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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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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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.
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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.
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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…
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