A new regulatory framework for property agents is on the horizon, following the publication of the Report on the Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) by a working group chaired by Lord Best, which included sweeping recommendations for regulation of the profession. These recommendations include the introduction of:

• a new, independent property-agent regulator
• a legally-enforceable Code of Practice for property agents 
• minimum entry requirements and mandatory professional development for property agents.

We’ve put together a quick guide to the report’s key points.

Welsh agents are bracing themselves for the impact of new legislation that will ban tenant fees. The Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Bill comes into effect on 1st September 2019 and is set to affect the 99% of Welsh agencies who currently charge an average of  £181.15 in fees per tenancy.

Renting is big business around the world and new innovations and legislation overseas are often replicated across the globe, including here in the UK. In this month’s global renting round up, we visit major cities in Europe, New York, Sydney, Canada and New Zealand. 

Selective licensing should be retained and a national register of landlords created, recommended an independent review on the use and effectiveness of selective licensing commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The Tenant Fees Act officially came into effect in England on 1st June 2019. Here's your guide to the new legislation and its application. For more information, please refer to the official guidance at gov.uk. 

Deposit replacement schemes are becoming increasingly popular with both letting agents, landlords and tenants alike - but how do they actually work? In a nutshell, deposit replacement schemes are services taken out by either tenants or letting agents to provide protection to the landlord against any potential breaches of the tenancy agreement. In most cases the tenant pays a non-refundable fee instead of a traditional deposit of five or six weeks’ rent.

“Don’t cut corners because you’re worried about losing income,” says a leading compliance trainer for letting agents. “I fear that many agents might try to cut corners because they can’t charge tenants a fee for certain services anymore,” says Frances Burkinshaw, former ARLA Propertymark President and letting agent with almost five decades’ experience in the industry who now works as an independent compliance trainer. Burkinshaw says agents who try to cut corners risk “getting into more trouble than they would have done before these changes”.

Do you know what your referencing provider is asking your applicants? You should, because how well you know your referencing criteria could have a major impact on whether or not you can legally retain a holding deposit, since the Tenant Fees Act came into effect on 1 June 2019, introducing strict rules around returning or retaining holding deposits. 

“The law is not retrospective,” noted ARLA CEO David Cox in a Goodlord webinar. This means the ban won’t apply to tenancies that were already in place on 1st June 2019 until they are renewed and become a new fixed term agreement. 

“Purchasing another company is a lot of risk, effort and full of complications,” says Elinor O'Neill. “But it can also bring massive reward and help you grow much quicker than what you would have done organically if the acquisition is managed well.” O'Neill is a Joint Venture Partner at loc8me, a student accommodation provider. The company has expanded rapidly throughout the country since it was founded by Raffaele Russo in Loughborough a decade ago, driven by its founder’s desire to bring loc8me’s vision for contemporary student accommodation to every university city in the country.