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TPO and CTSI launch Phase 2 of letting fees display crackdown – in Berkshire
Agents in Reading, Basingstoke and surrounding areas are warned. The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) have today launched Phase 2 of its crack down on agents not properly displaying their letting fees. The launch follows a five-month effort by the two organisations in both Swansea and Dorset, during which 266 agents were contacted and asked to provide photographic evidence to demonstrate their compliance with the law on letting fees. Agents are required to display fees clearly both in their branch and on their website. Non-compliant Any agents that TPO and CTSI found not to compliant were then given the chance to amend and re-submit. Out of the Phase 1 agents, just two have failed to comply either by not replying or addressing problems with their compliance and will now be referred to TPO’s Disciplinary and Standards Committee for investigation and review. “We are unable to name the firms concerned at this stage – a statement will be made if any agents are expelled from the scheme, as per the normal process,” a spokesperson told The Negotiator. “99% of TPO letting agents in Swansea and Dorset are now displaying their fees correctly.” Adrian Simpson (pictured, left)…
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CMA rejects industry forum’s call for letting fees ban review
The NALS-organised industry Fair Fees Forum has had its request for a letting fees ban review rejected by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which says there is too little time to complete it. “Given the pivotal role played by the private rented sector, we feel this decision is a missed opportunity to review the way the sector works to deliver the best outcome for all concerned,” says Isobel Thompson (pictured, below), Chief Executive of the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS). Irreparable damage The CMA decision not to get involved comes despite the Forum warning that great care must be taken not to cause “irreparable damage” to this part of the private rented sector by rushing through a ban without “fully considering the impact on the sector.” The news may surprise many in the industry who had been led to believe that after the soon-to-be published results of the consultation – and given both the pressures on parliamentary time and the need for primary legislations to impose a ban – it was unlikely that one would be introduced until next year. This would have given the CMA plenty of time to review the details of the ban. “This is disappointing news for the…
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New money laundering watchdog launched
The government has announced that a new watchdog is to be launched early next year to oversee the UK’s Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations, which are due to become law this June. Called the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS), its job will be to tackle potential weaknesses in the supervision of estate agents that criminals may be exploiting. The new anti money laundering watchdog will be paid for by what the HM Treasury calls ‘supervisors’; the big accountancy, law and other trade and regulatory bodies. It will be based at the HQ of the Financial Conduct Authority in London. AML rules The latest version of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 is designed to bring the UK in line with international standards and include “robust new standards of supervision”. They introduce new responsibilities for agents covering when and how they must carry out enhanced due diligence on customers, and how they carry out risk assessments to work out if their business is vulnerable to money laundering attempts. The regulation in particular ask agents to look more carefully at transfer of funds, a problem highlighted in January when a criminal gang based in London…
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‘Bank of mum and dad’ backed first time buyers driving property market, it is claimed
If you’re wondering which way the property market is moving, then be heartened by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). It says that while the number of home loans dropped 1% year-on-year, the number of first-time buyer loans has increased by 9%, driven in part by parents re-mortgaging to help their offspring get on the property ladder, it has been claimed. The number of first time borrowers in the market hit 337,000 last year, the highest level in any twelve month period since the financial crash of 2008, the CML says. Re-mortgaging activity in the property market increased by 54% between December last year and January this year, and although this is driven in part by competition among lenders to offer lower and lower rates, agent Haart says it’s also driven by ‘bank of mum and dad’ parents. “We are seeing more and more parents on the ground looking to release equity in their homes to support increasing numbers of young people who are leaning on their parents for support to get onto the property ladder,” says Haart’s CEO Paul Smith (pictured, left). “With rents sent to increase as landlords are squeezed, and ONS figures showing that house prices have reached 10 times the average…
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Pastoral Real Estates new sales office
The new sales office on 11 Curzon Street is a welcome addition to their business.
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Agent spend on Rightmove tops £10,000 a year
Profits at Rightmove jumped by 18% last year, the company’s final results published this morning reveal, helped by charging agents on average an extra £88 a month. This took average spend to £842 a month or £10,104 a year (see graph, right) Operating profits rose from £137.2 million in 2015 to £161.6 million in 2016, helping boost earnings per share by 21%. All the dials on the Rightmove ship twitched upwards including revenue, which increased by 15% to £220 million including £168.3 million from agents, £33.9 million from new homes developers and £17.8 million from other sources. The report says the number of agents and developers advertising with the portal increased by 2% during 2016 to 20,121. It also highlights the listings gap between it and Zoopla, as Rightmove says it listed a million properties last year, a third more than ‘any other portal’. “Rightmove continues to be the place that home movers turn to first, with nearly 1.5 billion visits in 2016, up 10% on last year,” says outgoing CEO Nick McKittrick (pictured). “Home movers spent nearly a billion minutes every month searching and researching homes on Rightmove, the only place you can see almost the entire UK property market. “Our…
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Revealed: what estate agency websites should REALLY be about
Is your website dynamic? Jane Gardner says that it should be… and it can be! With her estate agency experience, Jane has some great advice.
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Bad press? Just don’t say “No comment!”
In any business things can and do go wrong. Property PR expert, Jerry Lyons, shares his views on how to avoid a small drama becoming a crisis.
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Cheffins’ New Strategic Framework
Multi-disciplinary property and auctioneering business, Cheffins, has announced a new corporate framework to accelerate its growth...
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PLATFORM_ expands
Platform has appointed British Land’s former residential head as its new Chief Executive.
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