Archive

A call by Shelter for England to adopt Scotland’s model of indefinite tenancies in the private rented sector has been attacked...

Two housing organisations have come together to fund a major research programme to improve standards in the private rental sector. They are...

A leading lettings expert insists that greater regulation in the private rental sector can work for the benefit of landlords and...

A property management chief is arguing that rent controls would restrict mortgage loans to buy to let investors and drive existing...

A lettings agency chief in Scotland says the upcoming ban on agents levying fees on tenants - to be introduced in...

Not-for-profit operator Tenancy Deposit Scheme says early intervention between landlords and tenants across the UK is resulting in many more deposit...

A slow rental market in London is weighing down on growth across the rest of the UK, according to the latest...

The Scottish Government is investigating 114 businesses suspected of carrying out letting agency work without registration and has issued 86 compliance...

Clyde Property in Scotland now has over 3,000 properties under management, making it one of the largest portfolios north of the...

The senior executive who has bought out the lettings side of a Glasgow agency business says increased use of PropTech is...

The head of a major property management firm says the controversial proposal to scrap Section 21 eviction powers for landlords is...

The government’s wish to use a modified Section 8 as an alternative to Section 21 for landlords seeking possession of their...

The government says it wants to ban outright Section 21 'no fault' eviction powers in England and Wales. Instead landlords seeking to evict...

The average cost of a new let in Great Britain is now £969 pcm as rental growth continues to rise.  Data from Hamptons...

Buy to let investors are facing a double whammy as stagnating rents and reduced tax relief are hitting profitability. A study from...

The rapid growth of Airbnb-style short lets could lead to the loss of private rented homes and displacement of long-term residents...

A leading accountancy firm has analysed buy to let taxation policies north and south of the border and claims that from...

Rent rises in the year to the end of February, as released by the government’s Office of National Statistics, show growth...

The implementation and costs of landlord licensing schemes in Britain are a lottery. That’s the conclusion of a new analysis of licensing...

The proportion of landlords purchasing buy to let homes in London with cash rose from 33 per cent in 2017 to...

A Scottish mediation company and the SafeDeposits Scotland Trust are to create eight workshops aiming to improve relationships between agents, landlords,...

An 18 month probe by different authorities has led to a £4,000 fine for an HMO owner in the Highlands. The local...

New research from Zoopla suggests that parking sits firmly at the top of requirements for renters - but with pet-friendly facilities...

A programme of nine new educational workshops takes place next month, some of which target new agents with little or no experience of deposits...

Momentum is building in the campaign to end ‘No DSS’ discrimination against private rental sector tenants in receipt of housing benefit. Late...

Some 24 per cent of landlords have considered letting out their properties on a short let Airbnb-style basis - but only...

Latest official figures show that private rental prices paid by tenants in the UK rose by 1.0 per cent in the...

One of the country’s major Build To Rent providers has signed a deal to deliver 324 flats in a major city...

Almost the entire lettings industry has viewed the upcoming ban on tenants fees levied by agents in England and Wales as...

Disrepair in communal areas of private blocks is to be tackled in a new series of seminars for letting agents and...

Renting became more affordable in 2018 thanks to a combination of a once-in-a-decade fall in annual rents and wage inflation, according...

Rents have risen over the past year but at a very low level according to new property consultancy Apropos.  Across Britain as...

Landlords in London are possibly £1,806 worse off since the vote to leave the EU in June 2016, according to specialist...

The stamp duty surcharge - which across the rest of Britain is currently three per cent on additional homes such as...

A lettings agency has been banned from running an Airbnb let in a residential block. It relates to a block in Glasgow...

Edinburgh has been identified as having the UK’s fastest growing rents with the average annual sum rising by 4.63 per cent...

Newton Property, a lettings management company in Scotland, is spending £100,000 on installing electric car charging points in properties it manages.  It...

Deposit protection provider The Dispute Service says it has seen a big rise in the number of deposits it protects in...

Research released this morning reveals that university cities offer some of the highest buy to let yields in the country. The Free...

The average rent across Scotland is now running at £573 per calendar month - but that figure hides wide variations in...

More landlords will leave the private rented sector in the next year as annual rental price growth has been flat or...

The average rent in the UK is now £928 per calendar month, up by 2.1 per cent on the same time...

An online toolkit for tenants on how to best navigate the rental system has been launched by Shelter Scotland with funding...

The Scottish private lettings sector is on the march again with the latest index suggesting a 2.2 per cent annual rise,...

New figures show that the Scottish rental market returned to growth in September with average growth of 0.1 per cent across...

A branch of Martin & Co has substantially boosted its managed portfolio following the acquisition of independent agency County Rentals. The goodwill...

A salary of £51,200 a year is required to rent a one bedroom home in London according to research conducted by...

The latest rental figures produced by Your Move for Scotland have prompted a claim that the country now has better yields...

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

Latest government figures show that private rents paid by tenants in Great Britain rose by 0.9 per cent in the 12...

The Home Office is to reconvene its private rental sector stakeholder panel on Right to Rent. This follows a controversial period for...

The National Approved Letting Scheme is celebrating the 500th candidate to complete its Foundation Lettings Course. Moira Devlin of Lowther Homes, in...

HomeLet says the average rent in the UK is now £947, up 0.9 per cent on last year - or up...

The Scottish Government’s private rental reforms are shaking up the sector according to new data, which reveals rental property sales have...

There are now only eight weeks left for agents to apply to join a new statutory register which comes into effect...

Rents in the UK, excluding London, are still increasing but at their slowest rate for five years. Figures from specialist lender Landbay...

CityLets, Scotland’s largest online lettings listings service, says it’s business as usual for the market north of the border despite a...

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

The major legislative changes introduced in Scotland’s letting sector are a major turning point but should not be feared, says one...

A consumer group which conducted 30 undercover viewings in five different UK cities claims letting agents are showing potential tenants around...

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

The National Approved Letting Scheme has unveiled a new specialist training course for letting agents. The NALS Level 3 Award in Letting...

The average rent in the UK is now £919, up two per cent on the same time last year according to...

Data from Countrywide’s Hamptons International agency suggests that the number of second homes that were rented rather than purchased last year...

An electrical testing equipment firm and an MP are setting up a national campaign to demand new laws on appliance testing...

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

A major Scottish property management firm says agents and landlords south of the border should prepare now for the likely agency...

Specialist mortgage broker Commercial Trust says there was an increase in buy to let purchase activity in London during the first...

An agent has been banned from letting properties under ‘fit and proper person’ legislation in Scotland, following an incident in which...

The Scottish rental market performed solidly in the last year, with the average rent rising by 0.6 per cent to hit...

Private rental sector tenants have spent the year so far working only to pay for their accommodation, the BBC claims.  The broadcaster...

The average cost of a new let reached £951 per month in Great Britain in March - that’s up 1.7 per...

Rents have risen a negligible 0.9 per cent across the UK in the last 12 months according to HomeLet. The average monthly...

Rents in Scotland continue to grow but the rate is slowing according to the latest data from Your Move. The average rental...

One of the client money protection schemes operating in the lettings sector says he believes agents and property managers could be...

The new leader of the Labour party in Scotland says his party will introduce “stringent” rent controls if it gains power...

Well over twice as many Scottish tenants have seen their rents rise at the start of the year compared to those...

A head of a major agency says it is misleading to suggest that tenants are evicted ‘for no reason’. Mark Pilling, the...

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

The man behind a leading lettings industry PropTech company says the new Code of Conduct to clean up the rental sector...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has described the introduction of a code of conduct and official register for letting agents...

Politicians in London and Scotland are looking at new controls which could be imposed on home owners letting out their properties...

The code sets out the standards to be met by anyone engaged in lettings including specific requirements around how clients’ money...

Private rental prices paid by tenants in Great Britain rose by 1.2 per cent in the 12 months to December according...

Rental growth across Great Britain picked up in 2017 according to data released today by Countrywide.   Last year rents rose by an...

Research by the University of Sheffield is reported to show the apparent damage done by short lets on Airbnb and similar...

Countrywide says one in every 12 homes that came on to the rental market in 2017 was for sale at some...

A man is reported to have launched “a campaign of harassment” against a lettings agent just an hour after signing a...

One of Scotland’s leading lettings and estate agencies, Galbraith, has given the thumbs up to a new tenancy process introduced north...

A large shake up of the private rental sector begins in Scotland tomorrow with the introduction of Private Residential Tenancies replacing...

The Scottish rental market continued to perform strongly in the year to the end of October with the average property let for £572 on...

Stamp duty reform for first time buyers has taken pride of place in the Budget speech of Chancellor Phillip Hammond.   From today,...

A Birmingham agent has branded the government’s draft Tenant Fees Bill - which proposes a ban on letting agents’ fees on tenants...

A survey has been undertaken of the top 25 UK postcodes in terms of yields for investors - and London and...

One of the most dramatic changes in the UK’s private rental sector regulations is set to take place in five weeks...

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

Pressure from the consumer lobby is building for the introduction of a ban on letting agents’ fees levied on tenants -...

Latest data from Your Move’s rental indices suggest that rents are growing, with the average in England and Wales now £904,...

According to recent government figures, the average letting agent’s fee is £223 and 4.3 million householders pay this amount or thereabouts...

Letting agents across the UK must prepare now for a ban on fees charged to tenants says a PropTech company -...

Average rents for newly-let property across Great Britain rose to £954 per month in August, reflecting a 1.6 per cent annual...

A respected letting agency research head says Build To Rent could be a significant step towards solving the overall shortage of...

The majority of MPs speaking at a House of Commons debate yesterday acknowledged they are wary of the 'unintended consequences' of...

A report into the Scottish rental market by Your Move says letting agents north of the border are already preparing for...

Over the past few months, hundreds of agents across the UK have been improving their photography skills by taking part in...

A new report identifies in detail over 145 laws and regulations governing the private rental sector, varying across the four countries...

Equity release specialist Retirement Advantage has launched a range of products specifically for owners of Buy To Let properties.    These products will...

The average UK private rental tenancy is now 20 months, almost a fifth longer than in 2014 according to research from...

A company owned by Lomond Capital has snapped up a Scottish lettings operation with an asset value of £45m.   Lomond owns Stonehouse...

The annual rate of rental growth across Britain doubled between June and July driven by a turnaround in the London market,...

Rents are gently rising again after some months of small dips according to HomeLet.    It says the average new tenancy signed during...

Green Party politician Andy Wightman claims that £10.6m in taxes are being avoided this year due to the boom in private...

Let’s start with a quick fire quiz. How many more leads do you think you’d get with photos that have been...

The typical rent paid by tenants across Britain rose by an average of 1.8 per cent in the 12 months to...

Countrywide says the rapid growth in the size of the private rental sector in recent years is not down to a...

Purpose-built and professionally-managed Build To Rent - until now seen as a primarily London phenomenon - appears on the march in Scotland...

Proposals in Scotland for a minimum energy efficiency standard for privately let homes could damage the sector, especially in rural communities.   That’s...

**The free photography course for estate agents (part one) offer has now expired. It is still available in special circumstances so...

Rents in Scotland dropped 2.3 per cent on average in the month leading up to the General Election according to Your...

The UK rental market has seen a slump of 11.6 per cent in available stock over the last six years, according...

A crowdfunding campaign for a legal challenge against the rollout of the Right to Rent scheme is nearing its funding target. With...

Who are you? Rebecca Johnston What does it say on your business card? Managing Director (TDS Custodial) What is TDS Custodial? TDS Custodial is a government-approved...

The prospect of today's General Election as well as ongoing uncertainty surrounding Britain's exit from the European Union is having a...

Average UK rents fell in May, according to the latest HomeLet Rental Index. The figures show that the average UK rent on...

Uber and a Build To Rent developer have announced a PropTech deal which will see the transport company getting involved in...

The first letting agents to have completed a new training course aimed at improving services for tenants and landlords have graduated.    Some...

Immigration charity Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) has this week launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for...

As the end of the academic year approaches, one deposit protection scheme is urging student tenants to reclaim their deposits.  SafeDeposits Scotland...

A buy to let expert says there should be stronger enforcement and streamlining of legislation in the private rental sector. In a...

A seven per cent fall in the number of EU students seeking places at UK universities, matched with a 4.3 per...

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she has been “horrified” to read allegations of some property owners offering rent-free accommodation in...

Scotland’s rental market swings to extremes, suggests the latest figures from website Citylets.   On the one hand the Scottish average rent has...

A tenant has been tracked down after a year-long exercise and has now picked up the deposit he forgot to collect...

ARLA Propertymark representatives have met with Home Office officials in Cardiff and Edinburgh ahead of the government’s roll-out of Right To...

Belvoir says new figures from across its network of agents shows that the government is wrong to claim that renting is...

Scotland’s largest professional organisation for letting agents is urging all those in the rental sector to ensure they are fully compliant with...

The Law Society of Scotland is urging letting agents to prepare for a new code of practice coming into force north...

The head of MartinCo, the country’s largest franchise agency group, says the government’s buy to let tax changes and lettings fee...

A damning critique of the one-year-old Right To Rent legislation in England suggests that the government is largely unaware of its...

A Scottish agency group has announced that it has acquired a lettings business in order to move into the short-term lettings...

Average private rents in Scotland at the national level recorded an uncharacteristic dip in the final quarter of 2016, down 0.9...

  The average rent paid for a home in the UK outside London hit £750 in December, rising by 2.04 per cent...

Letting agents’ fees levied on tenants - already banned in Scotland and now likely to be banned in England according to...

A trade body claims that 47 per cent of landlords would cease to use letting agents if their profits began to...

Agency chain Spicerhaart is warning that tenants could pay up to three times as much as they currently do, if tenant...

The proportion of private landlords in arrears is substantially under half the proportion of owner occupiers in the same position according...

The managing director of one of the most prominent letting agencies in Edinburgh and Glasgow - where agents’ fees on tenants...

The average rent for a UK property grew by a negligible 0.05 per cent in October, despite a tiny fall in...

Specialist Build To Rent developer Moda has announced a large scheme on the site of a former police headquarters in Scotland...

Rents are rising faster in northern cities than those in the south, narrowing the divide between the two halves of the...

The rate of rental growth has dipped to its lowest annual rate this year - prices are up three per cent...

Letting agents and landlords across Scotland have been invited to check they are up to speed with current regulations at a...

Buyer enquiries from potential landlords and investors are now up 30 per cent since May according to Rightmove, suggesting that the...

The local press serving the area of Kirkcaldy is reporting concern about a local letting agent after numerous tenants and landlords...

To coincide with students' return to university, the trade body for Scotland's electrical sector, SELECT, has launched a radio campaign to...

SafeDeposits Scotland has announced that Ian Potter will succeed Sir Andrew Cubie as the organisation's chairman. Potter, who has been on the...

The UK's largest franchise agency has expanded into the Orkney Islands.  Belvoir's Amjed Rasul, owner of its Inverness franchise, has acquired Orkney...

Some 21 per cent of buy to let investors are too embarrassed to admit what they do.   That is the result of a...

A raft of regulatory and legal changes for letting agents in Scotland in 2018 is being flagged up by the Association...

A letting agency has been removed from a Scottish council’s approved list after failing to conform with rules protecting the deposits...

Average rents paid by tenants across Great Britain rose by 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to July, according to...

The BBC is claiming that vulnerable families are being exploited by rogue landlords in Glasgow - including in the constituency for...

The Scottish Association of Landlords - which represents letting agents as well as landlords north of the border - has spoken...

Rents across the UK are still rising but the rate of growth continues to slow.   Data from HomeLet shows that rents agreed...

A lettings agency has become the first in Scotland to be sanctioned for breaching rules that secure the deposits of its...

Rents in Scotland are at a record high, after the fastest month-on-month growth on record.  Data from Your Move shows that average...

Data produced by Scottish lettings agency DJ Alexander Lettings appears to show a growing trend towards long-term letting over buying. The agency,...

Lettings volumes have taken a sharp downward trend in May according to board company Agency Express. New listings were down 11.9 per...

Around 30 per cent of private rental sector landlords are still undecided about whether they will vote to leave or remain...

Tenancy deposits in England and Wales are typically £100 dearer than the Scottish equivalent.  Between June 2015 and May 2016, the average...

Rents across the UK continued to rise during May but at a decreasing rate, says HomeLet.  Data shows that rents agreed on...

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

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

Annual rent rises in Scotland hit a three-year low in April, according to new figures. Your Move's Scotland Buy-to-Let Index shows that...

HomeLet’s monthly rental market monitor shows that rents are still rising across the UK.  It says rents on new tenancies outside of...

The supply of rental housing stock on letting agents’ books fell sharply in March, to the lowest level since the start...

March saw the sharpest month-on-month fall in Scottish rents on record, according to the letting agency Your Move.  Average residential rents in...

Average asking rents in Scotland now stand at £767 per month, up 2.1 per cent over the past year.  The exception to...

A petition opposing lettings agents’ fees in England and Wales has now gathered over 245,000 signatures. Vicky Spratt, features editor on the...

A leading chartered surveying firm is stressing the differences that exist between new English and Scottish energy efficiency rules hitting the...

Two organisations are appealing to Scottish Ministers to ensure that businesses have the ability to supply accommodation for workers in rural...

Police in Scotland are clamping down on what they call “gangster landlords” who are using the lettings sector for money laundering.  A...

Tenants now pay 2.6 per cent more rent on average than they did a year ago according to the government’s Office...

All regions of the UK will see falling owner-occupation levels and more private renting over the next decade, with particular rises...

The supply of rental accommodation is the lowest for at least a year according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents. After...

Who are you? Jen Paice What does it say on your business card? Chief executive of SafeDeposits Scotland What does SafeDeposits Scotland do? We are...

Scottish tenants are paying off late rent amid improving household finances, according to Your Move.  As of January the proportion of late...

There has been an end of year surge in Scottish rents according to a buy to let index run by Your...

A land-owners’ group is upset at the Scottish Government’s alleged “disregard” for estate- and land-owners to be able to gain vacant...

Typical rents in Scotland are down from £757 per month to £747 according to Citylets - just as the Private Housing...

People coming to work in Scotland from overseas are making up an increasing proportion of private sector tenants according to a...

New research from HomeLet reveals that Brighton, Bristol, Edinburgh and Newcastle recorded the largest increase in rents last year amongst the...

Scottish finance minister John Swinney is to introduce a three per cent surcharge on the full purchase price of all ‘additional...

The Scottish Government is to announce today whether it is replicating the three per cent stamp duty hike on buy to...

One of Scotland’s largest independent letting agencies has entered into two deals adding over 600 properties to its inventory. The Edinburgh-based DJ...

Figures from the 211-office agency Belvoir shows that average rents in Britain exceed the pre-downturn late 2008 figure by a mere...

Holly Pendred from Gibbs Gillespie in Uxbridge, Middlesex, is celebrating after being crowned Relocation Agent Network’s Employee of the Year 2015. The...

LSL Property Services has snapped up another independent letting agency - and says it’s looking for more.  The agency, PHP Lettings in...

Scottish Land & Estates, a body representing private landowners north of the border, says it is positive about proposals to improve...

Rents climbed 0.7 per cent in October to a UK average of £1,294. There were increases in every region with the...

Select, the trade body for Scotland's electrical sector, is reminding agents and landlords that from December 1 there must be five-yearly electrical...

New legislation designed to reform Scotland’s private rental sector could make it harder for agents and landlords to tackle anti-social behaviour...

Renters are paying 2.7 per cent more for their homes than a year ago, according to data from the Office for...

Tenants in the West Midlands are suffering the most from rent increases, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents’ monthly...

There has been a mixed response from the private rental industry following the announcement that Right To Rent checks will become mandatory...

After six months of annual rent price rises of 10 per cent plus the latest HomeLet index shows rent prices have...

A long-established letting agency and a campaign group have joined forces to analyse a UK government's private rental sector reform proposals...

With perhaps ironic timing, rents across some parts of Scotland are falling - just as the Scottish Government prepares to outline...

Another major industry body has added its voice to growing concerns over the potential impact of Right To Rent immigration checks...

Scottish rents have fallen month-on-month for the first time since the start of the year - and rent controls may make...

Who are you?     Michael Groves, Partner of Lomond Capital which is focused on bringing together good quality regional letting and estate...

The government has confirmed that it has no plan to ban letting agency fees in England. Fees are already banned in Scotland...

The average rent in Scotland has plateaued, remaining at an all-time record high of £549 a month, according to Your Move's...

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation period for its proposed Code of Practice for Letting Agents.  The proposed Code of Practice...

Brandon in Suffolk is the most profitable location for pensioners to invest in buy-to-let property with an average yield of 8.59%. This...

Over 7,000 responses have been received in the second round of consultation over the Scottish Government’s proposals for private rental sector...

The police have told letting agents and landlords that they are in a unique position to spot - and prevent -...

A local authority has refused to issue a private landlord licence after it was revealed the applicant had a conviction for...

Tenant arrears are rising in Scotland, even though letting agents’ fees on tenants are banned. Agents’ fees on renters, which are legal in...

A Build To Let scheme led by developer Dandara and property investment operator LaSalle is to be the first of its...

Some 19 per cent of MPs in the new parliament are landlords according to their entries in the first Register of...

The changes to tax relief for landlords comes on top of a blizzard of new health and safety requirements, regulations and...

Scotland is to be officially represented within the Association of Residential Lettings Agents with the appointment of a Your Move area...

A Scottish agent has warned that government proposals to restrict landlord repossessions could negatively impact accommodation costs at the Edinburgh Festival. David...

Average Scottish rents recorded in April increased by 1.6% in a year, according to Your Move’s latest Scottish Rental Index.  This is...

A new director of The Property Ombudsman in Scotland and chief executive of one of that country’s major letting agencies ia...

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

An umbrella organisation representing parts of the private rented sector is to be put before the Scottish parliament in a bid...

Ian Wilson, the head of Martin & Co, recently threw his hat into the ring regarding Labour’s stated intention to cap...

The chief executive of Braemore, one of the highest profile letting agencies in Scotland, says he wants greater regulation for the...

Private rental prices paid by tenants in Britain rose 2.1 per cent in the 12 months to March, according to the...

Edinburgh is set to become the first local authority in Scotland to move into the private landlord business, building up to...

With another hung parliament looking increasingly likely, the so-called ‘challenger parties’ look set to have a major say in who forms...

Shelter, the housing charity that has been fiercely critical of much of the private rental sector in recent months, is funding a...