

There’s to be a consultation this autumn about a proposed selective licensing regime in Scarborough. The proposal covers parts of the Castle,...

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

A move to stop HMOs being used as Airbnb or other short lets has been put forward in the westcountry -...

A survey of local authorities in some of the poorest areas of the country - bodies which enforce many private rental...

A body largely consisting of councils wants more controls over Airbnbs and other short lets - and it wants local authorities...

The new Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service - introduced this month - will make possession court case delays even worse. That’s the...

The Green Party - which ran the Brighton and Hove council until being swept from office in May’s local elections -...

A report being considered by a council says one of the UK’s biggest cities could see an 80 per cent collapse in...

The company which owned and was responsible for a five-storey block of rented flats in Bridlington has been ordered to pay...

Letting agents and landlords operating in South Warwickshire are being encouraged to take part in the next industry forum on Wednesday...