Archive

There’s a warning today that office-to-resi conversions - popular with landlords in recent years - are at an increased risk of...

Average rents in London declined during the second quarter of 2021, according to the latest market snapshot from the  Deposit Protection...

High-end lettings agency Knight Frank says there’s been a huge loss of houses available for renters in prime London in the...

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

Rents across the wider London commuter belt continued to rise in the first three months of the year, according to a...

Flatshare website SpareRoom says over a fifth of 18 to 24 years olds have moved back in with their parents to...

One of the London boroughs synonymous with wealth has revealed that 44 per cent of its housing stock is now actually...

Unite Students, the UK’s largest owner, manager and developer of purpose-built student accommodation, has been granted planning approval for a new...

Landlords and managing agents of HMOs could face unlimited fines following new measures being brought in to strengthen fire safety, the...

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

The controversial subject of pet-friendly tenancies has been grabbed by the scruff of the neck by the government. The Ministry of Housing,...

Another major agency operating in central London confirms that the fall-out from the pandemic continues to produce a glut of units...

The lettings sector has softened over the past year as the demand for urban living with shorter commutes has been replaced...

The number of tenants that moved home in London in December was double that of December 2019, according to an agency...

Lambeth council is consulting agents, landlords and others on its latest licensing proposals for Houses in Multiple Occupation. The new proposals would...

A Build To Rent scheme of 322 flats will include a 34 storey tower, it’s been revealed. Developer and property management firm...

One of the largest players in the Build To Rent sector, Legal & General, says it’s to have a second significant...

A collective of government appointed accreditation schemes has called on the government to do more to improve energy efficiency in the...

One of the biggest commercial property operators in the country is to build 338 apartments to rent on the site of...

A London lettings agency has described a £3,600 charge to a tenant as “entirely reasonable and legal.” The i newspaper has featured a...

Some 90 per cent of branches from franchise giant Belvoir believe house rents will rise or at least stay static in 2021,...

One of the country’s major lettings agency chiefs says there is a “massive” change in tenant priorities underway. Michael Cook, national lettings...

Channel 4’s BAFTA award-winning comedy Stath Lets Flats is back on the market for a third season. The agency-based sit-com from writer-performer...

Asking rents outside London have hit a new high according to Rightmove’s latest market snapshot. The pressure comes from record demand from...

A new private rental licensing regime in a London borough is being described as “a major step forward in improving living...

A series of fake scams allegedly advertising apartments to rent have appeared on Zoopla and other property websites. The Edinburgh Live news...

Charnwood council in the East Midlands is proposing to introduce two different licensing schemes for private landlords, with agents and others...

Which? is warning prospective renters to beware scam lettings agencies and scam landlords following a case where £5,600 was conned out...

A law firm is warning that agents and landlords should carefully follow correct procedures if they suspect a rented property is...

Research from franchise giant Belvoir is the latest to show what may be rapidly changing aspirations from private tenants. “The results confirm...

A council wants buy to let landlords with one-bed flats or rooms in shared homes to help it find homes for...

A London council has pressed ahead with the launch of a borough-wide additional licensing scheme despite the lockdown and uncertainty created...

The landlords’ newly-merged trade body has renewed its call for the government to do more to help the private rental sector...

Franchise giant Winkworth has expanded its presence in Reading with the acquisition of a local independent lettings agency. It’s snapped up AMPM,...

A lettings agent has completed a £2.6million property acquisition plan in one city on behalf of investors, and will go on...

A buy to let investor has been found guilty of letting out poor quality living accommodation that was said to pose...

A landlord has been ordered to pay back no less than £190,000 - equivalent to nine years’ rent - after he...

A resident who was unable to access an emergency escape route during a fire was found standing on a windowsill hanging...

The Yorkshire agency Linley & Simpson has revealed more acquisitions of independent agencies as it tightens its grip on the regional...

One of Ed Sheeran’s first massive hits was Lego House. And now, not many years later, it’s been revealed that he’s...

Pet-friendly tenancies of the kind envisaged by the government could oblige some private landlords to quit the sector, it’s claimed. Over the...

Who are you and what does it say on your business card? Catherine Shinerock - ARO Account Manager What is your ‘company name’...

The latest lettings market snapshot by mortgage lender Paragon has found that of the landlords planning to purchase property in the...

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is to overhaul the model tenancy contract to make it easier for tenants to have pets. A surprise statement from the...

A huge survey of students, seeking their views on accommodation, has ended with a question mark over the value for money...

The owner of a Derbyshire property must pay out more than £3,000 after being found guilty of failing to comply with...

A long-term legal critic of selective licensing is warning that letting agents could be held jointly accountable with the landlords, -...

Average UK rents continued to rise between July and September, but failed to keep up with inflation, according to The Deposit...

The cost of renting a room in the UK remained steady during Q3, according to SpareRoom. The country's biggest flatsharing site says...

A rogue landlord who divided his three-bedroom home in central London into eight flats has ended up with a bill of...

As the row over Labour’s proposal rumbles on the think tank Centre for Policy Studies - which has previously argued that...

A London-focused PropTech startup has just won another £7m in funding. Residently manages houses and flats for landlords, letting them directly to...

A husband and wife pair of buy to let investors have been prosecuted after letting out a property that contained serious...

A lettings group says the high-profile struggle performers at the Edinburgh Fringe now face to find affordable short-term accommodation was entirely...

While we wouldn’t be so bold as to say the government gets its daily fix of property news from the Today...

Portsmouth council is the latest local authority to offer to rent properties from private landlords to let out to the homeless.  The...

The 45+ age demographic is the fastest growing tenant market, according to flatsharing site SpareRoom. The website's data shows that the total...

A buy to let investor who let out an unsafe and unlicensed property in London has now been hit with a...

A landlord who illegally converted a London home into two flats without planning permission has been given a prison sentence after...

Private landlords are being asked to consider letting out their properties through the local council.  Slough council is looking for flats and...

The Property Ombudsman has issued a reminder to all agents to ensure they have the correct redress membership to cover the...

A London council has won one of the largest-ever Proceeds of Crime claims from an unscrupulous buy to let investor. Andre Charles Trepel,...

A building expert is warning buy to let investors that they won’t enjoy unfettered rights to extend their properties upwards when...

A buy to let investor has received a hefty fine “for endangering the lives of his tenants by failing to meet...

Savills has launched a new residential lettings service in one of the country’s most successful buy to let and investment locations...

A buy to let investor has been hit with a £4,000 fine plus costs of over £5,000 after failing to license...

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

An 18 month probe by different authorities has led to a £4,000 fine for an HMO owner in the Highlands. The local...

The government says it wants “an immediate change” in the policy of some letting agents and landlords who advertise ‘No DSS’...

Short lets on Airbnb and similar platforms are causing increasing irritation for owners in residential blocks, according to a property management...

Foxtons has given a relatively upbeat assessment of the capital’s rental market in its survey of the sector in 2018. It says...

A lettings agency and its director have been fined a total of £30,000 for failing to licence HMOs and giving sham...

Hounslow council wants its additional licensing scheme for HMOs - due to expire in May 2019 - to be extended for...

One of the country’s major Build To Rent providers has signed a deal to deliver 324 flats in a major city...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents is demanding 'property MOTs' to help landlords trying to meet new energy efficiency targets. The government’s...

Three brothers and a property management company have received fines and a confiscation order, and must pay costs, following what a...

A lettings agency has been banned from running an Airbnb let in a residential block. It relates to a block in Glasgow...

Online lettings platform HomeRenter says its property listings are now more detailed and more compelling thanks to a new ‘property creation flow’...

A court has ordered a husband and wife pair of buy to let investors to pay back £322,282 in illegal income. A...

A new survey suggests that the demise of the High Street for shopping could lead to a surge in the supply...

A couple from east London who illegally converted a town centre office block into 14 flats have been ordered to pay...

A notorious rogue landlord must pay £1.5m or risk spending up to nine years in prison after what is thought to...

A London-focussed ‘rental brand’ called Residently has just secured £2.5m in funding.  Residently manages houses and flats for landlords, letting them directly...

A London property firm must repay no less than £60,000 in rent after a council obtained a Rent Repayment Order against...

A city council has introduced highly specific guidelines as to the number, size and positioning of To Let boards following apparent...

JLL says its London offices saw increased demand in the third quarter of the year, underpinned by the student sector. Lonres data...

A landlord who rented out an unlicenced HMO has been fined more than £22,000 after the local council found five people...

Two private landlords have been found guilty of managing Houses in Multiple Occupation with dangerous and sub-standard conditions, following a successful...

There’s less than a week to go to the introduction of new rules broadening the range of houses including in mandatory HMO...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has issued a reminder to the industry of the need to understand and abide by...

The landlord of an HMO who subjected his tenants to insanitary and unsafe living conditions has been told he will no...

A landlord has been hit with a total fine of almost £40,000 for breaching House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) management regulations. David...

If you’re a landlord who owns a buy to let property or perhaps a portfolio and need to raise money against...

A trade body is backing a call by a parliamentary committee for the government to fund certain fire safety improvements in...

Channel 4’s hit comedy Stath Lets Flats shows the funny side of running a lettings agency but one of the country’s...

A gas safety engineer has pleaded guilty with a landlord of falsifying gas safety certificates for a string of private rental...

A buy to let mortgage firm says it’s likely that there will be a spike in refinancing enquiries as landlords meet...

A newspaper in Northumbria says local police are treating a fire at a lettings agency as a deliberate arson attack. Police are...

A city council is to investigate the impact of Airbnb and other short let online platforms on the local housing market...

The GMB trades union has waded in to the debate over whether rents in the private rental sector in London are...

The Nationwide has bucked the trend of many industry organisations by insisting that the private rental market is still in good...

This week marks a major milestone in Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's efforts to crack down on the capital's rogue letting...

Flatsharing website Ideal Flatmate has passed the seed funding milestone of £1 million. The website - which includes former Green & Co...

A lettings agency has been fined over £20,000 for failing to licence an overcrowded semi detached house in London. The fine was...

A newly built, boutique development of eight luxury Build To Rent apartments has come to the market in uber-fashionable Shoreditch, east...

A property managing agent has been ordered to pay £40,000 following the death of a woman at a fire at a...

The government’s review into building and fire safety regulations is missing the opportunity to assess fire safety regulations on a wider...

A couple who illegally converted an office block into 14 flats have been found guilty for disregarding planning laws - and...

Spotahome, a London-based student lettings platform, has acquired another platform aimed at students, Erasmusu, in a bid to expand its international...

The Residential Landlords’ Association is upset at the government’s confirmation that the extension of mandatory HMO licensing will come into force...

Bristol council is consulting on a licensing scheme which could see buy to let investors paying £1,660 for a five year...

A rogue landlord has been fined twice in the space of two months for failing to provide a suitable standard of...

The city council in Nottingham claims it has taken action against no fewer than 561 unauthorised To Let boards under powers...

A council says it hopes a massive set of fines and costs imposed on one buy to let investor and his...

Homes in Multiple Occupation produced average yields of 8.9 per cent in 2017, the highest of all buy to let property...

The government has announced new minimum space requirements for private lettings in a bid to reduce problems of overcrowding. In addition to...

The government has released more details on long-discussed proposals to tighten up licensing in the private rental sector. It wants landlords in...

Two complaints linked to agency activity have been dealt with through the Advertising Standards Authority informal resolution process. In the first a...

Latest lettings findings from franchise agency Belvoir shows that in the third quarter of this year average rents were just £3 a...

The owner of a property firm who reportedly misled tenants and let an illegally converted property has been jailed for 155...

An industry trade group says residents in high rise blocks of flats are being let down by a system in which...

It is 50 years since the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 became law and now a firm speciaising in enfranchisement extension wants the government...

The typical rent of a prime Home Counties property rose by 1.2 per cent in the third quarter of this year,...

Letting agency Saxons has been fined more than £3,000 after pleading guilty to the offence of displaying an unauthorised To Let...

A buy to let investor reported to be receiving rental income of £150,000 a year must pay over £340,000 after illegally...

A survey of 1,000 tenants in blocks of flats conducted on behalf of London Fire Brigade reveals that almost 40 per...

A Scarborough buy to let investor has been found guilty of two offences under the Housing Act 2004 for non-compliance with...

The local authority in Islington, north London, is attempting to close what it calls a loophole concerning private rental property and...

A landlord who was found guilty of illegally converting a hotel into 26 flats has been given three months to pay...

Consumer group Which? says ‘micro-apartments’ - which have proliferated in recent years - may not be good investments.    The group has focussed...

Planning permission has been granted for a hybrid letting agency and a café bar to be installed - together - in...

A man who illegally housed tenants inside his converted garage has been ordered to pay £173,141 by a court.   Amir Golesorkhi turned...

A lettings sector trade body is warning that contradictory and outdated fire safety guidance needs updating.    At present, landlords or their agent...

A lettings firm and a property management company that converted a family home into micro flats have been found guilty of...

The number of EU nationals looking to move to the UK and rent has fallen in the year since the UK...

A landlord has been ordered to pay over £10,000 after pleading guilty to breaching three separate fire regulations. Charles Thornton was fined...

A management firm and corporate landlord have been hit with a £250,000 fine after a “potentially lethal” flat blaze in London -...

An analysis by investment specialists London Central Portfolio reveals that in areas of central London swamped with new builds coming to...

A landlord has set up a company to handle the ownership and management of buy to let properties - and the...

An east London landlord, who was also director of a letting agency, has been forced to pay out over £235,000 for...

Build To Rent operator L&Q has delivered another 68 homes in part of a drive which it says will eventually produce...

The Scottish Government has opened formal consultation on its attempts to introduce minimum standards of energy efficiency for the private rented...

A body representing 370 councils in England and Wales wants the government to close a legal loophole which allows the conversion...

A landlord who illegally converted a property into seven flats and rented them out without planning permission faces having to repay...

The chief executive of Andrews Property Group says the government’s three per cent additional homes stamp duty surcharge on buy to...

L&Q has launched 59 Build To Rent units on the site of the former Walthamstow greyhound racing stadium in London.   The operator...

Bath is to have a major Build To Rent scheme from Legal & General, believed to be the first development of...

An advice website claims that more than half of the privately rented properties in the selective licensing area imposed by a...

Tenant demand for private rented accommodation is continuing to rise according to a market report from specialist lender Paragon Mortgages.    While a...

A buy to let landlord who converted an Uxbridge house into two flats without planning permission has been ordered to pay...

Imperial College London has paid £30m to acquire half of London’s largest Build To Rent scheme at The Perfume Factory in...

No fewer than 14 ‘pop up brothels’ have been discovered in one seaside town in six months, with all of them...

Specialist mortgage lender OneSavings Bank is the latest to announce that it is introducing stricter affordability assessments for all new buy...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents is warning the government that some of its proposed changes to regulations governing HMOs may...

A building firm that carried out illegal building work to create homes to let has been hit with a £250,000 confiscation...

A landlord has been prosecuted and ordered to pay a £12,000 fine as well as over £12,000 in court costs, after...

Brighton and Hove council has failed in its bid to win government backing to ban To Let boards. The council sought government...

Unsafe gas appliances have been found in 21 per cent of privately-rented flats and houses according to Gas Safe Register.   Investigation data...

A plentiful supply of freehold properties in our cities may become a thing of the past as urban areas become increasingly...

  Beal’s, a 13-office independent in Hampshire, has snapped up another independent in the county, Baker & Elder in Southsea.    Currently Beal’s -...

Two complaints about an advertisement for a property have been upheld by a watchdog - which has now banned a letting...

Another 400 purpose-built Build To Rent apartments have been given the green light by planners in London.    Legal & General’s plans for...

The government’s wave of measures to clamp down on the private rental sector and introduce harsher regulations for investors and landlords...

The landlord of an overcrowded flat which lacked proper fire precautions and had a dangerous boiler has been fined £162,000. Abbas Rasul...

A landlord has received a £5,620 court bill after he pleaded guilty to three fly tipping offences. John Hills - who ironically...

Grainger, the UK’s largest residential property owner and manager listed on the London Stock Exchange, has set out an argument to...

A landlord guilty of breaching a planning enforcement notice has been ordered to pay £700,000 in fines and costs - the...

The local press serving the area of Kirkcaldy is reporting concern about a local letting agent after numerous tenants and landlords...

A London couple have used a lettings website to advertise for flat sharers in their property overlooking the Thames - it...

The investment firm London Central Portfolio says the volume of prime central London rental stock has increased dramatically in recent months...

New data produced for Fire Door Safety Week shows that lower income tenants are more concerned about fire safety where they...

This week those working in the Private Rented Sector are being reminded of the importance of fire doors in rental properties. Fire...

A company operating a number of buy to let properties has been ordered to pay more than £15,000 by magistrates for...

The owner of a series of flats to let in Cardiff has been fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £200 costs...

A landlord’s company has been left with a bill of over £14,000 for letting unlicensed flats in north London.   Appearing at Highbury...

The problem of cannabis ‘farmers’ using privately rented properties to mass-produce the drug is at its worst in the West Midlands,...

An east London council is changing its planning rules, bringing in Article 4 consent before homes in key areas are converted...

The Select Property Group has won planning permission for 506 residential apartments in a prime Manchester city centre location.   The two buildings...

A London council has prosecuted a letting agency that was ’ghost listing’ on Zoopla flats that were not in fact available...

Landlords are increasingly favouring Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and more 'complex property types' due to the often higher yields available.  Mortgages...

Two landlords have been fined after being found guilty of fire safety failings in their rental properties. Both prosecutions were brought by...

Landlords predict that one-bedroom flats will be the property type to increase most in value over the next year.  Meanwhile, two-bedroom flats...

Rent increases in Prime Central London have slowed due to uncertainty surrounding next month's EU Referendum, according to a new report. London...

Magistrates have fined the leaseholders and landlords of a 10-flat property in north London £120,000 after finding they had put the...

Havering council has successfully prosecuted a landlord who must now pay £101,300 for building illegal flats at her property. Jaghtar Khaira was...

Developers of major London developments, including Battersea Power Station, may be considering 'downsizing' apartments that can't sell to make them more suitable...

A letting agent has been jailed after reportedly tricking students into paying deposits totalling thousands of pounds for flats they could...

The head of a lettings company who kept tenants' deposits worth almost £7,000 has been barred from renting out homes by...

A student accommodation specialist is warning about the potential pitfalls of investing in individual student rooms or small pods as opposed...

The landlord of a property in Plymouth risked the lives of his tenants through a dangerous gas boiler installed in the...

International development firm Westrock has given details of what it calls “the first homes designed specifically for rent in a key...

Two buy to let investors who breached planning regulations by converting a house into seven studio flats have been ordered to...

Lettings companies and an organised group of criminals described as a “gang of chancers” have been hit with fines and costs...

The Right To Buy policy “has turned into a rich harvest for the greedy elite” according to a trades union. The GMB...

New figures from the British Property Federation show that there are now over 30,000 Build To Rent units with planning permission...

Grainger - which last week committed to spend £850m on the burgeoning UK Build To Rent sector - has announced that...

On October 6 2015 we published an article concerning Clever Student Lets Ltd, entitled “Agents back political probe into deal between...

Rightmove says tenants serious about wanting to buy could do themselves a favour by flatsharing - and save themselves £210 a...

Q: What does it say on your business card?   Head of Indirect Sales & Partnership Products Q: What does your role involve? I head up...

Almost half of landlords are set to increase their rents in 2016 in a bid to counteract tax changes and higher...

The landlord of a property in Plymouth risked the lives of his tenants through a dangerous gas boiler installed in the...

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

The Mirror has exposed what it believes is a scam letting agency website attempting to get would-be renters to part with...

The government is proposing a national minimum bedroom size and a re-defining of what constitutes a House in Multiple Occupation in...

A rogue landlord who illegally converted one house into a nine flats has been handed a maximum £20,000 fine after being...

A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £400,000 after converting a property into flats without permission. Gilbert Garrick let the...

A London letting agency says a huge rise in the number of tenants with dogs, combined with a lack of supply...

As the Conservative Party conference continues, a leading Tory has warned that "there is much further to go" on removing buy...

The shortage of rental accommodation in some university towns is so great that up to 22 people are competing for every...

Lewisham council in south London is the latest local authority proposing to introduce a licensing scheme - starting, unusually, with residential...

Barnet is the latest council appearing to edge towards increased private rental sector licensing as it enters the final two weeks...

An inappropriate advert for a rental property has been removed from a flat-sharing website. The ad, featured on flatshare.com, was for a...

Nearly 40 per cent of all homes sold under Right To Buy in England have gone on to become buy to...

Agents and landlords who fail to identify and evict tenants who are illegal immigrants face up to five years in jail...

Almost 3,000 investors have crowdfunded more than £6m worth of buy-to-let property on one platform alone since its launch early this...

The publication Environmental Health News has secured the release of files showing the details of hundreds of convicted private landlords in...

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a radio advertisement for Direct Line Landlord Insurance because it has been judged to be...

A Build To Let scheme led by developer Dandara and property investment operator LaSalle is to be the first of its...

Rents in prime central London are rising again after a prolonged period of stagnation, according to property advisers London Central Portfolio. “The...

Crowdfunding platform CrowdPropertyhas now raised a total of £1.43m across four residential property development projects in the UK.   It says almost 2,000...

Whether you are single or a family, looking to invest in rental property or want to lay down roots of your...

A Scottish agent has warned that government proposals to restrict landlord repossessions could negatively impact accommodation costs at the Edinburgh Festival. David...

About ten years ago, I was working as the branch manager of an estate agency based in an affluent part of...