Archive

More multi-millionaires and billionaires are choosing to rent super-prime homes in London, rather than purchase, reveals a new wealth report Beauchamp Estates’...

Propertymark has issued a strongly-worded statement aimed at politicians demanding rent controls. Labour Members of the Scottish Parliament have urged the declaration...

Senior Labour MP Clive Betts says the party’s official house building policy won’t actually solve the shortage of homes. Labour deputy leader...

A row has broken out over Section 21 between Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and an all-party...

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

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

MPs have given the Renters Reform Bill its Second Reading - a procedure which means it now continues into the Committee...

A PR exercise has discovered that 89 per cent of UK MPs would not give priority to Build-to-Rent schemes in their...

Propertymark has fired a broadside at Labour saying it must provide agents with a proper court system to handle evictions. Labour deputy leader...

Propertymark has urged Labour to licence letting agents under its plans to ‘fundamentally reform the private rented sector’. The trade body also...

Labour deputy leader and shadow housing secretary Angela Rayner has given her party’s conference an outline of future policy plans. She says:...

A leading lettings agency and property consultancy has revealed that it anticipate stronger-than-expected rental growth this year and next in prime...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is launching its manifesto at this week’s Tory party conference - and improving the supply...

Airbnb has taken the unusual step of buying space on an influential Labour Party website, just ahead of the party’s conference. Amanda...

Westminster’s Labour controlled council is stepping up its war on Airbnbs and other short lets. It was a mandatory registration system for...

The Select Committee that shadows the work of Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is complaining that its...

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

Labour’s new shadow Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, Angela Rayner, says she will put council Housing at the heart of...

The Metropolitan Police has been advised by tenant activists and the London Mayor on developing rule changes for evictions. The changes include a presumption against...

The Green Party - which ran the Brighton and Hove council until being swept from office in May’s local elections -...

A hate campaign against AirBnb appears to have been launched in a Welsh village. Newspaper reports say a sticker reading 'Death to...

An MP says owner occupiers are “scared, unable to sleep at night, worried about their safety and even concerned about whether...

Agents who allow rental properties to be let to migrants who do not have the right to be in the UK...

London Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan is calling on the government to allow him to levy effectively uncapped council tax bills on...

Airbnb has issued a statement responding to the call for a clampdown on short lets demanded by Labour’s outspoken London Mayor,...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has this morning said his government should ‘relax the pace’ of EPC reforms expected from private landlords. In...

An attempt to introducing statutory licensing for Airbnbs and some other tourist accommodation has got a frosty reception. The Welsh Government -...

The head of a consultancy that handles lettings agency acquisition has given her views on what a General Election might mean...

It looks as if the Labour Party is turning its back on rent controls on England and Wales. In the past year...

The Labour-run London Assembly says it is concerned about government plans to allow landlords to house asylum seekers for two years without...

The Bank of England has announced its latest change in base rate, which is used by most lenders to determine interest...

  A council has told letting agents to ‘get a move on’ as it admits there’s been a slow start to its...

There’s another free webinar for agents to learn about the Renters Reform Bill next week. This one is organised by lettings-focussed PropTech...

Two animal charities - Cats Protection and Dogs Trust - have started recruiting MPs to their campaign in favour of pets...

The leader of the council that was rebuffed by a court when it tried to control the spread of Airbnb-style short...

Two prominent trade bodies representing elements of the private rental sector are fighting back against the latest attempt to impose rent...

A new survey reveals that the safety of client funds is one of the key reasons why letting agents look to...

Two lettings experts are set to discuss what the government’s Bill means for agents at a free webinar. Well known property lawyer...

A prominent housing journalist says Labour should fund councils to buy homes directly from private landlords to rapidly increase the size...

Propertymark says it’s going to send a briefing on behalf of letting agents to every MP and member of the House...

A franchise network boss has sharply criticised both Labour and the Tories for their pro-tenant policies. Dominic Agace, chief executive of Winkworth,...

Labour says it will enact a law banning company bosses from contacting staff outside working hours. The Financial Times reported over the weekend that party...

Propertymark has told a group of MPs that many benefit recipients are excluded from the private rented sector due to the...

Labour is considering raising the buy to let and holiday home stamp duty surcharge above the current three per cent if...

A newspaper says Labour is seeking to woo renter voters by allowing councils to restrict new build homes to first time...

The government has back-tracked on its decision to publish the long-awaited Renters Reform Bill this week. The Mirror newspaper reports that “procedural issues”...

Senior Labour figures have come out with sharply opposing views on whether the party backs rent controls. Shabana Mahmood, a senior MP...

A group of activists is trying to raise £15,000 to campaign for local councils to clampdown on AirBnb and other short...

A veteran Conservative is calling on his government to clamp down on HMOs and ensure there is better council regulation and...

Labour’s much-publicised pledge to freeze council tax for the next year excludes empty buy to let properties and second homes it...

The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee meets today to decide on its base interest rate amidst shock at the latest...

Councillors in one part of London are considering asking agents to include ‘green features’ on property details. Camden’s Labour controlled council has...

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

An agent claims that if Labour wins the next General Election there will be what he calls “misguided meddling” across the...

RMT rail union leader Mick Lynch and Labour leaders including Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan are leading a call for an...

A new block of apartments on the banks of a photogenic canal has been given the planning green light - but...

The Labour Party is to launch a major review of the private rental sector, led by the head of a London...

The housing crisis will be made worse by rent caps, two property experts have said. Various activist groups, much of the Green...

The anti-agent pro-renter group Acorn has protested outside some agents’ offices in Bristol demanding an end to rival bids for properties...

The controversial ban on private rental sector rent rises and evictions is to continue in Scotland for another six months at...

The director of a property development firm says Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer must do more to boost housing supply as...

Propertymark has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove outlining its concerns about the latest licensing scheme proposal from a local council. The...

House prices in York - where the local MP is leading an onslaught on the proliferation of short lets - have...

The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee meets again this week with a further interest rate rise likely if base rate...

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

A Labour MP has attacked Airbnb hosts and others in the short lets business, accusing them of “this exploitation of housing...

The volatile economy is forcing small agencies and other modest-sized businesses to put on hold millions of pounds of spending on...

Propertymark has given its backing to a clampdown by Housing Secretary Michael Gove on private landlords - although landlords themselves appear...

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

Labour’s new housing spokesperson, Matthew Pennycook, says his party would go further than the government on the subject of private rental...

A Labour MP has written to letting agents in her constituency demanding they explain high rents and their student allocation policies. Mary...

Another political party is calling for a winter eviction ban as the first part of a reform programme for the private...

A Labour peer who was to have invested £1 billion in affordable homes has halted his scheme because of the threat...

A scheme which some regard as the most controversial landlord licensing regime in the country is coming under scrutiny. Labour councillors on...

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned advertorial material issued by the government department responsible for rental reform and housing. Two Labour MPs...

The man behind a new survey of tenants’ voting intentions claims the Conservatives need to worry about losing support amongst young...

The government may be changing its mind on scrapping Section 21 eviction powers according to a bombshell story in The Times. Outlining what...

Welsh nationalists have called for a rent freeze and eviction ban to emulate that happening now in Scotland. Plaid Cymru, the party...

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer picked on the buy to let and holiday home sectors as targets for future restrictions, in...

Shadow housing minister Lisa Nandy has unveiled a Charter for Renters which she says will be implemented within 100 days of...

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced that stamp duty will be cut.  In future there will be no stamp duty on the first...

A proposal to introduce rent controls is likely to be discussed at Labour’s annual conference, being held early next week in...

The National Audit Office has made scathing criticisms of government efforts to build more affordable housing. The public spending watchdog says the...

A prominent supporter of new Prime Minister Liz Truss has spoken out against rent controls.  Veteran Conservative MP Sir John Redwood, who...

A prominent lettings agency chief executive has lashed out at the “cheap political points” being scored by politicians in Scotland who...

The government is intervening further in the running of Liverpool council, which operates a controversial private rental sector licensing scheme. Housing Secretary...

It’s been confirmed that the controversial Renters Reform Bill will still be introduced by the end of this session of Parliament,...

A Labour MP says the government should introduce emergency rent controls as part of a package of measures to combat the...

Homes in the rental sector are more likely to have old and inefficient appliances for tenants to use in order to...

Agents are being dragged into a debate over whether locals should be given priority to rent or buy, as a result...

MPs on a key Select Committee have been criticised by the letting agents’ trade body for failing to probe how Local...

Within two hours of Greg Clarke being appointed by Boris Johnson as the new Housing Secretary, the leader of Generation Rent...

Birmingham’s Labour-controlled council is launching a consultation on a vast expansion to its existing HMO Additional Licensing scheme. The proposal is for...

A prominent Labour politician in Scotland has made an outspoken attack on the private landlord sector in her call for an...

One of Britain’s largest cities wants to regulate Airbnb and other short let platforms. The proposed scheme in Glasgow follows legal changes...

Comprehensive rental reform requires the buy in and understanding of letting agents and landlords from the outset - and not as...

The sweeping reforms for the private rental sector announced by the government at the end of last week do not go...

Housing minister Eddie Hughes has categorically stated that the government is not considering rent controls in England. In a written reply to...

Last month’s local election results could yet impact on the private rental sector, a prominent industry supplier claims. The Association of Independent...

Agents have reacted with amazement to the latest delay that the Labour-run Welsh Government has announced for its much-hyped rental reform. The...