Communities and Local Government
-
Latest property news
Renters Reform Bill stuck at final hurdle before publication
Sources at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have confirmed to The Neg that that the Renters Reform Bill will be published sooner rather than later.
Read More » -
Regulation & Law
Government pushes ahead with Renters Reform Bill
The legislation is likely to focus on improving standards and the quality of property in the sector and to end ‘no-fault’ evictions.
Read More » -
Latest property news
New Housing Secretary and Minister appointed amid Boris Johnson’s night of the long knives
Following Boris Johnson's Cabinet 'carnage', we now have a new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and a new Housing Minister.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Councils ‘unprepared’ for HMO regulation change next week
The National Landlords Association says too many councils are unprepared for or ignorant of their wider HMO policing role.
Read More » -
Latest property news
New housing minister is former pensions under secretary Kit Malthouse
A new housing minister has been announced just hours after Dominic Raab left the post and his name is Kit Malthouse, Tory MP for North West Hampshire. Malthouse was until today Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance at the Department of Work and Pensions. One of his key responsibilities has been to oversee the implementation of Universal Credit. The 51 year-old-has former accountant has limited experience of property or the housing market. His previous political jobs have included being a councillor in Westminster during the late noughties, rising to be deputy leader of the council. During his time there he became famous for agreeing its deal to extract £12.3 million from its former leader Shirley Porter. He was then elected onto the London Assembly until 2012, during which he became Deputy Mayor of London for policing under Boris Johnson, and then Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise until 2015. housing minister Malthouse was then selected to be MP for the safe seat of North West Hampshire, which he won by nearly 24,000 votes in the 2015 election. Despite working for former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, Malthouse is from the centre of the Conservative Party and…
Read More » -
Latest property news
AIPP asks government to clarify if overseas property agents to face same regulation as UK ones
The Association of International Property Professionals has asked the government to clarify if legislation applies to 'passive' overseas agents.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Letting agents must ‘stop encouraging longer tenancies’
Read how a leading MP and Select Committee chair has called for lettings agents to stop encouraging longer tenancies within the PRS.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Lettings sector to face huge reforms designed to weed out rogue agents
A new compulsory code of conduct for agents backed by mandatory qualification for at least one member of staff and a new independent regulator have been announced for the lettings and property management sectors by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (DHCLG). The details of the new code will now be thrashed out by a working group of lettings, tenant and regulatory representatives, with proposals nailed down by early 2019. The DHCLG announcement, which was released during the Easter break, revealed that it wanted to protect the UK’s nine million private renters from the unexpected costs, vague bills and poor quality repairs offered by rogue agents. “Most property agents take a thorough and professional approach when carrying out their business, but sadly some do not,” says Housing Minister Heather Wheeler (pictured, left). “By introducing new standards for the sector, we will clamp down on the small minority of agents who abuse the system so we can better protect tenants and leaseholders who find themselves at the end of a raw deal. Other measures outlined by the DHCLG include the promised reform of leasehold including a new system to help leaseholders challenge unfair fees, help to switch managing agents…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Sajid Javid heads up the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Housing has been put at the heart of the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) after Sajid Javid was today given the title of Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Until now Sajid has been simply the Communities Secretary but, it is believed, PM Theresa May wants to raise housing up the political agenda and be seen to be doing something about the ongoing supply crisis. It’s not clear how his role will work with the new Housing Minister, Dominic Raab, and who will be responsible for what within the newly-named government department. The cabinet reshuffle comes at a perilous time for Sajid Javid – who must now steer the tenant fees ban through parliament following a debate on the subject this afternoon in Parliament. “We welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement today. Housing strategy should be at the forefront of the Government’s thinking,” says Richard Lambert, CEO at the National Landlords Association (NLA). “However, we hope that this works out to be more than just rebranding exercise, and that Mr Javid and his department will look to address the housing crisis by genuinely working across all tenures, not by fixating on building more homes.”
Read More »
