The term ‘time bomb’ is sometimes overly used in the housing market, and while it has been linked to many things...
Archive
In this, the second of a three-part series, David Beaumont continues his critique of the new Material Information Guidance. There are 21...
30 March 2024
From: Features
If you want to hear of a tale for our industry’s times - featuring housing shortages, planning disputes, rampant inflation and...
23 March 2024
From: Features
Agents faced more complaints and paid out higher levels of redress last year, industry data shows. Annual figures from the Property Redress...
18 March 2024
From: Breaking News
The role of a residential landlord has changed considerably over the years. What was once a relatively straightforward means of generating...
18 November 2023
From: Features
If you’ve paid even scant attention to Landlord Today or other trade titles, you’ll be familiar with the headlines about rogue...
04 November 2023
From: Features
Despite the announcements, the publicity, the guidance and the acres of website information, the most common complaint surrounding house sales is...
14 October 2023
From: Features
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has warned it is receiving “too many complaints” about breaches of undertakings by solicitors. The regulator...
09 August 2023
From: Breaking News
Estate agents have been urged to be wary of complaints around market appraisals and the handling of offers. The latest annual review...
03 August 2023
From: Breaking News
Just one agent was expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) redress scheme in the latest quarter. TPO has revealed that Price Point...
27 June 2023
From: Breaking News
A man has been jailed for fraud after conning potential property buyers out of nearly £16,000. Jaspal Singh Juttla, 64 of Northwood...
01 June 2023
From: Breaking News
Agents are being urged to be clearer about their terms of business with clients after the public face of The Property...
15 May 2023
From: Breaking News
A controversial change due to be brought about in the proposed Renters’ Reform Bill is the abolition of Section 21 ‘no...
15 April 2023
From: Features
At a time of great uncertainty, the HomeOwners Alliance (HOA) and the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) have announced a partnership...
13 April 2023
From: Breaking News
Eight agents were excluded from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme during the first quarter of 2023 including collapsed online brand Doorsteps for...
06 April 2023
From: Breaking News
Trade and representative bodies representing the legal, surveying, estate agency and property management sectors have launched the fourth iteration of the...
03 April 2023
From: Breaking News
The Property Redress Scheme (PRS) has formed a new member panel that will be chaired by senior industry figure Eric Walker. The...
12 January 2023
From: Breaking News
Property professionals, including agents, are being urged to make use of a dedicated small business banking dispute scheme before it closes...
21 November 2022
From: Breaking News
High transaction volumes are likely to lead to more complaints about agents, a compliance expert claims. Paul Offley, compliance officer at The Guild...
18 November 2022
From: Breaking News
The chair of the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has warned firms that it shouldn’t be seen as a ‘light-touch’ regulator. Speaking at...
07 November 2022
From: Breaking News
Increasing numbers of complaints about agents are being resolved without formal investigation but issues are becoming more complex, The Property Ombudsman...
02 November 2022
From: Breaking News
A new Code of Practice for builders and an independent Ombudsman for consumers in the new-build sector went live this week. Customers...
07 October 2022
From: Breaking News
Another piece about conveyancing? Seems like it's been a bit of free-for-all in the last couple of weeks on the woes...
06 August 2022
From: Features
02 July 2022
From: Features
Portals are aiming to boost consumer awareness of new material information rules rather than refusing non-compliant listings. Agency listings have been required...
22 June 2022
From: Breaking News
It’s the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell fire tragedy, but are high rises any safer today than they were then? On 14th...
18 June 2022
From: Features
AllAgents has revealed the 10 worst rated agency brands on its customer review platform, with Purplebricks leading the worst performers. The reviews...
31 May 2022
From: Breaking News
The number of complaints about estate and letting agents increased last year but fewer gripes were upheld. Data based on members of...
27 April 2022
From: Breaking News
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has informally resolved a complaint regarding claims made by Purplebricks about home sales. The advertising watchdog revealed...
27 April 2022
From: Breaking News
A new Deputy Ombudsman, Lesley Horton, has been appointed by The Property Ombudsman Scheme. She will work alongside Property Ombudsman, Rebecca Marsh,...
21 April 2022
From: Breaking News
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has said it may consider complaints about ‘misleading SSTC listings’ on portals but suggests it may...
06 April 2022
From: Breaking News
Trading Standards has advised agents to update listings once they reach the "sold subject to contract" (SSTC) stage. It comes after legal...
05 April 2022
From: Breaking News
Agents and conveyancers have signed up to a new buyers’s and seller’s property information form that is described as having been...
04 April 2022
From: Breaking News
The market’s likely to slow this year as the rising cost of living saps some buyer confidence, so agents are understandably...
04 March 2022
From: Breaking News
A national newspaper has lifted the lid on what it alleges to be the backgrounds of high-end self-employed agents who feature...
28 February 2022
From: Breaking News
Property searches are not showing up some new road schemes because they are classified by local councils as planning consent for...
24 February 2022
From: Breaking News
Industry figures have come out in favour of the long-term programme of new compulsory information to be contained on property listings. From...
22 February 2022
From: Breaking News
An estate agency is running a competition to encourage residents to photograph badly-located For Sale and To Let boards. The Basingstoke branch...
26 January 2022
From: Breaking News
22 January 2022
From: Features
EAT readers may have seen a piece in Friday’s property section of The Times about the long-running Simplify saga, which has...
13 December 2021
From: Breaking News
The Dispute Service has been selected to operate the New Homes Ombudsman scheme, following what has been called ”a fiercely competitive...
03 December 2021
From: Breaking News
With the conveyancing crisis at the Simplify Group now approaching two weeks old, it appears Purplebricks has been the worst affected...
19 November 2021
From: Breaking News
The Advertising Standards Authority has stepped in following a complaint about a property advertised by Connells-owned Countrywide estate agents. The issue revolves...
06 October 2021
From: Breaking News
The recent stamp duty holiday and the subsequent conveyancing logjam this triggered has acted as a wakeup call for the industry....
25 September 2021
From: Features
Agents are being warned about removing personal data and information from marketing material. Paul Offley, compliance officer at The Guild of Property...
24 September 2021
From: Breaking News
Day in, day out, I see how good estate agents really are. Whether it’s in my day job on Location, Location, Location...
06 September 2021
From: Breaking News
The Property Ombudsman says there’s been a big increase in enquiries to its service in recent months, despite the pandemic. In its...
24 August 2021
From: Breaking News
The police have now received complaints about the tweet believed to have been sent from a personal account of a Savills...
12 July 2021
From: Breaking News
No fewer than seven estate and lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme today. Most of them are now...
30 June 2021
From: Breaking News
Last weekend we spoke with Liana Loporto, NAEA Propertymark’s president, in an exclusive interview. Here we follow that up with an...
26 June 2021
From: Features
A consultation into the draft New Homes Quality Code has been published with a consultation period for the industry ending on...
22 June 2021
From: Breaking News
A council cracking down on the increase of illegally positioned estate agent boards. Agents are required, under Planning and Highways legislation to...
04 June 2021
From: Breaking News
The TDS annual review 2020 indicates that deposit disputes have remained low over the last year, at around 1%. This is...
24 April 2021
From: Features
An estate agency has apologised after a bogus employee posted offensive comments about Prince Philip on a newly-created fake Facebook account. This...
13 April 2021
From: Breaking News
Purplebricks has removed advertising claims which suggested it sold homes for a higher sum, on average, than rival agencies. The Advertising Standards...
24 March 2021
From: Breaking News
From 4 May 2021, your agency could be blocked from charging late fees, compounding interest on missing rent and taking any...
20 March 2021
From: Features
A prominent estate agent has warned buyers and sellers about the perils of the controversial Modern Method of Auction. MMA is now...
15 March 2021
From: Breaking News
Agents are up in arms at a Rightmove restriction temporarily preventing access to parts of its listing back-end. Agents received an email...
11 March 2021
From: Breaking News
New guidance has been issued in a bid to allow agents to get the insurance payouts they expect from the Business...
10 March 2021
From: Breaking News
Being a letting agent today means keeping up to date with the long list of rules and regulations governing how a...
20 February 2021
From: Features
Let’s address the elephant in the room first - the property sector and how we market properties is changing. Gone are the...
10 February 2021
From: Features
A new body which says it will “champion better outcomes for buyers” is described as independent but is to be chaired...
09 February 2021
From: Breaking News
There is little doubt that the last year was one which none of us will easily forget both personally and professionally....
27 January 2021
From: Features
Propertymark has told the government that it needs to introduce overarching regulation of agents now, because existing piecemeal provisions are unmanageable...
24 December 2020
From: Breaking News
Many independents will be based in the capital, but given its size and breadth they may get drowned out even more...
19 December 2020
From: Features
The Property Ombudsman says there have been more complaints lodged about agents so far in 2020 than in 2019. This is despite...
15 December 2020
From: Breaking News
First off, hello and welcome to this new series – appearing in Estate Agent Today’s Breaking News section each month –...
10 December 2020
From: Breaking News
Back in September, Westminster Council launched a new strategy to help 'protect tenants' and 'ensure they live in good-quality and well-managed...
28 November 2020
From: Features
The advertising watchdog has told the agency industry to clean up its act on four issues, with clarity over fees being...
16 November 2020
From: Breaking News
New guidance spells out how leniency can be exercised on agencies or individuals who inform on anti-competition cartels of the kind that...
05 November 2020
From: Breaking News
As the review of the recommendations of the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group continues, Emily Hawthorne, mio Account Manager and...
01 October 2020
From: Sponsored Content
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has encouraged people to complain if they are unhappy about working conditions and thousands of complaints...
26 September 2020
From: Features
With the high street open again, and the Chancellor’s temporary stamp duty holiday helping to stimulate the market, estate and letting...
19 September 2020
From: Features
It’s fair to say that UK estate agents don’t have the best of reputations, often featuring in the lists of the...
29 August 2020
From: Features
An agency that has now closed down has been expelled by The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay an award of...
26 August 2020
From: Breaking News
House raffles and similar competitions have become mired in controversy in recent years, thanks to some of them failing to abide by...
06 August 2020
From: Breaking News
There’s been a very large rise in the number of complaints submitted by consumers to the Property Redress Scheme. This is partly...
29 July 2020
From: Breaking News
Earlier this month, it was revealed that property industry bodies have joined a new Code of Practice Steering Group to enact...
25 July 2020
From: Features
Purplebricks has changed the wording of an advertisement on its website after a watchdog stepped in following a complaint. According to the...
22 July 2020
From: Breaking News
The new code of conduct for estate agents has been dismissed as “a waste of time” - and the senior industry...
21 July 2020
From: Breaking News
Agents now have a chance to say what they think should be in a new Code of Conduct being discussed following...
20 July 2020
From: Breaking News
Two companies that persuaded property investors to pay as much as £25,000 for a parking space have been wound up in...
14 July 2020
From: Breaking News
The new Property Ombudsman taking over from October is Rebecca Marsh. She is currently Chief Ombudsman at the Legal Ombudsman and was...
05 June 2020
From: Breaking News
Over the last few years, there have been a number of high-profile court cases in which renters took action against letting...
30 May 2020
From: Features
There’s been an explosion of anger about Rightmove’s pledge to undertake its biggest-ever marketing campaign - while at the same time...
11 May 2020
From: Breaking News
There’s been a substantial 20 per cent rise in formal complaints about agents taken up by The Property Ombudsman. The figures refer...
11 May 2020
From: Breaking News
The Property Ombudsman has announced the expulsion of eight agencies, all for contravening TPO codes of practice. Most of the expulsions were...
04 May 2020
From: Breaking News
The Property Ombudsman’s office is still receiving 40 to 50 calls a day from the public, even though most transactions with...
23 April 2020
From: Breaking News
If it’s really the case that estate agents’ offices could be in the category of High Street premises first allowed to...
18 April 2020
From: Features
A surveyors’ firm has been wound up after courts declared that it had misled clients over the success of its core...
18 March 2020
From: Breaking News
Agents are consistently being told that they need to get on board with change. And one could quite easily make the...
02 March 2020
From: Breaking News
Future complaints about property raffles by individual home owners seeking to avoid estate agency fees will in future be handled by...
28 February 2020
From: Breaking News
The new housing minister is Christopher Pincher, who for the past decade has been Conservative MP for Tamworth having had a...
14 February 2020
From: Breaking News
Property auctions – online or otherwise – can be hugely helpful to sellers, buyers and estate agents. Online auctions, in particular, are...
06 February 2020
From: Sponsored Content
After a challenging period for the UK property market, recovery is very much on the cards and the end to uncertainty...
01 February 2020
From: Features
Rightmove and Zoopla have been working with key figures from government and the agency and conveyancing industries on how to reform...
29 January 2020
From: Breaking News
The head of a new property portal is urging agents to forget about spending money on For Sale and To Let...
21 November 2019
From: Breaking News
An online estate agency which last week claimed it had resolved a dispute over reviews it showed on its website is...
20 November 2019
From: Breaking News
Foxtons has revealed that the chair of the troubled agency’s remuneration committee has stood down with immediate effect. This are also unconfirmed...