Archive

A property management company which kept up to 23 adults in overcrowded conditions has been fined £7,500 by a council in...

A managing agent who used ‘ghost tenants’ as a front so that she could cram 16 people into one overcrowded house...

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

A buy to let investor that let at least eight people from six different families rent space in his three-storey property...

A London local authority which is part way through its five year additional HMO licensing scheme wants lettings agents to give their...

The Labour-led local authority in Hackney has issued a statement pledging fines or even bans if landlords fail to get appropriate...

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...

More than 77,000 UK landlords will be shelling out a combined £95 million this month, as new occupancy laws come into...

An overcrowded property let by an unlicensed company with inadequate fire precautions and unheated rooms has led to a £46,620 fine...

A lettings agent described as ‘rogue’ by a London council, along with two lettings companies, have been heavily fined for operating...

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

A property management firm chief who had to pay over £20,000 after being found guilty of nine offences relating to an...

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

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

It is now just three weeks until licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) is extended. The new rules, which will require...

A landlord in Reading has been handed a huge fine for serious breaches of fire safety regulations.  Philip Brotherton's company Cresctcourt Properties...

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 Luton lettings agency and its director, plus a landlord, have all been found guilty of offences related to a breach...

Agents and landlords are being advised to check the status of their HMO licenses in the London Borough of Harrow following...

A buy to let investor has been fined £1,750 because of his alleged “aggressive practices”.  Shafaqat Ali Sadiq, of Derby, has been...

A London council has agreed to a TV crew taking part in a raid on an overcrowded and unlicensed HMO. The surprise...

A leading PropTech entrepreneur says lettings agents should be more vocal in providing the government with feedback on council rental licensing...

More big fines have been handed out in recent legal action regarding buy to let investors who have not stuck by...

A London landlord has been ordered to pay over £13,000 for breaching the conditions of his licence as a result of...

An investor has been fined £2,525 after failing to licence her property and allegedly providing inadequate living conditions for her tenants. Adeola...

A petition has appeared on the government’s e-petition website calling for a review of a city council’s newly-introduced selective licensing system. Nottingham...

Three agencies have been heavily fined after a property in London was being used for multiple occupation with 11 people living...

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

Buy to let landlords are on the way out and Build To Rent will dominate the sector in the foreseeable future.  That’s...

A landlord has been prosecuted for failing to comply with Improvement Notices on her property and failing to licence her house...

A head tenant who changed the locks on a property that was illegally sublet to no fewer than 35 men has...

Letting agents and others in the private rental sector have responded to the latest government intervention - a review into how...

A council leader in London, so outraged after a bust of a rogue lettings property, has asked: “What kind of monster...

A local authority has described a lettings property as “a real House of Horrors that put the health and safety of...

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

A buy to let investor has been found guilty of 35 HMO-related offences - and has to pay a total fine...

Over half of mortgage brokers say they have been approached by buy to let investors seeking to diversify their portfolios within...

Council officers staged a dawn raid to uncover an unlicensed HMO in north London. The team discovered 10 men and women sleeping...

West Midlands Police and Birmingham council teamed up to investigate a property in the city which was riddled with health and...

A survey by consumer group Which?, working with landlords’ associations, reveals that 70 local authorities now have selective or additional licensing...

Three one-day courses are being held this year - the first next week - aimed at updating letting agents on changes...

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

The local media in Bristol are reporting that landlords in the city are complaining that they face backruptcy if a hugely...

Three head tenants who sub-let a three bedroom house to 35 men have been hit with over £23,000 in fines. Gheorghe-Valentin Lingurar...

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

This is a rare story: a council has dropped a plan for a lettings licensing scheme as a result of 900...

No fewer than 44 per cent of landlords plan to expand their portfolios before July 2018 despite tax obstacles, according to...

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

A lettings agency apparently trying to get around HMO regulations has been prosecuted for licensing and housing offences.  Easy Let Agency let...

A London council has been the first in the country to use the Proceeds of Crime Act for a breach in...

Student accommodation specialist Unite is launching a new service, called Conker, which aims to replace deposits with insurance schemes for students...

The chief operating officer of a leading PropTech company says government proposals to increase mandatory licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation...

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 Association of Residential Letting Agents and other trade bodies have not yet responded to the government’s announcement over the holiday...

A landlord has been ordered to pay £20,000 after being found guilty of nine offences in relation to a house in...

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

The new online database identifying rogue letting agents and landlords will save lives according to the London Fire Brigade. We wrote about...

HM Revenue & Customs has launched a consultation on adding tax checks to private rental sector licensing schemes - in other...

The director of a property management firm has been found guilty of nine offences of breaching regulations relating to a house...

The landlord of an HMO has been fined £3,300 for failures to meet his obligations, particularly regarding fire safety. At Northampton magistrates...

A buy to let investor who a judge said “cut corners” and exposed his tenants to “significant risk” has been ordered...

A database of rogue letting agents and landlords and new banning orders, first promised in the Housing and Planning Act announced...

A buy to let investor who failed to purchase a £542 licence for his HMO has been ordered to pay almost...

One of the industry’s best known buy to let lenders, Paragon, is combining its Mortgage Trust and Paragon Mortgages product ranges...

A lettings insurance specialist company is warning that students moving into private rental accommodation may pose a greater-than-average risk of fire. Total...

Greenwich is the latest council to make it compulsory for planning consent to be given before converting homes into Houses in...

A property company and a landlord have been fined over £200,000 after being accused of putting tenants’ lives in danger by...

A letting agent named in a case concerning a rat-infested House in Multiple Occupation in Leytonstone, East London, has been fined...

A landlord has been fined a total of £7,298 for operating an unlicensed house in multiple occupation in Oxford that was...

Letting agency Spicerhaart has been fined £2,670 after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed house in multiple occupation.   A prosecution was brought...

A landlord has been prosecuted and ordered to repay over £5,000 to his tenants for letting an unlicensed House of Multiple...

Greenwich is licensing all Houses in Multiple Occupation from October 1 - just the latest London council to tighten its private...

A buy to let investor who kept 24 adults and children in what a local council calls “appalling conditions” has a...

A landlord has been prosecuted and fined for evicting a tenant illegally.  Last week, Suhail Mahmood, 30, was convicted at Sheffield Magistrates'...

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

Council officers discovered men living mattress to mattress inside a run-down flat above a commercial premises during a dawn raid.   Police and...

The Private Members’ Bill put forward by Labour MP Karen Buck, which could give tenants the right to sue landlords if...

Another new cloud software platform - HeyLandlord - has been launched to make it easier for agents and landlords to communicate...

A south London property firm has been prosecuted by a local authority over its HMO management and may now have to...

Landlords continue to look for cheaper, higher-performing properties according to the results of an index produced by Mortgages for Business. An analysis...

Agents and landlords are unwittingly issuing incorrect Section 21 notices, resulting in thousands of pounds being wasted on aborted possession claims...

A student landlord has been fined for failing to obtain the appropriate licences for two rental properties. Lisa Chatfield was ordered to...

A private landlord in Saffron Walden has been fined for letting what the local council describes as “poor and potentially dangerous...

A north London landlord who housed a family of five, including three children, in a cramped attic has been prosecuted by...

A man who rented out rooms above a town centre bar has been banned from being a buy to let landlord...

Greenwich council in London is the latest to announce an extension to its HMO licensing policy. The council is already legally obliged...

The landlord of a west London property, described by a judge as a "deathtrap" and an "accident waiting to happen", has...

A landlord who exposed tenants to “miserable” living conditions because of fire safety hazards has been prosecuted by a local authority.    The...

A property firm at the centre of the campaign against phasing out landlords’ mortgage interest relief says is urging tenants to...

A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £17,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty at St Albans Magistrates'...

A landlord of a shared house in Hove, near Brighton, has been found to be ‘putting people’s lives at risk’ and ordered to pay...

New legislation coming into force today gives local authorities in England tough new powers to crack down on rogue agents and...

It seems prop-tech is exploding at a scary rate, and the latest brands are all trying to grab our attention by...

The landlord of an HMO above a Chinese takeway in Cornwall has been fined for failing to comply with the requirements...

A landlady has been fined £15,000 for failing to license and manage a house in multiple occupation.    Sharon Jacobs was also ordered...

MNY Property Management Ltd has been fined £3,390 for offences under the Housing Act - specifically, failing to buy a licence...

The owner of a house in multiple occupation in the leafy Hampstead area of north London has been hit with a...

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

A letting agency which has pleaded guilty of poorly managing a house in multiple occupation has ended up with a bill...

Annoying isn’t it. You take on a stunning property, agree a compelling asking price and your Vendor is desperate to get the...

A landlord and letting agency have been fined more than £26,000 after being found guilty of housing offences at two properties...

A new task group is being set up to explore how a council can tackle what it calls “problems with private...

A landlord is facing prosecution for failing to comply with various HMO regulations.  For the last two days, Paul Turner has appeared...

A property investment financing specialist says an increasing number of buy to let investors are converting properties into Houses in Multiple...

It hasn’t been a happy Christmas for one London landlord, who has been told to repay £40,000 in rent received in...

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 council believes that a landlord was “putting tenants’ lives in danger” because he did not have local authority licenses for...

What appears at first sight to be a low-level dispute between a landlord and a council has raised what may be...

A Birmingham letting agency and a landlord have been fined £5,590 for failing to obtain an HMO licence and for breaching...

A private landlord has been fined by a London magistrates court for poor and potentially dangerous housing conditions.    Monojor Ali was fined...

At the end of an already-challenging week for the industry, a landlord group has distanced itself from comments made in its...

Lettings guru David Lawrenson has given an unusual perspective on the government’s commitment to ban letting agents’ fees on tenants in...

No decision yet appears to have been taken on the fate of the Renters’ Rights Bill - which had as a...

A major buy to let mortgage provider has eased the criteria to be met by landlord investors who want to borrow...

Fees charged by letting agents will be discussed in the House of Lords tomorrow as the Renters’ Rights Bill reaches its...

A buy to let investor has been fined £29,200 after being prosecuted for 56 offences in what a local authority describes...

The Renters’ Rights Bill - which includes provisions scrapping agents’ fees for tenants, mandatory registration of landlords and limiting the size of...

A 71 year old landlord has been fined £5,037.97 at Birmingham Magistrates Court for failing to obtain an HMO licence and...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents is warning that proposals to enforce minimum room sizes in HMOs in the privste rental...

A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £4,200 in fines and costs for not having a licence for his...

Brent council in London is seeking the views of agents- as well as landlords, tenants and others - on the extension...

Waltham Forest council has enforced an Interim Management Order on a house in its area meaning it will take over day-to-day...

It is feared that Cardiff council will later this week severely restrict the number of new shared houses in two popular...

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 Norwich landlord has been prosecuted “for putting lives at risk” according to the local council.  Piang Fui Pun has pleaded guilty...

Letting agents and landlords are being reminded to comply with an obligation to remove ‘to let’ signs in certain parts of...

Labour councillors controlling Brighton and Hove council are reported to be writing to the government for premission to charge HMO owners...

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

A landlord has been fined £7,000 for letting two properties which were unfit for habitation. Shahzad Mehmood was prosecuted at Swindon Magistrates'...

A letting agency has been fined after one of its landlords was found to be cramming six families into an unlicensed...

A landlord operating in Wales has been fined almost £3,000 for failing to renew the House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licences...

Rent4sure is pleased to announce we are now working with Home Telecom to give your tenants fast, flexible and unlimited broadband plus...

The key lies in improving your customer experience through technology For Agents, the tremendous growth in online estate agents highlights a strong...

A pair of landlords have been slapped with a hefty fine for allowing people to live in damp-riddled rooms without fire...

Student accommodation provider Student Cribs has secured £200m in funding from institutions to expand its portfolio - and it’s looking for...

A landlord who endangered the lives of his tenants has been prosecuted and fined for failing to comply with 16 issues...

A firm has been fined £29,000 after a rental property was found to be - in the words of Nottingham city...

Two training seminars geared towards letting agents operating in London are being organised for the autumn.    Organised by the National Approved Letting...

A private landlord has been jailed after being accused by a judge of "cutting corners" and deliberately putting his "wealth" before...

A rogue landlord faces a court bill of almost £40,000 after being caught cramming 24 people into a house in north...

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

Our latest infographic shows figures of how the majority of deposits are repaid at the end of tenancy and goes into...

A London council will introduce two new licensing schemes in the New Year. These make it a legal requirement for landlords to obtain...

A House in Multiple Occupation located on the third floor of a property with a restaurant at ground level was one...

Two more student houses in Brighton have been ordered to close by a government planning inspector. There have now been four such...

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

A landlord is to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court next week after pleading guilty to seven charges relating to fire...

A landlord who waged what a local authority describes as “a war of intimidation” against tenants living in his property has...

The growth in buy to let mortgage products - rising rapidly until recently - has now begun to drop off.   Products increased...

A new scheme governing the letting out of residential property above retail premises is to be launched in September in the London borough of...

A landlord who illegally converted a house to squeeze 28 tenants into just seven rooms has been handed a £20,000 fine...

There has been yet another prosecution over an unsafe house in multiple occupation.   Syed Masum Ali appeared in Stafford Magistrates Court and...

A landlord who rented out a house in multiple occupation has ended up with a £10,000 fine after pleading guilty to failing...

Bexley council in south east London says it is going to announce what it describes as a “crackdown” on HMOs next...

A legal tribunal has ruled that a landlord must refund his tenants rent totalling £2,934 because he housed them in unlicensed...

A letting agent and his landlord client have been fined thousands of pounds for a number of offences relating to what...

An investment company claims government and councils should do more to stamp out so-called rogue landlords who, it says, are giving...

A row has broken out between landlords and the council in Oxford, where the local authority is considering a private rental...

There was a series of raids on HMOs led by a local authority early one morning at the end of last...

A new report claims that over a third of student property investors plan to expand their portfolios in 2016, despite the...

A lettings agency has been fined over £11,000 for alleged breaches of regulations in advertising an unlicenced HMO that was later...

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

A landlord has been fined almost £25,000 for a series of failings relating to a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). Birmingham-based Salih...

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

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

An Oxfordshire letting agent has been ordered to pay £3,500 and costs of £2,700 for letting a house in multiple occupation...

The owner of a rented property in west London has received a penalty of more than £20,000 having pleaded guilty to...

A letting agent and four landlords face bills totalling more than £20,000 after being prosecuted by Islington Council for operating unlicensed...

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

A 24-year-old from Luton has been jailed after being found guilty of six counts of fraud in relation to obtaining properties...

A private landlord aged 72 must pay £4,800 after pleading guilty to 11 offences of breaching the Licensing and Management of...

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

A council has asked agents in its area to tell landlords of additional planning powers taken by the authority which may...

Enforcement officers from Barking and Dagenham council, one of the most active in chasing up private rental sector issues, has discovered...

Paragon Mortgages, one of the most influential buy to let lenders, has upgraded its website to allow intermediaries to submit applications...

A property company managing an HMO in prime central London has been £47,900. The fine is in relation to 24 charges under...

A landlord who has had previous conflicts with his local council has effectively lost control of his 16 private rental properties. William...

Ealing Council in London is undergoing a formal consultation about a proposal that all houses in multiple occupation within its boundaries...

The government should rein in its plans to transform the way Houses in Multiple Occupation are licensed. That is the view of...

Two landlords of HMOs have been prosecuted for failing to license their properties - and now have to pay fines of...

An energy supply company that specialises in the lettings market has announced deals with three major businesses that allows it to...

A landlord who did not remedy a string of safety concerns about a property he was letting has been ordered to...

A local council has successfully applied for a landlord without an appropriate HMO licence to repay housing benefit - no less...

A local authority has issued a press release branding a landlord as “unscrupulous” after he was ordered to pay £7,300 in...

A local authority is considering introducing measures to prevent landlords turning family homes in one of its conservation areas into HMOs.  Reading...

One council’s attempt to crack down on rogue landlords has been branded a "complete failure" because half of its HMOs are...

The Department of Communities and Local Government has published a summary of the 600 responses it has received to its recent...

A landlord and his letting agent who failed to declare they were operating a series of bedsits at an address in...

One of Britain’s largest local authorities has beefed up its powers so it can issue fines of up to £5,000 on...

The specialist eviction company Landlord Action says it is in full support of the government’s latest proposal to crack down on...

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

A landlord man has been fined more than £20,000 after admitting renting out substandard houses to 30 people without obtaining a...

A new survey claims there is a serious shortfall of appropriate quality accommodation for students.  The research, conducted amongst 500 students and...

There is uproar in Brighton as a result of students being let rooms in an HMO - despite the property’s owners...

A landlord who let a property with serious health and safety hazards to vulnerable adults has pleaded guilty of failing to implement...

A landlord has admitted letting sub-standard HMOs to 30 people without being registered with his local authority. Plymouth landlord John Mayer pleaded...

The landlord of a rental property in Harrogate has been fined over £8,200 after pleading guilty to two offences under the Regulatory...

Three landlords have become the first to be prosecuted by a council - almost three years after the authority introduced a...

A landlord has been handed fines totalling £3,250 and costs of £1,426 for running an unlicensed and unsafe House in Multiple...

The number of buy to let mortgage products has leapt to 953 - an 11 per cent increase in the past...

A landlord has received a six month suspended jail sentence, has been ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service...

A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £7,000 after failing to licence a house in multiple occupation in the...

The private rented sector is becoming an increasingly diverse place. Its growth into the UK's second largest form of housing has...

Who are you? I’m the managing director of Fixflo and before starting Fixflo I worked as a property lawyer in London and...

A landlord has been ordered to pay a total of £8,680 after failing to comply with formal council notices to improve...

A landlord whose Home in Multiple Occupation was closed down by the local council has been left with a court bill...

New student tenants have been urged to be vigilent and not fall victim to fake online letting agents and landlords. The National...

The landlord of a house in multiple occupation is the latest to be prosecuted by a council for failing to licence...

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

Investors with HMOs are better placed than other landlords to combat any financial damage caused by future interest rate rises. Analysis carried...

A landlord reported to have received £100,000 in housing benefit from tenants in the past year is to repay court fines...

There has been a huge increase in the number of investors acquiring Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in the North West...

Newham Council has reported that in the two and a half years since its licensing scheme came into force it has...

A landlord has been handed a total fine of £75,215 for a number of offences, including failing to licence four houses...

There have been angry scenes at a consultation meeting as a local authority seeks to extend its licensing scheme - thought...

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

A landlord who did not have the required licence for the number of tenants living in his property, and who also...

Harrow council is consulting agents, landlords and residents on a proposal to renew its licensing regime applying to selected Houses in...

A student landlord has been sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay over £12,400 after pleading guilty to...

A letting agency that failed to apply for House of Multiple Occupation licences at three properties in Birmingham has been fined...

I don't think there is one person in lettings and property management who isn't alarmed at the scenes just over the...

A letting agency has been handed fines totalling £7,000 and costs of £1,140 after a council took it to court over...

Father and son rogue landlords have been fined for failing to register their property as a house in multiple occupancy. Sabbir and...

A landlord has been fined and left with a bill of nearly £6,000 for overcrowding at his property with an illegal...

An amnesty on the licensing of houses in multiple occupation is being held in Barnet in north London following the successful...

A landlord has been hit with an £11,000 fine after putting his tenants' lives at risk. Javeed Hossain was prosecuted by the...

Some companies pride themselves on being able to accommodate customers of all kinds. “No job too big or too small,” they...

A landlord described as a professional opera singer has been ordered to pay more than £15,000 for refusing to comply with...

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

A landlord in Coventry has been handed a £3,350 fine after a house in multiple occupation under his ownership was found...

A landlord who overcrowded his property has had to pay over £4,500 after being prosecuted by his local council.  The property in...

So, a sigh of relief.  Most agents will be pleased with the election result - even if they are not Tory supporters...

A private landlord who provided false documents and endangered the lives of his tenants has been ordered to undertake 200 hours’...

A landlady has been fined £160,000 and ordered to pay £40,000 prosecution costs for breaking fire safety laws following a fatal fire...

A landlord who failed to apply for an HMO licence despite being interviewed on the subject under caution has now been...

The Residential Landlords Association says some agents and landlords may be required to notify the National Measurement and Regulation Office regarding...

A rogue landlord who rented out a shoddy property in north west London has become the first to be fined under...