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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Rental scams costing tenants £5.25 million a year, official fraud investigation reveals
A government-backed anti-fraud organisation reckons tenants are losing £5.25 million every year to rental scams.
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Government to review select licensing as number of schemes passes 550 mark
The government is to conduct a lengthy review of the UK's 550 or more selective licensing schemes operated by many local authorities.
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Referral fees are under threat
The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) has today launched a survey to find out how widespread the use of referral fees from solicitors, surveyors, financial advisors and removal firms is among estate agents. It says the results of the survey will be fed into the Government’s ongoing investigation into referral fees. The survey asks agents to anonymously divulge whether they take such fees from these kinds of third parties, and whether they think referral fees should be retained, made more transparent, or banned. NTSEAT’s survey has the backing of both The Property Ombudsman and the Property Redress Scheme and follows the government’s recent call for evidence by a working group set up by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. “The responses [so far] to whether government should take further action to enforce current transparency regulations regarding the disclosure of referral fees were overwhelmingly supportive,” says James Munro, Head of NTSEAT (pictured, left) “But at the inaugural meeting, it was decided that more information was required from agents about the nature of the fees they currently receive. The results of this survey will feed into the working group.” Reassurance Agents who think it might be a bad idea…
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Welsh tenant fees ban begins its passage into law, hot on the heels of England
The Welsh government has revealed its planned letting fees ban legislation after it was introduced to the country’s Assembly on Tuesday and, like its English counterpart, is likely to become law next year. The Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Bill is similar to the English system, banning almost all fees including those for accompanied viewings, inventories, contract signing and renewing a tenancy. Welsh agents will be allowed to charge tenants rent, security deposits, holding deposits and fees when a tenant breaches a contract. The bill also opens the way for deposits to be limited to an as-yet specified limit, will cap holding deposits at a week’s rent and establish a mechanism for prompt repayment of deposits. But enforcement of the new laws will be different, says Housing and Regeneration minister Rebecca Evans (pictured). Agents found charging prohibited fees will be issued £500 fixed penalty notices and, if these are not paid, prosecuted in a Magistrates Court and face unlimited fines. Enforcement will also be integrated into the recently-introduced agent licensing system, Rent Smart Wales. “This Bill builds on the work we have already done here in Wales through the Housing and Renting Homes Acts to ensure that those wishing to…
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Conveyancing revolution begins as Warwick is first LA to go digital with Local Land Charges search service
Warwick District Council will be the first in the UK to offer home buyers an online Local Land Charges services in the UK.
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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.
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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.
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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,…
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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.
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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.
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