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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Watch out estate agents, there’s a Chinese email hacker about
An email hacker in China appears to be targeting UK agents in a bid to spread a computer virus via emails sent from bogus ‘buyers’ pretending to be interested in properties for sale, it has been reported. The Property Ombudsman (TPO) is warning all estate and letting agents to be vigilant after a TPO member was targeted by the individual. The agency, which has not been named, was contacted by a Chinese buyer who expressed keen interest in a property for sale. But when the agent became suspicious about the buyer’s wish to purchase the property quickly and without seeing it, he challenged the individual to supply identification documents before the purchase could proceed any further. He agent told TPO that documents sent over by the Chinese individual were difficult to open and, after passing them to their IT department, it was confirmed the documents contained malware including a series of “potentially destructive viruses”, TPO says. “Fortunately in this case, the scam was identified and no company or customer details were compromised.,” says Gerry Fitzjohn, Board Chairman for TPO commented. “However, this is a reminder to all agents to be both cautious and vigilant. The importance of antivirus software is…
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Parliament to debate rent being added to tenant credit histories after all
It was announced today that adding rental payments to tenant credit histories is to be debated in the House of Commons, signalling a U-turn on the subject by parliament. A debate had been scheduled in March after a petition raised by Plymouth construction worker Jamie Pogson (pictured, below) was signed by 147,307 people, well over the 100,000 required to force a debate in parliament. But the snap General Election on May 5th meant all outstanding petitions were closed and, it was announced, a debate on the subject in parliament kicked into the long grass. The HM Treasury also posted a reply to the petition rejecting the idea, saying “lenders must consider a range of factors when assessing a mortgage application. Meeting rental payments is not sufficient in itself to demonstrate affordability over the lifetime of a ban”. But the newly reformed Petitions Committee headed up by Helen Jones, MP has announced that Jamie’s petition is to be revived and debated on 23rd October. “The Petitions Committee will check and challenge the Government’s responses to petitioners and ensure that petitioners’ voices are taken seriously and valued,” says Helen. “I look forward to working with the new Petitions Committee to ensure that…
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Premier Moves Management Ltd expelled from TPO
A sales and lettings agent in South West London has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme.
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Sex, lies and racism… Employment Tribunals may be on the rise
Estate agencies large and small are being advised to prepare for a surge in employment tribunals as The Supreme Court has ruled that employment tribunal fees are unlawful.
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Cardiff agent exposed for not paying National Minimum Wage
A letting agent in Cardiff has appeared in a list of over 200 companies in the UK for underpaying their staff the National Minimum Wage. Kingston City Properties, which trades as Kingstons Residential and is based in the central Cathays area of Cardiff, is one of the 230 companies who the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has identified as underpaying wages and fined a total of £1.9 million. Kingston City Properties has been going since 1999 and its letting business is well known in Cardiff as it sponsors the Cardiff Met rugby team. The companies on the list must also return the unpaid wages, which in the case of Kingston City Properties is £636 unpaid to one employee. This is the 12th round of ‘naming and shaming’ that BEIS has initiated and there are currently 2,000 firms under investigation at the moment. Once a company has been reported and investigated, it can then appeal but, if the appeal is rejected, their name is then published. BEIS says the latest list represents £2 million in back-pay for some 13,000 workers within the different categories of company, most of which are retail, food, hospitality and hairdressing firms. Since 2013,…
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ASA upholds two complaints against online agent
Complaints about savings claims by online agent HouseSimple both on its website and within a recent TV ad have been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The watchdog has issued a detailed 1,500-word adjudication about the two complaints, one of which was about average fees charged by high street agents, and the other about how much vendors could save using the agent compared to a traditional agent. The adjudication’s wording also features an increasing weariness that another online agent had made claims that the ASA felt could not be justified or were misleading. This included the use of a 2011 Which? survey which many online agents have used in the past to justify the difference in fees between them and high street agents, and material published by the Home Owners Alliance. Website claims The first complaint was about copy seen on the HouseSimple website in February that claimed agents charged between 1.5% and 4% plus VAT to sell a home at an average cost of £5,237. The complainant challenged whether these figures could be substantiated and where therefore misleading, which HouseSimple said were based on the Which? report and a Home Owners Alliance secret shopping survey among agents, but…
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Landlord jailed for evading tax of over £150,000
A landlord who evaded over £150,000 in Capital Gains Tax from the sale of properties has been jailed for two years and three months at Winchester Crown Court (pictured, right). Following an investigation by HMRC, Richard Fuller was found to not have declared tax due on capital gains made on properties he had sold in and around Aldershot in Hampshire between 2006 and 2013. Last week Fuller was sentenced to the jail term following a trial in July – he was arrested at Gatwick Airport in October 2014 after returning with his family from a holiday in Turkey. “The jury found you guilty of dishonesty. This is a serious matter, you deliberately failed to pay your Capital Gains Tax over several years,” said The Recorder of Salisbury His Honour Judge A J Barnett. The 53-year-old had been found guilty by a jury of two counts of Cheating the Public Revenue and three counts of Fraud by False Representation to the tune of £157,725. Task force The HMRC says the fraud was discovered by its property task force and then referred for a criminal investigation. The outstanding tax due by Fuller will now be recovered through confiscation proceedings. “Fuller thought he…
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Hackney introduces letting fees ban without waiting for government
The London Borough of Hackney has launched a voluntary letting fees ban ahead of the government’s ban expected next year. The borough has called on all letting agents within its borders to “stop unfair charges for private renters” including processing, amending or renewing a tenancy agreement. The initiative is part of the borough’s Better Renting Campaign to promote a fairer renting for the 32,000 households who rent from private landlords within Hackney. “We have long called on the Government to take action to stop this extortionate financial burden placed on private renters,” says recently-elected Labour councillor Sem Moema (pictured, left), who is also a housing advisor to the borough’s directly-elected mayor. “The new housing minister, Alok Sharma, must resist the strong voice of the letting agent lobby and push through this legislation without delay. “But while it’s vital action, a lettings fee ban tackles the symptoms, not the causes, of the housing crisis. “In the absence of any real change on the ground, we’re taking matters into our own hands and are working directly with local letting agents to create a fairer and more transparent private renting system in Hackney, starting now.” The campaign has the official support of one…
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Property Ombudsman expels three agents
The Property Ombudsman (TPO) is on track to expel more members this year than in 2016 after three agents were expelled in one go yesterday. Last year TPO kicked out nine agents but six have already been expelled this year following the latest expulsions, with just six months of the year gone. The three agents are Shields & Co in Nottingham, LPC Lettings Ltd in Liverpool and Blackhorse Property Management Ltd in Bradford (all pictured). Two were expelled after failing to pay awards totalling £11,000 to landlords following complaints to the ombudsman that were subsequently upheld. TPO members are required to comply with any award or direction given by the Ombudsman and accepted by the complainants. “It is important to point out that cases like these are extremely rare and concern the actions of a small minority of agents,” says TPO Chairman Jerry Fitzjohn. “Taking into account the vast number of sales and lettings transactions that take place every year, only a small percentage of consumers contact TPO to complain about their agent, and our recent Annual Report reveals an even smaller number are referred to our Disciplinary & Standards Committee.” Shields & Co had failed to pay a landlord…
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Government reveals promised “urgent” leasehold reform proposals
The government has revealed that its promised leasehold reform proposals will soon ban new-build houses being sold using this type of tenure. It says it will also move to restrict ground rent increases to very low or even zero, all pending an eight-week consultation. The announcement follows February’s Housing White Paper in which the government said “urgent reform” was needed to leaseholds in the UK. There are 1.2 million leasehold houses of which 100,000 feature unfair terms but these will be unaffected by the new legislation. Only future leases will be protected from unfair terms. In the past houses have been sold by developers such as Taylor Wimpey as leasehold, often at reduced cost compared to their freehold counterparts. But they come with greater costs in the long run, the government says. Examples given to support the new proposals include a family home on which the ground rent will reach £10,000 a year by 2060, making it virtually unsaleable and a homeowner charged £1,500 to make a minor alteration to their home. The government is also concerned by the practice of developers selling on freeholds and/or ground rents of leasehold houses, leaving owners “in the dark and facing increasing onerous payments,”…
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