Archive

A huge trading standards operation clamping down on lettings agents who fail to abide by Client Money Protection rules has been...

A lettings expert claims that many agents are failing to comply with appropriate legislation, rendering their landlord clients liable for legal...

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

One of the highest profile figures in the rental sector says rogue letting agents should be named and shamed as a...

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

The government’s hugely-publicised database for rogue letting agents and landlords has been running for almost two years and has…wait for it…just...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents and The Guild of Property Professionals have both given their backing to the government’s latest...

The government and local authorities run by all political parties are keen to advocate measures to curb rogue letting agents and...

An estimated 20 per cent of letting agents have still not signed up for a Client Money Protection scheme, six months...

Two London agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to honour two compensation awards. The first is Chase...

Last week’s revelation that approaching 50 per cent of letting agents surveyed in London were in breach of the law is...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents is urging tenants to “walk straight out” if they believe an agency is breaking the...

The Property Ombudsman has announced a slew of expulsions after six agents failed to comply with redress rules. They failed to abide...

The Association of Residential Lettings Agents says it fears the government needs to do more to prevent the possibility of banned...

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...

Local authorities are failing in their duty to prosecute criminal letting agents, the National Landlords Association (NLA) has warned. The NLA says...

Two landlords will this evening be seen securing the £16,000 they are owed by a rogue lettings agent - and TV...

Seven agencies have been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman after failing to pay compensation awards made by TPO. All are...

Cornwall council has confirmed that it’s to use the Proceeds of Crime Act to try to win compensation for victims of...

New figures from a leading trade body suggest that councils across England have cut by a quarter the amount they are...

The National Approved Lettings Scheme has taken the unusual step of commenting on, and welcoming, the outcome of a court case...

A lettings company’s management director has been disqualified for failing to protect thousands of pounds of tenants’ deposits. Kari Jade Ridout from...

The National Approved Letting Scheme has published the latest version of its Effective Enforcement Toolkit - aimed at helping councils clamp...

Local authorities across the UK are to get another £2m to crack down on rogue operators in the buy to let...

Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay awards. One is OJ Residentials Limited trading...

The Guardian says the government is committed to making a datebase of rogue letting agents and landlords available to tenants. The newspaper quotes...

One of Scotland’s top lettings agents is warning of “an air of criminality” in the rental industry north of the border. His...

Trading Standards departments in London are asking renters to name and shame letting agents who are not complying with the law...

Which?, the consumer organisation which this week revealed details of an undercover investigation of 30 viewings of properties marketed by lettings...

Crooked letting agents and landlords have so far this year been convicted of illegally pocketing over £900,000 of tenant’s cash – and there’s...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has heaped praise on a local authority which has fined 27 lettings and managing agents...

Property expert Kate Faulkner says the massive surge in new regulations, legislation and fiscal measures aimed at the private rental sector...

A regional newspaper claims that a lettings agency has collapsed, its boss has gone to ground, and thousands of pounds are...

A leading PropTech entrepreneur has renewed his call for letting agents to use more technology to clean up their act when...

This week marks a major milestone in Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's efforts to crack down on the capital's rogue letting...

Today Trading Standards teams across the country will highlight the work they do to protect landlords and tenants from rogue letting...

Two rogue letting agents in London have been fined thousands of pounds as part of a council campaign to clean up...

A statement from the government has repeated its determination to clean up the private rental sector through a series of measures,...

The Property Ombudsman is the latest property industry player to throw its support behind the introduction of mandatory qualifications and a...

The government has this morning - Easter Sunday - announced a crackdown on rogue letting agents in the shape of a...

The head of a major PropTech company serving the lettings sector says he want to see the introduction of a database...

Crooked landlords and letting agents were convicted of stealing £1,162,037 of tenant’s cash in 2017 – a rise of 14 per...

Romans has thrown its weight behind the banning orders being introduced in April which could see rogue letting agents and landlords...

Crooked letting agents and landlords have raided close to £1m from tenancy deposit accounts in 2017, new figures show. Campaigning agent Ajay Jagota,...

The new online database identifying rogue letting agents and landlords will save lives according to the London Fire Brigade. We wrote about...

The first London boroughs are now rolling out the Greater London Authority’s ‘Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker’ - allowing tenants to...

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

A lettings agency chief who monitors legal action against rogue agencies and landlords says almost £850,000 of deposits have been stolen...

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

Crooked letting agents have been convicted of stealing almost £700,000 of tenants’ deposits in the first half of 2017.   Campaigning letting agent...

The head of a property management company is calling on the government to introduce a tenants' register which would help rogue...

The National Approved Lettings Scheme has called for the London Mayor’s new rogue agents’ database to be extended to include those...

Letting agents who have broken the law are set to be ‘named and shamed’ by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan,...

The Residential Landlords Association has broken ranks with the Association of Residential Letting Agents by opposing an ARLA-backed public database of...

A prominent campaigner over the misappropriation of rental deposits has welcomed the news that government proposals to ban letting agent fees...

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

New legislation coming into force today gives local authorities in England tough new powers to crack down on rogue agents and...

A trade body has backed government plans to introduce so-called ‘banning orders’ for rogue letting agents and landlords, but it says...

Conservative MP Oliver Colvile is calling for urgent action following a recent spate of fraud involving rogue letting agents.   When approached by...

Lettings agents have been issued fines totalling £14,100 by a local authority for failing to comply with consumer rights laws.   Officers from...

One of London’s leading politicians has created guidelines to help individuals ‘secret shop’ in a bid to expose what she claims...

Crooked letting agencies have been convicted of stealing £1,018,100 of deposits this year alone – and one agent claims this figure...

Channel 5 has commissioned a third series of Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords with eviction specialist Landlord Action at the heart of...

Franchise agency Hunters is urging other letting agencies to become a SAFEagent to offer more secure services to landlords and tenants. “We’re...

The Local Government Association, representing 370 councils across England and Wales, is calling on the public to speak out against rogue...

The National Approved Letting Scheme has created a toolkit which it says will help local authorities tackle rogue letting agents who...

A Labour MP has told the House of Commons that letting agents are “completely unregulated” and that tenants are being “held...

There was a series of raids on HMOs led by a local authority early one morning at the end of last...

Letting agents in Scotland have started to sign up to a new compliance programme which has the aim of stamping out...

Consumers are being warned by The Property Ombudsman redress scheme about the actions of two lettings agents based in Southampton.  Both agencies,...

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

Compulsory client money protection kitemark organisation SAFEagent says the lettings industry should be making public just how much is paid out...

A lettings agency in south London has been found to be the front for a cannabis growing operation, with drugs grown...

The demonisation of agents continues with the launch of a web-based application designed to “enable local authorities to take action against rogue...

The Local Government Association says recent prosecutions show that councils are cracking down on illegal evictions by landlords and their agents...

Labour MP Karen Buck is accusing local authorities of taking a ’softly, softly’ approach to rogue letting agents and landlords. Buck, whose...

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

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...

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

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

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

Two letting agencies in the London borough of Camden have lost their appeal against fines for failing to join a redress...

SAFEagent is calling on the government to use the passage of the Housing Bill through Parliament to make a Client Money...

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

The Department of Communities and Local Government has published a summary of the 600 responses it has received to its recent...

One of Britain’s largest local authorities has beefed up its powers so it can issue fines of up to £5,000 on...

The government is proposing a national minimum bedroom size and a re-defining of what constitutes a House in Multiple Occupation in...

A senior Conservative MP is urging the government to give councils the power to issue rogue landlords with on-the-spot fines. Oliver Colville,...

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

A body representing over 370 local councils in England and Wales wants more powers to control the private rental sector, letting...

New student tenants have been urged to be vigilent and not fall victim to fake online letting agents and landlords. The National...

The Insolvency Service, which probes all compulsory liquidations and individual bankruptcies, has wound up two letting agencies.  Morgan Fox (Lettings) Limited, formerly...

Campaigning charity Shelter has renewed its attack on the private rental sector, claiming that 125,000 tenants have suffered abusive behaviour from...

The growth of the PRS has provided a long list of benefits for the lettings industry. However, it is not without...

Housing minister Brandon Lewis has backtracked on suggestions that the government may introduce longer standard tenancy agreements in the private rental...

The Citizens Advice charity is urging people to lobby for more controls over the private rental sector, letting agents and landlords,...

Letting agents and other industry professionals are being consulted ver changes to the sector’s regulation - including possible blacklisting of rogue...

Unitary local authorities where trading standards and environmental health teams work to the same objectives are more successful at clamping down...

A letting agent is angry that there has not been a single prosecution in his region as a result of agencies...

The publication Environmental Health News has secured the release of files showing the details of hundreds of convicted private landlords in...

A council in an area with one of the country’s largest private lettings sectors says it has launched investigations into more...

Eleven letting agencies in just one city have been fined a total of £37,000 for not being members of any of...

The latest episode of Channel 5’s Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords programme will tonight show how a rogue letting agent in a...

The recent warning to estate agents by the Competition and Markets Authority sends a strong signal to the industry that “informal...

The Citizens Advice organisation has returned to the attack on the private rental sector, accusing rogue landlords of raking in £5.6...

The Residential Landlords Association is calling for better enforcement of existing laws and regulations to protect tenants in private rented housing. In...

The National Landlords Association has accused the Citizens Advice report of using “loose definitions to compound a perception that private housing...

A Conservative government means good news in the shape of a reduction in bureaurcracy for the private rental sector - but...