Regulation & Law
News articles looking at national legislation and local regulation and the application of law to the residential property industry.
-
Has a plucky plumber put some hybrid estate agent business models in doubt?
A plumber who took 'employer' to court over his entitlement to holiday and sick pay may trigger a rethink at many hybrid estate agent headquarters.
Read More » -
Strewth! Leading Oz trade body clashes with Purplebricks over advertising claims
Western Australian industry body claims Purplebricks advertising claims about its service are "false" and "misleading.
Read More » -
Leicester begins banning To Let boards outside student properties
Leicester is the latest city to go live with a scheme that requires letting agents to apply for planning permission to erect boards in areas heavily dominated by students. The council yesterday revealed that it is to start implementing new powers granted to it by the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government (DHCLG) to ban To Let boards in half a dozen areas in and around the University of Leicester and De Montford University. Under the Regulation 7 Direction order landlords or agents must now apply for planning consent to put up signs advertising a property and, if they don’t, will be fined up to £2,500. The areas affected are the Windermere, Hazel, Clarendon Park (pictured, above), Greenhill, West End, Ashleigh Road and West End conservation parts of the city. The ban follows a decade-long attempt to control boards in these areas through a voluntary code of practice but, the council says, only a ‘handful’ of landlords and agents have complied with this. To let boards The council was moved to apply for a Regulation 7 Direction order after locals in these areas complained of an almost constant flurry of boards outside properties. “They are intrusive and often misleading,…
Read More » -
High Court gives green light to Judicial Review of Right to Rent
A High Court judge has given a charity permission to challenge the government on its flagship immigration policy Right to Rent.
Read More » -
Right to Rent under threat as charity takes government to court
A leading human rights charity is to take the UK government to court over its flagship right to rent immigration policy.
Read More » -
All 33 London councils sign up to join Mayor’s new rogue agent database
The Mayor of London's new rogue agent database, which also includes landlords, will now be supplied with details by all the capital's councils.
Read More » -
Leading estate agent changes website after complaint to advertising watchdog
Edinburgh-based MOV8 agrees to amend copy after complaint that its fixed estate agency fee claim may have been misleading.
Read More » -
Citizens Advice attacks Tenant Fees Bill over ‘lost keys’ clause
Citizens Advice has attacked the default fees allowed within the government Tenant Fees Bill because it will create a loophole that unscrupulous agents could exploit. The independent advice organisation, which is a network of 316 charities around the UK which also campaigns on consumer issues, says agents will be able to charge without limit for tenancy breaches such as late rent or lost keys and that this will enable them to carry on charging unrestricted fees. Citizens Advice is also unhappy at how long the legislation is taking to enact, highlighting how it believes £13 million a month is being taken in “uncompetitive fees” from tenants by agents. Default fees Default fees were debated last night in the Commons during the second reading of the Tenant Fees Bill, but Citizens Advice says the ‘guidance’ that the government promised to issue later on in the legislative process “would not be legally enforceable”. Instead it wants to government to include what can and cannot be charged for various services to tenants, and has called for deposits to be capped at four weeks’ rent, not six. “The government’s pledge to ban fees will be fundamentally undermined unless the clause on default fees is…
Read More » -
Tenant Fees Bill – MPs unanimously vote through second reading
Letting agents hoping for a miracle defeat for the Tenant Fees Bill last night in the Commons during its second reading were disappointed when it was passed unanimously by MPs following a three-hour debate. Although 123 MPs are landlords, only two pointed out any failings in the legislation that might have given letting agents hope. These were Labour’s Andrew Lewer and Conservative Alex Chalk, both of whom asked that not all agents should be tarred with the same ‘rogue’ brush and that the bill could prompt higher rents. “There are hard-working people in this sector and we shouldn’t punish the unscrupulous at the expense of the far more numerous hard-working ones,” said Lewer (pictured, right). Default fees But all of the dozen or more other speakers were in support of the bill’s aims, many on both sides of the political divide calling for it to be tightened up particularly in relation to ‘default fees’. “Rogue letting agents have for too many years been able to profit from unsecure tenancies,” said Dr Paul Williams. Default fees are one of the few fees agents will be able charge soon and will be permissible only when a tenant prompts work, for example if…
Read More » -
First MP to reply to ARLA’s tenant fees ban letter say industry is “perverse”
The mountain that the industry must climb to defeat the tenant fees ban has been revealed after a Labour MP replied to a letter sent to him by a local letting agent following ARLA’s recent call for action. ARLA last week asked agents to write to their local MPs, and Reading branch manager Khalil Iqbal obliged – only to receive a blunt rebuttal from Matt Rodda, his MP for Reading East and Shadow Minister for Local Transport. From his letter it’s clear that not only does ARLA have to persuade the Conservative government that the bill will damage local rental markets and employment, but also must change Labour thinking too. Khalil, who is a branch manager at Reading agency Adams Estates, received his letter on Saturday from Rodda, who in his reply dodged all the points made by Khalil about the damage the bill may wreak. Perverse Instead the MP says the industry is “perverse” because tenants are charged by agents for a service provided to landlords and that agents fees increased by 60% between 2010 and 2015, he claims. The MP also highlights in the letter how closely Conservative and Labour policy is aligned on housing. For example, Rodda…
Read More »
