The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has issued updated guidance to include the recent extension of the bailiff enforcement...
Archive

Letting agencies are being urged to help to shape the future of the rental sector by completing a survey as part...
19 March 2021
From: Breaking News

Landlords and managing agents of HMOs could face unlimited fines following new measures being brought in to strengthen fire safety, the...
18 March 2021
From: Breaking News

A lettings agency in central London has been issued with a fine for not belonging to a Client Money Protection scheme. The...
17 March 2021
From: Breaking News

An agency has been hit with a £330,000 bill after being found guilty of poor management of an HMO. Magistrates have found...
16 March 2021
From: Breaking News

A head tenant who posed as a landlord has been taken to court by a London council. Sonia Nascimento rented a converted...
11 March 2021
From: Breaking News

ARLA Propertymark is reminding agents about the controversial Breathing Space legislation coming into effect on May 4. The new rules are known as...
10 March 2021
From: Breaking News

A clampdown on letting agents who fail to safeguard landlords’ and tenants’ money is now underway. A statement from the National Trading Standards...
24 February 2021
From: Breaking News

A landlord who built unlawful extensions to a family home and squeezed up to 14 people into the rooms has forfeited...
19 February 2021
From: Breaking News

Letting agents have been told to document all arranging, planning and scheduling of work related to electrical checks in a bid...
01 February 2021
From: Breaking News

Earlier this week ARLA branded local councils pursuing private rental licensing during the pandemic as “socially irresponsible” - but one of...
22 January 2021
From: Breaking News

Propertymark has responded to the official consultation on the government proposals called Energy Performance of Privately Rented Homes in England and...
21 January 2021
From: Breaking News

ARLA Propertymark has hit out at a growing number of local councils introducing licensing schemes, calling it “socially irresponsible” to do...
20 January 2021
From: Breaking News

The ban on private rental evictions in Scotland has been formally extended by two months, with a high expectation that a...
08 January 2021
From: Breaking News

It is “extremely likely” there will be an extension to the current ban on bailiffs conducting evictions even after court orders...
06 January 2021
From: Breaking News

A Labour councillor in Yorkshire claims letting agents are not showing the actual properties available to rent when they use virtual...
18 December 2020
From: Breaking News

Today is the start of the official Christmas eviction ban ‘truce’ in the private rental sector - and it continues until...
11 December 2020
From: Breaking News

A long-running case about a house divided up and let out without planning permission has resulted in a fine of nearly...
09 December 2020
From: Breaking News

A lettings agency is in the news because it has asked a student to stop using a specific room in a...
08 December 2020
From: Breaking News

ARLA Propertymark has given a detailed response to a government consultation on how the pandemic has hit the private rental sector. The...
04 December 2020
From: Breaking News

A new assessment of legislation and council rules surrounding the private rental sector suggests a severe crackdown may be coming in...
02 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

There’s been a further tweak to the eviction controls introduced in England for the duration of the lockdown, lasting until December...
17 November 2020
From: Breaking News

Rightmove is to host an anti-money laundering webinar next week, aimed at lettings and sales agents. The event, which is entitled Five...
13 November 2020
From: Breaking News

A new report from the Nationwide and campaigning charity Shelter puts letting agents in the dock over the standards in the...
06 November 2020
From: Breaking News

Labour has written to Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick demanding the return of the eviction ban - even though, to all intents...
05 November 2020
From: Breaking News

It is thought likely that the new four week lockdown in England coming into effect on Thursday will mean evictions will...
02 November 2020
From: Breaking News

A top property lawyer says a recent decision by bailiffs not to forcibly evict anyone in Tier 2 and Tier 3 is an...
30 October 2020
From: Breaking News

The government is asking bailiffs not to enforce court possession orders in areas with the highest Coronavirus restrictions. So although evictions can...
26 October 2020
From: Breaking News

A charity claims that private tenants in the areas with the higher tiers of Coronavirus measures face “harsh enforcement” if they...
22 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 new proposal from the government says agents and portals will be banned from advertising rental properties with non-compliant Energy Performance...
01 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

The lettings industry is today preparing for the current ban on repossessions to be lifted on Sunday with courts to hear...
18 September 2020
From: Breaking News

Ahead of the evictions ban being lifted on Sunday, ARLA Propertymark has written to Housing Minister Robert Jenrick, setting out a...
17 September 2020
From: Breaking News

Landlords operating in England are increasingly seeking evictions advice from their Scottish counterparts, according to property management firm Apropos. The platform says...
15 September 2020
From: Breaking News

The latest announcement from Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick suggests the eviction ban WILL end at last on September 20. However, more concessions...
11 September 2020
From: Breaking News

A council says it's identified hundreds of rental properties within its boundaries which apparently do not comply with key energy efficiency...
02 September 2020
From: Breaking News

A proposed licensing regime in Kent has been abandoned because of fears it would drive landlords away. Medway council proposed a scheme...
28 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

An influential think-tank wants private rental properties to have a minimum EPC rating of B by 2030. The Institute for Public Policy...
20 July 2020
From: Breaking News

Four buy to let investors have each been fined £10,000 for letting out unlicensed HMOs. The unlicensed properties , all in the...
09 July 2020
From: Breaking News

Shelter is calling for stricter enforcement against letting agents in Northern Ireland which it claims are illegally charging tenants fees for...
29 June 2020
From: Breaking News

The militantly pro-tenant Generation Rent group says it’s working with local councils to have a new “tenants’ charter” introduced. The new director...
29 June 2020
From: Breaking News

A property built without planning consent and then illegally let to a family has been knocked down by Ealing council in...
25 June 2020
From: Breaking News

Who are you and what does it say on your business card? My Name is Rob Trotter. I’m married to a vet,...
22 June 2020
From: 60 Second Interview

The next formal review of lockdown processes in Wales takes place today, with high expectation that the housing market is likely...
18 June 2020
From: Breaking News

The so-called King and Queen of Buy To Let, the controversial husband and wife team of Fergus and Judith Wilson, are...
04 June 2020
From: Breaking News

Residents at home during lockdown who may have seen families crammed into overcrowded HMOs are being asked to report the properties...
01 June 2020
From: Breaking News

Government advice to local authorities to sit tight with new licensing proposals during the Coronavirus pandemic appears to have been ignored...
27 May 2020
From: Breaking News

A document outlining options for the future regulation of Airbnb and other short let platforms in the UK is to be...
27 May 2020
From: Breaking News

A group of local landlords and others in the private rental sector are challenging a local authority’s licensing proposals with their...
07 May 2020
From: Breaking News

A raft of measures from government and courts intended to help private tenants during the Coronavirus lockdown may be storing up a...
04 May 2020
From: Breaking News

A leading supplier says the current market standstill is an opportunity for the industry to rethink how short lets can be...
08 April 2020
From: Breaking News

A local authority has postponed the extension of its private rental sector licensing regime - but it’s warning agents not to...
03 April 2020
From: Breaking News

All court possession orders are being suspended from today as part of the changes to the private rental sector to cope...
27 March 2020
From: Breaking News

The landlords’ newly-merged trade body has renewed its call for the government to do more to help the private rental sector...
26 March 2020
From: Breaking News

There is no doubt that the BBC News article in early February caused something of a stir within the Deposit Free...
12 March 2020
From: Sponsored Content

A local authority has taken the unusual step of saying that a £600 surcharge will be added to the licensing costs...
10 March 2020
From: Breaking News

A landlord has been ordered to pay back no less than £190,000 - equivalent to nine years’ rent - after he...
27 February 2020
From: Breaking News

New regulations mean highest risk rental properties may not have legally binding electrical safety cover for a prolonged period of time. That’s...
26 February 2020
From: Breaking News

A London council says nearly half of the Airbnb-style short let properties available in its patch last year exceeded their legal...
21 February 2020
From: Breaking News

Enfield council in London has confirmed that it will introduce borough-wide additional licensing. It is also seeking consent from the government to...
07 February 2020
From: Breaking News

Another Labour council wants to introduce a city-wide landlord licensing scheme - a proposal that would require government approval to implement. Last...
24 January 2020
From: Breaking News

Councils that have been awarded additional cash injections by government could use their windfalls to enhance their enforcement of the private...
20 January 2020
From: Breaking News

A council getting government cash for rental enforcement is using it to introduce a review service allowing tenants to comment on...
14 January 2020
From: Breaking News

A Labour council serving one of the largest private rental communities in the country is reported to have failed to have...
09 January 2020
From: Breaking News

The Labour party has mocked the government’s £4m new funding for councils to combat rogue agents and landlords as “puny.” A statement...
06 January 2020
From: Breaking News

The government has announced an additional £4m in funding for local councils to combat rogue agents and landlords - but it’s...
03 January 2020
From: Breaking News

A dawn raid by enforcement officers from a London council has discovered 17 men sleeping on mattresses in a three bedroom...
29 November 2019
From: Breaking News

Labour’s policies for the private rental sector are “too extreme ... unrealistic and will be hugely damaging to housing supply in...
27 November 2019
From: Breaking News

Labour has given shocking new details of its proposals for the private rental sector including £100.000 fines if properties are deemed...
25 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

The safeagent accreditation scheme says the next government should not scrap landlord licensing as some trade groups have requested, but should...
12 November 2019
From: Breaking News

A leading trade body says the government’s latest injection of funds to help local councils root out rogue operators in the...
06 November 2019
From: Breaking News

The government has given an extra £3.8m to councils to come up with ways of catching rogue landlords - and in...
05 November 2019
From: Breaking News

The Association of Residential Letting Agents and the National Association of Estate Agents have issued their manifesto for next month’s General...
05 November 2019
From: Breaking News

One of the industry’s leading trade bodies has revealed that the number of laws creating an obligation on landlords in the...
04 November 2019
From: Breaking News

The owner of a house believed to be occupied by multiple tenants has been prosecuted by a Kent council for failing...
30 October 2019
From: Breaking News

An east London lettings agency must pay more than £2,500 after a six-foot-high pile of waste was found fly-tipped on land...
21 October 2019
From: Breaking News

Former QPR and Nottingham Forest striker Dexter Blackstock has been fined over £25,000 and branded a rogue landlord after admitting 12 licencing offences. He...
21 October 2019
From: Breaking News

Research by safeagent - the new name for the National Approved Letting Scheme - has found over 130,000 unlicensed properties in...
14 October 2019
From: Breaking News

The government has this week published a learning toolkit for local authorities to help them with enforcement against rogue landlords and...
03 October 2019
From: Breaking News

A call has been made for the best letting agencies and other rental sector professionals to show how they comply with...
01 October 2019
From: Breaking News

An umbrella organisation representing councils is calling for greater freedom to introduce more and larger rental sector licensing schemes, without the...
01 October 2019
From: Breaking News

An estimated 20 per cent of letting agents have still not signed up for a Client Money Protection scheme, six months...
27 September 2019
From: Breaking News

A rogue landlord who divided his three-bedroom home in central London into eight flats has ended up with a bill of...
18 September 2019
From: Breaking News

Last week’s revelation that approaching 50 per cent of letting agents surveyed in London were in breach of the law is...
17 September 2019
From: Breaking News

Landlords in a part of Teesside are to be allowed to operate a “collaborative” licensing scheme after a council backed down...
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

It can be done - a council has U-turned on plans for a licensing scheme for landlords. The move by Hounslow council...
10 September 2019
From: Breaking News

A landlord has been ordered to pay £14,500 after he was found to be illegally letting his property out to 11...
09 September 2019
From: Breaking News

A council has used a drone with a thermal imaging camera to identify illegal ‘sheds’ where tenants are being rented beds...
03 September 2019
From: Breaking News

Some of the private rental sector’s most experienced and respected experts believe it’s almost inevitable that a housing market crash is...
02 September 2019
From: Breaking News

A joint operation between Avon and Somerset Police and North Somerset council has uncovered a string of issues connected with rental...
02 September 2019
From: Breaking News

A Labour council which has become famous for its critical approach to the private rental sector has now been given almost £200,000...
14 August 2019
From: Breaking News

A lettings agent in London has been fined for the third time in as many years – this time for failing...
14 August 2019
From: Breaking News

A rogue landlord who housed more than 25 tenants in a rundown property has been found guilty of serious housing and...
02 August 2019
From: Breaking News

A tenant pretending to be landlord has been ordered to pay more than £21,000 after he carved up five family homes...
31 July 2019
From: Breaking News

The Association of Residential Lettings Agents says it fears the government needs to do more to prevent the possibility of banned...
23 July 2019
From: Breaking News

Local authorities are failing in their duty to prosecute criminal letting agents, the National Landlords Association (NLA) has warned. The NLA says...
04 July 2019
From: Breaking News

A London council wants to extend its private rental sector licensing scheme - and in doing so is boasting of the...
02 July 2019
From: Breaking News

A rogue landlord has been ordered to pay over £60,000 after - in the words of the council - “being found...
27 June 2019
From: Breaking News

A buy to let investor who let out an unsafe and unlicensed property in London has now been hit with a...
21 June 2019
From: Breaking News

Local authority officers have found three tenants living inside a shed in the garden of a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Brent,...
20 June 2019
From: Breaking News

A landlord who illegally converted a London home into two flats without planning permission has been given a prison sentence after...
20 June 2019
From: Breaking News

Two housing organisations have come together to fund a major research programme to improve standards in the private rental sector. They are...
17 June 2019
From: Breaking News

The government has agreed that a council in London where all 51 councillors are Labour should go ahead with a five...
03 June 2019
From: Breaking News

A rogue landlady has been hit with a fine of £24,000 after conning her tenants and the local authorities with a...
10 May 2019
From: Breaking News

A London council has won one of the largest-ever Proceeds of Crime claims from an unscrupulous buy to let investor. Andre Charles Trepel,...
02 May 2019
From: Breaking News

The Association of Residential Lettings Agents says it backs a new Trading Standards-led body which will enforce the Fees Ban starting on...
18 April 2019
From: Breaking News

Average monthly UK rent is now at its lowest level for three years according to the Deposit Protection Service. Average rent fell...
11 April 2019
From: Breaking News

The government has beefed up its support for councils identifying and prosecuting rogue landlords. Yesterday the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local...
10 April 2019
From: Breaking News

Figures given through a Parliamentary answer have revealed just how bad councils in England are at policing and enforcement action against...
29 March 2019
From: Breaking News

A buy to let investor who hid families in windowless rooms after failing to get planning permission for a block of...
28 March 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

A dawn raid on unlicensed HMOs in north London last week were the latest sign of a crackdown on rogue operators...
19 March 2019
From: Breaking News

Hull council has won a legal case in the High Court against a local trade body, the Humber Landlords Association. The claim...
13 March 2019
From: Breaking News

A leading trade body says the argument that councils have insufficient powers to tackle rogue operators isn’t supported by the facts...
08 March 2019
From: Breaking News

New figures from a leading trade body suggest that councils across England have cut by a quarter the amount they are...
28 February 2019
From: Breaking News

A buy to let investor who converted three family homes to HMOs without securing planning permission has been jailed for falsifying...
18 February 2019
From: Breaking News

The Tenants’ Fees Bill has now become law, receiving formal Royal Assent yesterday afternoon - and within minutes, the government issued...
13 February 2019
From: Breaking News

ARLA Propertymark is warning members to be diligent in how they promote the letting agents’ code of practice. ARLA has issued a statement...
13 February 2019
From: Breaking News

Council enforcement officers have raided a house in Wembley, north London, and found 19 tenants paying a landlord £1,000 a week. Brent council’s...
08 February 2019
From: Breaking News
.jpg)
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

A buy to let investor has lost possession of his flat after converting it into an Illegal House in Multiple Occupation...
22 January 2019
From: Breaking News

A controversial Labour-controlled local authority which already has 91 per cent of its private rental properties inside licensing schemes is now...
17 January 2019
From: Breaking News

More than 50 councils across the country will share nearly £2.4m of extra government funding to crack down on rogue landlords. Among...
15 January 2019
From: Breaking News

Councils have been accused of routinely pursuing the most serious enforcement option open to them if they find a local licensing...
14 January 2019
From: Breaking News

The government has made the controversial claim that the ban on the levying of fees on tenants will not produce “significant...
31 December 2018
From: Breaking News

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has revealed that it will shortly choose which local authority will be the...
28 December 2018
From: Breaking News

A lettings agency has been banned from running an Airbnb let in a residential block. It relates to a block in Glasgow...
28 December 2018
From: Breaking News

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill has achieved Royal Assent, meaning that it will soon become an act of Parliament. Put...
21 December 2018
From: Breaking News

A court has ordered a husband and wife pair of buy to let investors to pay back £322,282 in illegal income. A...
18 December 2018
From: Breaking News

A local authority claims that a court decision may set a legal precedent for other councils across the UK using the...
17 December 2018
From: Breaking News

Famous buy to let landlord Judith Wilson has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay almost £15,000 costs for failing to...
13 December 2018
From: Breaking News

A couple from east London who illegally converted a town centre office block into 14 flats have been ordered to pay...
10 December 2018
From: Breaking News

Shock figures released by an insurance company suggest that councils are woefully unable to police new regulations regarding mandatory HMO licensing. Figures...
06 December 2018
From: Breaking News

A notorious rogue landlord must pay £1.5m or risk spending up to nine years in prison after what is thought to...
06 December 2018
From: Breaking News

The National Approved Letting Scheme has published the latest version of its Effective Enforcement Toolkit - aimed at helping councils clamp...
05 December 2018
From: Breaking News

One of London’s most enthusiastic councils for additional and selective licensing has pushed back the date for enforcement action against landlords...
04 December 2018
From: Breaking News

Two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales brought no prosecutions against private landlords in 2017/18 according to research by the...
29 November 2018
From: Breaking News

A leading PropTech entrepreneur says agents who accept that the lettings fee ban is coming and who plan positively for its...
27 November 2018
From: Breaking News

We regularly carry stories about fines for landlords and letting agents who have apparently broken council or national laws - but...
26 November 2018
From: Breaking News

Today sees the Second Reading in the House of the Lords for the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill, promoted by...
23 November 2018
From: Breaking News

A landlord is almost £42,000 worse off after repeatedly ignoring council orders to stop illegally letting so called “beds in sheds”...
22 November 2018
From: Breaking News

One of Britain's highest profile landlords is to be sentenced on December 11 - and she must show the court details of...
20 November 2018
From: Breaking News

A lettings trade body has welcomed extra government funding for English councils to clamp down on criminal landlords. But the Residential Landlords...
09 November 2018
From: Breaking News

Local authorities across the UK are to get another £2m to crack down on rogue operators in the buy to let...
08 November 2018
From: Breaking News

Industry bodies have given their support to a wide ranging review of safety regulations governing the private rental sector. The government announced...
29 October 2018
From: Breaking News

A landlord has been hit with more than £5,500 of fines and costs after he allowed a family with three young...
19 October 2018
From: Breaking News

A property management company which kept up to 23 adults in overcrowded conditions has been fined £7,500 by a council in...
17 October 2018
From: Breaking News

A lettings agent who let a tiny room behind a kitchen in a property in London has been ordered to pay...
14 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

The policy director of the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) is calling on local councils to use the 'extensive powers' they have...
10 September 2018
From: Breaking News

The House of Commons has published a briefing paper on tenancy deposit schemes ahead of the Report Stage of the Tenant...
04 September 2018
From: Breaking News

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

In 2014 The Properties Misdescriptions Act was repealed and replaced with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, otherwise known as...
29 August 2018
From: Sponsored Content

The council behind a controversial private rental sector licensing scheme is trying to justify its introduction on health and safety grounds. On...
17 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

A tenant who was ripping off other tenants in an overcrowded bungalow "death trap" has been fined tens of thousands of...
23 July 2018
From: Breaking News

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has heaped praise on a local authority which has fined 27 lettings and managing agents...
11 July 2018
From: Breaking News

Three agencies have been heavily fined after a property in London was being used for multiple occupation with 11 people living...
04 July 2018
From: Breaking News

Property expert Kate Faulkner says the massive surge in new regulations, legislation and fiscal measures aimed at the private rental sector...
26 June 2018
From: Breaking News

A head tenant who changed the locks on a property that was illegally sublet to no fewer than 35 men has...
22 June 2018
From: Breaking News

A council leader in London, so outraged after a bust of a rogue lettings property, has asked: “What kind of monster...
08 June 2018
From: Breaking News

Today Trading Standards teams across the country will highlight the work they do to protect landlords and tenants from rogue letting...
22 May 2018
From: Breaking News

Who are you and what does it say on your business card? Ben Robinson, Director of Agency Services at Landmark What is Landmark...
03 May 2018
From: 60 Second Interview

The industry has reacted angrily to the announcement yesterday that the Tenants’ Fees Bill is now formally starting its progress through...
03 May 2018
From: Breaking News

The government’s review into building and fire safety regulations is missing the opportunity to assess fire safety regulations on a wider...
09 April 2018
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman is the latest property industry player to throw its support behind the introduction of mandatory qualifications and a...
04 April 2018
From: Breaking News

A council says it is adopting a new approach to proactively tackling poor housing conditions in privately rented homes in one...
04 April 2018
From: Breaking News

A property company that failed to repair a pigeon-infested loft has been fined a total of £31,026, including an order to...
04 April 2018
From: Breaking News

The government has this morning - Easter Sunday - announced a crackdown on rogue letting agents in the shape of a...
01 April 2018
From: Breaking News

A Select Committee of MPs investigating the proposed ban on agents’ fees levied on tenants says the measure could save renters...
29 March 2018
From: Breaking News

A couple who illegally converted an office block into 14 flats have been found guilty for disregarding planning laws - and...
15 March 2018
From: Breaking News

Two buy to let investors have been fined a total of more than £27,000 under enforcement powers introduced in Burnley to...
16 February 2018
From: Breaking News

This is a rare story: a council has dropped a plan for a lettings licensing scheme as a result of 900...
13 February 2018
From: Breaking News

A London council is marking 125 successful prosecutions against agents, landlords and sub-letting tenants since 2016. The authority, Brent, says the convictions...
13 February 2018
From: Breaking News

Trade bodies including ARLA, RICS, NALS and landlord organisations have met with the government to send a clear message - think...
12 February 2018
From: Breaking News

Landlords in Wales who manage their own properties are being reminded that they must submit their licence application to Rent Smart...
06 February 2018
From: Breaking News

The Residential Landlords’ Association has released details of the evidence it put to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee which...
01 February 2018
From: Breaking News

Politicians in London and Scotland are looking at new controls which could be imposed on home owners letting out their properties...
31 January 2018
From: Breaking News

Two landlords and two tenants were fined a total of over £11,000 after losing their appeal against housing convictions concerning property...
30 January 2018
From: Breaking News

The select committee monitoring the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government will continue its deliberations today on the government’s ban...
29 January 2018
From: Breaking News

The chief operating officer of a leading PropTech company says government proposals to increase mandatory licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation...
25 January 2018
From: Breaking News

The chairman of the Residential Landlords Association has written in the Labour-supporting New Statesman magazine about the need for the lettings...
22 January 2018
From: Breaking News

There have been more expressions of support from industry bodies for the Private Members’ Bill from Labour’s Karen Buck MP which...
18 January 2018
From: Breaking News

A lettings agent has been charged £1,000 after telling a new tenant to dump waste left by a previous occupier into...
15 January 2018
From: Breaking News

Buy to let expert Kate Faulkner says tenants should undertake more research on agents, landlords and properties before choosing a place...
10 January 2018
From: Breaking News

Today sees the return of MPs to Parliament following the Christmas break, and one early task is to hear oral evidence...
08 January 2018
From: Breaking News

The new online database identifying rogue letting agents and landlords will save lives according to the London Fire Brigade. We wrote about...
21 December 2017
From: Breaking News

A new team of investigative council officers are hitting the streets of the capital to tackle unlawful nightly letting using websites like...
14 December 2017
From: Breaking News

The owner of a property firm who reportedly misled tenants and let an illegally converted property has been jailed for 155...
29 November 2017
From: Breaking News

The National Landlords Association reports that Bournemouth council has taken the unusual step of rejecting a proposal to introduce a landlord licensing...
10 November 2017
From: Breaking News

A buy to let investor has been fined over £12,000 for illegally renting out a basement underneath an outbuilding at his...
08 November 2017
From: Breaking News

The government has announced that all letting agents will be required to “satisfy minimum training requirements” in order to trade. The provision...
01 November 2017
From: Breaking News

Industry figures have broadly welcomed the latest consultations and proposed additional regulation for the lettings sector, announced by the government yesterday. The...
19 October 2017
From: Breaking News

The powerful and all-party Communities & Local Government Select Committee of MPs has launched a new enquiry into improving the quality...
13 October 2017
From: Breaking News

Letting agency Saxons has been fined more than £3,000 after pleading guilty to the offence of displaying an unauthorised To Let...
03 October 2017
From: Breaking News

A buy to let investor reported to be receiving rental income of £150,000 a year must pay over £340,000 after illegally...
02 October 2017
From: Breaking News

Trading Standards says representatives from 15 departments will today visit lettings and property management firms across London in a bid to...
26 September 2017
From: Breaking News

A dawn raid on a home in north London has discovered 35 men bedding down on mattresses in every room except...
21 September 2017
From: Breaking News

A London council has won its appeal against Foxtons using the term “administration fees” in its lettings charges. Back in 2015 Camden...
15 September 2017
From: Breaking News

A buy to let investor who kept 24 adults and children in what a local council calls “appalling conditions” has a...
12 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 government is being urged by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) to do more to enforce compulsory fee disclosure. Since May 2015,...
06 September 2017
From: Breaking News

A landlord who was found guilty of illegally converting a hotel into 26 flats has been given three months to pay...
06 September 2017
From: Breaking News

A new report identifies in detail over 145 laws and regulations governing the private rental sector, varying across the four countries...
29 August 2017
From: Breaking News

A London council is using dawn raids in its clampdown on illegal subletting and on so-called ‘beds in sheds’ where tenants...
17 August 2017
From: Breaking News

If you think Airbnb and similar platforms have received a rough ride from some UK letting agencies and the hospitality industry,...
09 August 2017
From: Breaking News

A man who illegally housed tenants inside his converted garage has been ordered to pay £173,141 by a court. Amir Golesorkhi turned...
01 August 2017
From: Breaking News

A lettings sector trade body is warning that contradictory and outdated fire safety guidance needs updating. At present, landlords or their agent...
27 July 2017
From: Breaking News

More than 100 criminal prosecutions have been secured against landlords since the start of an enforcement crackdown by Brent council in...
25 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

A landlord has been fined over £15,000 after failing to maintain gas appliances at the domestic property in Haverfordwest. Llanelli Magistrates’ Court...
24 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

Large letting agents found to be flouting the incoming ban on letting agent fees should receive fines up to £30,000 to...
07 June 2017
From: Breaking News

Research by the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) has identified that some 93% of local authorities have failed to issue a...
06 June 2017
From: Breaking News

A family of rogue landlords who crammed 31 tenants into a 'Slumdog Millionaire'-style shanty home have this month been found guilty...
25 May 2017
From: Breaking News

Agents and landlords with properties in Wales have been reminded they could be breaking the law if they're not signed up to...
16 May 2017
From: Breaking News

Agents and landlords are being warned by a property management agency to prepare for the next round of energy-efficiency regulation changes...
11 May 2017
From: Breaking News

A buy to let expert says there should be stronger enforcement and streamlining of legislation in the private rental sector. In a...
10 May 2017
From: Breaking News

A man who rented out rooms above a town centre bar has been banned from being a buy to let landlord...
09 May 2017
From: Breaking News

Letting agents who have broken the law are set to be ‘named and shamed’ by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan,...
27 April 2017
From: Breaking News

The Residential Landlords Association has broken ranks with the Association of Residential Letting Agents by opposing an ARLA-backed public database of...
27 April 2017
From: Breaking News

An east London landlord, who was also director of a letting agency, has been forced to pay out over £235,000 for...
21 April 2017
From: Breaking News

The government’s formal consultation on its proposed ban for fees levied on tenants by agents has been greeted with derision and...
10 April 2017
From: Breaking News

The working group set up by the Department of Communities and Local Government to consider Client Money Protection says the scheme...
28 March 2017
From: Breaking News

A buy to let landlord who converted an Uxbridge house into two flats without planning permission has been ordered to pay...
20 February 2017
From: Breaking News

A letting agency specialising in student accommodation in Nottingham city centre and its director have admitted a series of breaches of...
23 January 2017
From: Breaking News

The National Landlords Association has rejected a central plank of London mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan for housing - the introduction of yet more...
23 December 2016
From: Breaking News

A new report by think tank IPPR supports those who feel the so-called ‘sharing economy’ - short lets via Airbnb and...
09 December 2016
From: Breaking News

The controversial Welsh private lettings sector scheme called Rent Smart Wales had around 65 per cent of agents and landlords register...
28 November 2016
From: Breaking News

The NALS Fair Fee forum - an initiative launched last month - has now set up a working group to consider,...
16 November 2016
From: Breaking News

The Residential Landlords Association has roasted the enforcement policies and provisions for the controversial Rent Smart Wales initiative which begins in...
10 November 2016
From: Breaking News

Councils in eight of London's 32 boroughs have failed to prosecute even a single landlord for providing unsafe accommodation during the...
02 November 2016
From: Breaking News

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has responded to the latest government recommendations for tighter controls on the private rental sector...
19 October 2016
From: Breaking News

Two landlords must pay a combined total of over £300,000 following legal action by a central London council. Westminster council claimed that...
05 October 2016
From: Breaking News

A landlord guilty of breaching a planning enforcement notice has been ordered to pay £700,000 in fines and costs - the...
04 October 2016
From: Breaking News

Two landlord associations have criticised local councils for a lack of enforcement and failing to prosecute criminal landlords. The Residential Landlords Association...
26 September 2016
From: Breaking News

A letting agency has been fined after one of its landlords was found to be cramming six families into an unlicensed...
21 September 2016
From: Breaking News

The newly-elected mayor of Bristol and the city’s council have endorsed a so-called ethical lettings charter created by a group known...
12 September 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

The landlord of a London flat is almost £18,000 worse off and has a criminal record after failing to make renovations to...
05 August 2016
From: Breaking News

Yet another council private rental sector licensing scheme is being drawn up with the claim that it will improve standards of...
01 August 2016
From: Breaking News
29 July 2016
From: Breaking News

A raid on a house has uncovered appalling conditions including a Slumdog Millionaire-style shanty town shack made from wood offcuts, pallets...
29 July 2016
From: Breaking News

A landlord who waged what a local authority describes as “a war of intimidation” against tenants living in his property has...
19 July 2016
From: Breaking News

A landlord who illegally converted a house to squeeze 28 tenants into just seven rooms has been handed a £20,000 fine...
07 July 2016
From: Breaking News

Burnley Council has brought a series of prosecutions against people responsible for unlicensed rented houses in the borough. The council has introduced...
04 July 2016
From: Breaking News

Specialist eviction service Landlord Action has outlined the quickest way to evict tenants under new regulations introduced by the Ministry of...
30 June 2016
From: Breaking News

The National Approved Letting Scheme has created a toolkit which it says will help local authorities tackle rogue letting agents who...
28 June 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

Havering council has successfully prosecuted a landlord who must now pay £101,300 for building illegal flats at her property. Jaghtar Khaira was...
17 May 2016
From: Breaking News

Before new London mayor Sadiq Khan has had his first working day in office, his proposals for a private rental sector...
09 May 2016
From: Breaking News

The Residential Landlords’ Association has revealed what it calls “worryingly low levels of enforcement of rented housing regulations” by local authorities. Using...
29 April 2016
From: Breaking News

Two buy to let investors who breached planning regulations by converting a house into seven studio flats have been ordered to...
29 March 2016
From: Breaking News

An unauthorised outhouse with a concealed entrance constructed at the back of a residential property in west London - one of...
21 March 2016
From: Breaking News

A council has asked agents in its area to tell landlords of additional planning powers taken by the authority which may...
09 March 2016
From: Breaking News

Enforcement officers from Barking and Dagenham council, one of the most active in chasing up private rental sector issues, has discovered...
07 March 2016
From: Breaking News

Landlords or agents acting for them will no longer be immediately criminalised for failing to pick up illegal tenants according to...
04 March 2016
From: Breaking News

A report by the British Hospitality Association appears to reveal the latest estimates of the impact of people who use Airbnb...
18 February 2016
From: Breaking News

The ability of the government to enforce controversial elements of the Right To Rent policy has been thrown into doubt by...
18 February 2016
From: Breaking News

ARLA is lobbying Justice Secretary Michael Gove urging him to consider allowing High Court Enforcement Officers to enforce possession orders without...
22 January 2016
From: Breaking News

The Right to Rent legislation rolls out in February 2016, so all landlords and letting agents in England must check the...
19 January 2016
From: Sponsored Content

Four well-known figures in the worlds of compliance and agency training have joined forces to launch the Property Professionals Support Centre. PPSC...
13 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

Generation Rent, the lobby group which recently narrowly escaped folding because of a lack of financial support, wants the public to...
19 November 2015
From: Breaking News

A previously-convicted landlord has been ordered to pay over £200,000 by a court for illegally converting two properties into flats without...
17 November 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

New funding will help up to 65 councils tackle rogue landlords who let out substandard homes including the hated Beds In...
12 November 2015
From: Breaking News

The specialist eviction company Landlord Action says it is in full support of the government’s latest proposal to crack down on...
11 November 2015
From: Breaking News

A rogue landlord who illegally converted one house into a nine flats has been handed a maximum £20,000 fine after being...
09 November 2015
From: Breaking News

Two rogue landlords who collected rent from more than 30 tenants in five sub-standard houses all on the same street have...
05 November 2015
From: Breaking News

Two unauthorised outbuildings occupied by five adults and a child have been demolished by a London council after a landlord failed...
28 October 2015
From: Breaking News

A landlord has a bill of more than £85,000 for unlawfully letting a basement flat. As part of a council planning enforcement...
26 October 2015
From: Breaking News

A senior Conservative MP is urging the government to give councils the power to issue rogue landlords with on-the-spot fines. Oliver Colville,...
20 October 2015
From: Breaking News

Eviction specialists at Landlord Action are raising concerns as to whether there are sufficient resources, especially at local council level, to...
02 October 2015
From: Breaking News

A campaign has started to enable more eviction cases to be transferred from county court to High Court in a bid...
19 August 2015
From: Breaking News

Enforcement officers have swooped on three addresses in east London in the latest bid to clampdown on rogue landlords and so-called...
18 August 2015
From: Breaking News

Students in rented housing are being let down by a small number of bad landlords and a failure by local authorities...
05 August 2015
From: Breaking News

A couple from Cambridgeshire have been fined £10,000 and ordered to hand over in excess of £75,000 after repeatedly renting out...
04 August 2015
From: Breaking News

Unitary local authorities where trading standards and environmental health teams work to the same objectives are more successful at clamping down...
30 July 2015
From: Breaking News

An amnesty on the licensing of houses in multiple occupation is being held in Barnet in north London following the successful...
17 June 2015
From: Breaking News

The Residential Landlords Association is calling for better enforcement of existing laws and regulations to protect tenants in private rented housing. In...
22 May 2015
From: Breaking News

A property consultancy specialising in licensing regimes for privately-let properties says there have been 580 housing prosecutions in London under the...