Archive

The TDS annual review 2020 indicates that deposit disputes have remained low over the last year, at around 1%. This is...

An estate agency has apologised after a bogus employee posted offensive comments about Prince Philip on a newly-created fake Facebook account. This...

Purplebricks has removed advertising claims which suggested it sold homes for a higher sum, on average, than rival agencies. The Advertising Standards...

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

A prominent estate agent has warned buyers and sellers about the perils of the controversial Modern Method of Auction. MMA is now...

Agents are up in arms at a Rightmove restriction temporarily preventing access to parts of its listing back-end.  Agents received an email...

New guidance has been issued in a bid to allow agents to get the insurance payouts they expect from the Business...

Being a letting agent today means keeping up to date with the long list of rules and regulations governing how a...

Let’s address the elephant in the room first - the property sector and how we market properties is changing. Gone are the...

A new body which says it will “champion better outcomes for buyers” is described as independent but is to be chaired...

There is little doubt that the last year was one which none of us will easily forget both personally and professionally....

Propertymark has told the government that it needs to introduce overarching regulation of agents now, because existing piecemeal provisions are unmanageable...

Many independents will be based in the capital, but given its size and breadth they may get drowned out even more...

The Property Ombudsman says there have been more complaints lodged about agents so far in 2020 than in 2019. This is despite...

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

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

The advertising watchdog has told the agency industry to clean up its act on four issues, with clarity over fees being...

New guidance spells out how leniency can be exercised on agencies or individuals who inform on anti-competition cartels of the kind that...

As the review of the recommendations of the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group continues, Emily Hawthorne, mio Account Manager and...

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

With the high street open again, and the Chancellor’s temporary stamp duty holiday helping to stimulate the market, estate and letting...

It’s fair to say that UK estate agents don’t have the best of reputations, often featuring in the lists of the...

An agency that has now closed down has been expelled by The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay an award of...

House raffles and similar competitions have become mired in controversy in recent years, thanks to some of them failing to abide by...

There’s been a very large rise in the number of complaints submitted by consumers to the Property Redress Scheme. This is partly...

Earlier this month, it was revealed that property industry bodies have joined a new Code of Practice Steering Group to enact...

Purplebricks has changed the wording of an advertisement on its website after a watchdog stepped in following a complaint. According to the...

The new code of conduct for estate agents has been dismissed as “a waste of time” - and the senior industry...

Agents now have a chance to say what they think should be in a new Code of Conduct being discussed following...

Two companies that persuaded property investors to pay as much as £25,000 for a parking space have been wound up in...

The new Property Ombudsman taking over from October is Rebecca Marsh. She is currently Chief Ombudsman at the Legal Ombudsman and was...

Over the last few years, there have been a number of high-profile court cases in which renters took action against letting...

There’s been an explosion of anger about Rightmove’s pledge to undertake its biggest-ever marketing campaign - while at the same time...

There’s been a substantial 20 per cent rise in formal complaints about agents taken up by The Property Ombudsman.  The figures refer...

The Property Ombudsman has announced the expulsion of eight agencies, all for contravening TPO codes of practice. Most of the expulsions were...

The Property Ombudsman’s office is still receiving 40 to 50 calls a day from the public, even though most transactions with...

If it’s really the case that estate agents’ offices could be in the category of High Street premises first allowed to...

A surveyors’ firm has been wound up after courts declared that it had misled clients over the success of its core...

Agents are consistently being told that they need to get on board with change. And one could quite easily make the...

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

The new housing minister is Christopher Pincher, who for the past decade has been Conservative MP for Tamworth having had a...

Property auctions – online or otherwise – can be hugely helpful to sellers, buyers and estate agents. Online auctions, in particular, are...

After a challenging period for the UK property market, recovery is very much on the cards and the end to uncertainty...

Rightmove and Zoopla have been working with key figures from government and the agency and conveyancing industries on how to reform...

The head of a new property portal is urging agents to forget about spending money on For Sale and To Let...

An online estate agency which last week claimed it had resolved a dispute over reviews it showed on its website is...

Foxtons has revealed that the chair of the troubled agency’s remuneration committee has stood down with immediate effect. This are also unconfirmed...

Rightmove has been given the green light to continue using the claim that “every second someone contacts an estate agent about a...

The Property Ombudsman scheme is increasing its fees in January for the first time in six years - and it’s implementing...

OnTheMarket’s share price slumped to an all-time low just before the end of trading last week. The price fell to 69.0p during trading on...

A London council wants government backing for a borough-wide Section 7 direction - effectively banning all agents’ boards being erected without...

The Advertising Standards Authority has clamped down on misleading claims made by the organisers of a property raffle. The controversy surrounds an...

First details have emerged of the information vendors may have to provide up-front In future transactions if government house buying reforms...

Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffiths is pledging to improve the quality of housing for serving military personnel if Labour gets into...

Continuing political uncertainty over Brexit and now a significant chance of an autumn or winter General Election makes the case for...

The National Association of Estate Agents has told the government that it wants one single Ombudsman to provide redress across all...

A property company chief has been banned from being involved in any company for five years following a case involving over...

A former Local Property Expert and manager at Purplebricks has gone on record to reveal what it was really like to work...

The Advertising Standards Authority has issued a guidance note warning online estate agents, after complaints about them have “grown dramatically”. “Property is big...

The government has published proposals for far-reaching changes to the way estate and letting agents are regulated, trained and licensed. The proposals...

The Property Ombudsman will in future refer more estate agents to the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agent Team if...

The police have opened an investigation after a number of complaints have been made about the financial affairs of a sales...

A company which promotes property raffles have been told that it cannot repeat certain elements of its advertisements on Facebook and...

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

The trade body representing so-called quick sale companies is marking five years in business with two feathers in its cap. Firstly the...

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has released its annual report for 2018, showing a 16% rise in the number of complaints made...

Consultation closes today on a Law Commission proposal to radically reshape leasehold and the Right To Manage. Right To Manage was introduced...

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

You know the problem with new builds - they’re a bit Marmite aren’t they? Contemporary design is all well and good but…how...

When they first came onto the scene, online-only estate and lettings agents were predicted to swiftly spell the end for traditional...

When it comes to major issues confronting housing, and in particular the direction that the government would like to take the...

Chancellors says it has over 10,000 reviews on Trustpilot, making it the most reviewed High Street agency on the platform.  In a statement...

Nobody likes change. It makes people feel threatened, undermines their confidence, and makes them worry about the future. But regardless of...

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

The first major estate agency business to launch a crowdfunding bid since the controversial collapse of Emoov has emphasised its “realistic”...

An estate agent says he’s “bruised” by recent mysterious negative online reviews he has received - shortly after he posted positive...

The dust may have settled on the government’s recent announcement regarding housing and property complaints, but opinion is still split on...

The review website Trustpilot is to make it easier for the public to see whether companies have tried to stop complaints...

Outsourcing. Everyone has an opinion on it and there’s a stigma surrounding it in the lettings industry. But get this…letting agents ARE...

The monthly index of house price changes in Britain’s major cities, for many years operated under the Hometrack banner, has been...

The Property Ombudsman is to give agents new guidance on dual fees, following a surge in complaints from the public. In 2017, TPO received...

  The National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Lettings Agents have thrown their weight behind the government’s latest...

The government has this morning set out wide-ranging changes to redress systems for agents, the sales and lettings sectors, and other...

I don’t think I can add anything more to the excellent 2019 pieces we’ve seen on EAT in recent weeks –...

When it comes to building online reputation, Google is king. It is estimated that over 90% of consumers Google a business before...

Our latest case study come from a recent news item to have hit the industry and national press. A disgruntled tenant is claiming...

A crowdfunding bid to Emoov’s staff to win financial help over the Christmas period has flopped badly with a paltry £30...

Vesta, which describes itself as “the new online marketplace for buying and selling rental property” has launched a bid to raise...

It is now known that at least 32 formal complaints have been received by the crowdfunding platform that helped Emoov raise...

The Times reports that crowdfunding investors are considering legal action following the collapse of Emoov. The investors in question appear to be some of...

At least some calls from potential customers to Emoov are being cut off and rival estate agents are now plundering the...

The troubled Emoov hybrid estate agency, currently up for sale, has removed an advertisement after a complaint to a watchdog over...

One of Emoov’s agents in the field has contacted Estate Agent Today to give an insight into how the agency has...

A Twitter account dedicated to the private sale of a multi-million pound waterside home in Berkshire has prompted complaints to the...

The vast majority of new-build houses are to be sold as freehold with ground rents for new leases capped at £10...

Local business reviews are becoming increasingly important for reputation management, with recent research showing 90% of consumers read online reviews before...

Purplebricks’ share price dropped yesterday to barely over 200p - its lowest level for some 18 months and reflecting a near...

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an advertisement for a new development in London after complaints over claims about the yields...

Purplebricks has been the subject of another complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority - and the issue has again been categorised...

The perils of property competitions and raffles have once again been demonstrated, this time with the Advertising Standards Authority upholding three...

The Property Ombudsman scheme (TPO) has announced a series of changes to both its board and internal processes. The organisation has also...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld one of two complaints made against OnTheMarket's TV and print advertising. The complaints refer to...

An estate agency which operates nationally has agreed to amend its website following a complaint made to the Advertising Standards Authority...

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

An established estate agency in Guernsey is being listed as 'voluntarily winding up' and liquidators have been appointed. Concerns about Sarnia Estate...

In our previous 2 blogs we have covered the definitions of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) and what the practical...

In our previous blog, we looked at the definitions outlined by the CPRs. In our next blog we’ll look at the...

The UK division of US-based estate agency Keller Williams says agents need access to internal training if service levels across the...

Another day, another housing minister – at least that’s what it feels like! The resignation of the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson...

One of three schemes with government backing to offer redress for complaints about estate and letting agents has reignited the debate...

The Advertising Standards Authority says its compliance team is considering its next steps following the refusal of estate agency PDQ Estates...

An agent from Cornwall who has waged a long-running campaign against online agencies in general and Purplebricks in particular has been...

Purplebricks says it completely rejects any claim of bullying its representatives in Australia. The Australian Financial Review, which last week reported the...

A London council is seeking widespread powers to ban For Sale and To Let boards which it claims are seen by...

The Property Ombudsman has issued its annual report for 2017 and there’s good news for the estate agency side of the...

The annual report from the Advertising Standards Authority and the Committees of Advertising Practice, out today, shows that the estate and...

One of the three official redress bodies serving the estate and lettings agency industry has conducted a survey of complaints across...

Online estate agency Tepilo and over-60s ‘life plan’ property sales service Homewise have been rapped over the knuckles following complaints made...

The Property Redress Scheme - one of the three government-approved redress schemes handling complaints about sales and lettings agents - has...

An estate agency has been the subject of a complaint over website wording which appeared to suggest that it had a...

Have you noticed a new turf war going on on the fringes of the agency world? It’s not a high-profile battle like...

Ombudsman Services, which recently announced it was quitting its role as one of three approved redress schemes for estate and lettings...

London agency Portico has been warned that if there is a repeat of issues concerning its listings on portals, it may...

The government has launched a surprise consultation on the creation of a new redress system for customers of agents and others...

The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled on another complaint lodged about Purplebricks. Although the latest appears minor it adds to a lengthy list...

Why I won’t buy Purplebricks shares and why if I had any, I’d sell fast… In its latest adverts, Purplebricks attempts to...

This week I carry out a question and answer session with one of the most high-profile names in property. Isobel Thomson has...

One of the three government-approved redress schemes for estate and letting agents says it’s quitting the sector this year - but...

Q. How did you get in to the property industry? My career in the property industry actually started out as a holiday...

Outspoken estate agent Chris Wood has criticised the Advertising Standards Authority for its succession of ‘informally resolved’ judgements on complaints against...

The Advertising Standards Authority has intervened following a complaint about a mailshot from the high profile online agency Yopa. The ASA says...

The online agency Yopa has removed an ad comparing its performance against other estate agents after complaints to the Advertising Standards...

A large part of the DCLG’s Call for Evidence on the home buying and selling process focuses on the role of...

Purplebricks’ share price value yesterday dropped below the 300p, over 40 per cent less than its high point over the recent...

Online estate agent eMoov recently set itself apart by directly addressing the issues of openness and transparency that have long dogged the online business...

Estate Agent Today has been told that there are four more complaints filed to the Advertising Standards Authority about hybrid agency...

Complaints about a Purplebricks claim concerning its Local Property Experts have been rejected by the Advertising Standards Authority. Complaints came from PDQ...

The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that two TV advertisements for Purplebricks cannot be shown again in their current form because...

Three more complaints about agents made to the Advertising Standards Authority have been settled informally - including one concerning an agency's...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has informally resolved another complaint made against wording on Purplebricks’ website.  A complainant suggested that the wording...

The Property Ombudsman Scheme (TPO) has partnered with Yomdel to provide a 24/7 live chat service.  Consumers can now seek 'independent dispute...

Online agency HouseSimple has once again been the subject of a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority. Earlier this month a HouseSimple advertisement...

Consumer group Which? says the public should be wary of claims made by online estate agents. This follows a series of complaints about...

The Property Ombudsman has expelled a London lettings and estate agency for a year and is warning that the firm may...

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned online agency HouseSimple from claiming that High Street agents charge “1.5% to 4% (plus 20%...

Even if you didn’t watch it, you’ve almost certainly heard about it by now.  The recent BBC Watchdog exposé of Purplebricks has...

After a roller-coaster day on the Stock Exchange yesterday, Purplebricks has sought to defend itself against further possible share price losses...

Three agencies have been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman for two or more years, after failing to pay awards...

The fledgling trade body CIELA says it is going to institute a kitemark-style service for all estate agents to be able...

The political ebb and flow continues - seemingly with all the subtlety of a Boris Johnson rugby tackle on a 10-year...

The Property Ombudsman’s annual report reveals a significant increase in the number of formal complaints resolved by the scheme and a...

The recent rise in consumer complaints against sales and letting agents suggests that there is a general lack of trust and...

Student accommodation is positively luxurious compared with the drafty digs of my student days. En-suites, studio flats, even cinemas in halls...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has informally resolved a complaint made against Connells. The case focused on a Connells Rightmove listing which...

Fledgling trade group CIELA says two aspects of its complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority are the subject of ‘further investigation’...

The Advertising Standards Authority has given the green light to an circular which provoked complaints suggesting it deliberately did not appear...

There’s good and bad in every industry and at first sight, this week has been one where the good have won...

There were only 14 complaints to The Property Ombudsman about so-called 'quick sale' firms - the professional buying companies that purchase...

A competition organised by Real Hot Property - which says it “aims to be Europe’s largest property portal” - has been...

A house builder has set aside £7m to spend on repairs to its own new properties after a series of complaints...

A controversial scheme in a London borough, limiting the size and duration of letting and estate agents’ boards on display, comes...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has informally resolved a complaint made against online estate agency eMoov.  The complaint challenged whether two statements...

The Advertising Standards Authority has intervened after a series of complaints about adverts placed by estate agents and other property industry...

An estate agent at an office of London agency Felicity J Lord, who alleged unethical practices were taking place in the...

The latest round of complaints made to the Advertising Standards Authority against property firms’ ads have once again ended only with...

The online agency Hatched has agreed to withdraw marketing letters following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA says a...

Working relationships between estate agents and conveyancers can be mutually beneficial with the referral of work between parties. However, they are missing...

The award-winning online agency HouseSimple has had one of its advertisements banned by the Advertising Standards Authority. The advert was a poster for...

When a tenant paid his initial one month’s rent in addition to a tenancy deposit in exchange for the keys to...

Online reviews play an increasingly vital role in shaping the decisions of customers. Practically everyone using the internet to compare estate...

Conveyancing is the most complained about area of law in England and Wales – accounting, on average, for nearly a quarter...

The Advertising Standards Authority has explained to Estate Agent Today why many of the complaints made against estate and letting agents...

eMoov founder and chief executive Russell Quirk has launched another online petition, this time calling for mandatory licensing of estate agents. The...

The Property Ombudsman scheme’s annual report, just released, reveals that there has been a dramatic 32 per cent surge in the...

Next week sees a court case which will decide whether there will have to be a re-run of the ‘second homes...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has published details of four more cases in which it has 'informally resolved' complaints made against...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld two of three complaints against claims made in Purplebricks' TV and website advertising.  The watchdog upheld...

The Advertising Standards Authority has stepped in following two unrelated complaints - one was over an agent’s property description, and the...

Barely a week goes by without news of the latest disastrous AirBnB experience suffered by an unsuspecting landlord.   Whether it’s damage...

Foxtons has won planning consent for an office in the south London suburb of Peckham after another controversy involving opposition from...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has decided not to uphold a complaint made against a quick property sale firm's radio advert.  The...

Complaints made against adverts issued by property firms have increased by 10% in the last year. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) reports...

A member of the public has submitted a complaint on portal juggling to the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team following...

In this business you get used to dealing with regular customer and third-party feedback, input, and (occasionally) complaints.  Much like the agency market...

Here are the top letting agents in Britain who go above and beyond to help their customers, as voted for by...

A few years ago one of our property receptionists took a call from a vendor whose husband had passed away.  The client,...

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners says more leaseholders are complaining of inflated service charges for maintenance, upkeep and communal areas.  The...

After over a year of speculation, the Competition and Markets Authority has stepped into the row over OnTheMarket and its ‘one...

The agent who last year wrote a controversial ‘open letter’ about OnTheMarket has now received a letter demanding she pay alleged...

This website recently published a piece ahead of the nationwide launch of our new property platform, Be Street Smart.  It explained how...

An estate agent has spoken out about the threat of ‘abandoned sales’ if a completion bottleneck prevents purchases of properties going...

To those working within the conveyancing sector, the recent statistics from the Legal Ombudsman regarding complaints are perhaps not surprising.  In our...

The Legal Ombudsman has published new guidance for first time buyers as a result of conveyancing problems topping the list of...

Who are you? I’m the Head of Redress at the Property Redress Scheme. I previously worked for Legal & General PLC dealing...

eMoov is one of several property firms to have ‘informally resolved’ disputes with the Advertising Standards Authority - usually achieved by...

It was an end of an era in the property world this week. Christopher Hamer stepped down as the Property Ombudsman...

Two leading estate agency groups have changed website details of properties after complaints were lodged with the Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA...

Two more agents have been expelled by TPO because they failed to pay awards when ordered to pay compensation, and because...

The Advertising Standards Authority has ordered the company Homewise not to use misleading wording following two complaints about one of its...

Zoopla says it will later this week give an update on the number of agents it now has as members -...

Four estate agencies including online player Purplebricks have resolved complaints submitted to the Advertising Standards Authority. Every week the ASA publishes a...

Two agencies have agreed to amend the wording of their advertisements to avoid the possibility of formal action by the Advertising...

The largest of the three government-approved redress schemes, The Property Ombudsman, has updated its codes of practice to include new legislation...

It’s been nearly a year since all lettings and property management agents have been legally required to join a redress scheme...

Katrine Sporle is to be the new ombudsman at The Property Ombudsman, one of the three government-approved redress services for the...

The Bank Holiday weekend heralds the end of August and the return to a more normal sales and lettings market for...

A consumer champion says a new privatised system of Alternative Dispute Resolution, being introduced in October, threatens to create ‘complaints chaos’...

So, has everyone been enjoying the fine summer weather we’ve been experiencing? Oh, wait…fear not, I will attempt to inject a...

The internet and rapidly evolving digital landscape has revolutionised the way people buy and sell properties. With some reports suggesting 95 per...

Watch the latest weekly video roundup of news from Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today, featuring stories on complaints lodged...

Watch the latest weekly video roundup of news from Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today, featuring stories on complaints lodged...

The property centre in the middle of the latest controversy surrounding the Competition and Markets Authority says it is still waiting...

The Competition and Markets Authority is reported to have received two complaints about a property centre, accusing it of breaking anti-competition...

This month has marked a real change in the way the private lettings sector is perceived - and it’s a perception...

A NEW SERVICE FOR YOU We are pleased to announce the launch of our NEW Conveyancing service, allowing you to offer an...

The Property Redress Scheme (PRS) is delighted to announce their partnership with the award winning mediation provider, Small Claims Mediation (SCM) The...

Yesterday we heard about the letter from the CMA warning agents about anti-competitive behaviour. Today, in a scoop for Estate Agent...

The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) is to meet with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to discuss complaints...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld two complaints made against online estate agency eMoov.  The first centred around eMoov’s claim that...

Earlier this week we passed the official deadline for letting agents to fully publicise their fees as well as providing evidence of...

OK, you’ve had your fun. Now let’s leave the regulators regulate and work for the public. If you don’t know what I...

The managing director of Hatched online agency is accusing Purplebricks, eMoov, Tepilo and House Network of advertising their rates exclusive of...

Online agency EweMove says it is seething about a complaint made to the Advertising Standards Authority by a high street estate...

The Brian Cox estate agency, at the centre of a weekend newspaper allegation about £2,000 deposits from buyers, has strongly defended...

So, a sigh of relief.  Most agents will be pleased with the election result - even if they are not Tory supporters...

Two rival redress schemes applying to sales and lettings agents are claiming increased business.  A press release from the Property Redress Scheme...

There was a whopping 42 per cent rise in referrals to The Property Ombudsman last year according to the annual report...