Archived Letting Agent Industry News - April 2010
Agents rapped over claims by industry watchdog
An estate agency has had a complaint against it upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The agents had distributed a flyer which said: &ldqu...
30-Apr-2010
First-time buyers ignore Stamp Duty holiday
Stamp Duty tax breaks have failed to gain traction as far as first-time buyers are concerned.
Rightmove reported today that first-time buyers have...
30-Apr-2010
House sales stagnate as buyers sit on their hands
House sales have stagnated this month, says sign erectors Agency Express.
Nationally, the number of boards converting from For Sale to Sold in Apri...
30-Apr-2010
New property networking groups to be set up in UK cities
New networking groups for agents and other property professionals are to be set up in cities all over the UK, following the launch of the first in Edi...
30-Apr-2010
Portals boss in recycling mission for charity
Good luck to Mark Milner, the boss of Daily Mail property portals, including FindaProperty and Primelocation.
He is repeating his charity cycle rid...
30-Apr-2010
Landlords 'must understand local marketplace'
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. Landlords have been advised that it is important to understand the ho...
30-Apr-2010
Using letting agents to rent properties recommended
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. Landlords have been advised to use a letting agent to help them cope ...
29-Apr-2010
Second major agency chain quits TDS
Another large firm has quit the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and switched to Mydeposits.
LSL, parent company of Your Move and Reeds Rains, has 584 lettin...
28-Apr-2010
Agents escape expulsion after disciplinary action
A firm of estate agents where £160,000 of clients’ money was misappropriated escaped both a fine and expulsion from the RICS because it wo...
28-Apr-2010
General Election sums that don't add up
Just when you thought the General Election couldn’t get any duller, along comes a lively little spat to take our minds off all those family-frie...
28-Apr-2010
Tesco lines up more property interests
Britain’s biggest supermarket is to go into house building, and plans to develop four ‘mini-villages’ centred around Tesco stores ...
28-Apr-2010
Property portal backs out of deal with Sarah Beeny
Askthehomesearch, a new property portal, has dropped its deal with Sarah Beeny’s private sellers’ website, Tepilo, just days after announc...
28-Apr-2010
Online letting agent launches webinar
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. An online letting agent is launching what it claims is the first webi...
27-Apr-2010
AHIPP'Hitler'film hits the bunker
Sad news for film buffs: the ‘Hitler’ video spoof of AHIPP has been removed from YouTube.
The scenes, showing a ranting Fuhrer apparent...
26-Apr-2010
Buyers back off as election jitters hit
Buyer uncertainty during the run-up to the election is hitting the housing market, Hometrack reported this morning.
It said that the supply of home...
26-Apr-2010
Most buyers cannot get a mortgage, says house builder
Mortgage availability – or its lack – is causing the single biggest problem in the housing market.
House builder Ian Baker, managing di...
26-Apr-2010
EAT Marathon team raise money for Shelter
Well done to all you Marathon runners feeling the pain today after yesterday's event. The runners included our very own Marathon Man, EAT publishe...
26-Apr-2010
Landlords duped by fake gas engineer
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium property management system. A man has been fined £750 after he conned landlords into belie...
26-Apr-2010
NAEA agents canvassed about paying for PropertyLive
Members of the National Federation of Property Professionals, including NAEA and ARLA agents, could be charged a compulsory £840 per office, per...
23-Apr-2010
Police called in as lettings business collapses
Another police investigation is under way after the collapse of a franchised business in a national lettings chain.
The York and Hull offices of Be...
23-Apr-2010
Agents fight shy of advising landlords on insurance
Only half of all letting agents discuss rent guarantee insurance with their landlords and under one-third offer to arrange it – thereby passing ...
23-Apr-2010
London agent fined after claiming to be NAEA member
An estate agent in north London have been fined £400 after claiming to be members of the NAEA.
Propertynet (UK), in Crouch End, was also orde...
23-Apr-2010
Chesterton Humberts opens in South Africa
Chesterton Humberts has opened an office in Cape Town, South Africa.
The firm has appointed Andrew Smith as managing director. The appointment is i...
23-Apr-2010
Landlord fined £8.4k for breaching regulations
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. A landlord has been fined £8,366 after one of his properties was...
23-Apr-2010
Landlords see 'improving picture'
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium property management system. Landlords saw their rents rise by 0.1 per cent in March 2010, accor...
22-Apr-2010
Tenant demand hits new records across the UK
The rocketing growth of the private rented sector has been highlighted by a record 48,332 new tenants registering in the first quarter of this year wi...
21-Apr-2010
Letting agent expects rents to rise with inflation
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. A letting agent has stated that she expects rents to rise in line wit...
21-Apr-2010
Rogue landlords would'flout registration scheme'
Rogue landlords would continue to operate outside the law despite the introduction of a mandatory register, a new national taskforce for the private r...
21-Apr-2010
It's London Marathon time!
Good luck to the many of you who are running in this Sunday’s London Marathon.
These include our own Marathon Man EAT publisher Nat Daniels. ...
21-Apr-2010
Mortgage lending at lowest for a decade
Mortgage lending figures out this week show that with a first quarter estimate of £29.5bn, the UK had the lowest quarterly level of lending for ...
21-Apr-2010
Britain's priciest properties set to go on market
Britain’s most expensive properties are due to hit the market this weekend. The Candy brothers’ One Hyde Park apartments are expected to f...
21-Apr-2010
RICS chief raps OFT for failing to regulate agents
The President of the RICS has attacked the OFT for failing to act on rogue agents and for not proposing the regulation of estate agents.
Max Crofts...
19-Apr-2010
One in three landlords breaking gas safety laws
A high percentage of tenants are living in rental properties that have no gas safety certificates.
A survey of 1,036 tenants who had been living in...
19-Apr-2010
Tory leader slated in row over changes to shared housing status
An astonishing political row has blown up over the change in rules on shared housing, by which properties newly let out to between three and six unrel...
19-Apr-2010
Spicerhaart awaits yet another ruling on its advertising
Yet another complaint about advertising by Spicerhaart has been upheld.
It is the fifth complaint since last September and the fourth to have been ...
19-Apr-2010
Higher rate Stamp Duty catches over half properties in south-east
Estate agents in London and the south-east are becoming increasingly concerned about the level of Stamp Duty on properti...
19-Apr-2010
Asking prices bounce up 2.6%, says Rightmove
Asking prices for properties newly listed on Rightmove bounced up 2.6% to reach an average of £229,614 this month.
The asking price is at a c...
19-Apr-2010
My London Home scoops letting agent award
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. My London Home has scooped a Gold award at the ESTAs 2010, an awards ...
19-Apr-2010
Rental shortage on brink of crisis as supply drops by up to 60%
The UK is facing a severe housing shortage, with not enough rental property to meet demand.
According to ARLA, which did research among 531 of its ...
16-Apr-2010
Porter Glenny's customers say - you're simply the best
The ESTAs 2010, presented yesterday at the Marriott Hotel in Mayfair, London, saw a mixture of repeat success and new stars as the industry honoured t...
16-Apr-2010
Zoopla update us with their online live auctions
It is now two months since Zoopla launched live online auctions. So, we asked them how it is all going. Here are our questions and their replies.
...
16-Apr-2010
ESTA sales agents winners
THE ESTAS 2010 - Winner
Estate Agents
Northern Ireland
Pinkerton Murray - Gold
Scotland
C...
16-Apr-2010
ESTA letting agents winners
THE ESTAS 2010 – Winners
Letting Agents
Northern Ireland
Pinkerton Murray - Gold
Martin & Co (Belfast) - S...
16-Apr-2010
Letting agents 'set to see rising demand'
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. Letting agents may be set to see an increase in demand for their prop...
16-Apr-2010
Tenants staying longer, letting agent says
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. A letting agent has noted the growing trend for tenants to stay in th...
15-Apr-2010
London letting agents see rents rise
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. Letting agents in London have seen an increase in the amount of rent ...
14-Apr-2010
Has the RICS survey plumbed new depths of daftness?
The increasingly psychotic RICS housing market survey has made a new case for having to be booked into The Priory. Of course, it’s just our opin...
14-Apr-2010
Regulation of buy-to-let mortgages shelved
Proposals for regulating buy-to-let mortgages have been shelved for the time being.
The original Government proposal was that buy-to let mortgages ...
14-Apr-2010
Winkworth opens first office in Midlands
Upmarket agency chain Winkworth, chiefly known for its London network, is opening in Northampton, a place attracting grants for regeneration gro...
14-Apr-2010
Metropix picks a winner
Metropix, the supplier of floorplan-based products to the residential estate agency market, has announced the winner of its fifth anniversary competit...
14-Apr-2010
Landlords 'must carry out tenant checks'
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium property management system. Landlords must ensure they carry out checks on potential tenants, t...
13-Apr-2010
Landlords believe rental market is improving
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. Landlords are confident the rental market is showing signs of improve...
12-Apr-2010
Most agents have no lone worker policies– despite fears
More than half of agents do not have any lone worker policies in place, with no safety procedures in place for staff who carry out viewings or valuati...
12-Apr-2010
Landlords to receive advice after letting agent's closure
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. Letting agents in Swindon are making plans to help landlords affected...
09-Apr-2010
Rise in distressed sellers may benefit landlords
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium property management system. Landlords with access to credit may find the coming months present ...
08-Apr-2010
Accidental landlords 'caused rise in complaints about letting agents'
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. The rise in the number of complaints about letting agents is likely t...
07-Apr-2010
UK's biggest letting agent in TDS exit
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium property management system. The UK's largest letting agent, Countrywide Residential Letting...
06-Apr-2010
Letting agent helps police uncover drugs haul
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. A letting agent has helped the police to uncover more than 250 cannab...
02-Apr-2010
Rents to 'remain firm' for letting agents
This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium rent management software. The amount of money received by letting agents and landlords is to &q...
01-Apr-2010
