PRS
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Latest property news
Jeremy Corbyn reveals Labour will crack down even harder on rental sector
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has announced that if he wins power the private rented sector would see the introduction of tougher regulation under his government. He told The Guardian newspaper today that this would include more secure tenancies, the adoption of the Conservative’s plans to ban outright fees charged to tenants, and the prevention of unreasonable rent increases. He said these would all be wrapped up within a new charter of private tenants’ rights. “We will tackle soaring rents in the private rented sector through regulation,” Jeremy Corbyn also announced on his campaign website. Labour also plans to build a million new homes including half a million new council properties during its first five years in office. “We will rebuild and transform Britain by building council homes and homes that first-time buyers can afford,” he says. Priorities “There are obviously many priorities but the crisis of housing and setting in train a housing programme that would build more council housing at socially affordable rents and ensuring there is proper regulation of the private rental sector is a very high priority for me,” Jeremy Corbyn told The Guardian. Labour strategists believe housing is one of the key concerns of ‘generation rent’ while official…
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Features
Is Buy to Rent really the future of the rental sector?
Home ownership is stagnant, as more people now rent their homes. Paul Staley, Director, Private Rental Sector at SDL Group, looks at future housing options.
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Latest property news
Hybrid agent ‘concept’ for build-to-rent sector is launched
More proof that the build-to-rent sector is establishing a significant foothold in the UK property market has come today with the launch of what is claimed to be new kind of hybrid property company. Two London-based firms, specialist block management company James Andrew Residential and new-build property management and lettings outfit LiFE Residential, have combined their expertise to create The PRS Partnership to manage one-owner apartment blocks. The two firms say their new partnership is the first to be created specifically to offer a one-stop-shop service for this market. Both companies say they already have 6,000 properties under management between them in the capital. Although The PRS Partnership claims it a new kind of company, several of the larger agents including Savills and CBRE offer block management services. Also, several specialist property management companies such as Trinity, which until now have managed estates for house builders and management companies, are active in this market. According to build-to-rent consultant Dustin Fjeld (pictured, left), there is a growing market for these kinds of companies. This is because he says, some of the larger US build-to-rent operators are already in the UK managing their own apartment blocks. “One company running these blocks will become a requirement for…
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Latest property news
PRS expels member
Carter Stones Limited of 1A Connaught Road, Ilford, IG1 1RL has been expelled from the Property Redress Scheme...
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Features
Is the customer always right?
Redress schemes exist to safeguard consumer rights, but, says Joanne Christie, the agent is not, you’ll be pleased to hear, always in the wrong.
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Features
Changing perceptions
Let’s create a more positive private rented sector, says Isobel Thomson, Chief Executive, National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS)
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Latest property news
The Property Redress Scheme welcomes 5,000th member
Two-year-old redress scheme is settled and successful.
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Latest property news
Families are largest lettings group
Families are the most common household type in the PRS for the first time, according to the latest research from the National Landlords Association (NLA). The findings show that more landlords now let to families with children (48 per cent) than any other household type, overtaking young couples (47 per cent). This represents a shift compared to four years ago, when young singles made up the largest group (53 per cent), followed by young couples (51 per cent), and then families with children (51 per cent). For the majority of families surveyed, renting privately is a stable option, with almost 8 in 10 (76 per cent) reporting they were happy with the length of their tenancy and a similar proportion (79 per cent) reporting their tenancy was renewed or stayed the same at the end of the initial fixed term. Richard Lambert, CEO, said, “There is a genuine contrast between the experience of renting in the 21st century shown in this research and the prevailing housing culture in Britain that only views it as a stopgap – something to be tolerated while waiting for the opportunity to buy your own house.”
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Features
Are redress schemes working?
The ‘regulation lite’ system brought in by the Government for sales and lettings agents got cheers all round in 2014. But does it still deliver? Nigel Lewis reports.
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Features
The sky’s the limit
Sheila Manchester looks into build-to-rent, the new property sector, and finds a whole new level of development.
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