Archive

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,...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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

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

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...

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...

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...

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

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

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

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...

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 leading agency in a part of the UK where local government wants to clamp down on the spread of Airbnb...

The Association of Residential Lettings Agents has thrown its weight behind an initiative by the Scottish Government to control the growth...

The government has announced an additional £4m in funding for local councils to combat rogue agents and landlords - but it’s...

The Liberal Democrats is the first of the major parties to release its party manifesto for the December 12 manifesto, and...

A leading trade body says the government’s latest injection of funds to help local councils root out rogue operators in the...

High profile eviction company Landlord Action says as many as 50 per cent of Section 21 cases it handles involve tenants...

Local authorities are failing in their duty to prosecute criminal letting agents, the National Landlords Association (NLA) has warned. The NLA says...

Agents need to be pro-actively using PropTech and improving their work methods to reduce voids for their landlord clients. That’s the view...

The best lettings agents will survive and shine through the ban of fees levied on tenants, which comes into effect this weekend. The...

Six months on from the introduction of stricter licencing for Homes in Multiple Occupation, awareness “remains limited” according to one of...

Letting agents are being urged to consider how they can reduce their administrative workload, following huge growth in the size of...

The Mayor of London is calling on government to introduce a new registration system for anyone wishing to rent out a...

A regional property developer and investment firm has unveiled a Build To Rent division with a target of building 2,500 homes. The...

The news this week that even individual private landlords must join a redress scheme is just the latest in an onslaught...

A new Build To Rent developer brand, Core Living, has been launched by development and investment company Godwin Group. Godwin is targeting...

The Labour party has expressed outrage at the news that London councils are spending over £22m each year renting back homes...

A leading PropTech entrepreneur says agents who accept that the lettings fee ban is coming and who plan positively for its...

The party conferences of the two main political parties threw up some interesting developments with regards to housing and the rental...

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

Trade bodies have welcomed a government initiative to get more homeless people, as well as those at risk of becoming homeless,...

The policy director of the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) is calling on local councils to use the 'extensive powers' they have...

Trade bodies have been responding to today’s report of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee deliberations on the private...

The National Landlords Association has revealed a seven-point plan which would allow the Welsh Government greater powers over the private rental...

The British Property Federation is calling upon more councils to support Build To Rent following the government’s recognition of the sector in...

The government has pledged to begin a review of the selective licensing across the private rental sector once MPs return from...

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

Research by The Guardian newspaper reveals that massive numbers of local authority councillors are also buy to let investors - and...

PropTech firm PayProp has welcomed the latest measures to clamp down on rogue elements within the lettings industry - but warns...

Labour's housing spokesman has called on the government to give councils greater powers over the regulation of the private rental sector.   In...

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

Labour MP Karen Buck is to reintroduce her Private Members Bill into Parliament today - and if it is passed, she...

A buy to let expert says there should be stronger enforcement and streamlining of legislation in the private rental sector. In a...

In an era when the relationship between local councils, letting agencies and landlords appears permanently fraught, there is good news from...

A BBC survey claims that powers to combat so-called ‘revenge evictions’ are not being used by the majority of councils in...

Councils in eight of London's 32 boroughs have failed to prosecute even a single landlord for providing unsafe accommodation during the...

A Bill has received all-party support in the House of Commons despite one industry body's view that it contains significant dangers...

Two landlord associations have criticised local councils for a lack of enforcement and failing to prosecute criminal landlords.  The Residential Landlords Association...

Tenants who are advised by local councils and advice agencies to ignore eviction notices could cost the average landlord almost £7,000. The...