Archive

Build to rent providers are taking the lead against private rental sector homes by advertising developments as pet-friendly.  Research by furnishings provider...

A £360 million wall of rental debt built up during the pandemic, combined with cuts to Universal Credit, threatens to leave...

ARLA Propertymark has voiced its concern over rent controls to a politicians who is leading the charge to introduce them to...

Pressure is growing to amend the 2019 Tenant Fees Act to allow charging additional deposits and insurance to cover pets in private rental...

New data from Rightmove shows that demand for pet friendly rental properties has increased by 120 per cent compared to last...

Rent controls are to be introduced into part of the UK as a result of a deal between two political parties. The...

Labour shadow housing secretary Lucy Powell has resuscitated the eviction ban, this time for furloughed workers whose government support ends in...

A controversial lettings agent who has set up a business to sell rental insurance has accused landlords of not taking their...

ARLA Propertymark is backing a controversial scheme allocating £10m of taxpayers’ money to assist tenants with Covid-related arrears. The Tenancy Hardship Grant...

ARLA Propertymark says a new government online checker to help private tenants establish what repairs they may be entitled to should...

Almost 40,000 people have signed a petition urging rent caps for private tenants and hefty tax rises for second home owners. The...

Propertymark has waded into the controversy over whether private rental tenants should be allowed to keep pets in their properties. As reported...

Propertymark has joined forces with the likes of Generation Rent and Shelter to step up the campaign for the provision of...

The ban on bailiff-enforced evictions is now finally at an end and from today there is a change to the notice...

Official figures show that far from seeing a rise during the pandemic, there has been what the government calls “a massive...

The head of the tenants’ campaign group Generation Rent has condemned the government as “reckless” for ending the eviction ban on May...

A Build To Rent operator say it is promoting the concept of private tenants being allowed pets - and it takes a...

One of the London boroughs synonymous with wealth has revealed that 44 per cent of its housing stock is now actually...

An influential group of MPs wants an end to repeated last minute extensions to the ban on evictions and instead wants financial support...

A charity is calling for a new national body to oversee the private rental sector. Citizens Advice makes this one of three...

An estimated 840,000 private tenants have arrears over the past year since the first eviction ban was announced, according to a...

A charity wants yet another extension to the current ban on bailiff-enforced evictions. Step Change says new research it has conducted shows...

An online petition which appears to inaccurately say private tenants can still be evicted “for no reason” has won 30,000 signatures...

There could be 700,000 private tenants in arrears by the end of this year - an unsustainable burden on agents and landlords,...

A PropTech supplier says that financial worries for renters have not been placated by the current ban on bailiff-enforced evictions.  In a...

One of the housing ministers with responsibility for the introduction of the controversial Renters Reform Bill in the near future has...

A council claims that as many as a fifth of all the private rental sector homes in its area have a...

A renters’ union in Scotland claims a proposal to cap rents in the country doesn’t go far enough. The Scottish Parliament’s Local...

Generation Rent’s campaign for more public funds for private tenants continues unabated with a call on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to increase...

The private rental sector should embrace the idea of tenants with pets and not object to the prospect. That’s the view of...

London’s Westminster council - with 43 per cent of housing stock in the private rental sector - has launched a consultation on...

The government is urging agents and landlords to be “considerate” when deciding whether to accept tenants on the basis of their...

A large-scale survey of private tenants has attempted to uncover what renters feel about the sector and their individual properties in...

Three lettings agents who kept tenants’ rent instead of passing it to the landlords have been ordered to pay almost £100,000...

Campaign group Generation Rent says thousands of tenants in areas of the country under Tier 3 Coronavirus restrictions are in danger...

A charity claims that private tenants in the areas with the higher tiers of Coronavirus measures face “harsh enforcement” if they...

A London council has launched a strategy it claims will protect private tenants and ensure they live in good quality and...

Housing Minister Chris Pincher says the eviction ban is formally over but the situation remains under “constant review” as the second...

A new report demands that online rental platforms and portals allowing direct advertising by clients do more to deter fake landlords...

A London council is telling its private rental sector residents to use a new tool to check whether they may be...

A local authority is urging letting agents within its boundary to get in touch before serving eviction notices on private tenants. Gedling council...

A leading PropTech figure says a political issue north of the border demonstrates the advantages of voluntary industry codes of practice over...

The largest survey yet conducted about rent payments during the pandemic shows the claims of pressure groups about widespread evictions are unfounded. Over...

Campaign group Generation Rent says private tenants could miss out on an energy efficiency drive if they are not given the...

The Local Government Association, which represents almost all councils in England, is calling on the government to scrap section 21. The call comes...

A survey claims 25 per cent of tenants are already at least a month behind in their rent. Of those private tenants...

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, has told the government of “illegal evictions by letting agents” - without specifying the incidents he refers...

There’s been another increase in the proportion of private tenants saying they are satisfied with their housing according to data published...

A Bill which would have introduced a general cap on rent increases in the private rental sector has been abandoned by...

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

A Labour Baroness, Alicia Kennedy, has been named as the new director of the fiercely pro-tenant Generation Rent campaign group. The announcement...

Research from franchise giant Belvoir is the latest to show what may be rapidly changing aspirations from private tenants. “The results confirm...

A lettings sector group says there was never any eviction crisis looming for private tenants, contrary to a slew of recent claims. New independent...

Two new handbooks have been released offering advice to the private rental sector on how to improve energy efficiency.  Electricity distributor UK...

Research by insurance firm Aviva suggests private tenants are now more pessimistic about being able to buy their own home. In December,...

A landlord website claims the current ban on evictions is not to be extended beyond its scheduled close of June 29...

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick says the government is “thinking carefully” about what more it can do for private tenants, especially after...

A pressure group representing private tenants wants government to help housing associations purchase buy to let properties “at knockdown prices.” A blog...

The Labour head of a special ‘taskforce’ looking at London housing issues in the light of the Coronavirus crisis says he...

The new National Residential Landlords Association has backed calls from the Labour Mayor of London to ensure the benefits system covers...

The Citizens Advice charity is the latest organisation to call for more help for private tenants following what appears to be...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that the government is bringing forward measures to “protect” private tenants against eviction during the...

One of the lettings sector’s leading trade bodies has called on the government and lenders to agree a package of measures...

The parlous state of many tenants’ personal finances has been highlighted by website CompareTheMarket which claims that one in 10 rely...

A council’s intervention has stopped a landlord forcing his private tenants to use an external staircase to enter their home -...

There’s been an angry response by the rental sector following the latest attack by campaigning charity Shelter. The organisation claims that private...

An industry supplier says letting agents should respond supportively to the growing eco-consciousness shown by younger people who are likely to...

The Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru is pledging tax credits for private tenants whose rent and utilities bills add up to...

A pressure group that has spoken out against letting agents and landlords is urging private tenants to take part in a...

Labour has dropped its controversial policy under which private tenants would have been able to buy their homes at a discount. Press...

Labour’s controversial proposal to oblige landlords to sell their buy to let properties to tenants who wished to purchase them, unveiled...

One of the leading lettings sector trade bodies has unveiled what it describes as “a positive vision for the private rented...

The controversial tenants union Acorn has set up a web page where disgruntled renters can lodge complaints about letting agents. In the...

Contrary to the impressions given in some quarters, no fewer than 75 per cent of tenants are happy to rent, and...

A group of landlords in the North East are the latest to criticise Labour's plans to introduce a Right to Buy...

The majority of the UK’s private renters don’t want to purchase a home according to new research, coming just as the...

A leading PropTech chief says there is nothing inherently wrong with private tenants being given the right to buy their property,...

As the row over Labour’s proposal rumbles on the think tank Centre for Policy Studies - which has previously argued that...

There’s been a fierce outcry from Conservative MPs and the lettings industry in response to Labour’s threat to give private rental...

Labour has this morning pledged to introduce a shock new policy if it wins the next general election - giving private...

A local council says it has now successfully prosecuted a landlord for flouting the law that protects the health and safety...

Anyone underestimating the size of the UK’s growing private rental sector ought to think again - new research shows its value...

Private tenants are being disadvantaged because of the government’s focus on boosting homeownership. According to the latest figures from the Royal Institution...

An outspoken Conservative party figure says government policies such as the scrapping of Section 21 will play into the hands of...

A rent guarantor service says it’s already chosen 25 lettings agents to take part in a trial of what it calls...

A group of activists has expressed outrage over a council’s private rental licensing scheme, claiming it is too small to catch...

A trade union says the government’s intention to scrap Section 21 eviction powers for landlords is “a huge victory” - but...

London’s lettings sector is changing with tenants still wanting to buy but increasingly accepting they must rent for longer in the...

Another think-tank has come up with reforms which it wants the government to make to the private rental sector - and...

Labour says it will introduce new ‘indefinite’ tenancies for private tenants, based on rules currently in place in Germany. It claims German...

Private tenants in Britain in 2018 paid £59.1 billion on rent - that’s £1.9 billion less than in 2017 and the...

The government’s new redress system, announced last week and to be implemented later this year, must be free for renters to...

It’s the lull before the storm for private tenants according to the Association of Residential Lettings Agents. In its market snapshot looking...

Three letting agents who failed to return tenants’ deposits or pass on rent payments to landlords have been convicted of fraud...

Nottingham council - which recently introduced one of the largest and most controversial selective licensing schemes in the country - now...

A lettings trade body has welcomed extra government funding for English councils to clamp down on criminal landlords. But the Residential Landlords...

The Nationwide has called for greater consistency in the treatment and return of security deposits so that tenants leaving properties in...

The head of an online lettings agency says tenants are now left confused by what she calls “ill thought-out policy changes”...

The Bedford Estate, which covers part of Covent Garden and includes Bloomsbury, has linked up with one of the growing number...

New research appears to suggest that some tenants would be willing to pay substantially higher rent if they were allowed to...

Labour has outlined its proposals for the private rental sector if it gains power at the next General Election - and...

The New Forest district council in Hampshire is appealling to letting agents and private tenants to sign up to its Private...

Last week Shelter and the National Housing Federation took a swipe at lettings agents, and now Citizens Advice has joined the...

Campaigning group Generation Rent has secured over 20,000 signatures for a petition it says will “end unfair evictions”. The petition, on the...

A third of tenants are happy to rent long-term and have no plans to purchase a property in the future, new...

A large majority of private sector tenants, 84 per cent, are satisfied with their housing according to the English Housing Survey...

Close examination of the consultation document on possible three year tenancies issued by the government suggest that it may want rent...

The Citizens Advice consumer charity claims that 28 per cent of private tenants who have experienced problems while renting have not...

Council officers staged a dawn raid to uncover an unlicensed HMO in north London. The team discovered 10 men and women sleeping...

Academic research suggests tenants in England and Wales are missing out on £80m of interest to tenancy deposit schemes every single...

New research reveals that only 16 per cent of private tenants positively choose to rent. The study, commissioned by specialist insurance firm...

The average rental household in London has 2.1 rent-paying tenants, each paying £775 per month, equating to an average property rent...

The government has set out new measures to mitigate against overcrowded and dangerous living conditions of private tenants in shared homes. From...

With only three weeks to go to the introduction of the first phase of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, a specialist mortgage...

Senior Labour MPs have spoken out about what they believe are the anti-social and detrimental effects of short lets on surrounding...

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has used a holiday season interview to repeat his pledge to swing powers back towards private tenants...

Prime minister Theresa May has repeated that the current government will not introduce rent controls in the private sector. The issue of...

London Bishops have written to housing minister Alok Sharma calling on him to do more to protect vulnerable private tenants. The Bishops...

Countrywide says a record 64,672 tenants left London over the last 12 months with an unusually-high proportion going on to rent elsewhere. Some...

Almost a third of renters in the UK do not have a life-saving carbon monoxide alarm in their property, with four...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has welcomed the government commitment to introduce regulation for agencies - but it is warning...

A landlord has been prosecuted and ordered to repay over £5,000 to his tenants for letting an unlicensed House of Multiple...

Campaigning charity Shelter - which last week suggested landlords were more likely to quit buy to let because they grew old...

The findings of the most recent English Housing Survey, an annual report published by the Department for Communities and Local Government,...

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

The myth has been broken - tenants in the private rental sector are more satisfied with their accommodation than those in...

A survey of letting and estate agencies suggest around half broadly back the changes to the private rental sector outlined in...

After criticism of many younger voters allegedly failing to turn out during the June 2016 EU Referendum, new analysis of voter...

Retired tenants are becoming a larger part of the rental market, according to the UK's largest letting agency. Countrywide reports that pensioners...

Data gathered for a specialist insurance firm suggests that 14 per cent of private tenants have moved in the last five...

Spark Energy - the specialist energy supplier to the UK lettings sector - has announced the acquisition of broadband firm Home...

The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks is advising letting agents and landlords to be wary of any tenant seeking to ‘game’...

A senior Labour spokesman has refused to rule out rent controls as a possible manifesto commitment for the June 8 General...

You might not want to read this as you’re tucking into an early Easter egg, but an interiors firm has compiled...

Just over a quarter of all tenants across private and public housing would not say if they had caused significant damage...

Landlords and agents acting on their behalf are being urged to help private tenants personalise their rental properties.    The plea comes from...

Private renters go on fewer holidays, save less money and are more likely to make forced cutbacks than home owners according...

Analysis of the government’s respected English Housing Survey suggests that the reality of the private rental sector is far from the...

Almost two in five private tenants plan to remain renting rather than buy a property, according to a new study. A survey...

The landlord of a property risked the lives of his tenants and their young family by not undertaking annual safety checks...

The government has launched an official consultation process on a package of measures to crack down on what it calls ‘rogue...

No decision yet appears to have been taken on the fate of the Renters’ Rights Bill - which had as a...

The government will today announce that it is banning letting agents’ fees levied on tenants - meaning the fees will instead...

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

Three quarters of a million private renters are stuck in the coldest and draughtiest homes, claims the Citizens Advice organisation -...

An industry group says the seemingly non-stop attack on the private rental sector by campaigning charity Shelter is “plain wrong.”   After a...

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced the first details of his plan to introduce a 'London Living Rent'. This new...

Failing to pay rent on time or at all is the most common rule broken by tenants that is set out...

Some 40% of private tenants are aged over 46, according to a study by Your Move.  The agency researched 36,500 tenants and...

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

A lettings agency on Merseyside is one of the first in the UK to take part of an experiment which could...

The government is being warned that without changes to the Finance Bill currently going through parliament it will effectively be forcing rent...

A Labour MP has presented Parliament with a petition urging that letting agents’ fees should be capped. There were a modest 1,500...

The average rent paid by private tenants across Great Britain increased by 2.6% in the twelve months to April 2016, according...

Haringey Council in North London is the latest local authority to launch its own letting agency for private tenants. Move 51⁰ North...

Millions of people remain at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning despite the recent legislation aimed at protecting private tenants, a new...

Some 26,676 court orders were issued for the eviction of private sector tenants in the final quarter of 2015 according to...

Seventy nine per cent of tenants are happy with their circumstances according to a survey conducted by the National Landlords’ Association...

The Right To Buy policy “has turned into a rich harvest for the greedy elite” according to a trades union. The GMB...

New research appears to show that well over a third of British tenants do not save to buy at all. A poll...

The National Landlords’ Association says an alarming number of private tenants are being told by their local authorities to ignore eviction...

The vocal campaign group Generation Rent is making the jaw-dropping claim that one in four private tenants has been evicted “for...

A third of private tenants have put their plans to buy on hold and have stayed in rented accommodation longer than...

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

The Citizens Advice Bureau consumer charity has stepped up its campaign about poor standards in the private rental sector. It claims private...

One of the biggest surveys of tenants in the private rental sector shows that a narrow majority favour a six month...

A survey of house- and flat-share private tenants shows 15 per cent claiming not to have a working smoke alarm in...

Labour MP Karen Buck want private tenants to be able to sue their landlords if they rent in what are considered...

Approaching 50 per cent of private tenants have experienced property maintenance issues with their agents or landlords. The figure comes through research...

Students are considered to be almost twice as likely to lose their deposit at the end of a tenancy than any...

One of four MP candidates standing for the Labour Party leadership says Right To Buy should be extended - to private...

Private rents in the UK are the highest in Europe despite having amongst the least secure tenancies - that it the...

A landlord has been ordered to pay a fine £1,344.57 after failing to install fixed heating to a property she was...

The Chartered Institute of Housing has welcomed Scottish Government moves to make private renting more secure for tenants. In its submission to...