Robert Jenrick, who was appointed Housing Secretary by Robert Jenrick in 2019, is to run for Tory party leader. During his time...
Archive
![Lettings chain to raise £5,000 for children’s heart fund](/upload/images/shutterstock_1933098620.jpg)
A lettings and sales agency chain with 14 branches across the north east of England has committed to raising £5,000 in...
26 July 2024
From: Breaking News
![Agent appointed to manage company’s 14 lettings branches](/upload/images/shutterstock_2100071413(3).jpg)
Hamptons, one of the high-end brands owned by Connells, had appointed Graeme Young as regional lettings director. Young assumes responsibility for 14-branches...
11 July 2024
From: Breaking News
![Northern Ireland joins The ValPal Network](/upload/images/adv-2021/sponsored-content/TVPN/TVPN_NI_EAT_Jun24.png)
We’re absolutely delighted to announce that, after 10 years, we’re able to expand The ValPal Network to Northern Ireland. Since our launch...
19 June 2024
From: Sponsored Content
![TV Property Guru to give keynote speech at Propertymark One](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_192595709.jpg)
TV property guru and Move iQ founder Phil Spencer to be a keynote speakers at Propertymark One this year, the trade...
18 April 2024
From: Breaking News
![Big rise in Right To Rent fines](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Fine-3-400x310.png)
There’s been a rise of over 400 per cent in the monetary total of fines issued for Right To Rent offences...
15 March 2024
From: Breaking News
![Unique lettings agent motivation event scores award success](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_1697309575.jpg)
An event which claims to change the fortunes of letting agents has been recognised by the Professional Speakers Academy. Agent Rainmaker Live...
19 January 2024
From: Breaking News
![Top agent senses change of mood in rental market](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/MortgageRates1_400x310.png)
One of Britain’s leading agents - former RICS residential chairman Jeremy Leaf - says he is seeing a change of mood...
21 December 2023
From: Breaking News
![Data Protection - agency advice from the Information Commissioner’s Office](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/PropTech/Software-400x310.png)
The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued advice to agencies on how to comply with data protection law. The UK data protection regulator...
06 December 2023
From: Breaking News
![Agency fined for bullying tenants it wanted to illegally evict](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Fine-400x310.png)
Media reports in Brighton say that a lettings agency which serve tenants with illegal eviction notices and unjustified legal threats has...
10 October 2023
From: Breaking News
![Watchdog to Probe Five Issues Involving Agents and Landlords](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/PropertyNews-400x310.png)
The Competitioin and Markets Authority is to probe five activities involving letting agents and landlords and their responsibilities to private tenants. Sarah...
25 August 2023
From: Breaking News
![Strict Airbnb controls still on the agenda says politician](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_2198282283.jpg)
The Scottish Government does not intend to abandon its licensing scheme for Airbnbs and other short term lets, nor to delay...
20 July 2023
From: Breaking News
![Rent Controls backfire - Propertymark speaks out](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/House-pounds_400x310.png)
Propertymark has given details of how it believes the Scottish Government rent control system has backfired and works against the interests...
11 July 2023
From: Breaking News
![Governments slammed for rushing blindly into Airbnb regulation](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_2198282283.jpg)
A trade body has criticised the various UK governments for “rushing blindly” into poorly-constructed regulation of short lets. The angry words from...
12 June 2023
From: Breaking News
![Hundreds of thousands of pounds for agency whistleblowers](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_309559970.jpg)
The Competition and Markets Authority is beefing up its enforcement work against illegal cartels and offering a reward of up to...
08 June 2023
From: Breaking News
![New EPC every three years, suggests accreditation scheme](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Energy%20and%20Green%20Homes/_EcoHome-400x310.png)
Energy Performance Certificates must change to properly support reaching net zero, tackling fuel poverty and improving buildings, according to an energy...
02 March 2023
From: Breaking News
![Are EPCs reliable for estimating energy efficiency?](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Energy%20and%20Green%20Homes/GreenHome-400x310.png)
Shocking new research shows that Energy Performance Certificates are inaccurate at best, useless at worst, and easily rigged. A Sunday Times report...
28 February 2023
From: Breaking News
![Landlords’ “knowledge gap” presents opportunity for letting agents](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/LearningAgents3-400x310.png)
Letting agents say the latest review of how Right To Rent has been carried out demonstrates “a knowledge gap” by landlords. This...
15 February 2023
From: Breaking News
![Rent Freeze - time for agents to say what they REALLY think](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/RentFreeze-400x310.png)
Agents have only until the end of tomorrow, December 2, to feed into Propertymark’s response to a new consultation on the...
01 December 2022
From: Breaking News
![Rent freeze fast-tracked and may last much longer than expected](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/Forecast-400x310.png)
Emergency legislation containing a private sector rent freeze is to be debated by Scottish politicians this week - and the surprise...
05 October 2022
From: Breaking News
![Stamp Duty Cuts take effect immediately](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/BusinessResults-400x310-.jpg)
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced that stamp duty will be cut. In future there will be no stamp duty on the first...
23 September 2022
From: Breaking News
![Guilty! Letting agents used violence to illegally evict tenants](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/CourtCase-400x310.png)
A jury has ruled that a lettings agency has been guilty of illegally evicting tenants in Margate - with locks changed,...
20 July 2022
From: Breaking News
![Court Drama - Agency accused of violence and vandalism against tenants](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/CourtCase-400x310.png)
A lettings agency is alleged to have used violence and vandalism over a prolonged period against the tenants of at least...
22 June 2022
From: Breaking News
![Agency acquisition and sales service claims huge success in just months](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/BusinessObjectives-400x310.jpg)
Acquisition is one of the most frequently used words in the lettings sector now as large numbers of agencies are snapped...
21 June 2022
From: Breaking News
![‘Price on application’ in property listings deemed unlawful](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/HousingVision-400x310.jpg)
The small number of rental properties listed on websites and portals as Price on Application have now been deemed illegal by...
05 May 2022
From: Breaking News
![Airbnb demands end to Section 21 and creation of landlord register](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/eviction-image400x310.png)
Airbnb, so often criticised for operating in the largely-unregulated short lets market, has called on the UK government to scrap Section...
22 April 2022
From: Breaking News
![Lettings trainer wants more public cash for rental enforcement](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/CoinsHouses-2020-400x310.jpg)
Lettings accreditation and training service Safeagent is calling on the government to make more public cash available for councils to exercise...
19 April 2022
From: Breaking News
![Agents fight back in row over quality of private rental stock and repairs](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/Handcuffs400x310.png)
ARLA Propertymark has hit back in this week’s debate on the quality of private rental property, following sharp criticism in a...
14 April 2022
From: Breaking News
![Thousands of tenants must accept “appalling conditions” - Shelter](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/HousingCrisis-400x310.jpg)
Thousands of tenants have no choice but to accept “appalling conditions” according to the chief executive of campaigning charity Shelter. Polly Neate...
14 April 2022
From: Breaking News
![Private rental property conditions and enforcement slammed by MPs](/upload/images/Politics%20(MPs%2C%20party%20logos%2C%20etc)/parliament400x310.png)
Private rental property conditions and the enforcement of regulations by councils and government have all been in the firing line from...
13 April 2022
From: Breaking News
![Huge premiums possible on new-build rentals - claim](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/UK-Cash-20-400x310.jpg)
New build homes command rental premiums of as high as 41 per cent in the current market, it’s been claimed. The Unlatch...
23 February 2022
From: Breaking News
![HMRC shock for tenants - some may have to pay stamp duty](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/StampDuty-2020-400x310.jpg)
A little-known law may require tenants to pay stamp duty on the rental properties they do not actually own. London lettings agency...
12 January 2022
From: Breaking News
![Caught! Agency that illegally evicted tenant ends up in court](/upload/images/new-story-stock-images/CourtImage-400x310.jpg)
A lettings agency has been prosecuted by Birmingham council for unlawfully evicting a tenant. Principal Homes is based at Great Barr and was...
29 October 2021
From: Breaking News
![Acute rental shortage now hitting every part of the country](/img/default/lat.png)
Areas of the country which appear to have had a surplus of rental stock in the past is now reporting a...
11 June 2021
From: Breaking News
![Wanted: football pundits rooting for Scotland and Wales in the Euros!](/img/default/lat.png)
We’re only a little over a week away from the Euros, happening at last a year later than scheduled because of...
03 June 2021
From: Breaking News
!['No DSS' - apology by lettings agency after advertisement blunder](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agency which markets private rental properties and units operated by a housing association has apologised for its ‘No DSS’...
27 May 2021
From: Breaking News
![Activists stage DSS protest outside agency office](/img/default/lat.png)
Activists from the Acorn renters' campaign group have held a protest outside a branch of Chancellors in Oxford. The group says the...
04 May 2021
From: Breaking News
![Criminal Behaviour Order for rogue agent after unlawful eviction](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agency director has been issued with a Criminal Behaviour Order for unlawfully evicting a tenant back in 2019. CFDP Ltd, trading as...
30 April 2021
From: Breaking News
![Lettings agency block management firm wins millions for high-rise safety](/img/default/lat.png)
A block management company owned by the Leaders Romans Group has been awarded over £6.5m in government building safety funds to...
27 April 2021
From: Breaking News
![‘No DSS’ - Agency unlawfully discriminated against tenant](/img/default/lat.png)
Another lettings agency has been found to have unlawfully discriminated against a tenant receiving benefits. Worthing County Court declared that Michael Jones & Company unlawfully...
21 April 2021
From: Breaking News
![Clampdown on letting agents backed by local councils](/img/default/lat.png)
A huge trading standards operation clamping down on lettings agents who fail to abide by Client Money Protection rules has been...
25 February 2021
From: Breaking News
![Jail threat after fraud team probes HMO with illegal extensions](/img/default/lat.png)
A landlord who built unlawful extensions to a family home and squeezed up to 14 people into the rooms has forfeited...
19 February 2021
From: Breaking News
![“Horrible crime” of illegal eviction probed by police](/img/default/lat.png)
A 24 month community order and 200 hours of unpaid work are the price being paid for an unlawful eviction. Buy to...
15 February 2021
From: Breaking News
![Another independent agency’s lettings book snapped up by franchise giant](/img/default/lat.png)
A branch of Martin & Co has completed its second independent lettings book acquisition in 18 months. Martin & Co Chelmsford, part...
02 February 2021
From: Breaking News
![New mega-agency will manage over 70,000 tenanted properties](/img/default/lat.png)
The takeover of Hunters by The Property Franchise Group means the combined operations will manage over 70,000 tenanted properties across the...
29 January 2021
From: Breaking News
![Property maintenance Covid regulations tightened in Scotland](/img/default/lat.png)
There’s been a small change to the Coronavirus regulations as they apply to the maintenance and upkeep of properties in Scotland. First...
14 January 2021
From: Breaking News
![2021 will not hold back Agents who are prepared to adapt](/img/default/lat.png)
With the Government announcement this week of another national lockdown across England amid the surging coronavirus infections, it once again puts...
08 January 2021
From: Sponsored Content
![Fifth of city’s private rental homes have serious problems - claim](/img/default/lat.png)
A council claims that as many as a fifth of all the private rental sector homes in its area have a...
07 January 2021
From: Breaking News
![Agents can do more to speed up transactions by adopting technology](/img/default/lat.png)
Recent debate about urgent need for reform and better collaboration within the property industry, has once again come under the spotlight...
04 December 2020
From: Sponsored Content
![Politician settles out of court with agent over fees charged in 2015](/img/default/lat.png)
A Green Party councillor has been refunded fees he and his partner were charged by a letting agency five years ago,...
30 October 2020
From: Breaking News
![Eviction ban by the back door! Top lawyer slams bailiffs’ move](/img/default/lat.png)
A top property lawyer says a recent decision by bailiffs not to forcibly evict anyone in Tier 2 and Tier 3 is an...
30 October 2020
From: Breaking News
![Keeping the property market moving](/img/default/lat.png)
It’s been an unexpected year for the property market, shaped by the effects of the pandemic. We didn’t quite anticipate the...
27 October 2020
From: Sponsored Content
![Right To Rent may be tweaked to allow easier online checks](/img/default/lat.png)
The Home Office is proposing a new online service to make it easier for agents and landlords to check that prospective...
01 October 2020
From: Breaking News
![Agency told ‘No DSS’ policy was unlawful and discriminatory](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agency that told a prospective tenant it had a policy of not offering tenancies to housing benefit recipients has...
10 September 2020
From: Breaking News
![Reminder to agents to review advertising following No DSS ruling](/img/default/lat.png)
A property litigation expert is warning letting agents and landlords about far-reaching consequences of the recent ruling which declared a blanket...
06 August 2020
From: Breaking News
![Some lettings agents ignoring No DSS ruling, claims Shelter chief](/img/default/lat.png)
The chief executive of campaigning charity Shelter claims some lettings agencies are ignoring the recent ruling that private landlords cannot discriminate against...
04 August 2020
From: Breaking News
![Buy to let investors urged to act before stamp duty benefit wanes](/img/default/lat.png)
A specialist buy to let mortgage broker is urging prospective investors to buy sooner rather than later if they want to...
21 July 2020
From: Breaking News
![PM presses Starmer on Labour’s “stamp duty bung” claim](/img/default/lat.png)
The Prime Minister has stepped into the ongoing row over a Labour claim that last week’s stamp duty holiday was merely...
16 July 2020
From: Breaking News
![Labour claims there are “illegal evictions by letting agents”](/img/default/lat.png)
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, has told the government of “illegal evictions by letting agents” - without specifying the incidents he refers...
14 July 2020
From: Breaking News
![Shelter wants enforcement against agents still charging illegal fees](/img/default/lat.png)
Shelter is calling for stricter enforcement against letting agents in Northern Ireland which it claims are illegally charging tenants fees for...
29 June 2020
From: Breaking News
![“This stinks” - renters’ leader verdict on Jenrick planning scandal](/img/default/lat.png)
The director of renters’ campaign group Generation Rent says the long-running scandal of a planning decision made by the Housing Secretary...
22 June 2020
From: Breaking News
![Charity blasted for irresponsible claim about renters and arrears](/img/default/lat.png)
A consumer charity has been blasted by a landlords' trade body for making “irresponsible” claims about tenants and the Coronavirus crisis. Research...
01 May 2020
From: Breaking News
![Right To Rent stays after court rules against campaigners](/img/default/lat.png)
The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the government’s controversial Right To Rent scheme, overturning a decision reached last...
22 April 2020
From: Breaking News
![Gas and electrical certificates ‘should be extended for six months’](/img/default/lat.png)
Gas and electrical safety certificates should be extended for six months to cover for the impact of the Coronavirus. The call comes...
20 April 2020
From: Breaking News
![Message to government - help us combat the ‘no rent campaigners’](/img/default/lat.png)
One of the lettings sector’s biggest trade bodies is calling on government to make a clear statement to help landlords who...
07 April 2020
From: Breaking News
![Merger of rival landlord groups happens at last](/img/default/lat.png)
The much delayed merger of the UK’s two landlord bodies has officially happened today. The National Residential Landlords Association has been formed...
02 April 2020
From: Breaking News
![Reminder to agents - new MEES rules come into effect next week](/img/default/lat.png)
Despite the challenges being thrown up to the lettings sector by Coronavirus, this is a reminder that new MEES regulations on...
27 March 2020
From: Breaking News
![Budget “fails tenants” say trade groups - but at least no new rental taxes…](/img/default/lat.png)
The Budget has failed tenants by doing nothing to increase the supply of private rental property according to two lettings sector...
12 March 2020
From: Breaking News
![Lettings chief to set out objectives of new rental sector body](/img/default/lat.png)
The chief executive of a new lettings sector trade body is to address his first conference next month, giving an indication...
09 March 2020
From: Breaking News
![Agents warned by Ombudsman: Don’t discriminate on DSS claimants](/img/default/lat.png)
The Property Ombudsman is warning agents not to discriminate against tenants through a No DSS or any similar policy. Following the legal...
05 March 2020
From: Breaking News
![Shock for buy to let as income plummets by a fifth in a decade](/img/default/lat.png)
The typical landlord’s income from property has plummeted by a fifth in under a decade according to the National Landlords’ Association. Its...
19 February 2020
From: Breaking News
![Slash Capital Gains Tax on rental sales, Chancellor urged](/img/default/lat.png)
A trade group’s submission to the Treasury ahead of next month’s Budget includes a call for the new Chancellor to slash...
18 February 2020
From: Breaking News
![Coronavirus guidance for lettings sector issued by trade body](/img/default/lat.png)
The National Landlords Association has issued advice for the lettings sector on the coronavirus infection. Although much of the advice is a...
13 February 2020
From: Breaking News
![Brexit doubts means tenants get lavish extras says trade group](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings sector trade group says lavish additional services are being offered by landlords who are nervous that Brexit will lead...
27 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![Tenant wins £18,000 in first-of-its-kind tribunal decision](/img/default/lat.png)
A tenant is thought to be the first ever to have been awarded damages under new Scottish lettings legislation. Dambaru Baral was...
20 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![Agents warned over new energy rules - the countdown begins](/img/default/lat.png)
A legal firm is warning agents and landlords that they have less than three months to prepare for the latest MEES...
06 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![Airbnb and other short-lets: Trade body wants proportionate regulation](/img/default/lat.png)
A new trade body set up to represent companies working with hosts using Airbnb and similar platforms says the government should...
03 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![Move out in one hour! Intimidating landlord to be sentenced](/img/default/lat.png)
A rogue landlord has been found guilty of unlawful harassment and misleading and aggressive practices, and will be sentenced next month. Ragoopathy...
24 December 2019
From: Breaking News
![Letting agents told: Improve communications with tenants](/img/default/lat.png)
If letting agents want more satisfied clients and fewer disputes they should provide better information to tenants. That’s the view of PropTech...
17 December 2019
From: Breaking News
![Chinese buy to let investors buoyed by Tory landslide](/img/default/lat.png)
Reports from China suggest that property investors from that country - a staple in the buy to let market in many...
17 December 2019
From: Breaking News
![Section 8 reform and new Housing Court 'should be early Johnson priorities'](/img/default/lat.png)
The National Landlords’ Association says the new Conservative government must do two things in its early phase in office. The NLA, which...
16 December 2019
From: Breaking News
![Brexit shock - Migrant workers and not execs are best for rental income](/img/default/lat.png)
New research from the National Landlords Association reveals that migrant workers, and not professional executives, provide the best rental yield. The NLA...
04 December 2019
From: Breaking News
![Countrywide and Connells want mandatory regulation of letting agents](/img/default/lat.png)
A roundtable discussion of rental industry leaders has produced a recommendation for the mandatory regulation of lettings agents. The objective, they say,...
28 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Labour policies “extreme, unrealistic, damaging” - trade body](/img/default/lat.png)
Labour’s policies for the private rental sector are “too extreme ... unrealistic and will be hugely damaging to housing supply in...
27 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Landlord confidence still rock bottom according to yet another survey](/img/default/lat.png)
Another survey of private landlords show a majority feeling less confident about the market than they were three months ago. Last week...
21 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Sub-letting scams can be reduced by property visits, agents advised](/img/default/lat.png)
An inventories supplier is advising that the growing number of sub-letting scams can be reduced by regular property visits by agents...
20 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Tenants’ biggest election issue? Well, it’s not housing...](/img/default/lat.png)
One might have thought that if private rental tenants were as badly treated as some people suggest, housing would be their...
18 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Confidence in lettings sector plummets to all-time low amongst landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
Landlords’ confidence in their lettings business has slumped to an all-time low, according to research by the National Landlords Association. In a...
12 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![London Labour Mayor repeats his call for rent controls](/img/default/lat.png)
London’s Labour Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has returned to his campaign to win powers which would allow him to impose rent controls. Khan...
08 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Students say they’re targeted for “unfair” deposit deductions at check-out](/img/default/lat.png)
The National Union of Students claims young people at college and university are being unfairly targeted by agents and landlords when...
08 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Tories - you have been warned, says lettings trade group](/img/default/lat.png)
One of the industry’s leading trade groups has repeated a warning to the Conservatives that they cannot rely on the votes...
01 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Seminar to debate tax, regulation and market challenges for lettings](/img/default/lat.png)
A London-focussed lettings agency is hosting a seminar for landlords in association with a rental sector trade body. The key theme of...
18 October 2019
From: Breaking News
![A fifth of rental homes would go if Section 21 is scrapped - claim](/img/default/lat.png)
The private rented sector would shrink by 20 per cent if Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions are abolished, according to an economic...
30 September 2019
From: Breaking News
![Former Deposits chief is first head of merged landlords’ organisation](/img/default/lat.png)
Ben Beadle is to be the chief executive of the new National Residential Landlords Association, launching in January. The new body comes...
24 September 2019
From: Breaking News
![Council gives advance rent to landlords backing homelessness scheme](/img/default/lat.png)
Private landlords are to be given a month’s rent upfront and 12 months’ membership of a trade body if they sign...
24 September 2019
From: Breaking News
![Merger of trade bodies backed by landlords - it’s on for January 1](/img/default/lat.png)
Members of the industry’s two major landlord bodies have backed a merger which will now take place on January 1. Members of...
18 September 2019
From: Breaking News
![Rental demand from older tenants likely to increase in the future](/img/default/lat.png)
New research from an international law firm shows that the rental sector in major cities is now changing its demographic make-up...
10 September 2019
From: Breaking News
![More power for landlords? Two largest trade bodies to merge in New Year](/img/default/lat.png)
The two largest landlord trade groups are to merge. The National Landlords Association and the Residential Landlords Association will unite to form...
30 August 2019
From: Breaking News
![Food banks HQ links with lettings group to combat Universal Credit arrears](/img/default/lat.png)
The Trussell Trust, which coordinates the vast majority of the food banks around the UK, is working with the National Landlords...