James Munro
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Latest property news
Letting or selling a property? You’ll soon have to reveal its pollution levels
The air that your buyers or tenants breathe will soon be measured and listed within property details.
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Latest property news
‘We’ll intervene when councils won’t prosecute rogue letting agents’, says NTSEAT boss
James Munro says he wants to reassure agents that NTSEAT wants to end the uneven policing of letting agents that the industry has complained about.
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Latest property news
EXCLUSIVE: Trading Standards to halt agents charging pet rent if legal advice goes its way
The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) has sought legal advice on whether agents can charge higher rents or additional ‘rent premiums’ for tenants who have pets, and a decision is likely next week, The Negotiator has been told. As we have reported before, many agents have been charging up to £50 a month or £600 a year as a ‘rent premium’ to tenants who have dogs or cats. This has been prompted by the tenant fees ban legislation in England and Wales, which capped rental deposits at five week’s rent for most tenancies, and six weeks’ rent for those over £50,000 a year. “This has caused some issues especially with problem properties and tenants where agents have always quite rightly said that they wanted larger deposits because it’s very difficult getting money back from people after they have moved on,” says James Munro, Senior Manager at NTSEAT (left). “So they want to ensure they have a contingency if there are problems during the tenancy. “They are saying five weeks’ deposit isn’t enough now, and understandably they are trying different ways of trying to deal with this. “But we’re not entirely happy with this because we think it’s something…
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Latest property news
New Trading Standards ‘police force’ for England and Wales revealed
A new national ‘police force’ with dedicated teams for both sales and lettings has been announced, the first of its kind in the UK. The private rental sector is to be monitored by a new team operated by Bristol City Council which includes enforcing the tenant fees ban, while the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team in Cardiff is to continue overseeing the property sales portion of the industry. Funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and led by James Munro based in Cardiff (left), the combined force is to be called the National Trading Standards Estate & Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT). It is to act as the lead enforcement authority for the purposes of the Estate Agents Act 1979 and the Tenant Fees Act 2019. “At the moment, there is a severe lack of prosecution in the industry, allowing rogue agents to operate and thrive,” says David Cox (right) of ARLA Propertymark. “We look forward to building a constructive working relationship with the Lead Enforcement Authority to eliminate these agents from the sector once and for all.” The combined NTSELAT is to also approve and oversee the industry’s redress schemes, ombudsman services and dispute resolution bodies…
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Trading Standards warns online agents not to make unsubstantiated claims
The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) has waded into the debate about the ‘fees saved’ advertising claims made by many online-only estate agents. NTSEAT says it wants to remind online agents not to make unsubstantiated and inaccurate claims about their selling fees when compared to traditional high street agents. The warning comes after last week’s ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), in which it upheld a complaint about Purplebricks’ website. This was prompted by a complaint from a West Sussex agent about nine ‘fees saved’ client case studies featured on the Purplebricks website in which, Arun Estates highlighted, did not accurately reflect the different service levels offered by traditional and online agents. “These businesses should ensure that they are making comparisons against like-for-like services,” says James Munro, Head of the NTSEAT (pictured, left). “It is wrong to make general claims about savings when the headline price does not include facilities such as a sales board, floor plans, photographs, accompanied viewings, sales progression or other facilities which are normally included with traditional high street firms. “We recognise that online-only agents have a role in the marketplace for customers who wish to do more of the work themselves but…
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Latest property news
‘Do I really have to join one of the redress schemes?’
Confusion among sales and letting agents about who has to register with one of the three redress schemes has prompted the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) to issue new advice. Team leader James Munro says that although it is already a legal requirement for anyone engaged in residential estate agency to be a member of an approved scheme, he says there have been requests to “clarify” what this means. It might seem an easy enough definition to grasp, but the subtleties of the sector have led several agents to wonder if they really have to join one of the schemes, which are Ombudsman Services: Property, the Property Redress Scheme and The Property Ombudsman. James says the NTSEAT now wants to make it clear that the definition covers any agency that ‘engages in estate agency work’ and ‘deals in residential property’ and that by residential he means ‘land that consists of or includes part of a building’. The list of questions that agents have asked include whether they have to join if they only sell off-plan property (they do) and if individual members of staff have to join a redress scheme (they don’t, only the company they work for has to). Also,…
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