Archive

Political parties should stop bickering and instead work together to improve the private rental sector. That’s the view of the Lettings industry...

A representative of the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agents team has told agents to accept new rules about material...

Propertymark wants HM Land Registry to provide more accessible and affordable services to its members.  HMLR launched a consultation last month as...

Propertymark is urging agents to get ahead of the curve and be ready for the next big initiative - Regulation.  Propertymark has...

A lettings agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme following itsfailure to pay £1,100 out of an adjudicated award...

The Open Property Data Association has released a new version of its property data standards framework to help letting agents comply...

The all-party House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has urged the government to get on with establishing a regulator of...

The number of private tenants in properties that are hard to heat has fallen, a council claims. As agents will know private...

Propertymark’s property auction division - NAVA - has given ringing endorsement to the Material Information changes demanded under new Trading Standards...

Labour is using a Bill currently going through Parliament as a backdoor method to introduce the regulation of lettings, estate and...

Propertymark is hosting an Understanding Material Information for Lettings Agents on Thursday January 18 from 1230 to 1400. The National Trading Standards...

I think we can all agree that the National Trading Standards Material Information reforms are a good thing for the property...

Propertymark has outlined an extensive regional programme for next year. It’s going to hold 19 regional events under the #morefor24 campaign slogan. The...

Parts B and C of the process to improve material information disclosure in property listings are published today within comprehensive new guidance...

Rightmove has teamed up with the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team to create a new course on compliance...

An overwhelming number of letting and sales agents back the idea of more so-called Material Information on property details.  That’s according to...

A client account is essential to your lettings business, but the rules and regulations you need to follow to keep this...

The Head of the National Trading Standards Scams Team is one of two new non-executive directors at The Property Ombudsman. Louise Baxter...

A survey of local authorities in some of the poorest areas of the country - bodies which enforce many private rental...

Propertymark has welcomed what it calls the “clarity” given to advertising terminology following the publication of new guidelines from the National...

The National Trading Standards Estate and Lettings Agency Team has issued new guidance on terminology used in property advertising - particularly lettings. The...

A rogue lettings agency in London has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme but is still thought to be trading. Hawks...

After numerous stories of councils and letting agencies at each others’ throats over To Let boards, Trading Standards and other controversies,...

Six letting agencies across the London borough of Haringey have been fined a total of £12,000 after a council clampdown. Trading Standards...

Trading Standards has stopped a lettings agency owner from being a company director after he defrauded customers by over £80,000. Francis Smart,...

Several lettings agents have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme; they are amongst eight named as having been kicked out...

Trading Standards is reminding letting agents of their legal obligation to protect money they are holding on behalf of a client...

Trading Standards officers check for agents’ compliance by scrutinising their websites, it’s being claimed. Agents are being warned to ensure their websites...

A PropTech expert is warning that letting agents can expect hefty fines if they fail to comply with complex Client Money...

We’re only in February and it’s already clear that this year will set the future direction of the private rented sector...

It’s been revealed that agents have been kicked out of The Property Ombudsman in recent months for failing to pay compensatory...

Propertymark auditors are offering in-person visits to branches to improve their compliance.  The trade body says this is in response to demand from...

UK banks are closing client accounts held by established letting agents and refusing to open accounts for new businesses. The Problem A growing...

The Observer newspaper has investigated the way letting agents apply so-called zero deposit schemes - and claims that in some cases...

A council’s Trading Standards team is warning letting agents of a new clampdown on compliance failures. Stoke-on-Trent Trading Standards says it’s received...

Utility technology platform Muuvo says the information it accesses can help agents meet the enhanced ‘material information’ requirements which Trading Standards...

Trading Standards is describing a penalty imposed on a London letting agent as “a landmark” after the company failed to comply...

Officials from the Welsh Government and the head of the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agent team are to address...

The details of the Northern Ireland Private Tenancies Bill will be the main focus of the Propertymark annual conference in Belfast...

Trading Standards is calling for more due diligence checks to be made following the jailing of a rogue letting agent for...

A former lettings agent has been jailed for almost three years after admitting conning landlords out of over £80,000. The sentence for...

A letting agent who stole over £80,000 from landlords is awaiting sentence. Frank Smart - owner of Smart Residential Letting Agents in...

A county council is urging people to complain if they believe letting agents are failing to comply with consumer legislation. Staffordshire county...

Fourteen Trading Standards authorities across a swathe of England are embarking on an enforcement project to check lettings agency compliance.  The Central England...

The politician who is arguably the country’s most powerful advocate of rent controls is to address a Propertymark conference. Patrick Harvie, Scotland’s...

Propertymark is alerting agents to ensure they meet and if needs be exceed the requirements for ‘material information’ on up-front property...

Senior figures in the agency industry have backed new guidance from the National Trading Standards Estate and Lettings Agent Team regarding...

The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team has published fresh guidance to help letting agents meet new requirements regarding...

The new material information requirements recently announced by the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team will be the topic...

The small number of rental properties listed on websites and portals as Price on Application have now been deemed illegal by...

A prominent industry supplier says lettings agents must be increasingly transparent on the services they provide - not just to landlords...

Rightmove’s April webinars for agents continue today with Daryl Mcintosh, Policy Manager at Propertymark, giving a legal and compliance update for...

Huge improvements could be made to the lettings process if agents used the property data available to them, it’s been claimed. PropTech...

The UK Association of Letting Agents says new requirements for additional upfront property information should end up actually saving agents time. By...

A leading figure in the PropTech sector says more regulation could make the rental sector fairer, more transparent and ultimately more...

Theresa Wallace, the chair of The Lettings Industry Council, has given her backing to compulsory changes to rental property listings introduced...

Trading Standards and the government have jointly announced compulsory new data which must appear on property listings. A property's council tax band or...

Propertymark has hit back at the latest demand by politicians for rent controls. The London mayor Sadiq Khan renewed his call for...

A Trading Standards team is to carry out what it calls “unannounced inspections” of lettings agencies in one part of London...

Self-managing landlords who think they don’t have the same compliance obligations as agents could face serious repercussions, Trading Standards chiefs have...

A London-focussed lettings agency group has paid £2,000 as a result of breaching the Tenant Fees Act. The issue relates to the...

How can agents improve their position in society? A report has been published following a roundtable discussion between prominent agency figures...

A fake lettings operation has been uncovered by a leading legitimate agency - and now the National Trading Standards Estate and...

A letting agency has been issued with penalty notices worth £3,000 for operating illegally. Back in 2014 it became a legal requirement...

Effective enforcement is crucial to stamp out rogue lettings agents and protect consumers says safeagent. In the latest edition of its Effective...

The live launch of a roundtable event hosted by rental payments platform PayProp takes place tomorrow – and letting agents can...

A recent industry roundtable event hosted by PayProp, which brought together some of the lettings industry’s biggest hitters, will be live streamed next week...

Six agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay compensatory awards - five of them for offences...

A lettings agent has been jailed for three years for defrauding tenants and landlords out of more than £182,000.  Lee Clarke, 42,...

A prominent lettings agency owner has given his verdict on the concept of charging renters to view a property - “it...

The controversy over whether a new PropTech service can be used by agents to charge people to view a property to...

Guidance from Trading Standards suggests that it is possible, in some cases, to charge tenants to view a property to let...

A local Trading Standards team is clamping down on rogue letting agents. Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service has launched...

There have been just 17 First Tier Tribunal cases involving allegations of fees charged to tenants in contravention of the Tenants...

Agents are being warned about a crackdown on compliance issues surrounding rental property management. No Letting Go, the country’s largest provider of...

The two letting agents’ trade groups have backed a call for more upfront information to be given to prospective renters. The National...

Letting agents have only 10 days to open segregated client accounts or they could face being expelled by their client money...

A lettings agency in central London has been issued with a fine for not belonging to a Client Money Protection scheme. The...

An investigation is underway into a lettings agency which has gone into liquidation owing almost £500,000 in rent to landlords and in...

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

A clampdown on letting agents who fail to safeguard landlords’ and tenants’ money is now underway.  A statement from the National Trading Standards...

The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agents Team is appealing to the industry to be eagle-eyed for scams. This follows the...

The Daily Mail says it has informed Trading Standards of a lettings agent which is claims is “illegally working” despite not...

The UK Association of Lettings Agents is recommending transparency in relation to the disclosure of referral fees to landlord clients. Last month...

A warning about illegal fees by letting agents has been produced by a local council Trading Standards team.  It has come from...

One of the government’s approved client money protection schemes claims over 10 lettings agencies a week are closing. Client Money Protect makes the...

An overwhelming 98 per cent of agents who are members of The Property Ombudsman scheme pay compensation when an investigation is...

A newspaper claims a lettings agency is battling allegations of overcharging customers and using fake companies to carry out maintenance work. The Daily Record...

Agents have another 12 months to make referral fees more transparent according to an update from the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting...

Propertymark is staging a webinar later this month on the topical subject of referral fees. Last month the National Trading Standards for...

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

Agents are being warned to prepare now for likely controls on referral fees, following recommendations made to the government by the...

Trading Standards in one region of the UK is staging Twitter quizzes aimed at students, and asking about agents’ fees surrounding...

It appears lettings agents may have escaped the recommended demands for referral fees to be made more transparent to customers. A statement...

One of the leading figures in the PropTech world is warning that letting agents must not be tempted into charging illegal...

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

Which? is warning prospective renters to beware scam lettings agencies and scam landlords following a case where £5,600 was conned out...

The next formal review of lockdown processes in Wales takes place today, with high expectation that the housing market is likely...

The Property Ombudsman has announced the expulsion of eight agencies, all for contravening TPO codes of practice. Most of the expulsions were...

There is no doubt that the BBC News article in early February caused something of a stir within the Deposit Free...