Archive

Reports have emerged this week that the government is planning a U-turn on its proposals to introduce mandatory three-year minimum tenancies...

A London council has fined a letting agency over £10,000 for failing to install smoke alarms in a rental property. Waltham Forest...

An Essex council claims it is one of the first to be granted a rent repayment order - part of legislation...

A newspaper in warning that the beleaguered buy to let sector may be under attack yet again with the government considering...

The British Property Federation says there are now 124,037 Build To Rent homes complete, under construction and in planning across the...

Well-respected London lettings agent and former ARLA president Lucy Morton is the latest key figure to pour cold water on government...

Legal & General, one of the biggest players in Britain’s burgeoning Build To Rent market, has exchanged contracts on its largest...

Buy to let landlords are welcoming proposals being considered by the government to provide financial incentives for those offering longer tenancies. In...

The Independent online newspaper says Conservative MP Gary Streeter will tomorrow meet with Prime Minister Theresa May and urge her to...

One in five UK landlords have entered buy to let without even planning to, finding themselves with a property ‘accidentally’ or...

Letting agents and landlords will have to win planning consent to erect To Let signs in student areas of Leicester from...

New research nearly two out of five landlords will use limited companies to buy properties over the next year compared to...

Two million tenants will this year be hit with rent rises totalling a combined £46m a month according to an online...

Buy to let investors are taking a wait and see approach when it comes to additional investment in the sector according...

Who are you and what does it say on your business card? Ben Robinson, Director of Agency Services at Landmark What is Landmark...

New figures show a 30 per cent rise in the past year in the number of Build To Rent units planned,...

Build To Rent provider Get Living has revealed plans to invest up to £180m in 756 units in Leeds. Acquired by Get...

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, will is to reveal his vision for the private rental sector to a Residential...

A couple who illegally converted an office block into 14 flats have been found guilty for disregarding planning laws - and...

A trade body is calling on the government to repeal the fee that councils can now charge when an Article 4...

Oxford’s Labour council has given its support to a lettings review website because it claims it will help drive up the...

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

Reaction to the government’s call for developers and planning authorities to be more flexible in their approach to increasing the housing...

Experts suggest that Build To Rent is likely to be heavily promoted when the government announces its latest revamp to the...

The government has given the go ahead to what will be one of the UK’s largest selective licensing scheme outside of...

Build To Rent developer and operator PLATFORM_ has announced its first scheme in Scotland and an expansion of an existing development...

A range of factors - including fierce competition under the supplied housing market, rising property prices and political uncertainty – have...

Legal & General has exchanged contracts to acquire land in the centre of Brighton in order to deliver the city’s first...

The government has been accused by a lettings sector trade body of skewing the market to encourage more short-lets.  The claim comes...

Legal & General - one of the country’s largest players in the burgeoning Build To Rent sector - has made a...

A new team of investigative council officers are hitting the streets of the capital to tackle unlawful nightly letting using websites like...

Larger scale landlords with 10 properties or more appear to be the most confident about the private rental sector, and are...

A database of rogue letting agents and landlords and new banning orders, first promised in the Housing and Planning Act announced...

Grainger - Britain’s largest listed residential landlord, which has pledged to invest £850m in Build To Rent - says the rental...

The owner of a property firm who reportedly misled tenants and let an illegally converted property has been jailed for 155...

Legal & General, one of the largest operators in the growing Build To Rent sector, has acquired a 272 acre site...

One of the senior figures in the UK’s burgeoning Build To Rent sector has called on the Chancellor to help this...

Mandatory Client Money Protection for lettings agents - currently the subject of a formal government consultation - will contribute towards making...

Latest figures suggest that there are almost 100,000 Build To Rent units either completed, under construction or awaiting planning permission across the...

A buy to let investor has been fined over £12,000 for illegally renting out a basement underneath an outbuilding at his...

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has started what is described as an official inspection of Right To Rent. Legislation...

You may think there are enough horror stories going around the agency industry and Britain as a whole right now -...

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

Greenwich is the latest council to make it compulsory for planning consent to be given before converting homes into Houses in...

Letting agency Saxons has been fined more than £3,000 after pleading guilty to the offence of displaying an unauthorised To Let...

A buy to let investor reported to be receiving rental income of £150,000 a year must pay over £340,000 after illegally...

Bob Parry Lettings, a north Wales agency, has removed a claim from its website concerning a plot of land, following a...

LSL Property Services’ new consultancy and management service for the Build To Rent sector - PRSim - has teamed up with...

A third of tenants can't imagine ever taking their first step on the property ladder and owning their own home. This is...

A landlord who was found guilty of illegally converting a hotel into 26 flats has been given three months to pay...

A London letting agency is opening a new branch thanks to continued high demand from EU nationals looking for rental property...

Landlords who rent out their property via online letting agents are in a stronger position to deal with new financial and...

More landlords are quitting conventional letting and resorting to holiday lets or, increasingly, Airbnb-style short lets.    The move is particularly acute in...

New figures compiled by the British Property Federation chronicle the continuing growth of Build To Rent across the country.    The BPF says...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has started work on a TV advertisement to highlight the importance of landlords instructing agents. The...

A survey of almost 3,000 landlords suggests more than one in five plans to sell at least one of their investment...

Planning permission has been granted for a hybrid letting agency and a café bar to be installed - together - in...

A man who illegally housed tenants inside his converted garage has been ordered to pay £173,141 by a court.   Amir Golesorkhi turned...

Rightmove is testing an experimental Facebook Messenger bot in the London lettings market.    For the unitiated a bot is software that can...

The reasons behind ‘landlord churn’ - when buy to let investors sell up - are more connected with personal circumstances than...

A specialist student lettings agency says the drop in the number of applicants for UK higher education courses this year threatens...

A lettings firm and a property management company that converted a family home into micro flats have been found guilty of...

Letting and estate agencies in Brighton and Hove have agreed to voluntary restrictions on the erection of To Let and For...

A local authority has clamped down on what it describes as illegal advertising boards, fining agencies thousands of pounds in the...

The number of EU nationals looking to move to the UK and rent has fallen in the year since the UK...

A proposed amendment to the government's Housing and Planning Bill which suggests landlords are required to make homes 'fit for human...

The London council of Newham is thought to be the first local authority in the UK to use new powers to...

Landlords are increasingly looking to reduce the fees they pay to letting agents due to industry tax changes and increasing management...

A well known specialist mortgage lender for the buy to let sector, Paragon, has refreshed its offering in the light of...

An east London landlord, who was also director of a letting agency, has been forced to pay out over £235,000 for...

Kensington & Chelsea council in central London has set up a series of hotline services and a working party to investigate...

A body representing 370 councils in England and Wales wants the government to close a legal loophole which allows the conversion...

A leading letting agent campaigning against rental sector deposits is warning that the industry might be hit with “astronominal” insurance premiums...

Build To Rent operator Essential Living has won planning consent for 221 new homes in Brentford - part of the firm’s...

A landlord who illegally converted a property into seven flats and rented them out without planning permission faces having to repay...

What does it say on your business card? Luke Burton Sales and Marketing Director, Rent4sure Who is Rent4sure? Rent4sure, is an established tenant referencing company. We provide...

There is to be a new high-level and independent review of the private rental sector in England.   The Nationwide Foundation is funding...

Angry landlords in Shropshire have set up an online petition against local council proposals to introduce selective licensing.    The Wrekin Landlords Association...

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has written to six short-term lets websites calling on them to introduce a 90-day limit on rentals...

Bristol council has given consent to a 255 unit city centre Build to Rent scheme to be constructed and managed by...

Manchester council is considering a city-wide ban on letting agents’ To Let boards.   The local authority says the plethora of boards in some...

The proportion of landlords considering commercial loans to fund purchases has doubled over the last 18 months as they try to...

A new form of agency which wants to blend traditional letting with Airbnb-style short lets has launched in London.    Lavanda claims it...

A company selling management services for owners short-letting their properties says there has been a 136 per cent rise in the...

Housing minister Gavin Barwell is organising a series of regional meetings for property professionals to give him their view of his...

A buy to let landlord who converted an Uxbridge house into two flats without planning permission has been ordered to pay...

The explosion in the short-lets sector continues apace with one third of London councils telling the BBC that Airbnb’s 90-day time...

Wembley Park in north London is to host Britain’s largest Build To Rent scheme yet after Quintain revealed a programme for...

The government has set out 29 key points in its Housing White Paper.   Introducing in the Commons this afternoon, Communities Secretery Sajid...

Government leaks to the Observer newspaper suggest that the Housing White Paper will show a huge policy shift towards renting - and may...

Imperial College London has paid £30m to acquire half of London’s largest Build To Rent scheme at The Perfume Factory in...

It’s been a long time coming but the government’s White Paper on Housing - tipped to contain major reforms affecting the...

A property investment financing specialist says an increasing number of buy to let investors are converting properties into Houses in Multiple...

Properties let out via Airbnb in the Republic of Ireland may come under greater planning scrutiny.    It follows the news that a...

Airbnb’s decision to enforce the London-specific legislation which limits hosts to letting their properties for no more than 90 nights a...

Mark Clare, the former Barratt Developments chief executive, is to be the next chairman of Britain’s current largest listed landlord, Grainger,...

Airbnb’s new protocol seeking to stop London hosts short-letting their properties for more than 90 days a year without formal consent,...

A building firm that carried out illegal building work to create homes to let has been hit with a £250,000 confiscation...

A new report by think tank IPPR supports those who feel the so-called ‘sharing economy’ - short lets via Airbnb and...

The fast-growing Build To Rent sector has seen another boost in investment from a major player - Legal & General.    Earlier this week...

Financial results from Grainger, which is already the UK’s largest listed residential landlord, reveals the potential profits to be made by...

At the end of an already-challenging week for the industry, a landlord group has distanced itself from comments made in its...

Phillip Hammond has delivered his first Autumn Statement, tackling amongst other things, what he called “the housing challenge.” The speech made no...

Brighton and Hove council has failed in its bid to win government backing to ban To Let boards. The council sought government...

Earlier this month we reported on Belfast council’s decision to open a public consultation on whether To Let boards should be...

Another local authority is considering a ban to reduce the impact - or possibly ban outright - agents' To Let boards.  Residents...

Local authorities appear to be at the forefront of identifying abuses of the Airbnb short-let platform and have called executives from...

Waltham Forest council has enforced an Interim Management Order on a house in its area meaning it will take over day-to-day...

It is feared that Cardiff council will later this week severely restrict the number of new shared houses in two popular...

The British Property Federation is urging Chancellor Phillip Hammond to bring in tax measures to help the purpose-built Build To Rent...

Grainger, the UK’s largest residential property owner and manager listed on the London Stock Exchange, has set out an argument to...

Two landlords must pay a combined total of over £300,000 following legal action by a central London council.    Westminster council claimed that...

A landlord guilty of breaching a planning enforcement notice has been ordered to pay £700,000 in fines and costs - the...

As the Conservatives meet at their annual conference and Chancellor Phillip Hammond considers next month’s Autumn Statement, an industry body has...

A landlords’ group says the widespread letting of homes in London on Airbnb and similar platforms is worsening the shortage of...

Some industry organisations have spotted that under new legislation now in effect, tenants’ associations are being given the right to gain...

A millionaire landlord who built an illegal outbuilding at his home has been forced to demolish it after pressure from his...

Legal & General has appointed a former Savills residential capital markets expert as it beefs up its team ahead of greater...

A Birmingham MP is to put a Bill to the House of Commons after the summer in his bid to stop...

Two more student houses in Brighton have been ordered to close by a government planning inspector. There have now been four such...

An east London council is changing its planning rules, bringing in Article 4 consent before homes in key areas are converted...

A damp garage with completely inadequate security, heating, and insulation which was being let as a flat for more than £1,000...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents and the National Association of Estate Agents have asked new housing minister Gavin Barwell to...

A group campaigning to secure refunds on alleged mortgage interest over-charging by buy to let lenders is calling on letting agents...

The Select Property Group has won planning permission for 506 residential apartments in a prime Manchester city centre location.   The two buildings...

There was an eight per cent surge in the number of homes available to rent in the second quarter of the...

The Daily Telegraph - an outspoken critic of George Osborne’s fiscal changes aimed at extracting more money from the buy to...

Next week letting agents across the country will be taking part in the fifth annual SAFEagent Awareness Week. The event aims to...

Some 36% of UK landlords have had a property abandoned by tenants, according to research. Abandonment - which occurs when a tenant...

The number of Build To Rent homes planned across the UK has doubled in just six months to 45,000, according to...

Havering council has successfully prosecuted a landlord who must now pay £101,300 for building illegal flats at her property. Jaghtar Khaira was...

The Romans Group has snapped up Handovers in Guildford, another acquisition using its £30m facility for expansion purchases. Handovers is now fully-incorporated...

A leading trade body has called for the Housing and Planning Bill now going through parliament to be widened to include...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has given its support for what appears to be a government U-turn on Client Money...

The government is planning to update its Right To Rent guidance following the roll out of the scheme across the country,...

Countrywide - which has already acquired a string of letting agencies in recent months - continues to demonstrate its emphasis on...

The additional homes stamp duty surcharge is contributing to a slowdown in the central London development market according to JLL. The number...

The two landlords behind the bid to seek a judicial review of George Osborne’s buy to let mortgage interest relief tax...

Two buy to let investors who breached planning regulations by converting a house into seven studio flats have been ordered to...

An unauthorised outhouse with a concealed entrance constructed at the back of a residential property in west London - one of...

A council has asked agents in its area to tell landlords of additional planning powers taken by the authority which may...

It is safe to say that in the cyber world of today, a reviewing culture has been born. We have review...

Returns from buy to let properties have risen to their highest level in over a year.  Data from Your Move and Reeds...

A report by the British Hospitality Association appears to reveal the latest estimates of the impact of people who use Airbnb...

A landlord who has had previous conflicts with his local council has effectively lost control of his 16 private rental properties. William...

Legal & General Capital, which last week announced its intention to work with a Dutch pension fund manager to build 3,000...

New figures from the British Property Federation show that there are now over 30,000 Build To Rent units with planning permission...

In a constantly changing legislative environment, the importance of keeping up-to-date in terms of knowledge and skills has never been more...

Grainger - which last week committed to spend £850m on the burgeoning UK Build To Rent sector - has announced that...

The row over Tory MPs who voted against a bid to ensure all homes let to private tenants were “fit for...

MPs have given their backing to a government proposal to ban rogue letting agents and landlords who repeatedly break private rental...

A Conservative peer and former shadow chief secretary to the Treasury has become the first senior Tory to speak out against...

Eviction specialist company Landlord Action wants the government to complement its action against rogue letting agents and tenants with a ‘rogue...

The Housing and Planning Bill returns to the House of Commons tomorrow when the remaining stages of the legislation resume after...

Almost half of landlords are set to increase their rents in 2016 in a bid to counteract tax changes and higher...

It may be almost Christmas but the government is this week unveiling new laws to combat what it sees as the...

The National Landlords Association has launched a new campaign - Reinventing Renting - to encourage landlords to make their lettings businesses...

An organisation representing councils wants a government database covering all housing-related convictions to deter rogue landlords switching from one area to...

A landlord has been fined £6,160 by St Helens magistrates after he admitted failing to tidy up two properties he owned. The...

The chairman of Berkeley Homes is warning that George Osborne’s latest three per cent stamp duty hike for buy to let...

It is not often that a national newspaper dedicates an article to praising buy to let - and even rarer for...

- From April 2016 buy to let landlords and people buying second or holiday homes will have to pay an additional...

A local authority is considering introducing measures to prevent landlords turning family homes in one of its conservation areas into HMOs.  Reading...

Generation Rent, the lobby group which recently narrowly escaped folding because of a lack of financial support, wants the public to...

A previously-convicted landlord has been ordered to pay over £200,000 by a court for illegally converting two properties into flats without...

The Residential Landlords Association is calling on MPs to support a measure being proposed in the House of Commons that would...

The oral evidence sessions begin today as the government’s controversial Housing and Planning Bill enters its most detailed scrutiny stage in...

A rogue landlord who illegally converted one house into a nine flats has been handed a maximum £20,000 fine after being...

There is uproar in Brighton as a result of students being let rooms in an HMO - despite the property’s owners...

A tenants’ campaign group is planning a series of protests this coming weekend outside offices of lettings agencies which allegedly do...

Two unauthorised outbuildings occupied by five adults and a child have been demolished by a London council after a landlord failed...

A landlord has a bill of more than £85,000 for unlawfully letting a basement flat. As part of a council planning enforcement...

Build to Rent development in London is over double that in the rest of the UK with over 14,276 units in...

The Associational of Residential Letting Agents has spoken up in favour of most of the provisions in the new Housing and...

Local councils are being urged to drop landlord licensing schemes following the publication of new laws showing that they are not...

A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £400,000 after converting a property into flats without permission. Gilbert Garrick let the...

The British Property Federation is urging the government to focus on delivery of all housing tenures, not just owner-occupation. The call came...

Rents in the private sector have been falling in real terms according to an independent study just published.   The research, commissioned by...

New industry research shows that of those existing buy to let investors with a pension in place, just five per cent...

Sadiq Khan, Labour’s choice for London mayoral candidate, has set out his housing policies - with possible rent controls high on...

The Build To Rent movement, whereby financial and other institutions fund the construction of purpose-built rental accommodation and go on to...

A couple from Cambridgeshire have been fined £10,000 and ordered to hand over in excess of £75,000 after repeatedly renting out...

Leading UK property agency enhances auditing and reporting while providing a better client experience. Company’s Top Objectives Romans is a 19-branch network of...

When do we really start to worry about rising rents and house prices? Despite an apparent slowdown in house price inflation...

Given that I wrote my last article on the day of the General Election but well before the result was known,...

A trial voluntary ban on letting agents boards in part of a town has been declared such a success it could...

Known as Britain’s biggest landlords, Fergus and Judith Wilson have started to sell off their 1,000 strong property portfolio. The ex-teachers from...

Two thirds of landlords plan to buy at least one further property in the next six months, according to Mortgages for...

Airbnb is letting out a two-bedroom floating house on the Thames to publicise the changes in short term letting rules in...

There has been much debate in recent years about Britain’s desperate need for more housing stock. Demand has been outstripping supply...

The general election result was greeted with a sigh of relief throughout the lettings industry. Thanks to the Conservatives' victory, the threat...

So, a sigh of relief.  Most agents will be pleased with the election result - even if they are not Tory supporters...

Around 40 developers, property consultants and block managers have sent an open letter to the new government - being elected today...

Gentrification is a divisive, provocative issue, but why are estate agents (especially Foxtons) appearing to bear the brunt of the public’s...

While much of the lettings industry protests against Labour proposals for rent controls and three year tenancies, an influential pressure group...

“More than 1 in 3 agreed property deals in England & Wales fall through… Gazeal is a new system for property sales,...

Under new pension freedom reforms, people aged 55 and over can access as much of their savings from their defined contributions...