Search Results for: aml
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Latest property news
Humberts launches first dual online and high street lettings service
Humberts has launched the UK’s first switchable online-only and traditional managed lettings service for landlords. The announcement comes five months after the company said it would be relaunching its lettings operation headed up by high-profile industry executive Suzanne Diamond (pictured, below). The new online offering is called Humberts Lettings Direct and will charge landlords £199 plus VAT for advertising on Rightmove and OTM as well as deposit and first-month rent collection, referencing, contract management and legal protection insurance. Humberts says the £199 will then be deducted from any fees charged should a landlord then switch to the traditional approach. But rather than the company build its own technology, 175-year-old Humberts is partnering with proptech start-up Propoly. Propoly started up three years ago as Nanoget before changing name and joining angel investment firm Pi Labs, initially presenting itself as an alternative to lettings agents for landlords and tenants. The company’s board includes non-executive director Margaret Longden (pictured, right), who is Countrywide’s Retail Programme Director and who, from 2010 onwards, helped expand the PLC’s lettings business. Also, Countrywide holds 366,034 Series A shares in Propoly. White label technology Humberts is using a white-labelled version of Propoly’s technology, which is essentially a messaging platform…
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Features
It’s time for the industry to be more mobile
It’s not just Millennials that don’t answer the phone...
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Latest property news
Scarborough landlord licensing scheme launched
Town is latest of over 35 selective licensing schemes to be introduced over past two years.
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Latest property news
Less parking, more space says developer
Modernise parking, CIL and space standards to build more homes, says Moda Living. Moda Living, a developer and operator of homes for rent, with major schemes in six UK cities, has called for greater flexibility around stringent planning demands for car park spaces. In its response to the housing white paper consultation, the company said that overly restrictive car parking standards requiring inappropriate levels of car parking, exceed the requirements of the Build to Rent market as renters are increasingly “asset-light” choosing to use ride share companies like Uber or car hire brands like Zip Car. Moda Living has a pipeline of 5,000 homes across the UK’s biggest cities, it also wants reform of overly restrictive national residential space standards. Tony Brooks, Managing Director of Moda Living, said, “Huge investment is going in to considerable shared areas that residents will be free to access. It’s essential these things are considered when planners are totting up the amount of space a resident has access to. Given the choice between a tiny private balcony you can’t fit a table on to or having a slice of a much bigger, shared space, it makes sense that we consider how we can offer people…
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Latest property news
Two more councils clamp down on rogue landlords and agents
Two new schemes have been announced by two local councils to clamp down on rogue landlords and agents, joining a further half a dozen or more initiatives launched so far this year. Luton Borough Council and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets have both introduced different schemes with varying levels of enforcement. Luton has begun consultation on a selective landlord licensing scheme, while Tower Hamlets has launched a ‘private renters’ charter’ in addition to its existing licensing scheme. Luton wants to introduce licensing in five key wards of the town’s 19 wards. The scheme would see landlords required to apply for a license to operate each of their properties within these areas. Landlords are to be charged £110 per property, plus £110 per bedroom for a five-year licence. “The aim is to improve the overall quality of private housing provision and ensure that parts of the town that are currently blighted by poor quality accommodation and issues that often go hand in hand, are eradicated and improve the quality of life for all,” council Tom Shaw (pictured, left) told Bedfordshire on Sunday. The council says it want to introduced the scheme to stamp out ‘speculative landlords’ who offer over-crowded and…
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Supplier advice
Proptech is not a threat, it’s what tenants want
Adam Baxter of Rentr, who recently said proptech shouldn't exist to "kill off letting agents", says the industry should focus on the customer.
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Latest property news
Estate agents must do more to stop mortgage fraud, warns senior legal expert
Estate agents need to do more to prevent mortgage fraud by being more aware of the riskiest properties and transactions, and having a better understanding of the anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, leading property lawyer Peter Rodd has told The Negotiator. Peter, who is a Council member of The Law Society and works for Kent legal firm Boys & Maughan, says too few agents fully understand their anti-money laundering (AML) obligations and that if they did, being one of the best-placed stakeholders in the conveyancing process, this in turn would help reduced the number of mortgage fraud cases. “If estate agents were more aware of what signifies a high-risk transaction – i.e. high value, unencumbered, empty or tenanted properties particularly where the seller is looking for a quick sale and prepared to accept a discounted price for the property, then we might be in a better place,” says Peter. “Good knowledge of the AML regulations plays a part in preventing fraud, so estate agencies ought to be trying to do their basic AML checks properly, or some extra ones, and although it’s not going to be a foolproof solution, if the various stakeholders work together better to share information then it…
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Features
Does outsourcing offer lower costs when times are hard?
Joanne Christie discovers how some agents manage the ups and downs of business in uncertain times.
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Features
Why we need to let SME builders flourish
Andrew Jacobs wants to overcome the barriers to building for SME developers so that they can just get on with the job.
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Features
Anti-money laundering – comply or die!
…can save your business! Recent legal cases on conveyancing fraud and Anti-money laundering (AML) compliance suggest that you take AML compliance very seriously, says Andrea Kirkby.
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