News

Britain's tenancy deposit bill is worse than we thought

Thursday, October 26, 2017

The total value of cash lost to the British economy through tenancy deposits has rocketed to £4.1b – a rise of 22%. Figures obtained from the Department of Communities and Local Government by KIS' partners at deposit free renting firm Dlighted as part of the #ditchthedeposit campaign show that as of March 31 this year the total c...

£850,000 of deposits stolen by crooked landlords and letting agents so far this year

Thursday, October 19, 2017

The total value of renter’s deposit cash stolen by crooked letting agents and landlords this year is edging closer to £1m. Landlords and letting agents have been convicted of stealing almost £850,000 of tenancy deposits so far in 2017– with the average theft totalling almost £50,000. Renting reformer and zero depos...

Transferring tenancy deposits - passporting the problem elsewhere?

Thursday, October 12, 2017

A leading property campaigner believes proposals to allow renters to transfer tenancy deposits between properties are to be welcomed – but will ultimately do little to improve the reality of renting

North East house prices 5% higher than this time last year

Friday, October 6, 2017

KIS Housing NOW – Housing North of Watford - pulls together the most authoritative and up-to-the-minute data and the expert market analysis of the KIS Intelligence Service to give you an indispensable guide to the state of the North East property market.

Universal Credit “latest thread to landlords”

Friday, September 29, 2017

Landlords are being warned to brace themselves for the rollout of flagship welfare reforms – with almost four in ten landlords suffering from unpaid rent following the introduction of Universal Credit. Renting reform campaigner Ajay Jagota,founder of KIS Group, was the first landlord in the UK to abolish tenancy deposits. The creator o...

Renters are most at risk from Britain’s debt mountain – and deposits are “threatening tenancies”

Friday, September 22, 2017

More and more renters are being forced to borrow money just to make ends meet – and one property campaigner believes landlords and letting agents are putting tenancies at risk by continuing to ask for deposits. The Financial Conduct Authority this week revealed that British households have run up a combined £200bn of unsecured consu...

Deposit-free renting: The simple solution to cutting Britain’s £20bn housing benefit bill

Friday, September 15, 2017

The government spends four times as much on housing benefits as it does on building houses – and Britain’s most innovative property boss has a simple idea for how we can get the UK’s £20bn housing benefit bill down. Rent reform campaigner and KIS managing director Ajay Jagota believes the UK’s £3.5bn tenancy d...

Deposit establishment “waving the white flag” says campaigner

Friday, September 8, 2017

A deposit protection service’s “deathbed conversion” to deposit-free renting and another’s decision to urge users to abandon insurance-backed tenancy deposit schemes has been described by one campaigner as “definite and decisive proof that the deposit establishment knows the game is up” DPS managing director Ju...

North East house prices £10,000 up on this time last year as Parliament returns

Friday, September 1, 2017

•    Average home worth £9137 more less at the end of July than at the end of June •    Property values rise 1.1% - after falling in five of the last six months. •    Prices rising fastest in Durham City, Killingworth, Houghton-le-Spring and North Shields, with Peterlee properties r...

The Housing Act at 10: Is it time to scrap “Frankenstein” law?

Saturday, August 26, 2017

The Housing Act has just celebrated its 10th birthday – and one renting campaigner believes the legislation has “outlived its usefulness...assuming it ever had any”. 2007 saw the Housing Act 2004 come into force in England and Wales, requiring every landlord or letting agent requiring a deposit to place it in a tenancy deposit s...