NALS
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Latest property news
Goodbye NALS, hello Safeagent! Rental sector scheme changes name
The private rental sector organisation says it wants to be the key agent accreditation scheme for lettings and management agents, now branded 'Safeagent'.
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Latest property news
Two more Client Money Protection schemes approved ahead of April 1st deadline
NALS and Money Shield get official approval to offer agents Client Money Protection schemes, membership of which is to become mandatory.
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Latest property news
NALS says Shelter campaign to expose discriminatory letting agents is ’emotive conjecture’
NALS has heavily criticised the Shelter/NHF campaign to expose lettings agents who discriminate against housing benefit tenants.
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Latest property news
Rental scams costing tenants £5.25 million a year, official fraud investigation reveals
A government-backed anti-fraud organisation reckons tenants are losing £5.25 million every year to rental scams.
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Latest property news
‘Rogue landlords should have their properties confiscated’
A shock report into the private rented sector or PRS has recommended rogue landlords should have their properties confiscated,
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Features
Do the property industry associations do a good job?
If ever there was a time the property industry needed someone to fight its corner - but are the punches being thrown effectively?
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Latest property news
MPs recommend to tighten up draft Tenant Fees Bill including five-week deposits
Housing committee ignores industry on damage bill may do to housing affordability and letting agent viability, and recommends smaller deposits, tighter rules on other allowable fees and harsher policing.
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Latest property news
Ombudsman Services withdraws from property market to develop “new model” for housing
The provision of redress schemes within the industry looks to be in trouble after one of the three government-approved ombudsman services announced today that it would be pulling out of the property sector. This means that the estate, letting and managing agents currently signed up to Ombudsman Services now have until August 6th to find a new provider. Ombudsman Services, which is based in Warrington and offers complaint handling services across several other sectors including removals, media, communications, energy and copyright, says it no longer wants to offer a “broken solution to a broken market”. But the organisation, rather than exiting the sector entirely, says it is to develop a “new model” for redress in housing. The move appears to be a pre-emptive strike to distance itself from the existing complaints handling structure that operates within the property sector, and to position itself as the next ‘housing ombudsman’ that the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is preparing to establish this Spring. Ombudsman Services says the property industry should copy the finance and energy sectors and feature a single regulator backed by one ombudsman. It is now to quiz consumers on what they want from an ombudsman service…
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Features
Letting fees ban set for Spring 2019, but the devil remains in the detail
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG ) does not expect the letting fees ban to come into force until Spring 2019...
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Latest property news
Rising cost of rental property licensing schemes revealed
In November last year The Negotiator revealed that the number of selective licensing schemes in the UK had swollen to 533 with a further 25 in consultation. But now the ‘lottery’ of fees that landlords face has also been highlighted, this time by the National Approved Lettings Scheme (NALS). Based on research it commissioned from independent information service London Property Licensing, NALS reveals the costs faced by many landlords in the capital to license their properties. It says these rising costs will force even more landlords out of the market, causing more pain for agents. For example, NALS says the licensing fees for a three storey House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) with five unrelated occupants can range from £125 in the City of London to £2,500 within Lewisham. Higher fees Faced with dwindling central government funding, councils also appear to be ramping up their licensing fees both for HMOs and selective ‘all property’ schemes. The London Property Licensing data reveals that in 23 of London’s 33 boroughs licensing fees are over £1,000 for HMOs. Also, average fees have climbed every year since 2014 and the average cost has risen by 12.9 per cent in 2016/17 and a further 5 per…
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