Archive

There’s been a significant rise in the number of so-called Suspicious Activity Reports concerning money laundering and the agency industry. Suspicious Activity...

Propertymark, the leading membership body for property agents has written to London Mayor candidates highlighting proposals to tackle the unique housing...

It’s tempting to think that Michael Gove’s proposed clampdown on Airbnb-style short lets is a uniquely British form of small-mindedness, part...

In the first of a short series of articles, David Beaumont, managing director of Compliance Matters, casts a professional eye over...

Estate agency regulations and minimum standards may finally see the light of day after Labour put forward amendments to the Government’s...

The Register of Overseas Entities has hit the 30,000 registration milestone. The register, which is administered by Companies House, came into force...

As the world marches relentlessly forward to 2024, the government’s flagship legislation for the private rented sector (PRS) remains in limbo. This...

Propertymark is working with an Anti-Money Laundering service to stage a webinar for agents wanting to know more about compliance. At the...

Licensing of estate agents may raise the barrier to entry but it won’t stop those with poor morals, Fine & Country’s...

The issue of conditional selling in estate agency has hit Westminster. There have been several reports in recent months about agents requiring...

Last week was the first ever National Conveyancing Week, which I hope registered with agents and perhaps you even took up...

Half of Estate Agent Today readers agree that industry regulations and minimum qualifications will improve standards in the sector but a...

Conservative MPs are continuing to question when new estate agency regulations will come in as the Government sticks to its stock...

Trade and representative bodies covering the legal, surveying, estate agency and property management sectors, including the Conveyancing Association (CA), have launched...

Propertymark has launched a new compliance service for its member agents. The offering, called Calm about Compliance, will see experienced auditors advise,...

Collapsed challenger portal Boomin has officially named its liquidator as company documents this morning outlined a deficiency of almost £10m in...

HMRC has fined estate agents over £500,000 for anti-money laundering (AML) breaches in the past two months. Yet despite property managers...

Given their leading role in the recent upfront information revolution, interest in the work of the National Trading Standards Estate &...

The results are finally in, and to no-one’s surprise Liz Truss has been named the new leader of the Conservative Party...

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has closed its investigation into alleged mis-selling of leasehold houses by Barratt Homes. It is the...

People in prominent positions in the housing industry aren’t always perfect role models. After all, Chris Pincher was housing minister for...

It’s the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell fire tragedy, but are high rises any safer today than they were then? On 14th...

In this latest ‘Women in Property’ edition of the Natter, I check in with Collette Allen, who was recently appointed as...

From the beginning of April, long-awaited rules from the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) came into effect....

The government has insisted it is still committed to introducing agency qualifications and minimum standards in the sector. It is almost three...

The Property Franchise Group (TPFG) chief executive Gareth Samples has called for a steer on when the long-awaited Regulation of Property...

Trading Standards has advised agents to update listings once they reach the "sold subject to contract" (SSTC) stage. It comes after legal...

They say that in fashion, if you wait for long enough, clothes that are hanging at the back of your wardrobe...

Fifteen businesses which had bought freeh­olds from housing developer Countryside have now given formal undertakings to remove terms that cause ground...

If you want to sex-up the Chancellor’s financial statement scheduled for lunchtime on Wednesday, you’d call it a Budget or a...

Almost exactly a decade ago I wrote a blog on the back of a spate on mainstream news stories about prime...

The government is considering seizing British property owned by Russian oligarchs on the sanctions list without paying compensation. The Financial Times says Housing...

It is claimed by Propertymark that the government’s Economic Crime Bill - to be debated in the House of Commons today -...

A leading property lawyer says some agents will struggle to meet the demand for more ‘material information’ put forward by Trading...

A long running dispute between reviews website allAgents and Purplebricks has come back to life - with a new twist. In 2017...

In this guest feature, James Dilgul, Head of Marketing at Fixflo, the market-leading repairs and maintenance management software provider, looks at how...

A leading accountant is warning of a possible stamp duty change affecting residential property this year. HMRC is currently consulting on a...

A probe by the Competition and Markets Authority has led housebuilder Taylor Wimpey to make changes for the benefit of leaseholders.  Taylor...

Fears are growing that large estate agency groups may have to pay a mandatory levy towards the cost of anti-money laundering...

Pressure appears to be building for the recommendations of the Regulation of Property Agents working party finally to be implemented. It’s now...

Within weeks the focus of the industry will be on the White Paper to be issued on rental reform before Christmas. Let’s...

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has become the latest body to welcome the decision by Countryside Properties to scrap the requirement to pay...

In what will be seen as the latest win for leaseholders across the UK, it’s been revealed that – following action...

The growing number of lettings sector rules is a hotly debated issue, while the sales sector has been seeing its own...

The controversial proposal by a PropTech start up to charge potential viewers of properties to let or for sale has been...

The Competition and Markets Authority has struck a deal with house builders over leasehold abuses. Aviva has committed to remove certain terms...

A council cracking down on the increase of illegally positioned estate agent boards. Agents are required, under Planning and Highways legislation to...

After a recent incident involving an Estate Agent based in Devon in which a property virtual tour they published revealed a...

With property fraud on the rise and an ever-increasing number of transactions taking place in the lettings sector, having strict anti-money laundering...

The new Mayor of London, to be decided in an election tomorrow, has just received a six point set of demands...

The anti-money laundering compliance service that is now part of data company LonRes is holding a training session for Rightmove member...

Local elections rarely set the pulse racing and this year’s poll on Thursday faces a similar problem. But this time, it’s a...

We have more regulations controlling the sector than ever before and we have more ‘regulators’ involved in controlling the sector than...

If someone broke into your house and took a video of lots of personal information, like photos of family and pets,...

Licensing of the short-term lets sector in Scotland was due to be introduced next month. However, it was recently announced that...

From 4 May 2021, your agency could be blocked from charging late fees, compounding interest on missing rent and taking any...

The Competition and Markets Authority has written to two top house builders ordering them to change their leasehold terms. In September the...

In this week’s In Conversation Today, I speak with Anthony Payne, Managing Director and co-founder of LonRes, a data and network...

An agent working for a Countrywide brand in Lancashire has been given a suspended jail sentence after being found guilty of...

It’s now more than a year since the government offered an additional £4 million to councils to combat rogue landlords. At the...

First off, hello and welcome to this new series – appearing in Estate Agent Today’s Breaking News section each month –...

It’s that time of year again. Black Friday has been and gone and the run-up to Christmas is well and truly...

HM Revenue and Customs and the Advertising Standards Authority are working together to cut out misleading marketing by promoters of stamp...

Back in September, Westminster Council launched a new strategy to help 'protect tenants' and 'ensure they live in good-quality and well-managed...

An unidentified estate agency has been threatened with prosecution by a local council after opening its office to the public during...

Housing Minister Christopher Pincher announced that the introduction of the Renters' Reform Bill will be delayed for an indefinite period due...

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has encouraged people to complain if they are unhappy about working conditions and thousands of complaints...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that all retail staff will be obliged to wear masks when working - and it's now...

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been criticised for its lack of enforcement of anti-money laundering (AML) legislation so far in...

NAEA Propertymark has thrown its weight behind a Competitions and Markets Authority investigation into whether consumer protection law has been broken...

The Competition and Markets Authority is today opening enforcement cases focusing on the sale of leasehold homes by four leading housebuilders. They...

There’s a record number of property industry companies, including agencies, in financial distress according to the latest Red Flag alert monitor. The...

Arguments over the alleged gaming of reviews by and for some estate agencies have waged ferociously in recent years, and now...

The government has at last issued extensive advice on home moving and the activities of estate agents during the continuing Coronavirus crisis. This...

There is no doubt that the BBC News article in early February caused something of a stir within the Deposit Free...

There’s been a broad welcome from agents and other industry organisations for the latest report from the Competition and Markets Authority...

Future complaints about property raffles by individual home owners seeking to avoid estate agency fees will in future be handled by...

There’s something of a conspiracy of silence over the problem of short lets. That is a stark claim but many siren voices...

It’s been clear for a while that the additional regulation landlords and agents are facing has helped professionalise the private rental...

The National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents have issued their manifesto for next month’s General...

Since I started working with Zero Deposit for me the market leader in deposit replacement alternatives, the most common question I am...

London-focussed business-to-business deal data service LonRes has acquired an anti-money laundering compliance consultancy specialising in residential and commercial property. Financial Crime Services,...

A leading figure in the PropTech sector says clarity and speed are vital to ensure agencies can adequately prepare for a...

The industry press has given substantial space to recommendations from the Regulation of Property Agents, the government’s working party which has...

You may be right in thinking that Brexit has dominated the thinking of the government in the last three years. However,...

The Competition and Markets Authority has formally launched an investigation into the sale of leasehold properties - including possible mis-selling. This follows...

It may well seem that the government is pre-occupied with one issue, and one issue alone. While preparations for Brexit take up a...

It’s clear that some agents are not fans of Trading Standards officers, described in the comments sections of the trade press...

Estate Agent Today has been given details of the new National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agents Team - the body...

The jury appears to be out on whether the new enforcement body for estate and lettings agents will be resourced sufficiently...

A new team has been set up to police all estate and letting agency legislation including the upcoming tenants' fees ban. The...

I don’t believe it’s unfair to state that our government, indeed, the entire political establishment is in some turmoil at the...

It’s time, surely, for government to crackdown not just on rogue agents and landlords but on rogue councils that confuse the...

A slew of allegations have been made against agents and sometimes even by agents, over alleged misdemeanours over property listings as...

A London council is considering a borough-wide ban on agents’ boards of all kinds. Labour-controlled Camden already has a ban for a...

When it comes to letting a property, it is important that landlords and renters have faith in their agent. The more...

Alongside hundreds of agents and suppliers, I recently attended the Guild of Property Professionals’ annual conference. As ever, it was a great...

The government policies and enforcement plans for anti-money laundering measures are set to take centre stage at next month’s annual conference...

You will perhaps have seen recently that the Government has decided to boost funding to the regulator, the National Trading Standards...

In a surprise weekend announcement the government has almost doubled funding for the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team - the...