The professional body
for the property sector

Ofgem has issued draft guidance on protections for heat network consumers, and is seeking views on the rules and requirements set out in the authorisation conditions. This includes obligations around billing clarity, complaint handling, and safeguards for vulnerable residents.

Responding to the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) consultation on the Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR), Propertymark urges better alignment of UK-wide rental data, the use of achieved rather than advertised rents, and faster income statistics to strengthen affordability analysis. Clearer explanations of methodology are needed, as well as greater transparency around Rent Officer data, and quicker publication to make the index more useful.

Propertymark has responded to HMRC’s consultation on plans to increase the fees it charges businesses it supervises under the Money Laundering Regulations, warning that higher costs could affect small, independent agents hardest and risk undermining compliance. Proposals include raising the annual premises fee from £300 to £400, reintroducing a £400 application fee, and restructuring penalty charges into a new sanction regime with fines of up to £2,000.