Political

One of the country’s most outspoken advocates of rent controls has been told why agents and landlords oppose them. Propertymark has hosted three sessions with members of the Scottish Government to discuss aspects of the Draft Rented Sector Strategy - part of the...

Hastings Borough Council has been working with local landlords to ensure privately rented properties in the town are improved to meet current Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES). Following changes to Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) regulations in...

On 9 March 2022 the Office for National Statistics published data showing trends in living arrangements including families (with and without dependent children), people living alone and people in shared accommodation, broken down by size and type of household. The...

On 11 March 2022 the Commons Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee published a report that finds that too many leaseholders will fall through the cracks of the Government’s “piecemeal measures” to protect leaseholders from the costs of building safety...

Woking Council have just placed a new blog on their site.  It can be seen here, and says: Empty homes can be a burden on local neighbourhoods which is why this Empty Homes Week, Woking Borough Council is urging local landlords to take the relevant measures to prevent...

A proposal that landlords be fined up to 36 months rent has been put forward in a consultation paper in Scotland.  How long before the English Government picks this up?The Scottish Government’s ‘A New deal for Tenants’ proposal says it is introducing fines of up to...

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called for bigger fines to be issued to rogue landlords as part of a move to protect the capital’s renters. The mayor has called on ministers to double to two years' worth of rent the amount that tenants can claim back if their...

On 11 February 2022 the Home Office launched a consultation on proposed amendments to the Home Office code of practice for landlords on avoiding unlawful discrimination when conducting ‘right to rent’ checks in the private rented residential sector. This consultation...

The House of Commons library has provided a paper on Local Authorities use of temporary accommodation. The full paper can be seen here, and the summary here, and says: Why do authorities use temporary accommodation? Local housing authorities in England have a duty to...

The House of Commons Library has published a paper on Tackling the under-supply of housing in England. The paper can be seen here, and a summary here, which says: Government ambitions for new housing supply In their 2019 election manifestos, all the main political...