Archive

An angry lettings agent has emailed Cabinet minister James Brokenshire to show his disgust at the government’s U-turn over deposit caps. In...

The private rental sector can help reduce smoking according to a report from Action on Smoking and Health, a pressure group. The...

Nottingham council - which recently introduced one of the largest and most controversial selective licensing schemes in the country - now...

A buy to let investor has been forced to close down two rat infested homes he owns in Rotherham after they...

One of Britain's highest profile landlords is to be sentenced on December 11 - and she must show the court details of...

The private rental sector is not fit for purpose when it comes to housing vulnerable tenants, claims debt charity StepChange which...

A council in the north of England has issued its first-ever Civil Penalty Notice on a landlord - and it involved...

The industry’s first property management franchise scheme, SDL Property Partners, has been given a presentation on how members could be key...

Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay awards. One is OJ Residentials Limited trading...

A warning has gone out to the lettings sector to check that rental properties are ‘Gas Safe’ as the colder weather...

The heavy-handed administration of selective licensing schemes is driving out buy to let investors. That’s the claim from David Kirwan of Kirwans...

Two property companies which failed to follow a local council’s lettings sector licensing scheme have been fined a combined £32,000. Owners of...

Industry bodies have given their support to a wide ranging review of safety regulations governing the private rental sector. The government announced...

The government is to undertake a wide-ranging review of health and safety regulations for the private rental sector. In an announcement this afternoon...

A landlord has been hit with more than £5,500 of fines and costs after he allowed a family with three young...

New research may explain why the government and Labour appear to be competing with each other to attack landlords and letting...

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

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

There have been “significant leaps forward” in the standards of the private rental sector in the past four years, but safety...

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

An Essex council claims it is one of the first to be granted a rent repayment order - part of legislation...

Last week Shelter and the National Housing Federation took a swipe at lettings agents, and now Citizens Advice has joined the...

The campaign group Generation Rent is back on the warpath in opposition of Section 21, which it describes as “the leading...

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

One of the lettings industry’s senior figures has welcomed the introduction of mandatory five yearly inspections of electrical installations in private...

Airbnb, the short lets platform that has received substantial criticism from the buy to let sector over its largely unregulated status,...

A buy to let investor has been fined £20,000 after a kitchen fire that occurred in May last year at a...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents says it’s asking its member to get behind Gas Safety Week which takes place from...

A self-employed gas fitter has been sentenced to 16 months in prison after he carried out unsafe gas work while falsely...

All privately-let homes must have electrical installations checked every five years under new rules announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities...

A letting agent responsible for a property in Huddersfield which caught fire and killed two young boys has been jailed for...

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

The latest LendInvest buy to let report, which ranks 105 postcode areas around England and Wales based on a combination of...

There are now well over 125 pieces of legislation and regulations - most introduced in modern times - governing the private...

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

Online accommodation platform Student.com has linked with mental health charity Student Minds in a bid to prioritise mental health awareness amongst...

The cost of buy to let mortgages remain at record lows and - with little movement in costs and rates over...

A consumer group which conducted 30 undercover viewings in five different UK cities claims letting agents are showing potential tenants around...

The lettings market is looking distinctly healthier now than a month ago according to data just released by board company Agency...

Countrywide is introducing the ARLA Level 2 qualification throughout its branch network.  All customer-facing lettings staff who joined the business on or...

A buy to let investor has ended up with a bill for thousands of pounds after being found guilty of breaching...

Outsourcing has long been an effective strategy in business. It enables you to provide a new, improved or more streamlined service...

A rental sector supplier claims huge numbers of tenants are extremely ignorant of the health and safety issues surrounding their rental...

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

The government has announced that it’s launching a review into the requirement for carbon monoxide alarms in homes across England. The review...

A new survey of tenants suggests many know little about essential maintainance of their property, and often fail to check the...

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

A new survey released this morning gives an insight into how tenants manage rental payments and their willingness - in some...

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

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

The government has set out new measures to mitigate against overcrowded and dangerous living conditions of private tenants in shared homes. From...

The new leader of the Labour party in Scotland says his party will introduce “stringent” rent controls if it gains power...

Oxford’s Labour council has given its support to a lettings review website because it claims it will help drive up the...

The sittings of the select committee looking into government proposals to ban letting agents’ fees levied on tenants resume this week...

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

It is being reported that the Labour mayor of Newham council - that’s the authority which has introduced stricter controls on...

High end agency Strutt & Parker is warning that older properties in prime central London are getting harder to let, with...

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

Agents and landlords with responsibilities to ensure gas checks are carried out in private rental properties may have more flexibility over...

A fine of over £29,000 has been imposed on an absentee landlord whose property was said to have put tenants’ lives...

The government has taken the unusual step of working with a Labour MP to ensure her Private Members Bill can become...

In an unusual move the government has today, Sunday, announced that it wants tenants to have the right to take legal...

ARLA and NAEA Propertymark have introduced a raft of deals in a bid to save agents money.  Membership subscription fees will remain...

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

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

The local authority at Brent in north London has secured what it calls “an important court victory” after “appalling conditions” were...

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...

There has been a record number of new student accommodation bed spaces delivered in 2017, with possible consequences for future buy...

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

Research by independent fact-checking organisation Full Fact has revealed that there are 12 local authority areas in the UK where a...

A report on progress into the Suzy Lamplugh Trust’s new code - introduced precisely a year ago - suggests more still...

A new app has been launched with the aim of offering extra security to lettings and estate agents and other sole...

Yet another formal government consultation is under way, this time into smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in the private rental sector...

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

Four people are treated for carbon monoxide poisoning in the UK every day - but 58 per cent of the population...

The Law Society Gazette has given more details of a Parliamentary Bill in preparation to give more powers to tenants to...

Almost a third of renters in the UK do not have a life-saving carbon monoxide alarm in their property, with four...

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

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has welcomed the government commitment to introduce regulation for agencies - but it is warning...

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

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

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

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

NALS is urging letting agents and other property professionals to get behind Gas Safety Week, which runs until Friday,.    It says thousands...

The Nationwide Building Society says it is assembling what it calls ‘an industry alliance’ to support the increasingly-beleaguered private rental sector.   The...

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

A landlord from Cornwall has been fined after failing to maintain gas appliances at his rental properties in Launceston.   Truro Crown Court...

ARLA Propertymark says letting and managing agents should be aware that they can raise ‘safeguarding alerts’ if they are concerned about...

The boss of a lettings agency in London says there is a need for the private rental sector to become more professional...

A London council is using dawn raids in its clampdown on illegal subletting and on so-called ‘beds in sheds’ where tenants...

More than half of buy to let landlords have taken measures to check the fire safety of their properties in the...

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

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

The findings of the most recent English Housing Survey, an annual report published by the Department for Communities and Local Government,...

A minister at the Departrment of Communities and Local Government has set out the government’s position in terms of the fire-related...

The BBC is reporting that the Welsh government is offering private buy to let investors who have properties in high-rise buildings...

The Residential Landlords Association is urging checks on white goods in privately rented homes following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.    The association is...

The latest Kent Reliance Buy to Let Britain report - seen as a snapshot of the state of health of the...

Two landlords have been fined almost £14,000 for breaching a multitude of property management regulations. Abdul Qadir, 56, and Dr Mohammed Anwar,...

Large letting agents found to be flouting the incoming ban on letting agent fees should receive fines up to £30,000 to...

A Newport landlord has been fined £4,400 for operating a dangerous, unlicensed house in multiple occupation and failing to comply with...

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

New research shows that the image of tenants with fractious relationships with their letting agents or landlords is generally untrue. No fewer than...

The Fair Fees Forum, originally established before the proposal to ban letting agents’ fees imposed on tenants in England, now says...

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

Labour says there would be a ‘consumer rights revolution’ for the private rental sector if the party won the June 8...

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

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

The director of a letting agency in Devon has been released on bail until June 2.   In November and December, Letting Agent...

The National Approved Letting Scheme is linking with legal firm Moore Blatch to offer member agents access to a free legal...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has given a stark warning about the cumulative effect of the additional homes stamp duty...

The government has announced in its Housing White Paper that it is still “working with industry experts” to consider whether Client...

Specialist insurer Direct Line for Business is warning agents and landlords that while winter has so far been relatively mild, February...

Now Northern Ireland appears to be in the frame for substantial changes to the private rental sector according to the Association...

A landlord has been prosecuted and fined for failure to comply with two Improvement Notices “resulting in a catalogue of health...

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

A local newspaper says a Plymouth lettings agent has been arrested by police on suspicion of theft, fraud and money laundering.    Last...

Letting Agent Today has been contacted by the Council of Gas Detection and Environmental Monitoring - the trade association for gas...

The landlord of a property risked the lives of his tenants and their young family by not undertaking annual safety checks...

The government has launched an official consultation process on a package of measures to crack down on what it calls ‘rogue...

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

A health and safety product manufacturer is issuing a warning about the dangers of carbon monoxide alarms, citing figures that up...

A campaign group has been refocussed with the objective of making the government honour its Autumn Statement pledge to ban letting...

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

One of the UK’s largest local government pension schemes has committed £100m to invest in the fast-growing Build To Rent sector.   The...

A letting agent whose office closure prompted a police investigation has issued a statement saying she has had a stroke.   The agency, Drake...

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

The Advertising Standards Authority has received a complaint about a claim which was on an online letting agency’s website suggesting it...

Lettings expert Kate Faulkner says yields - a traditional long-standing measure of success for buy to let landlords - are becoming...

Damp and mould can mean big problems for landlords, letting agents and tenants. It can cause stress and even health issues...

A landlord has been given a suspended prison sentence following his failure to maintain or check the gas fittings in one of his properties. A...

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

A trade body has accused some letting agents and landlords of “failing to get to grips” with several recent legal changes...

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'...

An MP has written to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, raising concerns over the effect short-term lets regulations are having...

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

The London division of Jackson-Stops & Staff has launched a new residential corporate services department for corporate tenants looking to relocate...

A 35-year-old self-employed worker from London has been given two suspended jail terms for falsely claiming to be Gas Safe Registered and signing off certificates for privately...

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

Property managers operating through a company have been ordered to pay more than £30,000 following a dawn raid that uncovered more...

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

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

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

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...

The Daily Telegraph - an outspoken critic of George Osborne’s fiscal changes aimed at extracting more money from the buy to...

The Supreme Court has ruled that rights to a private and family life need not get in the way of legitimate...

There were 3,100 fewer private rental households in serious rent arrears in the first quarter of this year compared to the...

The exemption of residential property from the new Capital Gains Tax cuts tops the list of concerns expressed by professional landlords...

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

A new free online course has been launched to help letting agents understand the importance of regular electrical safety checks. The Electrical...

At first sight this looks distinctly like undercutting the local market - a farmhouse, glorious countryside and coastal views, some 900...

Investors and landlords are putting tenants’ lives at risk and could face a substantial fine for flouting gas safety law, according...

Q: What does it say on your business card? Director of Business Development Q: Who are PayProp? PayProp is an automated payment and reconciliation...

A leading trade body says it’s time for the private rental sector to take gas safety more seriously following a spate...

An ‘ethical lettings charter’ set up over a year ago by a pressure group for improved private rental sector housing has...

A buy to let investment search portal has produced an interactive map based on a pull-together of research into the lettings market...

A landlord has received a suspended six month prison sentence after he ignored repeated warnings about arranging an annual gas safety...

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

An unregistered gas fitter has been received a suspended prison sentence for illegally installing a gas boiler and undertaking landlord’s gas...

A London landlord has been given an eight week suspended prison sentence after failing to have a gas boiler in a...

Millions of people remain at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning despite the recent legislation aimed at protecting private tenants, a new...

A buy to let landlord in Stockton-on-Tees, has been sentenced after illegally uncapping and reconnecting a gas supply. Teeside Magistrates’ Court heard...

The operators of the Gas Safe registration scheme and a pivate rental sector lettings organisation are joining forces to promote gas...

Who are you? Jen Paice What does it say on your business card? Chief executive of SafeDeposits Scotland What does SafeDeposits Scotland do? We are...

A report by the British Hospitality Association appears to reveal the latest estimates of the impact of people who use Airbnb...

A private landlord has been prosecuted after failing to provide gas safety certificates for two rented properties.  Harrogate Magistrates’ Court heard that...

It’s not been a happy Christmas for a Leicestershire landlord who has been banned from renting out a converted garage after...

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

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

A landlord and restaurateur has to pay almost £5,000 after an apartment he was letting out was found to be overcrowded...

The popularity of buy to let continues to soar according to data analysts Moneyfacts, despite a raft of new regulations coming...

A landlord has been fined after a family of five suffered carbon monoxide poisoning at their rented home. North Avon Magistrates’ Court...

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

The controversial changes to landlords’ mortgage interest tax relief and to the wear and tear allowance “have failed to dampen the...

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

A series of raids on privately let properties in the westcountry appear to have taken place as a way of holding...

Select, the trade body for Scotland's electrical sector, is reminding agents and landlords that from December 1 there must be five-yearly electrical...

A survey of house- and flat-share private tenants shows 15 per cent claiming not to have a working smoke alarm in...

A rogue landlord has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £3,343 costs as well as a victim surcharge of £120...

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 been fined a meagre £265 after a defective gas appliance was found to be in operation at his...

The Resort Group, the developer of the all-suite Llana Beach Hotel and Spa, which is due to open in 2016, has...

It’s been a bad weekend for the image of the private rental sector with a series of reports and press stories...

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

A mortgage chief has spelled out what many in the rental sector already know - that the new laws, rules and...

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

Kings Group has won a £2,500 award for its speed and thoroughness in informing landlords of the need to comply with...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents says it strongly supports new health and safety legislation coming into effect today - but...

A property management firm is warning letting agents and landlords to fulfil their responsibilities to protect tenants from Legionnaires’ disease. Despite laws...

The Liberal Democrat party says it will use its members in the House of Lords to try to block the government's...

A landlord who rented out a property with no hot water and poor heating, leading to a council having to rehouse...

A property solicitors’ practice says buy to let investors who intend using their property to fund some, or all, of their...

As if to prove the lettings industry’s concern over a lack of publicity for upcoming health and safety regulation changes, a...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents is stepping up its advice to agents head of Gas Safety Week on September 14-20,...

A mother and her young son were put at risk of suffering carbon monoxide poisoning for seven years at their home,...

Letting agents and property managers of blocks with fire doors are being urged to take their responsibilities more seriously. The warning comes...

A lettings agency has issued a warning to tenants to protect themselves following a claim that the city in which it...

Generation Rent - the campaign group that needs £60,000 to continue operating beyond the end of August - has renewed its...

Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham is the latest to say he would consider rent controls in the private sector if he...

Around 445,000 smoke alarms and 40,000 carbon monoxide alarms have now been issued to the 46 fire and rescue authorities in...

Students in rented housing are being let down by a small number of bad landlords and a failure by local authorities...

Unitary local authorities where trading standards and environmental health teams work to the same objectives are more successful at clamping down...

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...

Yet another council is proposing a licence on properties let out in the private rental sector - this time suggesting one...

The changes to tax relief for landlords comes on top of a blizzard of new health and safety requirements, regulations and...

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

A long-time safety campaigner is reminding agents and landlords that from October 1 the new Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England)...

Free seminars are being arranged to help letting agents get to grips with the legalities and praticalities of assessing legionella risk...

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

A kit explaining how homes to let can be made more secure and legally-compliant has been launched by the Residential Landlords...

As estate agents, business people and just plain people for that matter, we can't help looking at the way our society...

Letting agents and landlords are being warned that properties under their control meet regulations to prevent an outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease. The...

The Residential Landlords Association is calling for better enforcement of existing laws and regulations to protect tenants in private rented housing. In...

The Citizens Advice organisation has returned to the attack on the private rental sector, accusing rogue landlords of raking in £5.6...

This week RICS reported a further drop in the number of people putting their homes up for sale; new instructions fell...

A landlord has been left with a £1,600 bill for failing to comply with an improvement notice over a four year...

A group of renters who have formed the Acorn group in Bristol - which has already held protests against letting agents...

The Residential Landlords Association says it has “deep concerns” over the Panorama programme broadcast early this week claiming that landlords were...

We can guarantee both yours and your staff’s time will be stretched as soon as your offices open next Monday morning,...