New analysis from the British Property Federation (BPF) shows a dramatic slump in the number of Build To Rent units started. Although...
Archive
![Councillors launch attack on unruly behaviour in Airbnbs](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_2198282283.jpg)
The BBC is reporting that councillors in Manchester have launched a series of attacks on users of Airbnb and other short...
28 June 2024
From: Breaking News
![Airbnbs may need Planning Consent in key tourist location](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_2198282283.jpg)
A council claims it’s reached an important stage in the process of deciding whether to implement the Article 4 Direction power...
14 May 2024
From: Breaking News
![Short Lets Clampdown - More campaigners back Gove](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/PropertyNews2-400x310.png)
Countryside campaigning charity CPRE has given a warm welcome to Michael Gove’s clampdown on short lets. Earlier this week Housing Secretary Michael...
23 February 2024
From: Breaking News
![Gove’s Airbnb Crackdown - Criticism building](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_2198282283.jpg)
There’s growing anger over restrictions on private homeowners using their properties via Airbnb and other short let platforms. Earlier this week Housing...
21 February 2024
From: Breaking News
![Radical changes to short let laws proposed by Michael Gove](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/A%20surveyor's%20guide%20to%20finding%20a%20profitable%20HMO.jpg)
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has this morning announced wholesale changes to planning and regulations surrounding short lets. His proposals include: - planning permission...
19 February 2024
From: Breaking News
![Short Lets Shake Up - Gove slammed for “political posturing”](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/PropertyNews2-400x310.png)
The trade body representing short lets providers and support companies has reacted angrily to government proposals for a radical shake up. Housing...
19 February 2024
From: Breaking News
![Build To Rent cheerleaders complain about slow planning consents](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/BuildToRent1-400x310.png)
The British Property Federation claims the time required for Build To Rent planning applications has significantly increased over the past decade...
07 February 2024
From: Breaking News
![Historic building snapped up for Build To Rent development](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/BuildToRent1-400x310.png)
A historic former school and hospital building in Glasgow City Centre will be restored as part of a plan to create...
05 January 2024
From: Breaking News
![Rayner’s policy won’t solve housing shortage says top Labour MP](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/RentalDemand-400x310.png)
Senior Labour MP Clive Betts says the party’s official house building policy won’t actually solve the shortage of homes. Labour deputy leader...
17 November 2023
From: Breaking News
![Agency slams four councils for policies which directly hit rental supply](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/LearningAgents-400x310.png)
The lettings agency Winkworth has taken the unusual step of criticising policies of a series of councils. The councils are all Labour...
30 October 2023
From: Breaking News
![Clampdown needed on Airbnb and other short lets - new demand](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_2198282283.jpg)
A body largely consisting of councils wants more controls over Airbnbs and other short lets - and it wants local authorities...
31 August 2023
From: Breaking News
![Agents back compulsory national registration for short lets](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_2198282283.jpg)
Propertymark has thrown its weight behind the idea of a compulsory national register of landlords and hosts operating Airbnb and other...
26 April 2023
From: Breaking News
![Short Lets Clampdown: Airbnb warns against over the top measures](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Misc/airbnb400x310.jpg)
Airbnb is warning the UK government not to be heavy handed in its planning controls restricting the short lets sector. At the...
17 April 2023
From: Breaking News
![Anger over Airbnbs and holiday lets needing planning consent](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Misc/airbnb400x310.jpg)
The new trade body for short lets has reacted angrily to a government plan for AirBnb and other short let hosts...
13 April 2023
From: Breaking News
![It’s War! New council attack on ‘eyesore’ To Let boards](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/ToLetBoard-400x310.png)
A council is set to renew its war on To Let boards. In summer 2018, Leciester council brought into effect a new...
16 March 2023
From: Breaking News
![‘No Airbnb’ - flats win planning consent but short lets are banned](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Misc/airbnb400x310.jpg)
A new block of apartments on the banks of a photogenic canal has been given the planning green light - but...
03 February 2023
From: Breaking News
![Airbnb registration and short lets planning consent under consideration](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Misc/airbnb400x310.jpg)
The government is to open a consultation on whether residential properties should require planning consent to be used as short lets...
06 December 2022
From: Breaking News
![New Airbnb controls are condemned by trade body](/upload/images/library/airbnb-logo400x310.png)
The UK Short Term Accommodation Association says the Scottish Government’s backing of a bid to control short lets in Edinburgh could...
01 September 2022
From: Breaking News
![HMOs to be restricted in move by city council](/upload/images/BTR%2C%20PBSA%2C%20Co-living/Co-living400x310.jpg)
New plans to help control the numbers of residential properties turned into HMOs in parts of Coventry are moving a step...
18 August 2022
From: Breaking News
![Mayors may get new powers over Airbnb and short lets sector](/upload/images/Logos/AirbnbLogo-400x310.jpg)
Speculation in national newspapers suggests that the government is considering giving local mayors some powers over parts of the private rented...
28 June 2022
From: Breaking News
![Times names politician involved in rogue letting agencies](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/360%20x%20280%20Inadash.jpg)
The Times has named a member of the City of London’s governing council as a key figure behind rogue letting agencies. Luis...
07 June 2022
From: Breaking News
![Controlling Airbnb - England behind the curve, says Propertymark](/upload/images/Logos/airbnb-logo400x310.png)
Wales and Scotland are ahead of the game when it comes to limiting the impact of short term lets on the...
18 January 2022
From: Breaking News
![Two more cities targeted for major Build To Rent schemes](/upload/images/Locations/SheffieldTownHall-400x310.jpg)
Grainger, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord, has announced two new Build To Rent developments. The company has acquired Exmouth Junction in...
18 November 2021
From: Breaking News
![New rental homes to replace some existing shopping centres](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/RentalMarketImage-1-400x310.jpg)
One of the country’s largest commercial and retail landlords - Capital & Regional - is to expand is current programme of...
10 September 2021
From: Breaking News
![Short Lets Control Area - is this a way of controlling Airbnb?](/upload/images/Locations/Edinburgh-Map-400x310px-min.png)
A consultation is to begin next month regarding the designation of an entire city as a Short Term Let Control Area. If...
11 August 2021
From: Breaking News
![MPs say holiday homes to let are risk to stable communities](/img/default/lat.png)
Cornish MPs have spoken up in the House of Commons to highlight what they claim is the danger of having too...
24 June 2021
From: Breaking News
![Record number of Build To Rent planning consents, with big suburban surge](/img/default/lat.png)
Research by the British Property Federation shows that 6,937 new Build To Rent homes won full planning permission in the first...
26 May 2021
From: Breaking News
![City’s buy to let student market faces new purpose-built competition](/img/default/lat.png)
A student accommodation provider has been granted planning consent to turn a building in central Leeds into a 350-bed purpose-built block. Study...
24 May 2021
From: Breaking News
![Airbnb short lets require planning change of use, appeal process decides](/img/default/lat.png)
A landlord who appealed against a local council decision regarding the letting of her apartment on Airbnb has lost - and...
11 May 2021
From: Breaking News
![Victory for Airbnb in first round of battle for short lets regulation](/img/default/lat.png)
A first attempt to regulate Airbnb-style short lets through licensing has been withdrawn. The SNP-led Scottish Government had drawn up a licensing...
22 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
![HMOs in the firing line: Another city ponders a clampdown](/img/default/lat.png)
Another local authority is considering a clampdown on the spread and condition of HMOs. Bath and North East Somerset Council, which is...
10 December 2020
From: Breaking News
![Council’s huge fine on owner after refusing planning consent](/img/default/lat.png)
A long-running case about a house divided up and let out without planning permission has resulted in a fine of nearly...
09 December 2020
From: Breaking News
![Surprise move by London council to drop stricter controls on HMOs](/img/default/lat.png)
A London council has dropped plans to restrict the creation of HMOs, a full 12 months after a consultation on the...
04 November 2020
From: Breaking News
![Council knocks down illegal rental ‘shed’ - and sends owner the bill](/img/default/lat.png)
A property built without planning consent and then illegally let to a family has been knocked down by Ealing council in...
25 June 2020
From: Breaking News
![Article 4 powers for council means tougher rules for HMOs](/img/default/lat.png)
New regulations governing HMOs are coming into effect in a north of England council. Landlords and developers will now need planning permission...
04 February 2020
From: Breaking News
![Agent defends HMO scheme after “greedy” accusation](/img/default/lat.png)
An agent acting on behalf of a landlord has defended a bid for retrospective planning permission, but a Labour councillor has...
23 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![Death Trap: fine for tenant who converted home without owner’s consent](/img/default/lat.png)
A tenant pretending to be landlord has been ordered to pay more than £21,000 after he carved up five family homes...
31 July 2019
From: Breaking News
![Jailed - buy to let investor who illegally converted flats](/img/default/lat.png)
A landlord who illegally converted a London home into two flats without planning permission has been given a prison sentence after...
20 June 2019
From: Breaking News
![Huge London Build To Rent scheme unveiled by Legal & General](/img/default/lat.png)
Legal & General has exchanged contracts on two adjacent sites in south London to deliver its largest Built To Rent scheme...
16 May 2019
From: Breaking News
![Beware: new PDRs do not give ‘buy to let developers’ free rein](/img/default/lat.png)
A building expert is warning buy to let investors that they won’t enjoy unfettered rights to extend their properties upwards when...
15 April 2019
From: Breaking News
![Lies, illegal flats and hidden tenants lead to suspended jail sentence](/img/default/lat.png)
A buy to let investor who hid families in windowless rooms after failing to get planning permission for a block of...
28 March 2019
From: Breaking News
![Big student rental purpose-built scheme starts on edge of city centre](/img/default/lat.png)
Gregory Property Group has announced forward funding and the start of work on one of the country’s largest purpose-built student blocks. It’s...
05 March 2019
From: Breaking News
![Another 250 Build To Rent homes for London in £100m-plus deal](/img/default/lat.png)
Over 250 new units constructed by Telford Homes are to be used for Build To Rent according to a deal announced...
20 February 2019
From: Breaking News
![Jailed! Man who forged agency papers 'giving HMO planning consent'](/img/default/lat.png)
A buy to let investor who converted three family homes to HMOs without securing planning permission has been jailed for falsifying...
18 February 2019
From: Breaking News
![Hefty fine for buy to let investor who illegally converted garage](/img/default/lat.png)
Buy to let investor Changhaiz Ishaq has been ordered to pay a £8,510 fine for defying a prohibition order on his...
18 December 2018
From: Breaking News
![Buy to let couple have a choice - pay £150,000 or imprisonment](/img/default/lat.png)
A couple from east London who illegally converted a town centre office block into 14 flats have been ordered to pay...
10 December 2018
From: Breaking News
![Massive £1.5m penalty for criminal buy to let 'slumlord millionaire'](/img/default/lat.png)
A notorious rogue landlord must pay £1.5m or risk spending up to nine years in prison after what is thought to...
06 December 2018
From: Breaking News
![Airbnb planning consent - could it cross the water and happen here?](/img/default/lat.png)
The Republic of Ireland has adopted new policies requiring owners in 'high housing demand areas' to secure planning consent if they...
01 November 2018
From: Breaking News
![It's war - council on the attack over To Let boards](/img/default/lat.png)
Letting agents and landlords will have to win planning consent to erect To Let signs in student areas of Leicester from...
12 June 2018
From: Breaking News
![Build To Rent provider unveils plans for 1,500 new homes](/img/default/lat.png)
Build To Rent provider Get Living has revealed plans to invest up to £180m in 756 units in Leeds. Acquired by Get...
29 March 2018
From: Breaking News
![Couple face having rental income confiscated after planning offence](/img/default/lat.png)
A couple who illegally converted an office block into 14 flats have been found guilty for disregarding planning laws - and...
15 March 2018
From: Breaking News
![New site could provide hundreds more Build To Rent properties](/img/default/lat.png)
Legal & General, one of the largest operators in the growing Build To Rent sector, has acquired a 272 acre site...
28 November 2017
From: Breaking News
![Council forces planning consent for HMO buy to let conversions](/img/default/lat.png)
Greenwich is the latest council to make it compulsory for planning consent to be given before converting homes into Houses in...
05 October 2017
From: Breaking News
![Council back on warpath fining agency for unauthorised boards](/img/default/lat.png)
Letting agency Saxons has been fined more than £3,000 after pleading guilty to the offence of displaying an unauthorised To Let...
03 October 2017
From: Breaking News
![Massive £340,000 bill after illegal conversion of houses into bedsits](/img/default/lat.png)
A buy to let investor reported to be receiving rental income of £150,000 a year must pay over £340,000 after illegally...
02 October 2017
From: Breaking News
![City agencies agree to voluntary restrictions on To Let boards](/img/default/lat.png)
Letting and estate agencies in Brighton and Hove have agreed to voluntary restrictions on the erection of To Let and For...
21 June 2017
From: Breaking News
![Lettings companies fined over illegal advertising boards](/img/default/lat.png)
A local authority has clamped down on what it describes as illegal advertising boards, fining agencies thousands of pounds in the...
20 June 2017
From: Breaking News
![London council to probe 'growing concerns' about short-term lets](/img/default/lat.png)
Kensington & Chelsea council in central London has set up a series of hotline services and a working party to investigate...
19 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Councils want 'tiny' flats banned and jail for rogue landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
A body representing 370 councils in England and Wales wants the government to close a legal loophole which allows the conversion...
12 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Green light for another Build To Rent development in London](/img/default/lat.png)
Build To Rent operator Essential Living has won planning consent for 221 new homes in Brentford - part of the firm’s...
10 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Buy to let investor may have to repay rent from seven illegal flats](/img/default/lat.png)
A landlord who illegally converted a property into seven flats and rented them out without planning permission faces having to repay...
03 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![To Let boards may be banned across one of UK's largest cities](/img/default/lat.png)
Manchester council is considering a city-wide ban on letting agents’ To Let boards. The local authority says the plethora of boards in some...
28 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Illegal buy to let house conversion ends with bill of £108,000](/img/default/lat.png)
A buy to let landlord who converted an Uxbridge house into two flats without planning permission has been ordered to pay...
20 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Short-lets explosion: 'Airbnb time limits just won't work'](/img/default/lat.png)
The explosion in the short-lets sector continues apace with one third of London councils telling the BBC that Airbnb’s 90-day time...
13 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Here are all 29 key points in the Housing White Paper](/img/default/lat.png)
The government has set out 29 key points in its Housing White Paper. Introducing in the Commons this afternoon, Communities Secretery Sajid...
07 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Now Ireland looks at planning issues surrounding Airbnb lets](/img/default/lat.png)
Properties let out via Airbnb in the Republic of Ireland may come under greater planning scrutiny. It follows the news that a...
17 January 2017
From: Breaking News
![Airbnb may lose £325m in London bookings after tightening rules](/img/default/lat.png)
Airbnb’s decision to enforce the London-specific legislation which limits hosts to letting their properties for no more than 90 nights a...
05 January 2017
From: Breaking News
![£250,000 bill for firm illegally converting house into flats to let](/img/default/lat.png)
A building firm that carried out illegal building work to create homes to let has been hit with a £250,000 confiscation...
12 December 2016
From: Breaking News
![Think-tank wants register of Airbnb and other online short let 'hosts'](/img/default/lat.png)
A new report by think tank IPPR supports those who feel the so-called ‘sharing economy’ - short lets via Airbnb and...
09 December 2016
From: Breaking News
![Council request to extend To Let board ban rejected by government](/img/default/lat.png)
Brighton and Hove council has failed in its bid to win government backing to ban To Let boards. The council sought government...
22 November 2016
From: Breaking News
![ARLA speaks out against council's possible ban on To Let boards](/img/default/lat.png)
Earlier this month we reported on Belfast council’s decision to open a public consultation on whether To Let boards should be...
16 November 2016
From: Breaking News
![Another council puts squeeze on agents' To Let boards](/img/default/lat.png)
Another local authority is considering a ban to reduce the impact - or possibly ban outright - agents' To Let boards. Residents...
07 November 2016
From: Breaking News
![A record - huge £700,000 bill after buy to lets deemed 'sub-standard'](/img/default/lat.png)
A landlord guilty of breaching a planning enforcement notice has been ordered to pay £700,000 in fines and costs - the...
04 October 2016
From: Breaking News
![Demolished! Lotto winner's illegal outbuilding to let is now rubble...](/img/default/lat.png)
A millionaire landlord who built an illegal outbuilding at his home has been forced to demolish it after pressure from his...
10 August 2016
From: Breaking News
![More HMO student lets ordered to close by Planning Inspectorate](/img/default/lat.png)
Two more student houses in Brighton have been ordered to close by a government planning inspector. There have now been four such...
27 July 2016
From: Breaking News
![Shut down - the garage badly converted into a 'home' to let](/img/default/lat.png)
A damp garage with completely inadequate security, heating, and insulation which was being let as a flat for more than £1,000...
21 July 2016
From: Breaking News
![Onward march of Build To Rent - 500 more flats win planning consent](/img/default/lat.png)
The Select Property Group has won planning permission for 506 residential apartments in a prime Manchester city centre location. The two buildings...
15 July 2016
From: Breaking News
![Huge £100,000 bill for investor who built rental flats without consent](/img/default/lat.png)
Havering council has successfully prosecuted a landlord who must now pay £101,300 for building illegal flats at her property. Jaghtar Khaira was...
17 May 2016
From: Breaking News
![Countrywide - not just letting agencies but now into Build To Rent too](/img/default/lat.png)
Countrywide - which has already acquired a string of letting agencies in recent months - continues to demonstrate its emphasis on...
18 April 2016
From: Breaking News
![£116,000 bill after house converted without consent into seven flats to let](/img/default/lat.png)
Two buy to let investors who breached planning regulations by converting a house into seven studio flats have been ordered to...
29 March 2016
From: Breaking News
![Illegal 'bed in shed' demolished - and the owner has to foot the bill](/img/default/lat.png)
An unauthorised outhouse with a concealed entrance constructed at the back of a residential property in west London - one of...
21 March 2016
From: Breaking News
![Letting agents asked to pass new planning information to landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
A council has asked agents in its area to tell landlords of additional planning powers taken by the authority which may...
09 March 2016
From: Breaking News
![Another day, another Build To Rent scheme announced](/img/default/lat.png)
Legal & General Capital, which last week announced its intention to work with a Dutch pension fund manager to build 3,000...
09 February 2016
From: Breaking News
![30,000 Build To Rent flats now have planning consent across UK](/img/default/lat.png)
New figures from the British Property Federation show that there are now over 30,000 Build To Rent units with planning permission...
03 February 2016
From: Breaking News
![Build To Rent gathers pace: almost £100m spent on site for 600 new flats](/img/default/lat.png)
Grainger - which last week committed to spend £850m on the burgeoning UK Build To Rent sector - has announced that...
02 February 2016
From: Breaking News
![Council may stop family homes being turned into HMOs](/img/default/lat.png)
A local authority is considering introducing measures to prevent landlords turning family homes in one of its conservation areas into HMOs. Reading...
23 November 2015
From: Breaking News
![Extraordinary £207,000 bill after flats are let without consent](/img/default/lat.png)
A previously-convicted landlord has been ordered to pay over £200,000 by a court for illegally converting two properties into flats without...
17 November 2015
From: Breaking News
![£21,500 bill for man who turned house into nine illegal flats](/img/default/lat.png)
A rogue landlord who illegally converted one house into a nine flats has been handed a maximum £20,000 fine after being...
09 November 2015
From: Breaking News
![Uproar over tenants moving into HMO without appropriate consent](/img/default/lat.png)
There is uproar in Brighton as a result of students being let rooms in an HMO - despite the property’s owners...
30 October 2015
From: Breaking News
![Massive £85,000 fine for landlord who illegally let basement flat](/img/default/lat.png)
A landlord has a bill of more than £85,000 for unlawfully letting a basement flat. As part of a council planning enforcement...