Quick news updates

Fraudsters are using AI to create entire fake tenant identities – complete with bogus employers, doctored ID and invented referees – to slip past referencing checks.

Research from LRG found 93% of landlords had received no pet request since the new right came into force. Of those surveyed, 6% had approved a request, 0.8% had one under consideration and fewer than 0.3% had refused one.

Mary Kelly Foy  is among a group of MPs that have been handed new positions under recently appointed prime minister Andy Burnham. Her new job will be as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook.

A total of £104.3million was recovered from 11,511 property owners in 2025 to 2026, the highest in seven years, after ‘nudge letters’ were issued by the tax agency.

A survey of 1,000 UK landlords found that 77% believe tenant fraud has increased, with 39% saying it has become significantly more common and a further 38% reporting it has become somewhat more common.

Selling a rental property has become “too much of a risk” under the Renters’ Rights Act, according to one property sector specialist, after recent figures showed landlord purchases overtook sales for the first time since 2019.

A new requirement that if a landlord or letting agent chooses to carry out a digital Right to Rent check through a third-party provider, it must be a government-registered Right to Rent Digital Verification Service Provider (RtR DVSP).

Andy Burnham has outlined plans for what he described as the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war period as part of his first major speech since announcing his bid to become the next prime minister.

NRLA warns landlords and agents to check licences renewal dates, with hundreds prosecuted since Rent Smart Wales was launched.

The government has announced landlords will face on-the-spot fines of £7,000 for severe damp and mould, as well as for broken-down boilers during freezing temperatures.

The government has announced potential changes to the tenancy deposit protection system, including plans to remove insured deposit schemes.

Cleaning remained the leading cause of tenancy deposit disputes last year, accounting for almost three in 10 claims, according to new figures from The Deposit Protection Service (DPS).