Regulation & Law
News articles looking at national legislation and local regulation and the application of law to the residential property industry.
-
Second estate agent cartel investigation gets green light from CMA
The Competition and Markets Authority says it has enough information to proceed with a full investigation into a second estate agent cartel.
Read More » -
Governnment to consider carrot-and-stick approach to longer tenancies
The Residential Landlords Association claims the government is warming to the idea of longer tenancies created by tax breaks, not law.
Read More » -
Ombudsman expels ANOTHER five rogue estate agents
The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has excluded or expelled five more estate agents from its redress scheme after kicking out six last month.
Read More » -
Two Purplebricks radio ads referred to advertising watchdog
Two Purplebricks radio ads broadcast recently have been referred to the Advertising Standards Authority by a member of the public.
Read More » -
Emoov changes ‘save thousands’ claim after complaint to advertising watchdog
Hybrid estate agent Emoov has changed the text on one of its online Google ads after a complaint to the UK's advertising watchdog.
Read More » -
Councils ‘unprepared’ for HMO regulation change next week
The National Landlords Association says too many councils are unprepared for or ignorant of their wider HMO policing role.
Read More » -
The Property Ombudsman expels six rogue estate agents including one for 10 years
Redress scheme The Property Ombudsman has expelled six of its rogue estate agent members including one that owes 100 landlords £419,000.
Read More » -
‘Suspend Right to Rent’ say landlords as Home Office reconvenes panel
Ongoing complaints from landlords about Right to Rent has persuaded the Home Office to revisit its controversial flagship immigration policy.
Read More » -
Three letting agents fined £90,000 over unsafe and dangerous HMOs
Three letting agents in London have been fined a total of £90,000 this week for breaches of local HMO regulations.
Read More » -
Ground-breaking legislation to help tenants onto property ladder enters Commons
New legislation designed to force lenders to take rent and council tax payments into account when assessing tenants for mortgages has begun its journey through the House of Commons, sponsored by former government minister and MP Justine Greening. Introduced into parliament in June last year by Big Issue founder Lord Bird, it is now likely to get Royal Assent and become law next year; its passage through the Lords was unopposed and supported enthusiastically by all parties. “Thanks to Justine Greening plus [other] MPs from every party for sponsoring the Creditworthiness Assessment Bill in the House of Commons – it’s an historic moment in our campaign,” Lord Bird said. The bill will force a subtle but important change within the lending industry. Currently, credit reference agencies and lenders can opt to factor a borrower’s rental payment record into their lending decision, but it’s not an approach adopted uniformly. To date take-up of the ideas has been relatively slow – only Experian adds tenant rent payment records to people’s credit files while its two competing reference agencies do not. Royal assent When the Creditworthiness Assessment Bill does become law, lenders will be compelled by the Financial Conduct Authority to include rent…
Read More »
