The increased focus on upfront material information could push up estate agency professional indemnity (PI) requirements, an industry trainer has warned. Michael...
Archive
19 March 2024
From: Breaking News
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 Property Ombudsman (TPO) has questioned if allowing agents to choose their own redress scheme damages consumer trust. Speaking to the House...
06 March 2024
From: Breaking News
Two London firms have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) for failing to pay compensation to consumers. This brings the total...
14 December 2023
From: Breaking News
It may be a measure of the government’s incompetence in the area of housing that two recent major announcements were sorely...
02 December 2023
From: Features
Propertymark has given its backing to commitments from the Housing Minister on the long-awaited next steps of leasehold reform. Timothy Douglas, head...
01 November 2023
From: Breaking News
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
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
The proposals to shake the Private Rental Sector (PRS) to its foundations will, depending upon your political persuasion and housing status,...
03 June 2023
From: Features
Following publication of the Renter’s Reform Bill and the media coverage surrounding it, many agents and their landlords will understandably have...
27 May 2023
From: Features
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
Zoopla has become the latest accredited supplier of the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) for its software that supports housebuilders. It come...
02 March 2023
From: Breaking News
The Guild of Property Professionals has issued a reminder to agents about the importance of their websites remaining compliant. The property network...
17 February 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
Given their leading role in the recent upfront information revolution, interest in the work of the National Trading Standards Estate &...
05 November 2022
From: Features
The Property Redress Scheme (PRS) has named the members of its new advisory panel. It will replace the PRS Advisory Council and...
25 October 2022
From: Breaking News
Over the last few months, The Letting Partnership has seen an increase in calls from agents who are struggling to open...
22 October 2022
From: Features
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
The Property Redress Scheme (PRS) is putting together an advisory panel to improve governance, accountability and sector representation when formulating policies. It...
12 July 2022
From: Breaking News
Long-term 50-year mortgages that can be passed on by parents to their children appear to be the latest idea from the...
04 July 2022
From: Breaking News
It’s often fashionable to criticise trade bodies and official groups, but right now I think that’s absolutely inappropriate. In well over 20...
25 June 2022
From: Features
Millions of people use online property portals every year to conduct their property search, whether it be for sales or for...
11 May 2022
From: Features
Agents remain positive about the prospects for their business and the property market despite talk of slowing house price growth and...
05 May 2022
From: Breaking News
The property industry is fortunate in including many great people, doing great work across a range of businesses – from traditional agency...
30 April 2022
From: Features
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
It was a quiet first quarter this year for sanctions at The Property Ombudsman (TPO). The redress scheme has revealed that just...
08 April 2022
From: Breaking News
There’s still one part of the UK where agents enjoy almost unfettered freedom without legislation or redress - and this has...
15 March 2022
From: Breaking News
A leading property lawyer says some agents will struggle to meet the demand for more ‘material information’ put forward by Trading...
23 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
Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Propertymark, analyses the impact that the lack of available data is having on...
19 February 2022
From: Features
For an unregulated industry, agents have an awful lot of regulations to deal with. For example, there’s the mandatory membership of a...
02 February 2022
From: Breaking News
The most senior Trading Standards officer policing the agency industry says he hopes the public will ask about referral fees in...
31 January 2022
From: Breaking News
22 January 2022
From: Features
In this guest feature, James Dilgul, Head of Marketing at Fixflo, the market-leading repairs and maintenance management software provider, looks at how...
22 January 2022
From: Features
It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas – just a week to go now. Presents all wrapped and...
18 December 2021
From: Features
One part of the UK is to get a taste of the mandatory estate agent regulation that many want to see...
14 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
Pressure appears to be building for the recommendations of the Regulation of Property Agents working party finally to be implemented. It’s now...
26 October 2021
From: Breaking News
Former Housing Secretary James Brokenshire has died at the age of 53. The Conservative ex-Cabinet minister, who was diagnosed with lung cancer...
08 October 2021
From: Breaking News
Almost a million tenants have built up rent arrears since March 2020, according to research by National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA)....
15 September 2021
From: Features
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 House of Commons Library has published what may be the definitive record of estate agency regulations issued in recent years...
09 August 2021
From: Breaking News
The platform behind a controversial proposal to charge prospective buyers and renters £30 or more to view a property on the...
29 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
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 gradual increase in the supply of homes coming to the market means the stellar price rises of recent months are...
04 June 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
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
A high-profile London agency is asking the police and property industry bodies including Trading Standards to investigate a fake company posing under...
19 February 2021
From: Breaking News
It’s now more than a year since the government offered an additional £4 million to councils to combat rogue landlords. At the...
13 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
Countrywide and Foxtons have thrown their weight behind an idea to identify every single UK residential property with a unique number. The...
13 January 2021
From: Breaking News
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
Start-up letting agents looking to enter the market are finding it increasingly difficult to set up in business as banks point...
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
The Property Ombudsman has joined calls for greater disclosure of referral fees by agents. The issue has become a hot topic in...
30 November 2020
From: Breaking News
Firstly, let’s get the obvious out of the way. Lockdown 2, as it’s being known, is now with us, but fortunately...
07 November 2020
From: Features
“I’ve got 47 years of experience as an agent. Do I still have to get a qualification?” asked one attendee at...
31 October 2020
From: Features
The mandatory qualifications expected of agents have not been forgotten and will come into effect in two or three years. That’s the...
29 October 2020
From: Breaking News
A progress report on the Regulation of Property Agents recommendations will be made today by a key RoPA committee member, Mark...
28 October 2020
From: Breaking News
The National Association of Estate Agents has thrown its weight behind the recommendation of Trading Standards that agents must by law be...
05 October 2020
From: Breaking News
We all know what the problem is, but what’s the solution? The problem is that landlords, thinking they offer a valuable service...
03 October 2020
From: Features
Customers must be told about third party referral fees when buying or selling a home says the National Trading Standards Estate...
02 October 2020
From: Breaking News
The cross-sector group looking at reforming the sales process has agreed a new pledge which it says introduces greater transparency for...
25 September 2020
From: Breaking News
It’s no surprise the mainstream news remains dominated by coronavirus - not so much the actual effect of it right now,...
05 September 2020
From: Features
Agents have long been the victim of a poor public reputation, from scoring highly in most disliked profession polls to being...
03 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
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
They are the names we hear about often, pushing for this or seeking clarifications on that. They are the representatives of...
04 July 2020
From: Features
A new estate agency Code of Practice is to be written by a group set up by the Royal Institution of Chartered...
01 July 2020
From: Breaking News
The recommendations to regulate and train the estate agency industry put forward a year ago remain on the Housing Secretary’s desk...
30 June 2020
From: Breaking News
It may be that by the time you read this it’s all over for Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for...
27 June 2020
From: Features
The only story that has come remotely close to pushing coronavirus – and its various knock-on effects – off the top...
06 June 2020
From: Features
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
The industry should continue to prepare for large-scale reforms such as mandatory agency training, the licensing of agents and a new...
21 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’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
The author of dramatic reform proposals for estate agents has given a clear message to ministers - Get On With It! Lord...
09 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 government has - once again - announced the introduction of a New Homes Ombudsman. The news came yesterday when Housing Secretary...
25 February 2020
From: Breaking News
The landscape of the estate agency market in the UK is evolving to reflect changes in the way we live our...
19 February 2020
From: Features
It is possible that agents and their business partners in the conveyancing, mortgage and survey industries could be obliged to have...
29 January 2020
From: Breaking News
A leasehold reform campaigner claims estate agents face “growing calls to be held accountable for mis-selling leasehold properties.” Louie Burns, managing director...
21 January 2020
From: Breaking News
The annual conference of the National Association of Estate Agents takes place on February 27 - the date when the future...
21 January 2020
From: Breaking News
The Council of Property Search Organisations has named three industry figures as members of its newly-formed compliance committee, set to regulate...
16 December 2019
From: Breaking News
It’s been clear for a while that the additional regulation landlords and agents are facing has helped professionalise the private rental...
30 November 2019
From: Features
The Property Ombudsman scheme is increasing its fees in January for the first time in six years - and it’s implementing...
11 November 2019
From: Breaking News
The National Association of Estate Agents has told the government that it wants one single Ombudsman to provide redress across all...
29 August 2019
From: Breaking News
Countrywide has thrown its weight behind the proposals for a new single industry-wide regulator taking on the roles of Trading Standards...
05 August 2019
From: Breaking News
Estate and letting agents are being urged to check that they are signed up with an approved redress scheme that covers...
25 July 2019
From: Breaking News
A leading figure in the PropTech sector says clarity and speed are vital to ensure agencies can adequately prepare for a...
22 July 2019
From: Breaking News
The industry press has given substantial space to recommendations from the Regulation of Property Agents, the government’s working party which has...
20 July 2019
From: Features
Trade bodies and property firms have strongly welcomed the recommendations for root and branch reform of the agency industry - and...
19 July 2019
From: Breaking News
The government has published proposals for far-reaching changes to the way estate and letting agents are regulated, trained and licensed. The proposals...
18 July 2019
From: Breaking News
It may well seem that the government is pre-occupied with one issue, and one issue alone. While preparations for Brexit take up a...
01 June 2019
From: Features
The head of the Property Redress Scheme is urging agents to prepare for yet more regulation and legislation changes likely to...