Archive

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...

In 2014 The Properties Misdescriptions Act was repealed and replaced with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, otherwise known as...

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

The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team has this morning issued a warning to agents that they must be signed up to...

There’s a new twist in the row between a Cornish agent and the Advertising Standards Authority. The row revolves around a tweet...

The director of an estate agency has been ordered to pay more that £1,800 for failing to dispose of waste properly. Adebayo...

Who are you and what does it say on your business card? Ben Robinson, Director of Agency Services at Landmark What is Landmark...

  More details have emerged of the government’s proposals to enhance estate agency regulation, regulate referral fees, offer guides for buyers and...

The government has announced further measures which will, in its words, “professionalise” house buying and the estate agency business. In yet another Sunday...

An estate agent and former chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says the government’s latest drive to build new...

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

The Home Office has announced a new division to tackle fraud issues, including money laundering. A new national economic crime centre within...

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

The spread and sophistication of financial crime in the UK in recent years has been unprecedented.  Figures from UK Finance show that...

The Competition and Markets Authority has set out precisely what agents and other companies can and cannot do in the event...

That the private rental sector has become the government’s whipping boy for housing problems - landlords in particular, letting agents almost...

A cluster of conveyancing and legal experts, known as the Legal Sector Group, has published a raft of proposals on leasehold...

The National Association of Estate Agents has thrown its weight behind a government move to create a register of overseas companies...

The Competitions and Markets Authority has released more details of its ‘calling-in’ of the acquisition of Expert Agent by Zoopla Property...

The Competitions and Markets Authority is reviewing the acquisition of Expert Agent by ZPG, parent company of Zoopla and PrimeLocation. A statement...

The Competition and Markets Authority has now fined agents over £1m in two landmark cases concerning price-fixing - and it says...

The government has published details of the Criminal Finances Bill with prime central London property used for purposes of money laundering...

A London council is seeking to impose an average £8,000 fee for securing planning consent on a below-ground extension - already...

The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team is warning agents not to engage in portal juggling - an activity it describes...

The new mayor of London Sadiq Khan has pledged to do all in his power to help make London “better” after...

There is a substantial amount of misunderstanding over this question, which needs clarifying.   In general terms, the Money Laundering Regulations require...

Money laundering compliance is the hot topic at the moment, with various organisations making statements about the need to change and...

Four well-known figures in the worlds of compliance and agency training have joined forces to launch the Property Professionals Support Centre. PPSC...

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

A report from anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International says British estate agents reported only 179 suspicions of money laundering in a...

The Competitions and Markets Authority - which earlier this year fined an estate agency trade group £735,000 - has set out...

The consumer is King and to protect sellers and buyers' best interests estate and letting agents have to operate in the...

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

A new ‘enforcement toolkit’ has been designed to assist local authority trading standards teams beef up its policing of local estate...

A new trading standards Guidance on Property Sales has been launched aimed at improving estate agency service to customers.  The Powys-based National...

The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team has prepared a draft of revised guidelines on property sales, to replace the old...

An estate agency that has been operating in a historic pub in St. John’s Wood has been ordered to vacate by...