Archive

Property professionals have called for cross-party support and stability when it comes to housing policy under the new Labour Government after...

With a historic majority for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party, there can be no doubt over which party will be...

It’s all over bar the voting, so let’s cut to the chase. Labour will win on July 4, big time. Even a...

You may not have realised, but yesterday, the new government’s housing policy was agreed. No, I’m not talking about the new ‘Freedom...

In what are some of the biggest changes to the residential leasehold sector in the last 21 years since the Commonhold...

The chairperson of the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has hit back at the Government’s approach – or lack of...

Online agent turned property PR guru Russell Quirk has set out his solution to solving the housing crisis. Speaking on the latest...

Housing minister Jacob Young recently scotched rumours that the property portal proposed in the Renters (Reform) Bill would remove the need...

You don’t have to be a mind-reader to believe there will be a large majority Labour government by the end of...

Propertymark has welcomed the reappointment of Julie James as the new Welsh Housing Minister. Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at...

Attempts to get the long-awaited Regulation of Property Agents (ROPA) rules introduced into the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill have failed. The...

Last weekend, Levelling Up and Housing Secretary, Michael Gove wrote in the Sunday Times that the nation’s housing crisis was so...

UK property professionals should look to Norway when assessing how to improve the home buying process, a housing minister has claimed. Speaking...

Sir Simon Clarke’s call for Rishi Sunak to be ousted from Downing Street may well express what many of his MP...

Estate agency regulations and minimum standards may finally see the light of day after Labour put forward amendments to the Government’s...

Parliamentary news may have been dominated by the fallout from the Rwanda Bill yesterday but another important piece of legislation also...

There is rarely a quiet year in the property market. And 2023 has felt like the usual rollercoaster at times. On...

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill passed its second reading in Parliament last night. Housing minister Lee Rowley pledged that the legislation...

A lawyer has called for Help to Buy to be resurrected in the Autumn Statement. Paul Sams, head of property at Dutton...

I read an interesting report the other day about the role AI is set to play in the future of the...

The Government appears to have gone through so many housing ministers that it is now repeating them. Lee Rowley was appointed as...

Lee Rowley has returned as housing minister. The reappointment comes after Rachel Maclean was sacked this morning and follows reports that the...

Rachel Maclean has been sacked as housing minister as part of today's Cabinet reshuffle. Maclean had replaced Lucy Frazer as housing minister...

Propertymark has written to the Housing Secretary Michael Gove to reiterate its longstanding call for regulation of property agents. The agency trade...

Propertymark has given its backing to commitments from the Housing Minister on the long-awaited next steps of leasehold reform. Timothy Douglas, head...

The Labour Party has committed to introducing the Regulation of Property Agents (ROPA) rules if it wins next year’s General Election. Shadow...

I'll start with a confession. I am not an estate agent - I'm a marketer. But since I joined the industry...

It was a genuine pleasure to read this week about Yorkshire estate agent Ian Bradbury who clocked up 40 years selling...

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

It may be all change - again - at the Department of Levelling Up, Communities and Local Government if media speculation...

Two former housing ministers have criticised the Government for scrapping housebuilding targets. The Government officially watered-down proposals for mandatory local housebuilding targets...

A new survey suggests the overwhelming majority of the public are critical of the government’s apparent housing failures. A study of 1,323...

The issue of conditional selling in estate agency has hit Westminster. There have been several reports in recent months about agents requiring...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has signalled that legislation to allow for further leasehold reform will be included in the next parliamentary...

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

Lucy Frazer has been promoted from Housing Minister to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in Rishi Sunak’s latest...

Conservative MPs are continuing to question when new estate agency regulations will come in as the Government sticks to its stock...

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

It’s been a year since Housing Secretary Michael Gove declared that was “morally wrong” that leaseholders should pay to fix unsafe...

Usually, I enter January with a spring in my step - optimistic about what the future holds.  Two years ago, after the...

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

Over the later part of 2022, we have experienced unprecedented economic and political turmoil, which will remain as we head into...

Measures to deliver new homes, regenerate left-behind communities and clean up rivers have been added to the Government’s flagship Levelling Up...

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...

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

I can’t really write about anything else this week, can I? Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have...

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

Housing minister Lee Rowley is set to make one of his first official public appearances at a Conservative Party fringe event...

The worst cost-of-living crisis in generations is everywhere we look and agents – and the property industry more widely – are...

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 latest housing minister has been revealed as the prospect of Stamp Duty reform returns to the property market. New ministerial appointments...

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...

Marcus Jones has left the housing brief. He was appointed as housing minister just two months ago in Boris Johnson’s reshuffle but appears...

From housebuilding to planning laws and stamp duty reform, agents and property professionals were ready with plenty of suggestions for Liz...

We are only a fortnight away from having a new Prime Minister, following a contest in which housing has played a...

When it comes to housing policy, the Conservative MPs have given their party a choice between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle DumDum. Rishi...

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...

Marcus Jones has been appointed as housing minister. The appointment came late last night after a tumultuous day in Westminster that saw...

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

Michael Gove has been sacked as Housing Secretary as Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to reject calls to resign. Johnson was hit...

Housing minister Stuart Andrew has become the latest minister to resign from the government. More than 15 government ministers and officials have...

Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid sensationally quit as Chancellor and Health Secretary respectively this evening but Housing Secretary Michael Gove is...

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

It’s easy to overestimate the importance of something in one’s own industry or work, but there seems good reason for believing...

Local residents are to be given the final say on changes to the name of their street under new government plans. The...

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

Housing ministers have lined up in recent days to support beleaguered Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Housing minister Chris Pincher, upon hearing of new...

High profile conveyancing supremo Rob Hailstone makes many announcements about government and industry housing policy - but he is less keen...

Will he stay or will he go? You don’t need me to say who ‘he’ is - it’s the only story...

Propertymark, the main industry trade body, has this evening updated its guidance on Covid safety for estate and letting agents in...

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

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

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

Labour is to reveal a raft of new housing policies at its party conference this weekend - and it claims it’s...

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

Boris Johnson's sudden and unexpectedly ruthless Cabinet reshuffle, which drew comparisons with Margaret Thatcher's 'purge of the wets' in 1981, ended...

Every so often it comes around – the argument that stamp duty should be reformed/removed/replaced (delete as appropriate). But why? Where’s the...

The government has thrown its weight behind the concept of Unique Property Reference Numbers as a way of speeding up transactions. UPRNs...

The row over whether agents should be allowed to vet people who view properties on the basis of their wealth has...

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has revealed that what it calls its “second HQ” will be in Wolverhampton,...

It’s been quite a week for the rental sector. Lettings agents and landlords have had such a torrid time in recent years...

Labour’s new housing spokesperson is the experienced MP Lucy Powell, who until the weekend was shadow business and consumer affairs minister.  She replaces...

Local elections rarely set the pulse racing and this year’s poll on Thursday faces a similar problem. But this time, it’s a...

Propertymark - still reeling over two senior resignations in less than a week - says its lobbying sessions with politicians are...

The high-end housing market on Jersey has been rocked by a plan from the island’s government which may ban foreign investors from...

Housing minister Kelly Tolhurst has resigned from the government for personal reasons. Tolhurst had formal responsibility for the government’s policies to combat...

Propertymark, the overarching body aiming to bring five different associations (ARLA, NAEA, NAVA, ICBA and APIP) into a single brand, was...

The Daily Mail has mocked housing minister Chris Pincher for advising people to going £174-a-bottle champagne while awaiting the rollout of...

Here’s hoping you managed to have as good a Christmas and New Year as Covid rules allowed. Journalism in early January is...

First off, hello and welcome to this new series – appearing in Estate Agent Today’s Breaking News section each month –...

A scathing document produced by MPs slams the government for its “deplorable” housing policies which are "invented, abandoned and reinvented" -...

The industry regulator who comes into force when the Regulation of Property Agents’ recommendations are adopted may take over versions of...

A leasehold group has written to Housing Minister Chris Pincher pressing for an update on the government’s approach to reform for...

Housing Minister Christopher Pincher announced that the introduction of the Renters' Reform Bill will be delayed for an indefinite period due...

Customers must be told about third party referral fees when buying or selling a home says the National Trading Standards Estate...

The Times has revealed new allegations concerning the behaviour of Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick. The Cabinet member has been under the spotlight...

NAEA Propertymark has written a letter to Housing Minister Christopher Pincher, asking what measures the government is taking to get more...