Communique: Fair Fees Forum – Regulation Interest Group

COMMUNIQUE FAIR FEES FORUM – REGULATION INTEREST GROUP A meeting of members of the Fair Fees Forum with an interest in regulation in the PRS was held on Wednesday 14 June 2017 Attendees at the Interest Group included; Chestertons, Countrywide, Hamptons, Spicerhaart, Winkworth, Connells Group, National Approved Letting Scheme, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Residential […]

Enforcement regime on displaying agent fees failing

NALS survey raises concerns over enforcement of letting agent fees ban Two years after it was made law for agents to display their fees, a National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) survey of local authorities has found that 93 per cent of councils have failed to issue a single financial penalty for non-compliance to letting agents. […]

NALS responds to the Queen’s Speech

In today’s Queen’s Speech, there was confirmation that Government would legislate to ban tenants letting fees, in order ‘to improve transparency, affordability and competition in the private rental market.’ However, there was also the announcement of new measures to enforce the ban with provision for tenants to be able to recover unlawfully charged fees. The […]

NALS response to letting agent fee ban consultation

The Department for Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) consultation into the banning of letting agent fees charged to tenants closes today. NALS welcomes the Government’s commitment to a better Private Rented Sector offering safety and security for tenants. However, NALS does not support a ban on letting agent fees to tenants, because it believes that […]

Rent Smart Wales secures first conviction

Rent Smart Wales (RSW), the Welsh Government scheme, designed to drive up standards in the private rented sector, have made their first successful prosecution. The RSW scheme requires private landlords to register and managing landlords and agents to become licensed with the scheme. Since November 23, 2016, landlords and agents who fail to comply with […]

Urgent: Safety checks on private blocks following the Grenfell Tower fire

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has issued urgent safety checks following the Grenfell Tower fire in London last week. Following the horrific fire, DCLG has asked NALS to issue guidelines immediately to its members about the checks that should be made on buildings in England with Aluminium Composite Material cladding. Melanie Dawes, […]