Your weekend roundup of news, views and features

AUCTION UPDATE: Residential sales driving resilience in auction market

The latest property auction market insights from Essential information Group's David Leary reveals the dominance of residential sales.

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Landlords 'must be allowed to break letting agency contracts' says proptech

Hello Neighbour is calling, controversially, for landlords to be given the right to exit agency agreements, which ‘stifle competition and discourage property investment.’

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Airbnb 'won't take down illegally-sublet listings' claims landlord

The short-lets giant has not taken down a listing despite being informed that the Central London property is being illegally sublet, it is claimed.

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LSL Estate Agency Franchising expands service offering

MD Paul Hardy announces strategic partnership with B-hive Block Management to boost franchisees' growth potential.

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CLAIM: High St agents face double threat of rising costs and stiffer competition

Bricks-and-mortar estate agencies facing higher staff costs and increased competition from the growing number of ‘personal’ agents according to Property Experts founder.

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Guild reports 'thousands of referrals' via network

Guild of Property Professionals chief Iain McKenzie says its referral system has generated 2,086 referrals for its network since the start of the year.

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Number of former rental properties for sale rises as CGT changes loom

Research by Rightmove among its listings shows the proportion of former rented properties within the market rising to 18%.

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Estate agent duo recognised for sales success at global event

Mark Buchanan and Amie Brooks, both of whom work within the eXp UK network, flew to the gala estate agent event in Miami.

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'Criminal’ landlord trio hit with huge £450k HMO fine

A group of three West Northants landlords have together been fined a total of £452,796 for a series of unlicensed and unsafe HMOs.

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Bill to ban Section 21 evictions published – industry reaction

The Government takes its first step towards scrapping Section 21 'no fault' evictions with the first reading in Parliament of the Renters' Rights Bill.

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Walsall is consulting on plans that will force both the owners of smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation to apply for planning permission.

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Airbnb set to compete with lettings agents for longer rentals

Co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky says the company is eyeing longer-term rentals as a lucrative new area of business, putting his firm soon in direct competition with some agents.

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Decade of dedication for The Propertymark Trust

Veteran estate agency manager and property consultant, John Oakley, is celebrating 10 years as trustee of The Propertymark Trust.

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Huge rise in number of sales fall-throughs reported

Homebuyers are still struggling with higher mortgage rates and so more and more sales are falling through says Moverly’s Gemma Young.

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New workers' rights shake-up to impact estate agencies

Employees working for property businesses will be able to claim unfair dismissal from day one of a new job, under a new government bill.

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Foxtons makes surprise move into London commuter towns with acquisitions

The London-based agent has spent some £12m buying two estate agencies, one in Reading and the other in Watford, both bought from private shareholders.

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AGENT BLOG: After Scotland's rent cap lifted, guess what happened next?

Nicky Lloyd of ESPC Lettings in Edinburgh reflects on the rental market in Scotland six months after a rent cap and ban on evictions were scrapped.

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Mark Ridley is to be replaced by current CFO Simon Shaw as Group Chief Executive of the blue-chip agency.

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Stamp Duty hike to ‘damage’ rental market warn auctioneers

2% rise in budget for SDLT will lead to investors exiting the market, reduce supply and push up rents says NAVA.

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COURTS: Landlord wins 'important' appeal in rent to rent case

Amlendu Kumar wins appeal in what a leading property lawyer says is an "important new decision" affecting rent-to-rent agreements and rent repayment orders.

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Foxtons’ branch blockaded during Global Day of Housing Action

EXPERT: Leasehold reforms have 'failed to make process easier'

John Midgley of ALEP says leasehold practitioners are stuck in "a state of indecision" after the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act was passed a year ago.

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ANALYSIS: Regional house price growth higher than inflation

According to the latest data, property prices across all four UK nations are performing strongly year-on-year against inflation, writes Kate Faulkner.

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Buy-to-let exodus already hitting PRS, warns big estate agency

Landlords are selling properties five times faster than they are making purchases, a new study of the PRS reveals.

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FEATURE: CRM software platform focus: 'Property tech that stacks up'

Lisa Isaacs discovers CRMs are the foundation of the property tech stack, with integrations bringing the best software under one roof.

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BLOG: Are you ready for the compliance crunch renting reforms will create?

Outsourced property management expert, Joel Gibson-Gleave, explores the challenges posed to letting agents by rental reforms – and potential solutions.

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Landlords must not 'trouser' higher rents following EPC upgrades

Renting activist group warns that publicly funded improvements to private rental properties could end up pushing up rents and 'enriching' landlords.

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