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Software supplier LetMC.com in management buyout
MD Glyn Trott has led an MBO of the firm with help from Barclays in order to expand the firm 14 years after it was founded.
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Compulsory CMP membership for letting agents gets green light
All lettings agents will soon be required by law to sign up to an approved Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme or face a fine of up £30,000, it has been announced. This is the government’s response to its recent consultation on CMP which has run for three months and received 117 responses. The government will now move to make CMP scheme membership mandatory for letting agents, with plans to set up a government-approved but ‘market led’ approach to provision, similar to the existing redress and deposit protection schemes. Many of the consultation’s respondents agreed that these schemes should be approved and offer minimum standards of service including having a stringent claims process in place. The respondents included ARLA, which argued in its consultation submission that a single scheme operated by government would “stifle competition in the market and may ultimately lead to agents paying a much higher CMP levy than they currently are without offering any greater protection for consumers”. Mediterranean cruises ARLA also highlighted the case of Devon letting agent Janine Pickett, who in 2014 was found to have paid for Mediterranean cruises and a £7,000 Welsh pony out of client funds, cash that – because her franchisor was…
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David Newnes supports AI platform Ask Porter
AskPorter, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered property management platform, has secured investment of £500,000 from experts led by former Executive Director of LSL Property Services, David Newnes.
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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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Tenancy Deposit drama makes EastEnders episode
EastEnders continued its tradition of tackling social issues head-on when it made a deposit dispute a key storyline. The recent depiction has been praised by the TDS (Tenancy Deposit Scheme), with the organisation saying it has brought to light important issues in the private rental sector. The plot centered on a landlord who returns to Albert Square with money problems. He decides to terminate a tenancy and uses the check out as an opportunity to make some money for himself. Although the property had been left in good condition, the landlord pours coffee over the carpet and blames the tenant, stating he’ll have to keep the deposit to until he knows how much it will cost to rectify the damage. “The vast majority of landlords look after their tenants and abide by the law, but there’s a small minority who don’t and that can be a problem if tenants are unaware of their rights.” While maybe not as thrilling as shady dealings, shootings and secret love children, the deposit storyline has brought into focus a number of issues that many landlords and tenants can relate to. As well as questioning whether the TV landlord had protected the tenant’s deposit, the…
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All rise: haart reports February market surge
Instructions, viewings, transactions, new buyers, house prices, rents, new tenants and purchasing landlords all rose in February 2018, with 15 buyers chasing every property for sale.
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64% of London tenants still target homeownership
Latest measure of confidence and intent shows two thirds of London’s private tenants still want to own their own home, despite confidence dip.
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Number of managed rental properties drops by 8% during January
The government’s tax-take on landlords is having the effect many predicted it would as the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) reports an 8% reduction in the number of rental properties managed by agents during January. ARLA says its member agents reported 184 rental properties managed per branch compared to 200 during December, the lowest figures for four months. Such an alarming contraction in the market during a traditionally busy period is also taking its toll on tenants’ finances, ARLA says. As the housing market forces more people into rented accommodation rather than ownership, ARLA says the number of tenants registered with agents increased from 59 to 70 per branch. Rough ride ARLA’s Chief Executive David Cox (pictured, below) says renters are in for a “rough ride” this year as the imbalance between supply and demand begins to push up rents. It’s already begun, ARLA claims, revealing that nearly a fifth of tenants experienced rent increases during January, up from 16% during December. The ARLA figures are backed up the latest rental index, which found that rents in the UK are rising across every region for the first time in two years. Buy-to-let lender Landbay, which produced the index, also…
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Social media now eats up over five years’ of our live
In a lifetime, says Tara Dulake, the average person now spends five years and four months on social media, the equivalent of flying to the Moon and back 32 times!
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SDL Auctions announces 40 date auction calendar
SDL Auctions has announced a record breaking number of 40 dates for its 2018 auction calendar.
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