Archive

A coalition of organisations representing consumers, financial institutions and energy suppliers has written to the Department for Energy Security and Net...

In his third and final article in this 3-part series, David Beaumont looks at the legal statues of Material Information Guidance. ...

In the first of a short series of articles, David Beaumont, managing director of Compliance Matters, casts a professional eye over...

The increased focus on upfront material information could push up estate agency professional indemnity (PI) requirements, an industry trainer has warned. Michael...

Propertymark updates Property Information QuestionnairePropertymark has updated its Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) in light of the latest part B and C...

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into the UK’s largest housebuilders as it warns of “fundamental concerns”...

Happy New Year and welcome to what’s looking like a busy - perhaps even hectic - 2024! I thought it worth running...

The Able Agent has launched a Consumer Protection Regulations (CPR) guidance short course to support agents amid new Trading Standards material...

I think we can all agree that the National Trading Standards Material Information reforms are a good thing for the property...

Long-awaited guidance on material information in property listings was revealed yesterday but policing of the rules won’t be any different, it...

The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) has published the long-awaited Parts B and C of material information...

Rightmove has launched a course for estate and letting agents to help them understand and remain compliant with the Consumer Protection...

On Halloween eve, Safestyle decided to give everyone a real fright and announced the company had gone into administration. This has...

Fortune favours the brave, as the saying goes. So, when you consider how upfront material information can and does make the...

The long-awaited Regulation of Property Agents (ROPA) rules will still be introduced but most probably in a different form, it has...

According to the recent industry research report ‘Back to the Future’ from tmgroup, mio and CDS 40% of property transaction delays...

Propertymark has launched a new compliance service for its member agents. The offering, called Calm about Compliance, will see experienced auditors advise,...

Given their leading role in the recent upfront information revolution, interest in the work of the National Trading Standards Estate &...

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has closed its investigation into alleged mis-selling of leasehold houses by Barratt Homes. It is the...

I look back on when my dad helped me buy my first car and shared his pearls of wisdom on what...

A senior agency executive has said minimum standards and qualifications are “desperately needed” in the property sector. Adam Day, international expansion leader...

If there’s not a book called ‘The Art of Collaboration’ then there should be. Update: a quick Google search shows there...

Millions of people use online property portals every year to conduct their property search, whether it be for sales or for...

Agency trade bodies have backed the “clarity” provided by Trading Standards after it deemed “price on application” listings unlawful. It comes as...

The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) deemed yesterday that the use of POA or “price on application”...

The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) has deemed that the use of POA or “price on application”...

From the beginning of April, long-awaited rules from the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) came into effect....

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has said it may consider complaints about ‘misleading SSTC listings’ on portals but suggests it may...

Trading Standards has advised agents to update listings once they reach the "sold subject to contract" (SSTC) stage. It comes after legal...

Agents will be able to grill Rightmove’s legal and compliance director David Cox this morning as part of the portal’s webinar...

They say that in fashion, if you wait for long enough, clothes that are hanging at the back of your wardrobe...

A rule change has been introduced this week in a bid to make equity release customers reduce interest costs. The option to...

A leading property lawyer says some agents will struggle to meet the demand for more ‘material information’ put forward by Trading...

For an unregulated industry, agents have an awful lot of regulations to deal with. For example, there’s the mandatory membership of a...

Agents are being advised to go above and beyond the legal requirements for anti-money laundering requirements.  Paul Offley, compliance officer for The...

As virtual tours start to get even more popular, and in some cases become the norm for the majority of letting...

The work of the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team is “vital” it claims - and the case of the...

A banned West Midlands estate agent has today been sentenced to a custodial sentence of six weeks, suspended for two years, and fined £4,000 at Wolverhampton Crown Court after pleading guilty...

The controversial proposal by a PropTech start up to charge potential viewers of properties to let or for sale has been...

The House of Commons Library has published what may be the definitive record of estate agency regulations issued in recent years...

NAEA Propertymark says there’s no appetite that it can see amongst its representatives across the UK for charging people £30 for...

Propertymark says a new pay-per-viewing service is “interesting” but warns agents to protect themselves by abiding by consumer protection regulations. The warning has come following...

An estate agent has been accused of charging prospective clients to view a property. The claim has been made on Twitter by...

The Trading Standards agency team has outlined to Estate Agent Today the process it will follow to improve what it calls...

The controversial demands of Trading Standards for more “material information” to be provided upfront in property details have been criticised by...

We have more regulations controlling the sector than ever before and we have more ‘regulators’ involved in controlling the sector than...

With property transactions taking longer than ever and many people operating at capacity, it is easy to overlook the progress made,...

National Trading Standards wants agents, portals and industry groups to come up with ways to provide basic essential material information ‘upfront’.  The National...

The Competition and Markets Authority has written to two top house builders ordering them to change their leasehold terms. In September the...

An industry group charged with trying to make house buying simpler and quicker says it’s made a breakthrough on ‘upfront’ information...

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

The Boomin portal, which incentivises agents to cross-sell and benefit from referral fees, is to receive advice on fee disclosure from...

“I’ve got 47 years of experience as an agent. Do I still have to get a qualification?” asked one attendee at...

NAEA Propertymark has thrown its weight behind a Competitions and Markets Authority investigation into whether consumer protection law has been broken...

A PropTech firm that regularly claims London homes are mis-measured in property descriptions has taken a swipe at Purplebricks. Pupil, a spatial...

The chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, Mark Hayward, is to retire at the end of this year.  The...

To most people, purchasing a home is the single most significant financial commitment made across a lifetime. Given the impact and...

** This Bank Holiday Monday both Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today look at how agencies have modified offices and protocols...

The Property Ombudsman is advising agents to use virtual viewings only as a filtering process with offers being agreed only ‘subject...

Good morning and welcome to the industry’s daily update on how we cope with the challenge of social distancing and self-isolation...

Hello and welcome to today’s Conquering Corona, a service we’re running to share official guidance and agents’ advice in a bid...

There is no doubt that the BBC News article in early February caused something of a stir within the Deposit Free...

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

A leasehold reform campaigner claims estate agents face “growing calls to be held accountable for mis-selling leasehold properties.” Louie Burns, managing director...

The Council of Property Search Organisations has named three industry figures as members of its newly-formed compliance committee, set to regulate...

Since I started working with Zero Deposit for me the market leader in deposit replacement alternatives, the most common question I am...

How many of you are in favour of estate agents being licenced? Would most agents rather not be overseen by a regulator...

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...

There was a time when the mere mention of the financial services industry brought with it scorn and mistrust. The issues arising...

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

The Law Society claims that the unforeseen charges faced by some purchasers of leasehold properties could be addressed “if developers and...

When it comes to letting a property, it is important that landlords and renters have faith in their agent. The more...

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

You will perhaps have seen recently that the Government has decided to boost funding to the regulator, the National Trading Standards...

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

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

We are currently engaged in consultations with our members to help to find a practical solution to the concern of the...

Estate Agent Today is 10 years old this weekend. We hope you’ll agree that’s a cause for celebration and a great...

It is understood that an estate agent from Cornwall is to face trial over allegations that he misled potential customers over...

News media in Australia say Purplebricks is the subject of an investigation by a consumer watchdog in the province of Western...

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

The Property Ombudsman has launched an online training module which it describes as the first of its kind.  The interactive module -...

Industry suppliers Landmark Information and The ValPal Network have entered what they call “a strategic relationship” to provide the firms’ respective...

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

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

The Property Ombudsman has told Estate Agent Today that it is happy with the controversial deferred payment scheme operated on behalf of...

The industry’s three government-approved redress schemes have this week issued an updated version of their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU is...

Fledgling trade body The Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents (CIELA) has described Purplebricks as the 'biggest enemy currently facing...

The fledgling Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents has released to the media the text of a complaint letter it...

The housing market has not been short of a White Paper over the last few months, and while you might just...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is the latest body within the industry to warn its members against portal juggling. Following statements...

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

Portal juggling has been defined as one of a number of "emerging threats" aimed at deceiving consumers through the manipulation of...

An estate agency has been fined by a local authority for putting up a 'Sold' board outside a house more than...

With an anticipated “Call for Evidence” from the Dept of Business Innovation & Skills looking into the home-buying experience ETSOS is...

An estate agency has been fined after a trading standards team accused it of making misleading statements on its website. Warwickshire county...

An agent at the centre of the campaign to expose and stop portal juggling wants to know whether the National Trading...

With ever increasing obligations, estate agents know that compliance matters now more than ever.  However, being able to obtain access to the...