Archive

The most predictable event of the year is underway. After months of talking about how taxes won’t rise for working people,...

Property supply has hit its highest level for eight years, Zoopla data shows. The latest Zoopla House Price Index shows the average...

A US real estate brokerage is heading to the UK, with plans to target those looking for a holiday home across...

According to the latest English Housing Survey, there were 495,000 second homes in the UK in 2018/19 – a figure said...

Is it really just a year ago that we were nervously wondering whether yet another Christmas would be Covid-affected? Little did we...

Around one-third of properties on the portals are ‘fake listings,’ it has been claimed. Industry analyst Charlie Lamdin, founder of estate agency...

The current period of national solidarity over the death of Queen Elizabeth II has embraced the world of property as it...

Some people will say: What problem? But they are getting fewer as the detrimental effect of increasing numbers of short lets on...

The Agency UK – which was set up by three ex-employees of Purplebricks – has strengthened its team with the arrival...

In this guest piece, Colum Smith, a property expert at law firm Taylor Rose MW, sets out why speedier transactions could...

A new service launched in the UK this week selling one-eight to one-half ownership of luxury holiday homes insists it is...

Owners of second homes who abuse a tax loophole by claiming their often-empty properties are holiday lets will be forced to...

A pilot scheme has been announced to test ways of limiting second home ownership and reducing the impact additional properties have...

There is pressure growing in Brighton for the city to hold a referendum giving residents the opportunity to ban new build...

A stamp duty surcharge which has been labelled ‘forgotten’ because of its low profile has nonetheless bagged £45m for HM Treasury in...

By the time I next write this column, we’ll be just days before the next Budget and Autumn Statement. So I’ll...

A government report suggests that house prices are rising at three times the national rate in some rural and coastal areas...

A leading agency says the new normal likely to establish itself in the housing market after the end of the stamp...

The hybrid agency Paton & Co is moving into new territories in Berwickshire and Northumberland. The company has been Borders-based since launching...

Media reports over the weekend suggest the government is preparing a triple whammy - three measures which may reduce the number...

A prominent property consultancy is urging the government to ensure that holiday home owners pay more tax.  Colliers claims local authorities are...

The former leader of the Liberal Democrats is calling for a ban on family homes being used for holiday lets and...

There’s gathering momentum to do ‘something’ about the unfairness of council tax and stamp duty. This isn’t new in principle. Agents have...

At first sight it’s a tough ask to defend holiday homes when there’s evidence that many who want to buy can’t,...

The possible introduction of higher levels of Capital Gains Tax for the sale of buy to let, holiday homes or even...

A first-time-buyer couple in a part of the country renowned for its second homes and shortage of stock has praised a...

An agent in part of the UK with the strongest seller’s market claims the stock shortage is the worst he’s seen...

There’s a warning this morning that possible tax reforms to be unveiled next Monday could wreak huge damage on the property...

Tax experts suggest the widely expected reform of Capital Gains Tax is unlikely to be announced in tomorrow’s Budget - at...

An estate agency is being criticised for marketing properties as second homes in an area reportedly suffering a housing shortage. Local media...

The shock and almost immediate increase in stamp duty on additional homes in Wales has prompted one question in the industry...

Hello and welcome to yet another Agents Do Charity, the weekly forum for the industry to share its good news on...

If you’re in any way connected to estate agency all it takes is a quick glance at Facebook or LinkedIn to...

Hefty increases in taxes on the purchase and sale of holiday homes and buy to let properties are expected in the...

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed that the First Homes scheme will provide newly built homes at a 30 per cent...

A property tax specialist is warning that sellers of buy to lets or holiday homes may have to estimate their own...

Another west country tourist hotspot looks set to ban any future new-build home being sold as a holiday or additional property. Bigbury...

The Police and Crime Commissioner for an area with thousands of holiday homes wants their owners to make them available to...

Another westcountry town may ban new-build homes being sold as holiday properties, even though the idea has backfired elsewhere. Fowey in Cornwall -...

After a challenging period for the UK property market, recovery is very much on the cards and the end to uncertainty...

Humberts has signed off in bizarre style leaving only false contact details on its website. The historic agency - which closed several...

Humberts' experiment rejecting branches and promoting a supposedly one-stop-shop for property related services has failed with reports that the firm is likely...

There used to be a consolation for some estate agents at this time of year - while it was wintry and...

A tax expert is urging owners of second homes, as well as property investors and existing landlords, to seek independent financial...

Cash buyers have fallen in 90 per cent of major UK cities over the past three years according to a Zoopla...

As an agent, it’s part of your role to protect and advise your clients throughout the buying and selling process. Mortgages are...

A distinctly autumnal storm seems to be gripping the UK for the early part of the weekend but as ever, nothing...

Conservative Party leadership contender Boris Johnson has expressed an interest in switching the stamp duty burden from buyers to sellers. Until now Johnson’s comments on...

If former Chancellor George Osborne thought his 2014 stamp duty reform would produce more income for the government, it appears he...

The holiday home market may still be struggling in the wake of the three per cent additional homes stamp duty surcharge...

A business rates tax break which benefits holiday home owners is to be reviewed by ministers, who have now launched a formal...

Few things anger the industry more than the effect of stamp duty and other costs on property transactions (well, maybe Purplebricks...

Figures released by HMRC over the weekend show another huge rise in stamp duty going to the Treasury - and that’s...

Sales of holiday homes could be hit as a result of a new £560m tax proposal put forward by Labour.  Under the...

Part of the South Hams area, a popular tourist hotspot in south Devon, has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a ban...

The three per cent stamp duty additional properties surcharge is to blame for tumbling house prices in some of Britain’s holiday...

Holiday home sales in one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations are holding up, despite stamp duty and the age...

British politics is extraordinarily volatile right now and the ongoing battle between austerity and anti-austerity, Leave and Remain, and Conservative and...

Pressure is continuing to build on the government to reform stamp duty in next month’s Budget. Firstly a group of senior financial...

The two main political parties have squared up to each other over the issue of increasing council tax on second homes...

Luxury global estate agency Sotheby's International Realty has expanded its operation in Italy. The firm has opened a new office in the...

Two more local referendums have, as expected, agreed neighbourhood plans which ban the sale of new-build homes to anyone other than...

Residents in two parts of Cornwall will vote tomorrow on whether to join the holiday resort of St Ives in banning...

An analysis by Savills shows that so-called ‘additional homes’ - that is, those carrying a three per cent stamp duty surcharge...

A solicitor has asked how the ban on the sale of new-build apartments and houses to holiday home buyers in a...

The result of a referendum in a tourist hotspot seeking a ban on the sale of new-build flats and houses to...

A key decision that may have far-reaching implications for the sale of holiday homes has been delayed by a High Court...

Some of this week’s headlines - ‘Firms must list foreign workers’ and ‘NHS to no longer rely on foreign doctors’ -...

Next week sees a court case which will decide whether there will have to be a re-run of the ‘second homes...

The highest number of second homes in UK local authority areas exist not in the south west, the Lake District or...

Many people think property a better prospect than a pension when it comes to long term financial security in retirement -...

Knight Frank is warning that it will “take time” for the three per cent stamp duty surcharge to be absorbed into...

There is likely to be an October court date set for a judicial review into a ban on new-build houses and...

A report says agents in the Cornish holiday home haven of St Ives admit the local market has been hit by...

An estate agent has been ordered by a court to pay more than £7,500 after admitting advertising holiday homes as permanent...

With the new Formula One season now well underway, we delve into the fast lane to take you on a whirlwind...

Countrywide says it is too early to say whether the stamp duty surcharge introduced in the spring has had any significant...

An estate agency chief operating in an area where there are high levels of holiday home ownership has stood up for...

When it comes to Budgets and Property, you have to hope that the old adage that ‘things happen in threes’ turns...

Scotland’s Land & Building Transaction Tax - its more radical replacement for stamp duty which still applies throughout the rest of...

Fine & Country and JLL have both announced they are expanding their business in Portugal.  Fine & Country has just opened its...

There’s been plenty of forecasting in recent weeks - banks, consultancies and high-end estate agents have predicted house prices in the...

The Scottish finance minister John Swinney is to introduce a three per cent surcharge on the full purchase price above £40,000...

- From April 2016 buy to let landlords and people buying second or holiday homes will have to pay an additional...

Poldark, a period drama recently on the BBC, has inspired a new trend dubbed the 'Poldark Effect'.  Rather than an increase in...