A group of anti-landlord activists has used an incident involving an estate agency publicity leaflet as a reason to accuse all landlords of “moral bankruptcy.” The JP & Brimelow agency in Manchester issued a flyer on Monday describing the Covid pandemic “a blessing in disguise” for the sales market, because demand...
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband, now the shadow energy secretary, says the green homes grant scheme is in chaos. Media reports in recent days say the high profile £2 billion scheme has descended into confusion with some renewable energy installers owed tens of thousands of pounds, while landlords and other property...
There is growing momentum for local councils to freeze their plans for landlord licensing while the pandemic continues. Lettings agency trade body ARLA Propertymark and rental sector accreditation group Safeagent have both called for a pause, while the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has also urged councils to be...
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms - a critical issue for landlords in light of recent legislation - are back in the news thanks to figures from London Fire Brigade. The LFB says it’s being called to 10 per cent more carbon monoxide incidents in homes than five years ago, yet some...
Public funds are to be used to assist students in Northern Ireland cover rent this year as they cope with remote learning and in some cases not being able to use accommodation they have already paid for. The Northern Ireland economy minister, Diane Dodds, has written to all the province’s higher...
Letting agents are being advised by an industry supplier to carry out essential checks now to prepare for a possible housing market lockdown. The Letting Partnership claims that uncertainty is mounting in the industry about further government restrictions as the Coronavirus pandemic continues apace. Chris Mason, operations manager at The Letting Partnership,...
A new lettings market snapshot from Rightmove suggests that asking rents in some major city centres have seen annual falls up to 12 per cent as some tenants move to suburbs. Inner London has been hardest hit with average asking rents falling annually by 12.4 per cent, followed by Edinburgh city...
A prominent agent says a huge over-supply of available rental property is now flooding the central London market, just as demand is sharply down because of Coronavirus. Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, says: “With Covid continuing to pose a problem on an ongoing basis, many tenants simply aren’t...
The leasehold scandal has been one of the biggest topics of debate and controversy in the property industry in recent years, and was brought back onto the news agenda this month when the government announced its latest proposals to reform the leasehold system. The fact it’s become such a major issue is...
ARLA and NAEA Propertymark members are invited to the association’s latest webinar tomorrow when chief policy advisor Mark Hayward takes centre stage. The Industry Insights event will be at 9am and will last around 30 minutes, including time for questions from attendees. It’s the third and final webinar in the series of three...