Associations & Bodies
News and updates from associations and member organisations in the UK residential property industry.
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PRS expels member
Carter Stones Limited of 1A Connaught Road, Ilford, IG1 1RL has been expelled from the Property Redress Scheme...
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‘Do I really have to join one of the redress schemes?’
Confusion among sales and letting agents about who has to register with one of the three redress schemes has prompted the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) to issue new advice. Team leader James Munro says that although it is already a legal requirement for anyone engaged in residential estate agency to be a member of an approved scheme, he says there have been requests to “clarify” what this means. It might seem an easy enough definition to grasp, but the subtleties of the sector have led several agents to wonder if they really have to join one of the schemes, which are Ombudsman Services: Property, the Property Redress Scheme and The Property Ombudsman. James says the NTSEAT now wants to make it clear that the definition covers any agency that ‘engages in estate agency work’ and ‘deals in residential property’ and that by residential he means ‘land that consists of or includes part of a building’. The list of questions that agents have asked include whether they have to join if they only sell off-plan property (they do) and if individual members of staff have to join a redress scheme (they don’t, only the company they work for has to). Also,…
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Property Ombudsman expulsions
The Property Ombudsman expulsions continue as four agencies feel the wrath of the largest residential estate agency Ombudsman. Four separate estate and letting agents have been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and from registration for lettings redress for two or more years, after failing to pay awards made by the Ombudsman or to comply with parts of the TPO Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents. The expulsions follow complaints from landlords and tenants. In three cases, rent totalling over £9,000 had not been passed to the respective landlords. The complaints were upheld by the Ombudsman, who ordered payment of the money to those owed, together with compensation. TPO members are required to comply with any award and/or direction given by the The Property Ombudsman and accepted by the complainants. To date, all four agents failed to make payments. Winchester Lettings Ltd, in south London, was referred to the scheme’s Disciplinary and Standard’s Committee (DSC) after failing to pay an award of £750 made to a landlord who complained about poor service. This agent does not now appear to be trading. Miaisa Ltd trading as Gallery@HD1 in Huddersfield, was directed to pay £2,312 in rent due to a landlord…
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Traffic lights to show homes’ flood risk
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is urging estate agents and property websites to provide up-front information about flood risk, using a simple traffic-light style mark, as it reveals that fewer than one in three people researched the flood risk of the property before buying their current home. It sounds simple but will it put buyers off before they even view a property with anything less than a ‘green light’? Greg Bryce, Managing Director of SearchFlow, property intelligence specialists, says, “There has been a growing focus within the industry to improve the transparency and quality of information for homebuyers prior to their purchase. With so few buyers investigating flood risk when buying a home, the call from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) for more upfront information on flooding is welcomed. “However, the information proposed by the ABI should not be construed as a definitive risk assessment or unnecessarily deter people from purchasing a property. Regardless of whether flood risk information is made available on property details from the outset, it is recommended that conveyancers conduct specific searches for flood risk, and to arrange for an in-depth assessment by a technical expert if there is any flood risk to the property. “Homebuyers informed of…
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Record number of tenants secure rent reductions
The number of people securing rent reductions rose to three percent of all tenants during August, the highest number since the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) began keeping records. “The rising cost of renting, especially in major cities such as London, is an ongoing issue in both the buying and letting market so it’s promising to see small steps towards better affordability for renters,” says David Cox, ARLA’s Managing Director (pictured, below). The rental renegotiation increase is a jump from 2.1% of all tenants in July and is a surprising blip among a set of otherwise strong figures for the sector released today by ARLA. This includes news that demand for private rented property rose to 37 prospective tenants registered at each branch, and that year-on-year the number of properties registered to let with each branch was up from 178 to 183 or nearly 3%. ARLA also asked its members about the Brexit vote and its effect on the lettings market and 72% of agents said rents have remained the same since the vote, while 63% said demand had remained the same (but 17% said rents had gone down). Some 67% of agents said supply had not changed. “Although…
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RICS sets standard in property measurement
An international coalition, including RICS, has launched a property measurement standard for floor space to benefit residential property investors, developers, real estate agents, professionals and ultimately consumers. This new international measurement standard will offer more clarity and consistency to users of residential property services, whether they’re buying, selling, renting or investing. The International Property Measurement Standards (IPMS): Residential Buildings will provide a uniform global method to determine the size and dimension of floor space measures that can be used anywhere in the world. Currently, the way residential property is measured can vary significantly from one market to the next. As a consequence, owners, occupiers and investors in domestic property are often left confused or misinformed when it comes to the reported floor space. This causes substantial issues when property is listed off-plan or bought by investors, but it has also led to disputes where rental calculations and service charges have relied on erroneous measurement information. Published by a coalition of more than 80 property organisations around the world and drafted by an independent group of 18 experts from 11 countries, IPMS: Residential Buildings is the second in a series of global open-source standards aimed at creating a uniform approach to…
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Scottish lettings regulation – ARLA launches initiatives
A series of promotional packages will help agents to gain qualifications.
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The Property Redress Scheme welcomes 5,000th member
Two-year-old redress scheme is settled and successful.
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Private landlords ‘rake in’ £9.3billion in housing benefit
The National Housing Federation (NHF) last week released data about the cost – borne by the taxpayer – of housing benefit, which has risen to £9.3billion, double the amount paid out 10 years ago and the Sunday newspapers knew that the public would be furious. Most of the Sunday papers inferred that the growth in costs was, once again, down to greedy landlords and unscrupulous agents who charge fees to tenants; once again ignoring the true situation, that there is a massive shortage of housing because councils and housing associations are not building enough social housing, builders are not building enough homes for people to buy and the Government’s Right to Buy scheme is removing more homes for the social sector than it is building. The view from the national press is that private landlords are getting rich quick, with their pockets lined by high rents paid by housing benefit. David Orr (left), Chief Executive at the National Housing Federation said: “It is madness to spend £9 billion of taxpayers’ money lining the pockets of private landlords rather than investing in affordable homes. “Housing associations want to build the homes nation needs. By loosening restrictions on existing funding, the Government…
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New Presidents take the reins
ARLA and the NAEA have welcomed their new presidential teams for the year ahead. Nik Madan succeeds Peter Savage as President of ARLA, and Sally Lawson is appointed ARLA’s President Elect. Nik has 20 years’ lettings experience, including 12 years at John D Wood & Co. in Central London and he is now Group Lettings Director at Connells Group. David Mackie succeeds Martyn Baum as President of NAEA, while Katie Griffin becomes NAEA’s President Elect. David has 25 years’ experience in the residential property market, as an estate agent, letting agent and consultant. He has also held various roles with NAEA including deputy Member Advisory Forum representative and chairman of the Scottish branch of NAEA.
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