Archive

Welcome to this week’s Agents Do Charity, our chance to salute those who do so much to help others. If your agency...

Estate agents were fined a total of more than £3m in the nine months to September 2023 for failing to register...

Managing tenant deposits is a crucial part of any letting agent’s responsibilities. Ensuring compliance with regulations and safeguarding both landlord and...

Material information requirements should be seen by agents as a positive change, a Trading Standards investigator has claimed. Speaking to The Guild...

Financial crime within the property sector is on the rise and the stats are alarming. According to data from Apex Bridging,...

As you begin the process of property transactions in the UK, it's important to understand potential pitfalls that may result in...

Digital compliance specialist SmartSearch can help estate agents comply quickly and efficiently Around one in five estate agents are not registered for...

The Register of Overseas Entities has hit the 30,000 registration milestone. The register, which is administered by Companies House, came into force...

The role of a residential landlord has changed considerably over the years. What was once a relatively straightforward means of generating...

By Jashoda Pindoria, Head of Self Assessment Operations, HMRC Self Assessment need not be daunting with HMRC’s simple steps on getting started....

For most people, buying a house or flat is the largest financial commitment they will ever make. Which is why many...

Like most parts of the UK, the one I live in has a bit of a beef about parking. More precisely,...

The average anti-money laundering (AML) fine issued to estate agents for non-compliance so far during 2022/23 has already crept beyond the...

The National Association of Property Buyers’ Jonathan Rolande gives his take on a manic week for the property market. I dearly hope I...

Following publication of the Renter’s Reform Bill and the media coverage surrounding it, many agents and their landlords will understandably have...

Two of the biggest challenges facing the property industry right now are fraud and money laundering. The scale of these activities is...

Thousands of foreign companies with property in the UK have failed to declare their true owners. It comes as new anti-money laundering (AML)...

Agency software provider Reapit has achieved ISO 27001 certification for information security management. The certification means that Reapit has implemented one of...

Agents are being urged to keep an eye on their HMRC Government Gateway Account to ensure they don’t miss messages and...

FCS Compliance and the National Crime Agency (NCA) have joined forces to present the first Rightmove anti-money laundering (AML) webinar of...

They think it’s all over, it is now as we publish our final World Cup Agent Match report following England’s quarter...

An internal review has found examples of non-compliance with regulations at Purplebricks, the online agent’s half-year results have revealed, which could...

With the ever-persistent compliance hurdles materialising within the property market, Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, speaks about how the use of...

Dozens of estate agents have been fined a combined total of £519,645 for failing to meet their obligations under anti-money laundering...

If recent headlines are anything to go by, estate agents and the wider property industry are not just feeling the heavy...

Trade body Propertymark has revealed that it has opened compliance cases against a small number of members following the latest HMRC...

For years now estate agents have been on a journey from digital infancy to digital maturity. But what does the future...

As Britain’s housing boom continues,  SDL Property Auctions has warned of ten ways new homeowners could be fined up to £5,000...

A wide range of upcoming legislative changes will affect the private rented sector. From new carbon monoxide alarm regulations to renters...

Anti-money laundering (AML) platform Credas is hosting a free lunch and learn session for estate agents in south Wales and south-west...

New homeowners are being warned about cold calls from scammers advising them to make speculated stamp duty refund claims. The warning comes...

Many of the property firms recently fined for anti-money laundering (AML) breaches have previously turned down help, Credas claims. It was revealed...

You will hopefully have seen that the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 has now received its Royal Assent, meaning it...

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

As regular readers will know, I like to use this column to shout out about the independent agents who are the...

Yesterday we reported on how the Chartered Institute of Taxation was warning of problems with new HMRC stamp duty rules to...

I’m sure most readers would agree with me that cyber-security is vitally important for almost any business, particularly those businesses like...

Propertymark conducts spot checks on agents to ensure they are compliant - but perhaps gives too little publicity to its role. The...

Disclaimer: This article is intended for information only and does not constitute legal advice. As part of its 2020 budget, the UK...

Three property agents feature on the latest list of businesses in trouble for failing to comply with money laundering regulations. The list...

There is growing criticism of Savills on social media following the controversy over a racist tweet apparently sent from the personal...

A 3-2 loss on penalties. It’s sad and disappointing - desperately. Yet that gives way to pride when England’s performance across the whole...

So, who would have thought it? England finally beat Germany in a knockout game at a major competition - and it...

It was never going to be easy for Scotland - and there was no sense of jeopardy for an already-through England. Yet...

While running customer identification and verification checks is part and parcel of the onboarding process for estate agents, under UK anti...

An assessment by a risk solutions firm shows that estate agents are on average just 53 per cent of the way...

Some sellers are suffering cash flow issues as a result of glitches in the Capital Gains Tax reporting system, according to...

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

The head of a PropTech platform wants financial penalties on conveyancers if transactions miss deadlines. “The only way to accelerate the current...

Being a letting agent today means keeping up to date with the long list of rules and regulations governing how a...

As we approach the end of the year, there is no doubt that it has been a turbulent 12 months for...

New guidance spells out how leniency can be exercised on agencies or individuals who inform on anti-competition cartels of the kind that...

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

A property tax specialist is warning that sellers of buy to lets or holiday homes may have to estimate their own...

By now, most letting agents and landlords will have heard about the draft legislation laid in Parliament concerning a mandatory minimum...

The Competition and Markets Authority says it wants to send “a strong signal” to the estate agency industry that price-fixing will...

The government introduced the Fifth EU Money Laundering Directive into UK law just before Christmas - and it has a significant implication for...

It’s one of the most crucial aspects of the homebuying and selling process but is too often bogged down by frustrating...

The public are being asked to inform the authorities if they know of agents operating fee-fixing cartels. The request - from the...

The Fifth Money Laundering Directive becomes law in the UK on January 10 2020, strengthening the responsibilities placed on private companies...

There’s been a new warning to estate agents to check they are fully compliant with GDPR regulations following a European case...

Reservation Agreements may require bigger financial penalties than the £500 to £1,000 currently envisaged if they are to work. That’s the view...

A tax expert is urging owners of second homes, as well as property investors and existing landlords, to seek independent financial...

In the old days an agent would procure clients based upon their position in the high street, the size of the...

Estate and letting agents are being urged to check that they are signed up with an approved redress scheme that covers...

Some of the most radical reforms ever proposed for estate and letting agents are expected to be signed off today by...

In the last ten years Google's revenue, largely from pay per click ads (Adwords), has grown by 527% (Source: Statista). In...

An IT firm says small and medium-sized estate agencies without the infrastructure of large corporates are putting themselves and their customers...

A survey undertaken by the respected Economist Intelligence Unit and a risk solutions company suggests that estate agency may be one...

HM Revenue & Customs has issued more details of its bid to encourage estate agents to combat money laundering in the...

It’s been revealed that Countrywide has been hit with a £215,000 fine as part of a swoop by HMRC cracking down...

Politicians and officials are studying a ‘model’ two page reservation agreement drawn up by a law firm as a possible way...

With a new year nearly upon us, it’s always a good idea to be aware of the major events that are...

The Competition and Markets Authority is stepping up its campaign to identify and prosecute companies behind cartels - and it’s offering...

The estate agent who is refusing to abide by a decision of the Advertising Standards Authority is now demanding details of...

Does your company apply adequate customer due diligence measures when carrying out estate agency work?  Does it establish and maintain appropriate policies...

Any fingernails left after last night’s thriller? It was a cracker of a game, particularly the last 45 minutes...and then the...

Labour says it wants ‘Healthy Homes Zones’ in a bid to reduce housing-related health inequalities which are estimated to cost the NHS £1.4...

An estate agency has been ordered to pay £841 to a council - because it failed to provide paperwork about its...

A compliance specialist company is warning that as it believes relatively few estate agents fully understand their anti-money laundering obligations, firms...

Estate agents have been hit with six- and seven-figure fines under new anti-money laundering and anti-tax evasion regulations according to the...

A new website which completely by-passes all kinds of estate agents and allows vendors to upload details of their own properties...

A think tank says the penalties now levied against second home owners - such as the stamp duty surcharge and phasing...

An audit and tax consultancy is urging estate agencies across the UK to prepare for new EU General Data Protection Regulation...

Some big news in the agency world last week won’t have escaped the attention of many in the industry. Last Thursday news...

A controversial scheme in a London borough, limiting the size and duration of letting and estate agents’ boards on display, comes...

A number of local authorities are now serving £100 or £120 fixed penalty notices on estate agents who display For Sale...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is to expel an estate agent for breaking several of its membership rules.  Dion Beard,...

For many people buy-to-let continues to look an attractive income investment at a time of low saving rates and stock market...

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

There’s been plenty of forecasting in recent weeks - banks, consultancies and high-end estate agents have predicted house prices in the...

“Estate Agents have been highlighted by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) as under reporting relative to their vulnerability to money...

The Property Ombudsman and the Competition and Markets Authority have prepared a supplementary guidance note to help agents ensure compliance with the Competition Act.  The...

When Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, recently announced that interest rates would have to start to rise sooner...

Online estate and letting agency EweMove says it is scrapping compulsory tie-ins.  “If any seller is not happy with our service, for...

Yesterday we heard about the letter from the CMA warning agents about anti-competitive behaviour. Today, in a scoop for Estate Agent...