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

A clampdown on letting agents who fail to safeguard landlords’ and tenants’ money is now underway. A statement from the National Trading Standards...
24 February 2021
From: Breaking News

The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agents Team is appealing to the industry to be eagle-eyed for scams. This follows the...
22 February 2021
From: Breaking News

The Daily Mail says it has informed Trading Standards of a lettings agent which is claims is “illegally working” despite not...
17 February 2021
From: Breaking News

The UK Association of Lettings Agents is recommending transparency in relation to the disclosure of referral fees to landlord clients. Last month...
09 December 2020
From: Breaking News

A warning about illegal fees by letting agents has been produced by a local council Trading Standards team. It has come from...
04 December 2020
From: Breaking News

One of the government’s approved client money protection schemes claims over 10 lettings agencies a week are closing. Client Money Protect makes the...
03 December 2020
From: Breaking News

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

A newspaper claims a lettings agency is battling allegations of overcharging customers and using fake companies to carry out maintenance work. The Daily Record...
30 November 2020
From: Breaking News

Agents have another 12 months to make referral fees more transparent according to an update from the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting...
19 November 2020
From: Breaking News

Propertymark is staging a webinar later this month on the topical subject of referral fees. Last month the National Trading Standards for...
06 November 2020
From: Breaking News

Three lettings agents who kept tenants’ rent instead of passing it to the landlords have been ordered to pay almost £100,000...
30 October 2020
From: Breaking News

Agents are being warned to prepare now for likely controls on referral fees, following recommendations made to the government by the...
27 October 2020
From: Breaking News

Trading Standards in one region of the UK is staging Twitter quizzes aimed at students, and asking about agents’ fees surrounding...
09 October 2020
From: Breaking News

It appears lettings agents may have escaped the recommended demands for referral fees to be made more transparent to customers. A statement...
02 October 2020
From: Breaking News

One of the leading figures in the PropTech world is warning that letting agents must not be tempted into charging illegal...
08 September 2020
From: Breaking News

A London council is telling its private rental sector residents to use a new tool to check whether they may be...
27 August 2020
From: Breaking News

Which? is warning prospective renters to beware scam lettings agencies and scam landlords following a case where £5,600 was conned out...
03 August 2020
From: Breaking News

The next formal review of lockdown processes in Wales takes place today, with high expectation that the housing market is likely...
18 June 2020
From: Breaking News

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

There is no doubt that the BBC News article in early February caused something of a stir within the Deposit Free...
12 March 2020
From: Sponsored Content

The safeagent accreditation business says it has helped secure the conviction of a rogue lettings agent who falsely claimed membership of...
05 March 2020
From: Breaking News

A newspaper claims multiple councils are opening investigations into agents allegedly defying the tenant fees ban - and at least one...
03 March 2020
From: Breaking News

The clampdown on referral fees, until now concentrated on the sales sector, will extend to letting agents too. James Munro, head of...
28 February 2020
From: Breaking News

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

A rogue landlord has been found guilty of unlawful harassment and misleading and aggressive practices, and will be sentenced next month. Ragoopathy...
24 December 2019
From: Breaking News

A Southampton lettings agency owner has been jailed after defrauding landlords and tenants out of £230,000. Andrew Whitehead has been jailed for...
19 December 2019
From: Breaking News

A rogue landlord and the property company he ran have been fined £22,000 for dishing out ‘sham licences’ to tenants in...
20 November 2019
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman has expelled three lettings agencies from its scheme because of unpaid awards to landlord clients. The first is Kingsman...
24 October 2019
From: Breaking News

Three criminals have been sentenced after pleading guilty to money laundering involving an online lettings agency. The sentences follow an investigation spearheaded...
18 October 2019
From: Breaking News

A call has been made for the best letting agencies and other rental sector professionals to show how they comply with...
01 October 2019
From: Breaking News

A crackdown on letting agency websites by a Trading Standards team has found the significant majority of them to be breaking...
30 September 2019
From: Breaking News

An estimated 20 per cent of letting agents have still not signed up for a Client Money Protection scheme, six months...
27 September 2019
From: Breaking News

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

Last week’s revelation that approaching 50 per cent of letting agents surveyed in London were in breach of the law is...
17 September 2019
From: Breaking News

The Association of Residential Letting Agents is urging tenants to “walk straight out” if they believe an agency is breaking the...
16 September 2019
From: Breaking News

London Trading Standards has made the startling claim that 46 per cent of almost 2,000 agents it has surveyed are falling...
13 September 2019
From: Breaking News

A Labour council which has become famous for its critical approach to the private rental sector has now been given almost £200,000...
14 August 2019
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman has announced a slew of expulsions after six agents failed to comply with redress rules. They failed to abide...
12 August 2019
From: Breaking News

Seven agencies have been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman after failing to pay compensation awards made by TPO. All are...
03 June 2019
From: Breaking News

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

Mother and daughter lettings agency fraudsters have been told to expect jail sentences after defrauding landlords and tenants of £266,000 over...
10 April 2019
From: Breaking News

The government has issued new guidance notes on the Tenant Fees Act, aimed at agents, landlords and tenants. The publications come ahead...
02 April 2019
From: Breaking News

The council for one of the wealthiest areas in the country says it will be “educating and advising letting agents” on...
27 March 2019
From: Breaking News

TrustMark, the government-backed quality kite mark scheme for tradespeople, is launching a pilot with Trading Standards to improve the quality and...
18 March 2019
From: Breaking News

The Tenants’ Fees Bill has now become law, receiving formal Royal Assent yesterday afternoon - and within minutes, the government issued...
13 February 2019
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman says agents can display weekly rents for homes they market - but they should be displayed alongside monthly...
29 January 2019
From: Breaking News

A Trading Standards team has prosecuted a landlord who allegedly 'knew' criminal activity was taking place in his buy to let...
28 January 2019
From: Breaking News

Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of a letting agent who appears not to be in any redress scheme, is being investigated by...
14 January 2019
From: Breaking News

The government has made the controversial claim that the ban on the levying of fees on tenants will not produce “significant...
31 December 2018
From: Breaking News

A crooked lettings agent who illegally pocketed tenants’ deposits to pay for his gambling addiction and lavish lifestyle has been convicted...
24 December 2018
From: Breaking News

Three letting agents who failed to return tenants’ deposits or pass on rent payments to landlords have been convicted of fraud...
12 December 2018
From: Breaking News

A leading PropTech entrepreneur says agents who accept that the lettings fee ban is coming and who plan positively for its...
27 November 2018
From: Breaking News

An overcrowded property let by an unlicensed company with inadequate fire precautions and unheated rooms has led to a £46,620 fine...
21 September 2018
From: Breaking News

Trading Standards departments in London are asking renters to name and shame letting agents who are not complying with the law...
13 September 2018
From: Breaking News

In our previous blog, we looked at the definitions outlined by the CPRs. In our next blog we’ll look at the...
29 August 2018
From: Sponsored Content

Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme. The first is Bower & Bower (B&B), a sales and lettings...
22 June 2018
From: Breaking News

A major Scottish property management firm says agents and landlords south of the border should prepare now for the likely agency...
31 May 2018
From: Breaking News

As part of SAFEagent Awareness Week, which finishes today, letting agents have been provided with a free webinar covering compliance. The webinar...
25 May 2018
From: Breaking News

Today Trading Standards teams across the country will highlight the work they do to protect landlords and tenants from rogue letting...
22 May 2018
From: Breaking News

The industry has reacted angrily to the announcement yesterday that the Tenants’ Fees Bill is now formally starting its progress through...
03 May 2018
From: Breaking News

Trade bodies have been responding to today’s report of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee deliberations on the private...
19 April 2018
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman has released details of two letting agencies expelled over financial issues, and the extension of an expulsion period...
26 March 2018
From: Breaking News

A Kent county councillor says letting agents “would have to be pretty dumb” to allow a situation arise whereby they would...
19 March 2018
From: Breaking News

The sittings of the select committee looking into government proposals to ban letting agents’ fees levied on tenants resume this week...
19 February 2018
From: Breaking News

Today sees the return of MPs to Parliament following the Christmas break, and one early task is to hear oral evidence...
08 January 2018
From: Breaking News

The Communities and Local Government committee of MPs will on Monday hear their first oral evidence of the year for the...
05 January 2018
From: Breaking News

The Conveyancing Association has made a wide-ranging response to the government’s call for evidence on the regulation of letting and managing...
04 December 2017
From: Breaking News

The Communities and Local Government Select Committee says it is to begin “pre-legislative scrutiny” of proposals to ban tenant fees imposed...
20 November 2017
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman scheme has launched the third and latest phase of its national campaign with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute...
14 November 2017
From: Breaking News

The government has announced that all letting agents will be required to “satisfy minimum training requirements” in order to trade. The provision...
01 November 2017
From: Breaking News

The draft Bill to ban letting agents’ fees levied on tenants has been published - it’s to be called the Tenants’...
01 November 2017
From: Breaking News

A London letting agency with connections to Westminster council is now being investigated by the same council’s trading standards department. CityWest Homes...
16 October 2017
From: Breaking News

The CLA says the energy efficiency regulations for the lettings sector coming into effect in April are “fundamentally flawed” when it...
11 October 2017
From: Breaking News

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

A London council has won its appeal against Foxtons using the term “administration fees” in its lettings charges. Back in 2015 Camden...
15 September 2017
From: Breaking News

The government is being urged by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) to do more to enforce compulsory fee disclosure. Since May 2015,...
06 September 2017
From: Breaking News

This month’s prosecution of a letting agency for issuing ‘sham licences’ that suggested occupiers had no right to challenge eviction and...
31 August 2017
From: Breaking News

A new report identifies in detail over 145 laws and regulations governing the private rental sector, varying across the four countries...
29 August 2017
From: Breaking News

Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman redress scheme. As we reported when the story broke yesterday afternoon, one...
18 May 2017
From: Breaking News

Two lettings agencies have this afternoon been expelled from The Property Ombudsman redress scheme. In one case, TPO expelled Lettings Solutions Ltd...
17 May 2017
From: Breaking News

Agents and landlords are being warned by a property management agency to prepare for the next round of energy-efficiency regulation changes...
11 May 2017
From: Breaking News

A buy to let expert says there should be stronger enforcement and streamlining of legislation in the private rental sector. In a...
10 May 2017
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute have announced a second phase of their campaign to tackle letting agents...
28 March 2017
From: Breaking News

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

A convicted Surrey letting agent who used his clients’ money to cover his business debts has been ordered to pay £25,000...
23 February 2017
From: Breaking News

Conservative MP Oliver Colvile is calling for urgent action following a recent spate of fraud involving rogue letting agents. When approached by...
15 February 2017
From: Breaking News

A fraudster has been jailed after being convicted on nine counts of fraud, theft and forgery relating to property firms which...
09 February 2017
From: Breaking News

A campaigning lettings agent is demanding action over what he suggests is a tenancy deposit system that is in need of...
31 January 2017
From: Breaking News

A branch of Foxtons has been fined £2,500 for failing to properly describe a fee charged to tenants. The agency was caught...
11 January 2017
From: Breaking News

Lettings agents have been issued fines totalling £14,100 by a local authority for failing to comply with consumer rights laws. Officers from...
11 January 2017
From: Breaking News

Citizens Advice says some 39 per cent of people living with their children in rented homes have a tenancy of six months...
04 January 2017
From: Breaking News

Councils have been told to up their game to protect tenants from a minority of landlords providing sub-standard accommodation. The call, being...
04 January 2017
From: Breaking News

The Property Ombudsman scheme and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute have joined forces to tackle lettings agents that are breaking the...
25 October 2016
From: Breaking News

Three men have received prison sentences of up to 28 months after a nationwide lettings scam was unearthed by trading standards...
20 October 2016
From: Breaking News

The National Approved Letting Scheme has stepped into the heated debate about letting agents’ charges by launching what it calls a...
18 October 2016
From: Breaking News

A letting agent who stole more than £400,000 from clients has had her sentence appeal dismissed by judges. Amy Williams, who part-owned Williams...
19 September 2016
From: Breaking News

A letting agency has been removed from a Scottish council’s approved list after failing to conform with rules protecting the deposits...
05 September 2016
From: Breaking News

The National Approved Letting Scheme says the most recent call to ban letting agent fees - in a demand made by...
08 August 2016
From: Breaking News

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

The team leader of the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team is amongst a bevy of experts on a panel at...
08 July 2016
From: Breaking News

A London council has prosecuted a letting agency that was ’ghost listing’ on Zoopla flats that were not in fact available...
10 June 2016
From: Breaking News

A lettings agency has been fined over £11,000 for alleged breaches of regulations in advertising an unlicenced HMO that was later...
06 June 2016
From: Breaking News

The Residential Landlords’ Association has revealed what it calls “worryingly low levels of enforcement of rented housing regulations” by local authorities. Using...
29 April 2016
From: Breaking News

Let Belle Vue, a lettings and property management agency in Darlington, has been fined £3,000 for not being in an official...
15 April 2016
From: Breaking News

A former letting agent has pleaded guilty of nine offences of fraud involving the retention of deposits and rents belonging to...
22 February 2016
From: Breaking News

Who are you? I’m the Head of Redress at the Property Redress Scheme. I previously worked for Legal & General PLC dealing...
23 December 2015
From: 60 Second Interview

The trading standards division of a London council claims it has checked on all 202 letting agencies in its borough to...
16 November 2015
From: Breaking News

A survey of one Home Counties area shows that out of about 40 letting agents some 24 appear not to be...
27 October 2015
From: Breaking News

The Trading Standards Service has issued a warning to agents, landlords and consumers after independent tests on CO carbon monoxide alarms...
30 September 2015
From: Breaking News

Unitary local authorities where trading standards and environmental health teams work to the same objectives are more successful at clamping down...
30 July 2015
From: Breaking News

Peter Savage is to become the new president of the Association of Residential Lettings Agents, with an emphasis on trying to...
07 July 2015
From: Breaking News

An organisation that describes itself as “an independent group of private renters” says it has identified 21 letting agents out of...
03 July 2015
From: Breaking News

Yesterday we heard about the letter from the CMA warning agents about anti-competitive behaviour. Today, in a scoop for Estate Agent...