Regulation & Law
News articles looking at national legislation and local regulation and the application of law to the residential property industry.
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‘75% of industry supports tougher laws on foreign ownership of UK property’
The government has claimed that 75% of property industry support new tougher laws on foreign companies that own UK property.
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Online agent reported to watchdog over ‘misleading’ ads for parcels of land
An agent based in London that specialises in land and property for investment purposes has been reported to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after a member of the public complained about one of its online ads. Exclusive Property Sales and Consultants sells land, commercial and residential investment opportunities and has an address at serviced offices near Victoria railway station. It describes itself as an online agent. ‘Misleading’ ad It was referred to the watchdog because, it was claimed, its advertisement for several parcels of land in the Home Counties could have been construed as misleading. The property advertisement was seen both on its own website and on Rightmove and Zoopla and, the complainant told the ASA, did not make it clear that access to the parcels of land for sale was only either on foot or by tractor/4×4 via third party land. “We brought these concerns to the advertiser’s attention,” the ASA says. “It agreed to amend the ads and remove any statements about the access or use of the land.” Following the informal agreement between the ASA and Exclusive Property Sales and Consultants, the offending ad appears to have now been removed from the company’s listings. Read more about…
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Belvoir set to double number of rent guarantee policies as tenant fee ban looms
Belvoir says its partnership with Let Alliance is paying dividends as its franchisees sell more rent guarantee insurance to plug looming tenant fees ban.
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Radical leasehold reform programme recommended by Law Commission
The Law Commission has suggested a radical leasehold reform within England and Wales including radically lower costs of acquisition.
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Burnham-on-Sea cartel agent is expelled from RICS
A Burnham-on-Sea agent and partner in Greenslade Taylor Hunt has been expelled from RICS after helping organise a fee fixing cartel in the Dorset seaside town.
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Letting agent jailed after failing to fit smoke alarms at house where boys died
A letting agent who has been jailed for a year after failing to fit smoke alarms to a property at which a house fire later killed two boys.
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Be clearer about upfront fees and ‘local experts’ hybrid estate agents are warned
The Advertising Standards Authority has warned hybrid estate agenst to be clearer in their advertising about upfront fees and 'local experts'.
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Estate Agencies rapped by advertising watchdog
Coventry firm Lewis Oliver was reported for a cheeky newspaper ad that included a picture of a man’s torso wearing only swimming shorts headlined as “WOW WHAT A PACKAGE”. A roundel over the model’s crotch then said “Fully Managed Letting Service”. Two members of the public complained about the ad, claiming that the “image was irrelevant to the service being advertised and objectified the man” and was therefore offensive. The ASA has upheld the two complaints, saying that “taking the image, strapline and placement of the roundel into account, we considered that the ad was likely to have the effect of objectifying the man by using his physical features to draw attention to an unrelated product. “We concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious offence to some people.” Lewis Oliver was told not to repeat the ad, which is due for renewal in a few weeks’ time when the advertising contract with the paper comes to an end. The ad has also appeared as a billboard ad (above) although this did not attract any complaints. Meanwhile, a Cornish estate agent has had both a tweet and a blog published by the business referred to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA),…
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Uproar over ‘outrageous’ How to Rent booklet update
The latest update to the legally-binding How to Rent booklet follows an inexplicably and almost identical version published two weeks ago.
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Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman calls for UK to stay in EU Customs Union
Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman has joined 100 other high profile entrepreneurs to call for the UK to stay in the EU customs union.
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