One key point of difference in the parties’ housing policies during the recent general election campaign was that the Conservative Party...
Archive
Moving further away from family, friends and familiar places to get onto the property ladder is becoming more common for first-time...
08 August 2024
From: Breaking News
While housing is a devolved matter, ESPC hopes that the promises made by Labour in the recent general election might help...
13 July 2024
From: Features
Under the strain of a housing crisis, the UK faces a severe shortage of affordable homes. This is further emphasised by...
10 July 2024
From: Breaking News
Institutional investors and "for-profit" registered providers are set to play an increasingly vital role in tackling the UK's affordable housing crisis,...
29 June 2024
From: Features
A political party is pledging that if elected it will make every home in the UK have an EPC rating of...
13 June 2024
From: Breaking News
So we’ve been sent the ‘Save The Date’ card - it’s July 4. Now all we need is the invitation to the...
25 May 2024
From: Features
The Labour Party has committed to building 1.5m new homes across the country over the next parliament. Shadow Housing Secretary Angela Rayner...
22 May 2024
From: Breaking News
Propertymark, the leading membership body for property agents has written to London Mayor candidates highlighting proposals to tackle the unique housing...
30 April 2024
From: Breaking News
There’s been broad support from within the agency and wider property sectors for Labour’s proposal to build on selected parts of...
22 April 2024
From: Breaking News
Today, I am reflecting on the Chancellor’s surprise Spring budget decision to abolish multiple dwellings relief for Stamp Duty Land Tax...
16 March 2024
From: Features
Landowners seeking to sell their land for development will have to adjust their expectations as the market, the planning system and...
30 December 2023
From: Features
Agents are securing sales closer to asking price but properties are taking longer to sell, new data suggests. Analysis by Hamptons, using...
05 October 2023
From: Breaking News
Price reductions have reached their highest level in at least nine years according to estate agency Hamptons. Some 50 per cent of...
08 August 2023
From: Breaking News
A recent poll of 11,000 private renters by SpareRooom reveals that 81% spend more than 30% of their take-home pay on...
22 July 2023
From: Features
Two all-party groups of MPs and Peers have called on the government to act to turn empty buildings into good quality,...
10 July 2023
From: Breaking News
High borrowing costs and an uncertain economic outlook remaining the main challenges for homebuyers, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)...
11 May 2023
From: Breaking News
An award-winning charity will cut the cost of homeownership in Wigan by up to £10,000, by offering buyers the chance to...
22 April 2023
From: Features
The Labour Party has outlined three ways it will help first-time buyers onto the housing ladder as it ramps up its...
12 April 2023
From: Breaking News
A high-profile charity is calling for a Stamp Duty overhaul, local buyer restrictions and extra charges on property purchases by landlords...
24 February 2023
From: Breaking News
Should commercial properties be converted into homes? I think so. I don’t mean the upscale barns becoming large houses, or the fashionable...
28 January 2023
From: Features
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will have a go at balancing the nation’s books today and the main thing agents seem to want...
17 November 2022
From: Breaking News
And…breathe. For a while back there, the only certainty for the housing market was uncertainty. That isn’t to say the election of Rishi...
29 October 2022
From: Features
Analysis: What did Boris Johnson do for the UK property market during his 3 years as Prime Minister?
Time is up for Boris Johnson's tenure as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, serving 3 years and 44...
17 September 2022
From: Features
Some people will say: What problem? But they are getting fewer as the detrimental effect of increasing numbers of short lets on...
03 September 2022
From: Features
Zoopla has teamed up with homelessness charity Crisis to help campaign for reform of housing benefits and to tackle the affordable...
25 August 2022
From: Breaking News
Too many leaseholders will fall through the cracks of the government’s “piecemeal measures” to combat the cladding crisis. That’s the view of...
16 March 2022
From: Breaking News
A developer has converted a 1979s office block into flats which are now being sold as £180,000 to £215,000 work from...
10 March 2022
From: Breaking News
A campaigning MP is to meet with a government minister to discuss controls and disincentives for second homes. Former Liberal Democrat MP...
15 February 2022
From: Breaking News
A poll of Conservative voters shows strong majorities for higher taxes on second homes and empty properties, and tougher demands on...
07 February 2022
From: Breaking News
A pilot scheme has been announced to test ways of limiting second home ownership and reducing the impact additional properties have...
25 November 2021
From: Breaking News
In the Autumn Budget on Wednesday 27 October, very few impending tax hikes were revealed by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak –...
06 November 2021
From: Features
We’ve probably all learned to be a little less cynical about politicians in recent weeks, given the tragic events. We perhaps...
30 October 2021
From: Features
At first glance, Rishi Sunak’s Budget speech earlier this week didn’t offer much from a property perspective. But digging down a little...
30 October 2021
From: Features
Agents trade body Propertymark has given its verdict on yesterday’s Budget with this statement - “Some good news but it leaves...
28 October 2021
From: Breaking News
There’s been some cynicism amongst the industry in response to new homes promises made by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in yesterday’s Budget. Sunak...
28 October 2021
From: Breaking News
The Budget has proven more generous than many expected - and with most property taxation left unchanged. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has made...
27 October 2021
From: Breaking News
A property quango wants industry experts to join its board - and will pay £25,000 a year for what it calls...
22 July 2021
From: Breaking News
Local elections rarely set the pulse racing and this year’s poll on Thursday faces a similar problem. But this time, it’s a...
01 May 2021
From: Features
Rarely do Budgets produce positive sentiments from the agency industry but Chancellor Rishi Sunak appears to have won widespread support for...
04 March 2021
From: Breaking News
The high-end housing market on Jersey has been rocked by a plan from the island’s government which may ban foreign investors from...
08 February 2021
From: Breaking News
A scathing document produced by MPs slams the government for its “deplorable” housing policies which are "invented, abandoned and reinvented" -...
09 December 2020
From: Breaking News
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has resisted changing any property taxes in the short term, but has used his Spending Review statement to...
25 November 2020
From: Breaking News
Labour’s shadow housing minister has revealed that it will be two years at least before the party sets out its long-term...
28 August 2020
From: Breaking News
Labour’s long-standing housing spokesman, John Healey, has been moved to become shadow defence secretary on the front bench of new leader...
07 April 2020
From: Breaking News
There will be a two per cent stamp duty surcharge on the purchase of UK investment properties by non-resident overseas buyers...
11 March 2020
From: Breaking News
The HomeOwners Alliance, a leading property consumer group, has now suggested it has some concerns about the government’s First Homes scheme. This...
11 February 2020
From: Breaking News
Not for the first time, a government policy on housing ends up begging more questions than it provides answers - but...
08 February 2020
From: Features
The government has given details of a scheme allowing 30 per cent reductions for what it calls ‘local first time buyers’...
19 December 2019
From: Breaking News
With Brexit still unresolved, the domestic agenda has been pushed from the headlines by the seemingly overwhelming public and political discord...
07 December 2019
From: Features
Labour is pledging a “housing revolution” with the biggest council house building programme for decades Its manifesto being launched today will include new...
21 November 2019
From: Breaking News
One of London’s leading estate and lettings agents has criticised the government over what he calls its “pitiful” record on affordable...
07 November 2019
From: Breaking News
Estate agent turned Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake has provoked a furious response on social media by coming out in favour of...
30 August 2019
From: Breaking News
There has been a sceptical response by agents and others in the property industry to the government’s latest headline-grabbing tweaks to...
29 August 2019
From: Breaking News
Britain lives in fundamentalist black-and-white times - all the more surprising when the country's most divisive point of contention sits on...
22 June 2019
From: Features
There’s been a mixed response to the government’s surprise announcement that it would make permanent the right of home owners to...
28 May 2019
From: Breaking News
The issue of ‘intergenerational fairness’ has been raised in recent weeks, some might say somewhat ironically by a House of Lords’...
04 May 2019
From: Features
It’s no secret that the UK’s housing sector is in crisis. Headlines scream about the shortage of new-build homes. TV pundits...
30 March 2019
From: Features
Estate agents have responded cynically to the small-fry property sector announcements made by Chancellor Phillip Hammond in yesterday’s spring statement mini-Budget. Overshadowed...
14 March 2019
From: Breaking News
Communities have missed out on more than 10,000 affordable homes in the past three years as a result of government rules...
29 November 2018
From: Breaking News
Any day now we’ll hear the date for the Autumn Budget: it may be delayed to wait for a Brexit deal...
15 September 2018
From: Features
Labour says stamp duty receipts and other tax income from properties in the capital should go to the Mayor, Sadiq Kahn,...
31 July 2018
From: Breaking News
A housing association has launched its own online agency which offers to sell vendors' homes for £275. Capsel Homes, based in Mamhilad,...
29 May 2018
From: Breaking News
One day, I’ll sit down to write for Estate Agent Today and I won’t express my dismay at the lack of...
24 March 2018
From: Features
Chancellor Phillip Hammond claims over 60,000 first time buyers have already benefitted from the stamp duty relief he announced at his...
13 March 2018
From: Breaking News
An estate agent and former chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says the government’s latest drive to build new...
06 March 2018
From: Breaking News
This week, news broke of the ‘first bitcoin homes’ being sold in the UK by Go Move, an estate agency in...
20 December 2017
From: Breaking News
New Zealand’s new Labour prime minister elect has banned non-resident foreigners from buying existing homes anywhere in the country in a...
26 October 2017
From: Breaking News
It has been revealed that the beleaguered government of Theresa May is to hold a summit at 10 Downing Street tomorrow...
16 October 2017
From: Breaking News
And so concludes another party conference season. We’ve followed the great and the good (both terms are debatable) around Torbay, Bournemouth,...
07 October 2017
From: Features
The Conservative party, in a press statement released to clarify comments made by Theresa May, says the government’s proposed extra £2...
05 October 2017
From: Breaking News
The two main political parties have squared up to each other over the issue of increasing council tax on second homes...
11 August 2017
From: Breaking News
Facebook has finally released more details about its previously announced plans to build 1,500 homes, 30 miles south of San Francisco,...
12 July 2017
From: Breaking News
Government schemes like Help To Buy, supposedly assisting more people get on the ladder, have little impact on improving social mobility...
04 July 2017
From: Breaking News
Theresa May’s call for a snap general election on June 8 took many by surprise. But estate agents have been broadly...
03 June 2017
From: Features
This might just be one of the busiest Agents Do Charity columns we’ve ever had with many firms having a mixture...
19 May 2017
From: Breaking News
Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his first Budget this week pledging extra funding for the NHS, transport in the Midlands and the...
11 March 2017
From: Features
A chronic shortage of affordable housing is forcing councils to spend more than £2m a day on temporary accommodation for homeless...
06 March 2017
From: Breaking News
The East Midlands, which consists of several areas including Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, and much of Lincolnshire, has an ancient...
11 February 2017
From: Features
Over 168,000 new homes were completed in the year to March 2016, according to data released by the government, over 15,500...
28 January 2017
From: Features
The East of England, which takes in areas from Hertfordshire to Norfolk, has recorded the biggest hike in property prices over...
28 January 2017
From: Features
One of Britain’s best known housing innovators says he may just have found one way of helping overcome the UK’s shortage...
13 December 2016
From: Breaking News
In case you missed it yesterday, here’s a summary of everything relating to property that was in Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s Autumn...
24 November 2016
From: Breaking News
Phillip Hammond has delivered his first Autumn Statement, tackling amongst other things, what he called “the housing challenge.” The speech made no...
23 November 2016
From: Breaking News
Forecasts are a tricky business. And as I wrote in a recent Industry Views opinion piece, any prediction in the current...
19 November 2016
From: Features
As many northern cities struggled to recover from the 2008 global financial crisis, the north-south divide returned to plague the British...
28 October 2016
From: Features
London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan says some 270,000 homes in London have been granted planning permission but have not yet been...
25 October 2016
From: Breaking News
Tomorrow, June 8, is the closing date for submissions to the Labour Party’s latest consultation on housing policy: it is seeking...
07 June 2016
From: Breaking News
The new mayor of London Sadiq Khan has pledged to do all in his power to help make London “better” after...
12 May 2016
From: Features
The race to replace London Mayor Boris Johnson has entered its final few days, and like never before, housing is the...
29 April 2016
From: Features
Government figures claim almost 50,000 households in council and other forms of social housing have taken up their Right To Buy...
29 March 2016
From: Breaking News
An agency which specialises in land is calling on local councils to play a greater part in the push to create...
17 March 2016
From: Breaking News
A suggestion that up to 50 per cent of new homes built in London should be affordable has come in for...
03 February 2016
From: Breaking News
In an unexpected announcement, the government says it will "directly commission" companies to build up to 13,000 new affordable homes on...
05 January 2016
From: Breaking News
George Osborne has announced a shock additional 3.0 per cent stamp duty on second homes and buy to let properties. Details are...
25 November 2015
From: Breaking News
The head of a central London property firm says an unintended consequence of the new stamp duty thresholds is that fewer...
20 November 2015
From: Breaking News
Over the next five years at least 70,000 new households a year in England alone will be unable to afford to...
17 November 2015
From: Breaking News
The Town and Country Planning Association has plunged itself into the debate over Britain’s housing, saying that younger people unable to...
05 November 2015
From: Breaking News
Scotland’s home building industry says at least 100,000 homes of all tenures are needed by the end of the next Scottish...