The husband-and-wife directors of a Cornish lettings and estate agency have been disqualified from being company directors for a combined 12...
Archive
![Guilty! - Fraudster letting agents duped landlords and tenants](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Court-UK-400x310.png)
Two London agents who traded fraudulently through their lettings business and scammed victims out of over £24,000 have been sentenced. After a...
13 May 2024
From: Breaking News
![Propertymark back on warpath demanding qualifications for agency staff](/upload/images/shutterstock_112412021.jpg)
Propertymark is demanding equal treatment with the social housing sector. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove intends to boost standards in social housing...
11 April 2024
From: Breaking News
![Business Rates - Agency warns Hunt he has last chance to get them right](/upload/images/shutterstock_2355420851.jpg)
The Chancellor has one last chance to come good on the election promise of lowering the burden of business rates –...
06 March 2024
From: Breaking News
![Top agent backs industry regulation in 2024 - the more the better](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/AgentsWorking-400x310.png)
The boss of a prominent UK lettings and property management agency says new regulations planned for the industry are to be...
27 December 2023
From: Breaking News
![Politicians want to take ‘harder line’ with rogue agents](/upload/images/shutterstock_431846332(1).jpg)
Harlow council says it wants to take a harder line against agents and landlords who knowingly let unsafe and substandard properties...
20 October 2023
From: Breaking News
![Kicked Out! Redress scheme expels five rogue agencies](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/Franchise-400x310.png)
The Property Redress Scheme has released its latest list of expelled agents - mostly for rental misdemeanours and/or failure to pay...
24 July 2023
From: Breaking News
![Agency outraged at latest business rates proposal by government](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/PropertyNews2-400x310.png)
Colliers, the agency and property consultancy, has issued another outspoken attack on government policy - this time prompted by a formal...
17 July 2023
From: Breaking News
![Foxtons beefs up compliance with new PropTech partnership](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/Compliance-Image-400x310.png)
Foxtons is to give its agents access to a compliance management and checking service. Fran Giltinan, Managing Director - Property Management &...
19 May 2023
From: Breaking News
![Expelled! Rogue agents expelled from Property Redress Scheme](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Banned_400x310.png)
The Property Redress Scheme, one of two government-approved redress services, has produced a list of recently-expelled agencies. All agencies must be a...
26 April 2023
From: Breaking News
![Agents jailed for role in multi-million-pounds drugs crimes](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Arrested-UK-400x310.png)
Two agents who helped establish a multi-million-pound drugs ring in two cities have been jailed. Ossama Omar and Mohamed Latif ran Platinum...
21 April 2023
From: Breaking News
![String of dodgy letting agents expelled by Ombudsman](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Banned_400x310.png)
Several lettings agents have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme; they are amongst eight named as having been kicked out...
06 April 2023
From: Breaking News
![Named, Shamed, Expelled - rogue agents thrown out by Ombudsman](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Court-UK-400x310.png)
Five agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme - all for compliance failures. The first is Home Trader Properties, in...
04 October 2022
From: Breaking News
![Rogue agent database must be expanded insists top industry figure](/upload/images/PropTech%20%26%20Online/Digital-Online-400x310.jpg)
An accreditation scheme says the government database of rogue letting agents should be expanded. The government is committed to creating a new Property...
27 September 2022
From: Breaking News
![Conservative lettings agent lets rip at government over regulation delays](/upload/images/Logos/ARLA-PropertyMark-400x310.jpg)
The former president of ARLA Propertymark has made an outspoken attack on the government for failing to regulate the agency industry. Maxine...
30 June 2022
From: Breaking News
![ARLA reveals new President to take Propertymark position](/upload/images/Logos/ARLA-PropertyMark-400x310.jpg)
David Votta from the Kent-based Votta Sales and Lettings has been revealed as the new ARLA Propertymark President. He has been in...
21 June 2022
From: Breaking News
![Agents hit back at politicians over rent controls](/upload/images/Logos/NAEA-ARLA-Propertymark-400x310.jpg)
Propertymark has hit back at the latest demand by politicians for rent controls. The London mayor Sadiq Khan renewed his call for...
21 February 2022
From: Breaking News
![Clampdown on agents by council officers with qualifications](/upload/images/Locations/GreaterLondon-400x310.jpg)
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wants is introducing a new qualification and training for borough council housing enforcement officers to...
17 February 2022
From: Breaking News
![Expelled by Ombudsman - rogue agents who refuse to pay compensation](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/CourtCase-400x310.png)
Two agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay compensation awards. Thamlet Estates, based in east London,...
20 January 2022
From: Breaking News
![Letting agents warned - implement health and safety laws, or else](/upload/images/library/Health%26Safety400x310.png)
A council is warning letting agents to adhere to health and safety laws or else face the legal consequences. Telford & Wrekin...
10 January 2022
From: Breaking News
![Reform tax, Beef up rogues database - Agents demand radical rental reforms](/upload/images/Logos/ARLA-PropertyMark-400x310.jpg)
ARLA Propertymark has launched a radical programme of reform for the private rental sector - getting in before the government’s own...
15 December 2021
From: Breaking News
![Rogue agents in firing line as councils get enforcement kit](/upload/images/library/rogue-letting-agent400x310.png)
Effective enforcement is crucial to stamp out rogue lettings agents and protect consumers says safeagent. In the latest edition of its Effective...
30 November 2021
From: Breaking News
![Deal to introduce rent controls “ill thought out” say agents](/upload/images/library/PropertyMarket-2-400x310-min.jpg)
The deal to introduce rent controls in Scotland - the result of a deal between two parties in the Scottish Parliament...
27 August 2021
From: Breaking News
![New consultation aims to “root out rogue agents” says RICS](/upload/images/Logos/RICS-logo400x310.png)
New rules out for consultation concerning block management aim to improve professionalism across the sector, root out rogue agents, and increase...
23 August 2021
From: Breaking News
![Have Your Say: Ombudsman wants agents’ views on block management](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/MillennialAgents-2020-400x310.jpg)
The Property Ombudsman and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors are seeking views of agents, landlords and tenants on a new...
13 August 2021
From: Breaking News
![Rogue Agents' Database: still no response to formal consultation](/upload/images/new-story-stock-images/CourtImage-400x310.jpg)
There has still been no formal response to a government consultation on the database of rogue agents and landlords, 25 months...
11 August 2021
From: Breaking News
![Trading Standards clampdown on rogue letting agents](/img/default/lat.png)
A local Trading Standards team is clamping down on rogue letting agents. Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service has launched...
23 June 2021
From: Breaking News
![New call for letting agents to be trained, qualified and licensed](/img/default/lat.png)
The Association of Residential Letting Agents' wing of Propertymark says the recent expulsion of three agents from The Property Ombudsman demonstrates the...
04 May 2021
From: Breaking News
![Agents hit with third-of-a-million pounds bill over poorly-managed HMO](/img/default/lat.png)
An agency has been hit with a £330,000 bill after being found guilty of poor management of an HMO. Magistrates have found...
16 March 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
![Overwhelming number of agents pay TPO compensation awards](/img/default/lat.png)
An overwhelming 98 per cent of agents who are members of The Property Ombudsman scheme pay compensation when an investigation is...
01 December 2020
From: Breaking News
![Shock bid to block evictions to be made this week in House of Lords](/img/default/lat.png)
A Liberal Democrat Baroness says she is to make a last-ditch bid in the House of Lords tomorrow to stop evictions...
22 September 2020
From: Breaking News
![Section 21: Lib Dems want government to finally scrap it](/img/default/lat.png)
A Liberal Democrat bid is underway to accelerate the government timetable to scrap Section 21. The Renters’ Rights Bill put forward by government...
27 July 2020
From: Breaking News
![Six lettings agencies expelled from TPO for not paying awards](/img/default/lat.png)
The Property Ombudsman has announced the expulsion of eight agencies, all for contravening TPO codes of practice. Most of the expulsions were...
04 May 2020
From: Breaking News
![Banning Orders could rise this year after councils win extra cash](/img/default/lat.png)
Councils that have been awarded additional cash injections by government could use their windfalls to enhance their enforcement of the private...
20 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![Labour mocks government’s new funding to combat rogue agents](/img/default/lat.png)
The Labour party has mocked the government’s £4m new funding for councils to combat rogue agents and landlords as “puny.” A statement...
06 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![Trade bodies back latest rogue agent and landlord clampdown](/img/default/lat.png)
The Association of Residential Letting Agents and The Guild of Property Professionals have both given their backing to the government’s latest...
06 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![New government cash for rental sector ‘nowhere near enough’](/img/default/lat.png)
The government has announced an additional £4m in funding for local councils to combat rogue agents and landlords - but it’s...
03 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![Rogue agents expelled by TPO for failing to pay compensation awards](/img/default/lat.png)
Two London agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to honour two compensation awards. The first is Chase...
19 September 2019
From: Breaking News
![Industry reform “toothless” if rogue agents aren’t stopped - warning](/img/default/lat.png)
There’s a warning this morning that the root-and-branch reform of the agency industry recommended by a government-backed working party will be...
19 July 2019
From: Breaking News
!['Local councils not doing enough to prosecute rogue letting agents' - NLA](/img/default/lat.png)
Local authorities are failing in their duty to prosecute criminal letting agents, the National Landlords Association (NLA) has warned. The NLA says...
04 July 2019
From: Breaking News
![Fees Ban is here: but will it achieve what the government wants?](/img/default/lat.png)
The Tenant Fees Act comes into effect in England tomorrow - but a senior lettings expert is questioning whether it will...
31 May 2019
From: Breaking News
![New regulatory body for Fees Ban likely to clamp down hard](/img/default/lat.png)
The Association of Residential Lettings Agents says it backs a new Trading Standards-led body which will enforce the Fees Ban starting on...
18 April 2019
From: Breaking News
![Should there be a Rogue Tenants register? Should the lettings industry fight back?](/img/default/lat.png)
The news this week that even individual private landlords must join a redress scheme is just the latest in an onslaught...
25 January 2019
From: Breaking News
![Stolen: £1.3m of tenants’ cash pilfered by rogue agents and landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
A rental campaigner claims the amount of money stolen this year by crooked lettings agents and landlords has topped the £1.3m...
20 December 2018
From: Breaking News
![Ban the Rogue Agents! NALS helps councils get tough](/img/default/lat.png)
The National Approved Letting Scheme has published the latest version of its Effective Enforcement Toolkit - aimed at helping councils clamp...
05 December 2018
From: Breaking News
![‘More must be done to stop the rogues’ government told](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings trade body has welcomed extra government funding for English councils to clamp down on criminal landlords. But the Residential Landlords...
09 November 2018
From: Breaking News
![Tenants to be given access to database of rogue agents and landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
The Guardian says the government is committed to making a datebase of rogue letting agents and landlords available to tenants. The newspaper quotes...
26 October 2018
From: Breaking News
![Tenants' Fees Bill - Bonfire Night date for next Lords debate](/img/default/lat.png)
November 5 is the next key date for the passage of the Tenants’ Fees Bill, the measure which is likely to...
19 October 2018
From: Breaking News
![Council fining 27 rogue agents wins strong backing from ARLA](/img/default/lat.png)
The Association of Residential Letting Agents has heaped praise on a local authority which has fined 27 lettings and managing agents...
11 July 2018
From: Breaking News
![Government urged to co-ordinate lettings reforms, not be scattergun](/img/default/lat.png)
A leading PropTech entrepreneur says he welcomes reforms currently moving through Parliament to professionalise the lettings sector - but he wants...
09 May 2018
From: Breaking News
![Government reveals letting agents' mandatory qualification and code of conduct](/img/default/lat.png)
The government has this morning - Easter Sunday - announced a crackdown on rogue letting agents in the shape of a...
01 April 2018
From: Breaking News
![Romans is latest agency to back banning orders on rogue agents](/img/default/lat.png)
Romans has thrown its weight behind the banning orders being introduced in April which could see rogue letting agents and landlords...
26 January 2018
From: Breaking News
![Government lettings reforms: no response yet from ARLA](/img/default/lat.png)
The Association of Residential Letting Agents and other trade bodies have not yet responded to the government’s announcement over the holiday...
02 January 2018
From: Breaking News
![Online database of rogue agents 'will save lives' say fire chiefs](/img/default/lat.png)
The new online database identifying rogue letting agents and landlords will save lives according to the London Fire Brigade. We wrote about...
21 December 2017
From: Breaking News
![First London boroughs roll out ‘rogue agents database’](/img/default/lat.png)
The first London boroughs are now rolling out the Greater London Authority’s ‘Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker’ - allowing tenants to...
20 December 2017
From: Breaking News
![Industry welcomes government call for greater lettings regulation](/img/default/lat.png)
Industry figures have broadly welcomed the latest consultations and proposed additional regulation for the lettings sector, announced by the government yesterday. The...
19 October 2017
From: Breaking News
![Clampdown on rogue agents and landlords welcomed by PropTech firm](/img/default/lat.png)
PropTech firm PayProp has welcomed the latest measures to clamp down on rogue elements within the lettings industry - but warns...
11 October 2017
From: Breaking News
![Trading Standards to visit letting agents today as new clampdown begins](/img/default/lat.png)
Trading Standards says representatives from 15 departments will today visit lettings and property management firms across London in a bid to...
26 September 2017
From: Breaking News
![Council to have star-rating system for all letting agencies in its area](/img/default/lat.png)
Newham council is to set up the UK’s first letting agents rating scheme to protect residents and landlords from rogue agents. The...
07 August 2017
From: Breaking News
![Crooked agents have stolen £700,000 so far this year says campaigner](/img/default/lat.png)
Crooked letting agents have been convicted of stealing almost £700,000 of tenants’ deposits in the first half of 2017. Campaigning letting agent...
27 July 2017
From: Breaking News
![NALS wants 'rogues database' extended to include more agents](/img/default/lat.png)
The National Approved Lettings Scheme has called for the London Mayor’s new rogue agents’ database to be extended to include those...
28 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Named and shamed - ARLA backs Mayor's rogue agents database](/img/default/lat.png)
Letting agents who have broken the law are set to be ‘named and shamed’ by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan,...
27 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Landlords' group opposes ARLA-approved 'rogue agents register'](/img/default/lat.png)
The Residential Landlords Association has broken ranks with the Association of Residential Letting Agents by opposing an ARLA-backed public database of...
27 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Industry pours scorn and derision on fees ban consultation](/img/default/lat.png)
The government’s formal consultation on its proposed ban for fees levied on tenants by agents has been greeted with derision and...
10 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Anti-deposit campaigner warns of Client Money Protection side-effect](/img/default/lat.png)
A leading letting agent campaigning against rental sector deposits is warning that the industry might be hit with “astronominal” insurance premiums...
10 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Letting agents in the firing line as new civil penalties come into effect](/img/default/lat.png)
New legislation coming into force today gives local authorities in England tough new powers to crack down on rogue agents and...
06 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Budget 2017: NALS wants a 'PRS for all'](/img/default/lat.png)
As the industry awaits the delivery of today's Spring Budget, the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) has called on the government...
08 March 2017
From: Breaking News
![Trade group backs banning orders on rogue agents, landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
A trade body has backed government plans to introduce so-called ‘banning orders’ for rogue letting agents and landlords, but it says...
17 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Politician urges 'secret shopping' to name and shame rogue agents](/img/default/lat.png)
One of London’s leading politicians has created guidelines to help individuals ‘secret shop’ in a bid to expose what she claims...
03 January 2017
From: Breaking News
![Government consults over 'banning orders' for rogue agents](/img/default/lat.png)
The government has launched an official consultation process on a package of measures to crack down on what it calls ‘rogue...
14 December 2016
From: Breaking News
![A message to the public: Speak out against rogue letting agents](/img/default/lat.png)
The Local Government Association, representing 370 councils across England and Wales, is calling on the public to speak out against rogue...
11 July 2016
From: Breaking News
![Firm launches software claiming to protect councils from rogue agents](/img/default/lat.png)
The demonisation of agents continues with the launch of a web-based application designed to “enable local authorities to take action against rogue...
23 March 2016
From: Breaking News
![Councils urge faster legal action against rogue agents and landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
The Local Government Association says recent prosecutions show that councils are cracking down on illegal evictions by landlords and their agents...
01 February 2016
From: Breaking News
![MPs give thumbs up to banning rogue agents and landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
MPs have given their backing to a government proposal to ban rogue letting agents and landlords who repeatedly break private rental...
13 January 2016
From: Breaking News
![Eviction specialists want 'rogue tenants' blacklist to be drawn up](/img/default/lat.png)
Eviction specialist company Landlord Action wants the government to complement its action against rogue letting agents and tenants with a ‘rogue...
05 January 2016
From: Breaking News
![MPs this week debate £30k fines and bans for rogue agents, landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
The Housing and Planning Bill returns to the House of Commons tomorrow when the remaining stages of the legislation resume after...
04 January 2016
From: Breaking News
![Government to unveil new lettings measures - in Christmas week](/img/default/lat.png)
It may be almost Christmas but the government is this week unveiling new laws to combat what it sees as the...
21 December 2015
From: Breaking News
![Buy to let chief wants register to deter rogue agents and landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
A property investment search portal has launched an online petition via the UK Parliament website, calling for a national register of...
23 November 2015
From: Breaking News
![Huge support for clampdown on rogue agents and landlords says government](/img/default/lat.png)
The Department of Communities and Local Government has published a summary of the 600 responses it has received to its recent...
16 November 2015
From: Breaking News
![New call for agents' details to be revealed on council tax forms](/img/default/lat.png)
The Residential Landlords Association is calling on MPs to support a measure being proposed in the House of Commons that would...
13 November 2015
From: Breaking News
![MPs to hear evidence on Bill clamping down on rogue agents](/img/default/lat.png)
The oral evidence sessions begin today as the government’s controversial Housing and Planning Bill enters its most detailed scrutiny stage in...
10 November 2015
From: Breaking News
![ARLA backs new law introducing ban on rogue agents and landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
The Associational of Residential Letting Agents has spoken up in favour of most of the provisions in the new Housing and...
16 October 2015
From: Breaking News
![Boris backs lettings reform and banning rogue agents](/img/default/lat.png)
London Mayor and Tory leadership wannabee Boris Johnson wants rogue operators in the private rental sectors to be banned with repeat...
08 September 2015
From: Breaking News
![Letting agents could be blacklisted under new regulations](/img/default/lat.png)
Letting agents and other industry professionals are being consulted ver changes to the sector’s regulation - including possible blacklisting of rogue...
05 August 2015
From: Breaking News
![Immigration check roll-out to be announced tomorrow](/img/default/lat.png)
Tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech outlining legislation for the next 12 months will include a pledge to roll out across England and Wales...
26 May 2015
From: Breaking News
![The voters have spoken – with confidence](/img/default/lat.png)
A little over four weeks ago I was here musing what impact the impending general election might have on the property...
15 May 2015
From: Features
!['Regulate letting agents - now' insists agency chief](/img/default/lat.png)
The chief executive of Leaders letting and estate agency is demanding that the new Conservative government brings in the formal regulation...
14 May 2015
From: Breaking News
![Agents call for more lettings sector regulation](/img/default/lat.png)
The chief executive of Braemore, one of the highest profile letting agencies in Scotland, says he wants greater regulation for the...