Archive

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

Tenant groups and charities reacted angrily over the Easter weekend to the proposed changes to the Renters Reform Bill being advocated...

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

Propertymark is joining a growing chorus demanding an annual uprate of working age benefits and Local Housing Allowance. LHA rates have been...

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

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

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has launched a new Residential Retrofit Standard in a bid to help the housing industry...

Propertymark has urged the Sunak government to press ahead with leasehold reform ahead of the Second Reading of the Leasehold and...

Shelter is calling for the construction of 90,000 rental properties each year for a decade - and it claims this would...

A pressure group unhappy about lack of progress on the Renters Reform Bill wants MPs to be bombarded with complaint emails.  Over...

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

Shelter is warning that the government’s failure to abolish Section 21 evictions will backfire and that “renters will remember who stood...

According to the BBC, the Government is no longer committed to increase the amount disabled people in England can claim to...

Legal & General senior executive David Reid has been named as the chair of an influential committee driving forward Build To...

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

Glasgow has been revealed as the UK city with the biggest rise in the number of buy to let properties in...

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

UK Finance has published its housing and mortgage market forecasts for 2024 and 2025 together with projections for 2023 full year numbers. Key figures for 2023 In...

London has seen the strongest rental growth over the last year according to an analysis by lettings agency Hamptons.   The average rent...

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to bring in an emergency ban on no fault evictions and banks repossessing people’s homes...

Propertymark has urged the government to do more to help the country’s most vulnerable citizens heat their homes.   Office for National Statistics...

Homelessness charity Crisis says the long-standing government pledge to scrap Section 21 eviction powers can’t come soon enough. The charity has backed...

The government has launched a public consultation on a radical new UK home energy rating system to replace the long-standing Standard...

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

The total amount of rent paid by tenants in Great Britain this year will hit £85.6 billion - over twice the...

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

Michael Gove’s Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, currently going through Parliament, has won praise from the industry body The Property Institute. There...

Shelter says there are nearly 139,000 children officially homeless and living in temporary accommodation - and it’s blaming the private rental...

Last week’s Autumn Statement - which fell short of expectations in terms of help for the private rental sector - is...

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has used his Autumn Statement to reveal measures affecting both the rental market and the wider property industry.  The Local Housing...

Propertymark has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove to remind him of the importance of regulating letting and estate agents. The trade...

New figures have shown that 2,086 people were found to be sleeping on London’s streets for the first time between July...

The Scottish Greens - who are in effect the architects of rent controls north of the border - have welcomed a...

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

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

Propertymark is urging the government to use next month’s Autumn Statement to support low-income households in the private rented sector in...

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

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

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

At a time when the agency industry is being wooed by new self employed business models, a new survey suggests most...

An industry body - the Property Energy Professionals Association - has condemned the Prime Minister’s abandonment of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards...

An estimated seven million UK households are struggling to keep up with their rent or mortgage payments, Which? warns, with millions...

A leading agent has welcomed the dramatic U turn by the government on how it is to meet its net zero...

Fewer than one in five homeowners support the government’s plans to ban gas boilers in new homes by 2025, with 83...

The UK’s housing market is increasingly driven by older, affluent home owners with younger generations squeezed out.  That’s the view of data...

A new survey reveals that rental properties with an EPC rating below C are already more difficult to sell to other...

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

Propertymark is backing a call for financial help for landlords who improve the energy efficiency of their properties. The think tank E3G...

Financial support from family members - not just parents - is expected to help fund 318,400 housing transactions in 2023, according...

A legal expert says there is too little practical help available to transform the energy efficiency reputation of the private rental...

Campaigning charity Shelter has renewed its calls for the abolition of S21 eviction powers. It says new Ministry of Justice data shows...

Agents representing landlords of HMOs In Portsmouth are being warned by the council that their need to be licensed or face...

TV property guru Phil Spencer is urging lettings agents to prepare for a surge in the number of older tenants and...

A retirement forecast suggests older renters may struggle as demographic and property market figures change over time. Scottish Widows’ annual retirement report,...

Crisis, the homelessness charity, has slammed the government over the growing gap between housing benefit levels and even the lower end...

After a decade of steady growth, the number of older renters is poised to increase rapidly over the next 10 years...

Propertymark has given details of how it believes the Scottish Government rent control system has backfired and works against the interests...

New research shows a 41 per cent reduction in the number of London properties available for private rent since the Covid-19...

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is today charing a crisis meeting of mortgage lenders, as calls mount for him to take action to...

A seasoned property lawyer who has specialised in residential landlord and tenant law for 22 years says she is embarrassed at...

Rising rents mean the share of young people leaving the family home and moving into rented accommodation has plunged, says Hamptons...

The Scottish Government looks set to extend its rent cap for yet another six months, despite widespread opposition from the lettings...

A lettings agency claims eviction powers may actually increase - not reduce - thanks to the controversial Renters Reform Bill. Knight Frank...

The Nationwide Building Society is embarking on an experiment - at first for owner occupiers only - which may be extended...

An estimated 700,000 households across the UK missed rent or mortgage payments in April, according to the consumer body Which? It has...

New government figures show how overdue the government's reform of private renting is, claims campaigning charity Shelter. The charity says the figures...

Financial analysts are unanimously warning that Bank of England base rate will rise yet again tomorrow. If they are correct this will...

A news service claims that in many UK cities there are now more entire homes listed on Airbnb than there are...

A think tank claims one in six young people live in poor quality housing, often in the private rental sector. The claim...

Lloyds Banking Group and homelessness charity Crisis have joined forces in a new two-year partnership including the establishment of a so-called...

Trade bodies have been trying to shore up investor confidence after the latest house price index, by the Nationwide, showing another...

Airbnb says any new rules for short lets in Wales should protect hosts and the benefits they bring to the tourism...

Campaigning charity Shelter is angry with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt over his Budget  While most in the property industry have expressed relief that there...

A PropTech startup called EVO is claiming to revolutionise repairs and maintenance in the “broken” rented housing sector. EVO says it connects...

Exeter council in Devon is promoting a scheme to private landlords by calling it a “cost-effective solution for landlords who want...

It’s been revealed that Propertymark contributed its thoughts to a Parliamentary committee which has slammed the failure of the government’s Boiler...

Citizens Advice is the latest charity to argue for improved housing standards in the private rental sector. It claims that its research...

An estate agency has been prosecuted and ordered to pay £35,000 for falling foul of property licensing rules. Green House Estate Agents...

The rapid recovery in London rents post-Covid has seen the capital’s tenants leave in record numbers, according to new research from...

Ruling politicians in Scotland have agreed that from April private rents can rise by 3.0 per cent in a 12 month period...

Airbnb has come out in favour of a short lets registration scheme across the UK - similar to the one promised...

Demographic data from the latest Census suggests that the Private Rental Sector now provides homes for 20.3 per cent of the...

Over the last decade, the proportion of people aged 24 to 64 living in their own home has fallen and the...

Data from the mortgage lenders’ trade body UK Finance shows the wisdom of agents having a lettings division. The body says: “We...

A new survey has been launched to gather views from people in a major English city on the idea of introducing...

Research released today by Legal & General, a player in the Build To Rent sector, claims that renters are willing to...

Shelter claims government figures show 5,940 households were “threatened with homelessness” in England as a result of Section 21 evictions between April...

Just about every agency that has commented on yesterday’s Autumn Statement are in agreement - changes to Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance...

Labour’s Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, held a summit yesterday about the capital’s private rental sector - but he did not...

Rent rises are predicted to outpace house price growth over the next five years.  This is according to Nicky Stevenson, managing director...

With the private rental sector stressed at the prospect of stricter energy efficiency rules in the coming years, the body representing...

The current supply demand imbalance across the UK rental market looks set to endure as fewer households move across into owner...

Propertymark has issued key points for lettings agents to note following the introduction of The Energy Prices Bill to the House...

A new assessment of the private rental sector by guarantor service Housing Hand suggests that tenants paying rent upfront have a...

There seems to be an industry-wide sigh of relief that Rishi Sunak has become Prime Minister. His coronation marks the end of...

New figures from property consultancy TwentyCi lay bare the challenges faced by the lettings sector. In the third quarter of 2022 new...

The government has released new figures on the amount being spent by local councils on temporary accommodation for homeless households in...

The Bank of England is warning that many households will struggle to meet their rent or mortgage commitments if interest rates...

Lettings agency Knight Frank has partnered with accessible housing consultancy AccessiblePRS to improve access and inclusion in the UK’s private rented...

Build To Rent operator Sigma Capital Group Limited, which markets its homes under the private rental brand Simple Life, claims newer...