Ajay Jagota
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Movers & Shakers
My Property Box makes two acquisitions
Estate agency group, My Property Box has further strengthened its presence in Tyneside, Wearside, and Northumberland, with the acquisitions of Acorn Properties Ltd and KIS Lettings.
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Landlords and agents warned over unlicensed student properties
Students could be in line for a rent rebate after £85,000 student accommodation ruling against management company.
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NE estate agency launches rental dispute settling service for tenants
Ajay Jagota who runs an estate agency in Tyne & Wear, says tenants don't know their rights or how to solve disputes with landlords or agents.
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Lettings proptech firm launches ‘TripAdvisor’ for landlords and tenants
A TripAdvisor-style reviews service that enables landlords and tenants to rate each other a month after the tenancy begins and again when it ends, has been launched. The online service has been created by proptech firm HomeRenter, a residential lettings platform that went live in November last year, backed by a homes developer and with support from a national and regional newspaper group. HomeRenter says it aims to use elements of the TripAdvisor and Airbnb models to “modernise” the private rental market, and says its research reveals that 81% of tenants and 88% of landlords would like to be able to rate each other. “In a connected world, consumers have become accustomed to being able to read ratings and reviews, from holiday lets to taxi rides, to inform all major purchase decisions,” says HomeRenter CEO Will Handley (pictured, above). “In the rental sector, this concept has scarcely landed. Choosing where to live is an incredibly important decision which no-one wants to get wrong.” On his site landlords can rate tenants on the punctuality of their rental payments, behaviour, how they treat the property and how quickly they report maintenance and repair issues. At the end of the tenancy, landlords can…
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Rental deposit scams stole nearly £1m off tenants during 2017, says campaigner
Rental deposits protection campaigner and insurance-based scheme operator Ajay Jagota (picture,below) has claimed that £926,000 in deposits has been stolen from tenants during 2017. The figure, which only shows the tip of the iceberg because it only reports reported cases, reveals that 25 landlords and letting agents were convicted this year of stealing various amounts ranging from a few hundred to, in one case, £130,000. The most common way deposits are taken illegally is through simple scams – people posing as landlords or letting agents and then taking deposits for fake properties or homes they haven’t been instructed to market or have the authority to rent out. A good example of this is James Bennett, who was sentenced to six years in prison last week after conning at least 17 people in South London out of £10,000 in total using this method. Rental deposits Bennett, who failed to appear in court and is now on the run, used listings on SpareRoom.com to advertise rooms to rent in Brixton, Walworth, Clapham, Elephant & Castle and Tooting despite not having permission to do so. In each case he was staying at the property but, prior to being evicted, advertised the rooms to…
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BBC says rogue agents stole £1m of tenant deposits last year
A BBC investigation has claimed that 14 agents across the UK were convicted of stealing over £1m of tenant deposits last year including £400,000 taken in the East Midlands and £220,000 in Hertfordshire. The investigation, which was broadcast last night, places the blame for the high value of stolen deposits during 2016 on the insurance-based versions of the three deposit protection schemes, which enable agents to keep tenants’ deposit without having to lodge deposits with a scheme. The programme includes an interview with tenants’ rights campaigner and Conservative MP for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, Oliver Colville (pictured, left), who said the situation “is appalling and that there needs to be some action taken and some fines placed on people if they misappropriate those funds”. The BBC TV report also interviewed North-East based letting agent Ajay Jagota of KIS Group (pictured, below), who as well as running a four-branch agency in the North East, has launched his own insurance-industry backed alternative to the official deposit protection schemes, and in the programme calls the problem of stolen deposits the industry’s ‘dirty little secret’. The three government-sanctioned deposit protection schemes, on the other hand, say that cash-based deposits remain popular and, in a…
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