Associations & Bodies
News and updates from associations and member organisations in the UK residential property industry.
-
Newport landlord is first to be fined for non-compliance with Rent Smart Wales
The first fine has been issued to a landlord for not being registered or licenced under the Rent Smart Wales scheme. Landlords who rent out properties in Wales have, since November 2016, been required to register with Rent Smart Wales and must now provide information about both themselves and their properties. Also, landlords must also either have a licence to be a landlord in Wales, or use a letting or managing agent who is licenced. Rent Smart Wales The first landlord to be collared by the scheme is Robert Ivor Grovell who lives in the village of Llanfrechfa outside Newport. After being successfully prosecuted Grovell must now pay £4,400 both for failing to comply with Rent Smart Wales but also for operating a “dangerous, unlicensed house in multiple occupation”, the organisation says. He must also pay costs of £1,000 and a victim surcharge of £170. Non-compliance Grovell was prosecuted under Section 7(5) of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 at Newport Magistrates court for his non-compliance. The offence was one of a number brought against him by Newport City Council for housing-related offences at a property on Orchard Street in Newport to which he pleaded guilty. In December last year Environmental…
Read More » -
More landlords using letting agents, research shows
The doom mongers who said escalating costs for landlords created by the recent tax squeeze and the looming letting fees ban would encourage more to self-manage appear to be wrong. Research by the National Landlords Association (NLA) among property investors has revealed that more landlords are now using agents than last year, particularly in outer London, the South East and Wales. Just over 60% of the 800 property investors it quizzed said they currently use a letting agent, an increase of seven percent when compared to the final quarter of 2016. Annual increase The NLA said this is an unusual increase because the proportion of landlords who use agents has remained steady in recent years, rising by only one percent between 2014 and 2016 to 54%. This has created a corresponding drop in the number of those who self-manage their properties, which has slumped by 10% since the end of last year. “As landlords plan ahead to compensate for the tax changes over the next few years we would expect to see the number who use an agent to slowly fall away, and for more to start considering whether they are able to manage their properties themselves,” says Richard Lambert, CEO…
Read More » -
Who are the industry’s best learners? Propertymark reveals all
NAEA Propertymark has held its first annual industry training awards under the new Propertymark Qualifications brand at a hotel in central London. The Propertymark Qualifications Award winners 2017 at Le Meridian hotel in Piccadilly celebrated the best learners in the lettings, sales, commercial, property, investors and auctioneer sectors. The scheme, formerly known as the NFoPP Awards, celebrates the highest-achieving candidates and overall winners in categories who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to learning, as well as companies. Ten winners (pictured, see list below) were awarded trophies by a judging panel that included David Mackie, President of NAEA Propertymark; Nik Madan, President of ARLA; Melfyn Williams, Chairman of Property Qualifications’ governing body; David Hughes of sponsor MOL and Michael Smith, Head of Qualifications. “Propertymark Qualifications Awards are a key point in the year when the industry comes together to celebrate a commitment to education. This evening we have focused in on early career potential and outstanding achievement in lifelong learning,” says Mark Hayward, NAEA Propertymark Chief Executive. “The right approach to education makes a good agent really stand out; fostering an appetite for learning and combining that with professional experience both in relation to individuals and embedded within the culture of a…
Read More » -
Rejected Propertymark Vice President candidate says process is “undemocratic”
One of the agents nominated for the role of Propertymark Vice President says he is disappointed with the way the election is being conducted. Penzance agent and long-time outspoken critic of the industry’s status-quo Chris Wood (pictured, left), managing director of PDQ Properties, says in the past there were half a dozen people who eventually stood for the post after being nominated, and who were then voted on. He says that this time around he was told nominations for the post would have to be approved by a panel and then interviewed before standing for election. “I was happy to play along with at first because I assumed there had been a change in the rules – but I can’t see that there have been any,” says Chris. “I attended the interview and then received a letter that I had been unsuccessful from Christopher Hamer [the current executive chairman] on the day the candidates were announced.” Not democratic Chris says he disagrees with this way of filtering candidates and that it was “not democratic”. “I’ll happily stand and face my peers in a vote, and if I get voted off for being a gobby so-and-so and occasional loose cannon then that’s…
Read More » -
Housing crisis is deepening, says HomeOwners Alliance
The proportion of renters who aspire to be home owners has started to reduce after several years of rising aspirations, a survey conducted by the HomeOwners Alliance has revealed. An additional 250,000 renters in the UK gave up on the home-owning dream, its 2017 Homeowners Report suggests, pointing to a worsening housing crisis across the UK. Among the renters it canvassed 71% said they aspired to own their home one day, down from 73% last year but still more than in 2013 when the proportion was 65%. The HomeOwners Alliance, which publishes the report jointly with BLP Insurance, says the main barrier to ownership among 86% of renters is house prices, while 85% say saving for a deposit is also a serious concern and 80% say they can’t find a home to buy. The report highlights how average earnings in the UK have been increasing recently by 2.6% annually, house prices have increased by 4.5%. Housing crisis The HomeOwners Alliance says its report reveals a worsening housing crisis that is no longer restricted to just the more crowded areas of the UK such as London and the South East. For example, 68% of those canvassed in both Yorkshire and Humber and…
Read More » -
Still “too many” cases of rogue letting agents says SAFEagent
Despite recent regulatory changes and industry initiatives there are still “too many” cases of criminal letting agents stealing landlord and tenant cash, says membership-based campaigning group SAFEagent. The comments come as the organisation kicks off SAFEagent Awareness Week from 15th to 19th May which is designed to highlight to consumers the “importance of choosing a professional agent who is part of a Client Money Protection (CMP) Scheme run by a regulatory organisation”. SAFEagent, which has 3,000 member agents across the UK and has been running for six years, recently won official backing for its ongoing client money protection campaign when in March this year the government said CMP would be made mandatory for all agents. Mandatory CMP “While SAFEagent is delighted that the campaign has finally achieved its goal of mandatory CMP, it is not yet law,” a statement from the organisation says. “This still leaves consumers at risk if their chosen agent does not have client money protection.” John Midgley, Chair of the SAFEagent Steering Group (pictured), says: “Choosing a letting agent without CMP in place therefore remains a massive risk for both landlords and tenants. We’ll continue to campaign, raising awareness among consumers of the importance of only using…
Read More » -
Historic photo? CIELA members snapped at first meeting
Behold CIELA, or the Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents, in the flesh. This photograph was taken at their inaugural gathering in Bicester, Oxfordshire yesterday where they spent five hours discussing the challenges that smaller agents face. The CIELA members talked about the many several ways independent agents could take on the corporates including in one of the most pressing areas – communications. The group discussed how public relations could harness the collective power of independent agents and take on the “misleading marketing” put about the larger estate agency firms. Serious challenges Luke Gidney, owner of Let Leeds letting agency, said: “As an industry, we have never faced so many serious challenges at once. We urgently need a united voice now, without corporate influence.” Vivienne Harris, owner of Heathgate Properties in London, said: “Currently we are an industry that is under attack. We need an organisation that can lobby government and educate the public on what it is we actually do.” The discussions also swung round to the group’s dislike of online-only and “fake agent” agents, as well as how to use independent agents’ sales and lettings data to produce the UK’s most up-to-date and accurate house price and rental…
Read More » -
CIELA members gather to plan data blitz that will rival corporates
The inaugural meeting of all the founder and regional members of the Charter for Independent Estate Agents (CIELA) is taking place in the Oxfordshire town of Bicester today. The organisation says the meeting will be a forum discuss how independent agents can unite their “potential firepower” and unite their resources and data to create a force greater than any “corporate in the industry”. Independent agents CIELA clearly thinks one failing of independent agents is that they do not share their data in the same way corporate branch networks do. David Butler (pictured, left), CEO of software firm ResiAnalytics and a former senior team member at both the Hometrack and CBRE, is to speak to them today to explain the power of the “combined data that independents currently hold between them, but do not currently use”, the organisation says. CIELA, which has been formed to represent the collective voice of independents and also communicate to the public what independents “actually do”. It has been busy in recent weeks. It’s website has been updated and it has hired a PR team that in the past has worked with Zoopla and Tepilo. CIELA, which was founded by tech firm owner Charlile Wright, is…
Read More » -
Propertymark kicks off sporting spend at Sky-broadcast matches
Propertymark, the new property brand formerly known as NFoPP launched in February, is to promote its new identity on perimeter boards at 20 sporting events to be broadcast by Sky Sports this year. It is part of a significant push by the NAEA, ARLA and NAVA to present themselves as consumer – rather than just industry – champions to the public. The new campaign will include three cricket matches, six rugby matches and a single football fixture, Scunthorpe United versus Bradford City on the 24th March. The rest of the events include a Rugby Union Varsity match at Twickenham on December 7th as well as an under-20s England versus Scotland match and the Rugby League Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford on October 7th. Propertymark says the campaign, which will feature its new green logo, is to be seen by an audience of 9.5 million between the ages of 18 and 65 on Sky during the events. “This demonstrates our commitment to support Propertymark to benefit members by reaching a wide and relevant consumer audience via popular televised Sky Sports events,” says Propertymark. Long tradition Propertymark joins a long tradition of estate agents backing sport financially. In recent years…
Read More » -
Landlord possession claims fall by 26 per cent in Wales
The number of claims made by private sector landlords to repossess a property has fallen by 26 per cent over the past two years.
Read More »
