Bath & North East Somerset Council is consulting on a revised housing enforcement and financial penalty policy aimed at landlords, with tougher starting penalties for issues including electrical safety breaches and HMO fire standard failures. The update follows new duties and powers under the Renters Rights Act and includes the possibility of increasing penalties by 50% where aggravating factors are present.
Bath & North East Somerset Council is consulting on a tougher housing enforcement policy aimed at landlords and letting agents, with higher starting penalties for certain electrical safety breaches and HMO fire standard failures. The update reflects new duties and powers introduced through the Renters Rights Act and is intended to support fair, transparent and proportionate local enforcement.
The article argues that conveyancing firms should not trust AI tools simply because they produce fluent, confident answers. It says suppliers should be asked how accuracy was measured, against what benchmark, and how the tool performs on high-risk errors, especially where outputs are relied on as assurances.
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers has challenged a Legal Services Consumer Panel report, saying it still contains inaccuracies despite a published clarification. The dispute centres on how the BBC Panorama investigation into conditional selling and referral fees was described, and whether the CLC was unfairly linked to the practices under scrutiny.
RG Carter reported lower turnover and profit for the year to 31 December 2025, citing delays to projects starting on site and a reduced workforce. Despite the weaker trading performance, the company said its order book is stronger for 2026 and its cash position and net assets improved over the year.
Liverpool City Council has approved plans to convert the former HMRC office block at Imperial Court into 95 apartments, allowing the scheme to move toward a Gateway 2 submission to the Building Safety Regulator. The revised proposal includes changes to windows and cladding, with the ground floor retained for potential commercial uses and the scheme located within the Castle Street conservation area.
The article reports that lettings professionals are seeing more tenant complaints drafted with the help of AI, often making them longer, more complex and sometimes factually inaccurate. Industry figures say firms are adapting their complaints handling processes and using AI internally to summarise correspondence, while still relying on human review for responses.
The Property Ombudsman has said consumers will not be required to declare whether they used AI to draft a complaint. The Ombudsman is also using AI internally to manage rising complaint volumes, while warning that AI-generated submissions can make relevant evidence harder to identify and increase the burden on complaint handling.
Propertymark has called on the government to ensure housing support for private tenants better reflects actual market rents. It argues that one-off crisis payments are only a short-term safety net and that repeated freezes in Local Housing Allowance have widened the gap between support and rent levels.
Environet’s latest analysis shows Bristol remains the UK’s highest-density hotspot for Japanese knotweed for a second consecutive year, with Merseyside and Greater London also ranking highly. The article highlights the plant’s widespread presence across the UK and its potential to reduce property values and create significant economic costs.
Construction News reports that Sto Ltd has been linked to five High Court cases over historic StoTherm Classic cladding installations, with alleged losses and remediation costs exceeding £100m. The company entered administration before the claims were resolved, and administrators say they are still assessing historical cladding liabilities and the impact on unsecured creditors.
Avant has completed an agreement with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to defer building safety payments, which the company says will support liquidity. The announcement comes alongside 2025 results showing a £111m loss.
