Archive

We’ve probably all had enough of people campaigning in recent weeks but I have to admit to one disappointment with the...

Fintech firm CLSQ has launched a tool to give mortgage lenders access to real-time Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data. The product, called...

Anyone who has ever bought or sold a house, knows the frustration and disappointment when a sale falls through. The excitement of...

The task of obtaining material information is more difficult than it appears for estate agents, Rightmove has warned. The portal revealed in...

Estate agency regulation is needed to help improve the homebuying and selling process, MPs have been told. The first hearing of the...

MPs are set to begin their inquiry into improving the home buying and selling process today. The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities...

A veteran PropTech figure with extensive experience of working at leading estate and sales agencies has told the government to act...

Propertymark has urged the UK Government to consider other ways of boosting the supply of homes for purchase.  The Government has two...

MPs have launched an inquiry on improving the home buying and selling process in England. The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC)...

Property professionals have called for the Government to allocate its promised £3m towards improving the home buying and selling process to...

As the world marches relentlessly forward to 2024, the government’s flagship legislation for the private rented sector (PRS) remains in limbo. This...

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLHUC) has hit back at media claims about its housebuilding targets. The Times newspaper...

The United Kingdom stands on the precipice of a historic overhaul in property ownership. With the King's speech unveiling the anticipated...

By Neil Cobbold Recent data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show that 24,260 households served a valid Section...

All new houses in England and Wales will have to be sold as freehold properties under government plans to phase out...

What a waste. Islington council announced in recent days that it will buy back 310 ex-council houses this winter, to add to...

Housing supply rather than the private rented sector (PRS) made the headlines during the Conservative and Labour Party conferences this year...

The Labour Party is being urged to take the lead on estate agency regulation and help driving up standards in the...

A Labour council has revealed that it’s bought 15 open market homes, beefed up  their energy efficiency and will use them...

MPs have expressed “concern and disappointment” at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) for its persistent poor performance...

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has been urged to reveal its current assessment of the risk of...

The Government’s First Homes Scheme is set to be the first state-backed initiative to use digital property logbooks. It comes after a...

Labour’s Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner is to add the housing brief to her deputy leader role. She takes over from Lisa Nandy...

The term mixed-tenure development usually refers to residential developments where different residential tenures are provided on the same site. Typically, tenure was...

I recently wrote that the long-gestating Renters Reform Bill, finally introduced in Parliament back in May, could be poorly timed, both...

Propertymark has written to the Government to ask why attempts to protect leaseholders are being ignored. It comes as the Earl of...

Housing Minister Rachel Maclean MP is probably looking forward to her summer break this year. But wherever she's going and whatever she's...

MPs have cast doubt on the Government’s ability to achieve its target of 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s...

Sleight of hand, optical illusion, card up the sleeve – we all love a good conjuring trick, don’t we? And they say...

A Propertymark-supported amendment that aimed to bolster support for leaseholders in unsafe buildings failed to gain approval in the House of...

The important issue of hard-to-sell inherited properties has been raised in Parliament. Labour MP Zarah Sultana issued a written question asking what...

We’re only in February and it’s already clear that this year will set the future direction of the private rented sector...

Lucy Frazer became the 13th Housing Minister to leave the role in the past decade yesterday after she was promoted to...

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and ex-Home Secretary Priti Patel had around three years in Government to sort out housing but...

As we get ever closer to 2023, this final Natter of the year is dedicated to the five biggest property moments of...

The Government has been urged to revise its plans for affordable housing as MPs warn it is set to fall short...

The Government has officially watered-down proposals for mandatory local housebuilding targets as it brings its flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill...

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday repeated previously debunked claims that the Government is building record numbers of homes. Housebuilding have returned to...

The Government has unveiled a pilot scheme aimed to help more flat owners whose homes have become unsafe and, in some...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has committed to look into issues with the Building Safety Act after MPs claimed leaseholders and Help to...

Estate agents could face new transaction delays after the Land Registry and its Scottish equivalent were among Government departments and civil...

The Government’s latest Housing Minister Lucy Frazer brings plenty of property experience as a landlord and has also indirectly received donations...

MP for South East Cambridgeshire Lucy Frazer has been confirmed as the latest Housing Minister as part of a department reshuffle. Michael...

Given their leading role in the recent upfront information revolution, interest in the work of the National Trading Standards Estate &...

Rishi Sunak may have been Prime Minister for under a week but he has already received the Full Fact treatment. Speaking at...

Recent political changes – and there have been quite a few in recent weeks – have brought about something of a...

Michael Gove has returned to frontline politics and his previous role as Levelling Up and Housing Secretary. He is among the new...

A week-long race to be the next Conservative Party leader and the Prime Minister kicks off this week, or may already...

Simon Clarke is set for his first grilling by MPs as Levelling Up and Housing Secretary. Clarke will be questioned by the...

Seven adverts pushing the Government’s flagship levelling up policy have been banned. The advertising watchdog censured the Department for Levelling Up, Housing...

Who would be in the shoes of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng? I don’t mean who would like their power, pay and...

There has been an understandable focus on things other than Government since the death of Queen Elizabeth was announced, but Prime...

New Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is expected to unveil the Government’s so-called “plan for growth” today during a mini-Budget. The property market is...

The government is being urged to close the "revolving doors" of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to...

First off, my own quick tribute to the Queen, who died on Thursday afternoon aged 96. Despite her age and declining...

New Housing Secretary Simon Clarke may be an unknown entity to many agents but he has a track record of supporting...

Simon Clarke has been confirmed as the new Housing Secretary in the Cabinet of new Prime Minister Liz Truss this evening. He...

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

MPs have criticised the lack of detail in the government’s flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill when it comes to housebuilding...

Jacob Rees-Mogg is reportedly being lined up as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities should Liz Truss win...

On 23 June 2022, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) released its English Private Landlord Survey, the first...

The government is being urged to not just treat housebuilding as a numbers game. It comes as the Department for Levelling Up,...

A senior member of the Home Buying and Selling Group has insisted work on reforms is ongoing despite the ministerial merry-go-round...

People in prominent positions in the housing industry aren’t always perfect role models. After all, Chris Pincher was housing minister for...

Independent agent Barrows and Forrester has called for the appointment of a housing tsar for a fixed term as yet another...

New rules on leasehold homes came in this week, banning ground rents on new leases but a property expert warns this...

It’s often fashionable to criticise trade bodies and official groups, but right now I think that’s absolutely inappropriate. In well over 20...

The government has launched a new equity loan scheme for the self-build market. The Help to Build scheme aims to help thousands...

The government’s new Right to Buy policy for housing association tenants appeared to unravel last night after the Housing Secretary said...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove and minister Stuart Andrew are set to be grilled by MPs on their property market plans today. The...

Property professionals and MPs were left wanting more after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s much-anticipated housing announcements yesterday. Johnson yesterday promised a review...

Propertymark has expressed hope that the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will help boost much needed agency supply. The trade body has...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently announced that he is considering extending Margaret Thatcher’s Right-to-Buy scheme, that gives council tenants the chance to...

The property industry is fortunate in including many great people, doing great work across a range of businesses – from traditional agency...

You will hopefully have seen that the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 has now received its Royal Assent, meaning it...

Propertymark has given its backing to the ban on ground rents for new leasehold properties and has reminded agents of their...

Too many leaseholders will fall through the cracks of the government’s “piecemeal measures” to combat the cladding crisis.  That’s the view of...

The government has now formally launched the Homes For Ukraine scheme, heavily leaked in recent days. The Secretary of State for Levelling...

A new housing minister has been named this afternoon, to replace Chris Pincher. Stuart Andrew has been confirmed by Downing Street as...

A leading estate agency figure has hit back at a lawyer’s claim that agents who use exclusivity agreements are “shysters”.  Last week...

The Property Ombudsman should ban agents from using so-called exclusivity agreements on sales, claims a law firm.  Donal Blaney, founder of Griffin...

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

Estate Agent Today understands that the civil servant who has been at the heart of plans to reform the house buying...

Leaseholders in lower-rise blocks of flats will not have to take out loans to remove dangerous cladding under new government rules...

The government is clamping down - at least a little - on unvaccinated buyers and tenants in some specific circumstances.  New guidelines...

A company linked to the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower is being excluded from the government’s Help to Buy scheme, pending the outcome...

Propertymark has criticised the government over poor house building figures. New figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show...

Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer has promoted housing minister Lucy Powell to a more senior position after just six months. This leaves...

It’s been a busy and arguably fruitful year for the property market, with an eager consumer base pushing forwards with their...

There’s been a very low expression of interest in Commonhold, despite the government pushing the new tenure as an alternative to...

Leading politicians operating in the housing industry have paid tribute to murdered backbencher Sir David Amess. Housing Secretary Michael Gove tweeted: “David...

There’s good news and bad news from the shake-up in government ministers and ministries that was presented to the nation last...

A leading planning consultancy has claimed that ‘the myth’ that housing developers are hoarding land after gaining planning consent in order...

Affordability has always been a hot topic when it comes to the property market, and this is doubly true for first-time...

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has changed its name to reflect the government’s levelling up agenda. The department’s...

Beleaguered Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is under growing pressure to explain his part in a planning decision - now deemed illegal...

The leasehold scandal has received plenty of press coverage, with horror stories of people living in homes that are impossible to...

One of the three government-approved redress schemes for estate and letting agents says it’s quitting the sector this year - but...