Archive

The head of a lettings agency in Kent says it would be a “practical solution” for second home owners to become...

Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities hit back overnight at critics of the government’s Renters Reform Bill. The Bill...

Five Labour MPs have put forward an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling for rent controls - even...

A lawyer says radical rental reforms proposed for Scotland - which could be a model for change in England and Wales...

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

Propertymark has urged the Scottish Government to resolve the country’s ongoing housing emergency. The news comes as Scottish Labour MSP Mark Griffin...

Ukrainians who came to the UK following the Russian invasion will be able to apply for 18-month extensions to their visas,...

A survey of local council private rental licensing schemes says 19 selective and additional licensing schemes and consultations will be taking...

Scottish councils must engage with letting agents and landlords if radical rental reforms have any chance of working. Propertymark argues that the...

Summer looks like it’s going to be a hectic period for lettings agents and the private rental sector according to TV...

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

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has given what some commentators have interpreted as a sign that private rental sector licensing from councils...

One of the UK’s leading lettings agents is bemoaning what he calls “the missed opportunity “ to help the rental sector...

A new report suggests London’s Build To Rent sector is being held back by a “stark inconsistency” from local councils in...

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

A high profile lettings agent has written to his local council seeking information about an Additional Licensing scheme which has expired...

The Scottish Government is proposing to give local councils the discretion to charge Council Tax premiums of up to 100 per...

New directives issued by the government put the emphasis firmly on private landlords and their letting agents to take responsibility for...

A survey of local authorities in some of the poorest areas of the country - bodies which enforce many private rental...

The Nationwide Foundation - a pressure group funded by the Nationwide - says more effective enforcement is required for the private...

A planning committee meeting discussion on an application for 100 new apartments in Manchester turned into a forum for complaints about...

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

Buy to let investors who want to convert family homes into HMOs in Hounslow for three to six tenants will now...

Propertymark is supporting a new Anti Social Behaviour Awareness campaign, calling for greater clarity from government on how agents and landlords...

A long-standing and respected property firm has slammed the government for presiding over the “mess” of taxes applied to holiday lets...

I was surprised the other day to read statistics from the English Housing Survey about how many landlords use letting agents. In...

A left-leaning think tank which says it champions ‘left-behind Londoners’ is demanding a turbo-charged version of selective licensing to be run...

Propertymark has given an insight into how letting agents are likely to be expected to use a new Landlords Database. The database...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove says the long-awaited Renters Reform Bill, first promised in 2019, will finally be introduced into Parliament this...

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

New powers have been revealed to tackle what the Welsh Government calls the ‘problem’ of second homes.  A statement from the Senedd...

Propertymark has hit out at a proposal from a group of MPs that there should be a single Ombudsman covering the...

The activist group Generation Rent is backing a call by MPs for the government to tighten up proposals to scrap Section...

A council says it’s using planning powers to try to control the proliferation of Airbnbs, but suggests the real answer may...

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...

Agents have expressed their anger at the government effectively scrapping any meaningful house building targets. Housing Secretary Michael Gove scrapped the mandatory...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has sent a letter to the Competitions and Markets Authority saying the watchdog is independent - but...

The government is to open a consultation on whether residential properties should require planning consent to be used as short lets...

A new scheme offering landlords the opportunity to lease property through a local authority has been launched.   Leasing Scheme Wales: Gwynedd gives...

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

The first step within the UK to officially monitor Airbnb-style short lets comes into effect on Saturday, which is October 1. Scotland’s...

An accreditation scheme says the government database of rogue letting agents should be expanded.  The government is committed to creating a new Property...

Rising numbers of young people going to university and a relatively low supply of new student housing means that by 2025...

Forty per cent of privately rented homes in England are unlikely to achieve the energy efficiency rating target set to become...

Agents have only four weeks to respond to a committee of MPs’ ‘call for evidence’ ahead of an investigation into the...

Fourteen Trading Standards authorities across a swathe of England are embarking on an enforcement project to check lettings agency compliance.  The Central England...

Speculation in national newspapers suggests that the government is considering giving local mayors some powers over parts of the private rented...

PropTech firm Kamma, which monitors the growing number of local council licensing regimes, has teamed up with an insurance broker. The link...

Local and central government is losing out on millions of pounds of council tax income this year because of the business...

Leaks from government ahead of this morning’s Queen’s Speech suggest that second homes which are not let out are likely to...

The activist group Acorn is lobbying a local council to deny people the right to buy a second home or let...

The chief executive of an online mortgage broker is warning that yesterday’s base rate rise announced by the Bank of England...

A senior Welsh politicians has urged anyone who has fallen behind in paying rent because of the pandemic to contact their...

A Trading Standards team is to carry out what it calls “unannounced inspections” of lettings agencies in one part of London...

Council-imposed fines on letting agents and landlords that fall foul of licensing regulations have risen dramatically in the past month alone. Research...

Campaigning charity Shelter says new official figures show evictions since the lifting of the ban have created a surge in homelessness. Shelter...

Propertymark has taken the unusual step of thanking the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and the Communities for the...

The Scottish Government - which earlier this year suggested it would be clamping down heavily on Airbnbs, especially in Edinburgh -...

A new call has come for government action to stop the hemorrhage of properties shifting from long term rental to Airbnb...

A lack of longer term rental accommodation thanks to the growth of Airbnb and other short lets has led to a...

The chief executive of Shelter says the experience of Scotland shows that the scrapping of S21 eviction powers produces benefits that...

Who are you and what does it say on your business card? I’m Vince Demilio, Sales Director of The Lettings Hub What services...

Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities is extending the regulations for the period of notice a landlord must give a tenant before...

A fund instituted by Airbnb to help compensate for the effects of short let accommodation should be extended, local politicians say. In...

The government has launched an online checker in a bid to avoid disputes between landlords and tenants over the entitlement for...

A new Lancashire estate agency, Jusa Homes, has opened new premises thanks to a £10,000 local council grant.  Julie Hardy and Sarah...

Airbnb, which has been criticised by some for its impact on local rental markets, is to set up its own ‘tax’...

A Labour council in London is taking the unusual measure of threatening landlords with community protection notices - associated with anti-social...

A landlord who appealed against a local council decision regarding the letting of her apartment on Airbnb has lost - and...

Agents are being warned about a crackdown on compliance issues surrounding rental property management. No Letting Go, the country’s largest provider of...

A lettings trade body says the sector - and local councils - should do more to cater for the older and...

A huge trading standards operation clamping down on lettings agents who fail to abide by Client Money Protection rules has been...

A clampdown on letting agents who fail to safeguard landlords’ and tenants’ money is now underway.  A statement from the National Trading Standards...

Another council wants an extension to the existing ban on bailiff-enforced evictions, which is scheduled to end on February 22.  Yesterday our...

Earlier this week ARLA branded local councils pursuing private rental licensing during the pandemic as “socially irresponsible” - but one of...

ARLA Propertymark has hit out at a growing number of local councils introducing licensing schemes, calling it “socially irresponsible” to do...

What’s life-changing, involves months of anticipation, and ends with a big arrival? You might think we’re talking about pregnancy. But research...

A lettings agent has spoken out at a local council landlord licensing scheme, suggesting it might just be nothing more than...

A warning about illegal fees by letting agents has been produced by a local council Trading Standards team.  It has come from...

Letting agencies and landlords are being invited by a local council to take part in what it describes as a “risk...

Airbnb is doing a U-turn with its global leader pledging to slash the number of professional landlords using the platform and...

A £266m package of help to support vulnerable people into long term accommodation includes possible options to use the private rental...

The Irish government says it’s considering buying properties that were listed on Airbnb and other short-let platforms before the pandemic. In an...

London Fire Brigade’s deputy assistant commissioner for fire safety has praised the new safety regulations which have now come in to...

The militantly pro-tenant Generation Rent group says it’s working with local councils to have a new “tenants’ charter” introduced. The new director...

The government has released new guidance regarding electrical safety checks - and there's a worry it may include thousands of additional...

The extension to the evictions ban will compound the suffering of victims of domestic violence and anti-social behaviour. That’s the view of...

A local council is warning the HMO rental sector that tenants may be put at unnecessary risk as a result of...

Residents at home during lockdown who may have seen families crammed into overcrowded HMOs are being asked to report the properties...

A commission investigating affordable homes in the UK has called for annual private sector rent increases to be limited to a...

A council is being asked to prioritise consent to use a property as an HMO during the pandemic, with its four...

The West Midlands Police force says it’s secured what it calls a “landmark court order” against a rogue landlord who turned...

A former letting agent has been censured over the handling of tenancy deposits following an investigation by a local council. Andrew Rhys...

Generation Rent - an outspoken organisation sharply critical of lettings agents and many aspects of the private rental sector - is...

A lettings agency is calling on local councils to tackle the growing problem of long-term empty homes. My Property Box says that...

Officers from a local council simultaneously staged 10 dawn raids on properties owned by unlicensed landlords. All the terraced homes, in Slough,...

The new body representing short let digital platforms like Airbnb and the large number of associated companies that have sprung up...

Councils that have been awarded additional cash injections by government could use their windfalls to enhance their enforcement of the private...

A council is lobbying the government to ask for landlords using Airbnb and other short let platforms to be charged business...