Archive

Shortly after the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act was granted Royal Assent in May, we surveyed members of the Association of...

The new Labour government has committed to building 370,000 homes per year, but is it realistic? The housing crisis in the UK...

Now that a new government has been elected and interest rates appear to be on their way down, many buyers who...

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

The latest RICS Residential Property Survey found the UK's residential property sector brightened slightly in July.  Average mortgage rates lowered slightly during...

Some 74% of developers believe that the government setting targets for councils would be the key to unlocking planning issues faced...

A poll of surveyors shows strong support for the idea of pre-sale surveys. When asked whether the new Government should introduce mandatory...

There is no doubt that the residential market in the UK slumped last year. Transactions were at around 1 million, whereas...

Mandatory housing targets are back, alongside a pledge to build 1.5 million homes in the next five years. But can Prime...

The Law Society may have seen-off a no-confidence vote but disgruntled solicitors have vowed to keep up the pressure on the...

The new Government’s plan to ‘Get Britain Building’ is ambitious, to say the least.    And it is central to their mission, not...

The Chancellor’s plans to ‘get Britain building again’ are very significant for the property sector and property investment, specifically.  The plans...

Housebuilding, leasehold and rental reform are set to be key roles of the new Labour Government’s legislative agenda but agency regulation...

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

The new Labour Government will set out its legislative agenda today with the King’s Speech set to reveal its policy priorities. Agents...

Competition from Dubai and concerns about taxation under the new Labour Government have led the world’s super-rich to spend less and...

Like a breath of fresh air, we now have a government that actually appears to be governing. OK, it’s only 10 days...

So it’s a Labour landslide but it’s not like 1997. I remember the last time as if it were yesterday. May 1st, 1997....

On balance, a stable new government with a large majority is good news for the sales market. Labour’s costed spending plans,...

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

Heidi Shackell, chief executive officer at The Lettings Hub said: “The General Election, called in May, halted progress of the Renters'...

The General Election and increased hopes of an interest rate cut seems to have boosted buyer confidence but not necessarily seller...

The average first-time buyer mortgage payment has risen by 61% since the previous election year of 2019, research suggests. Analysis by Rightmove...

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

With election day looming, in the first of a series of articles, experts from property services organisation, Leaders Romans Group, offer...

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill was the final piece of legislation to pass before Parliament closed ahead of the General...

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday confirmed a date for the General Election. Voters will go the polls on 4 July, meaning the...

Detached homes in Wales are the slowest property types to sell across the UK and take an average of 92 days...

We’re now just 2 days away from the end of 2023 and what a year it’s been for the property industry....

What will happen to house prices? Should I rent or buy? Will a Labour or Tory Government be better for homeowners....

While some landlords may have breathed a sigh of relief following Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak’s announcement on energy upgrades, I suspect...

The chairman of the Residential Logbook Association (RLBA) has queried the relevance of a new Government-backed property group focused on digital...

Lawyers are warning of a growing number of incidents of septic tank conveyancing negligence, which could prove costly for homebuyers. House buyers...

The “great recalculation” of the property market will take at least six months to show, Knight Frank claims. Tom Bill, head of...

The latest research from property consultancy Knight Frank has set out which areas of the UK have the largest proportion of...

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

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

Agents and other property professionals have, perhaps unsurprisingly, reacted positively to rumours of a Stamp Duty cut. Prime Minister Liz Truss and...

Annual house price growth returned to double digits in July, Land Registry data reveals. The figures will reignite the debate over the...

The cost-of-living crisis has been dominating the news headlines for some months now, but new research has revealed the extent to...

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

Propertymark says only a national retrofitting programme  can make UK homes more energy efficient - and it says a new government...

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

Face masks are legally required in estate and letting agents from today according to new government guidance released overnight. The guidance makes...

I’ve never written the three letters ‘EPC’ more often than I have in the past week. Law changes for the private rental...

New research shows that despite media attention and new government policies, better energy efficiency is not a key issue for the...

Agents have been told in new government guidance that the liftings of some Covid restraints in wider society “does not mark...

The race to complete home sales before the stamp duty holiday came to an end on June 30 has created what...

House prices are 7.1 per cent above their level a year ago as the boom continues. The latest house price index, from...

First time buyers are now saving more than £800 a year in comparison with tenants, new analysis suggests.  The Halifax says the...

Rightmove says the excess of demand over supply right now is bigger than at any time over the past decade -...

New government figures show that stamp duty transactions in the final quarter of last year were 43 per cent higher than in...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has outlined his measures to help agencies and other businesses survive Coronavirus. His announcements - endorsed by both the...

Social distancing will be part of our daily routine moving forward for the foreseeable future and if you run an estate...

Guidance issued by the government explicitly advises agents, buyers and sellers that more activity should be done online if possible. “The process...

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

Hello, this is the final Conquering Corona for the week as we continue to help agents with advice and guidance through...

The boss of controversial estate agency Dexters has hit out at social media reports and press articles about company staff working...

Where else to start? Since my last Natter two weeks ago, all our lives have changed more than we could ever...

We'd hoped it was good news but in fact it's just good-news-yet-to-come. The Savills office in Wuhan, the epicentre of the Coronavirus crisis in...

Conservatives have been lining up to criticise a mansion tax which may be introduced on expensive homes to fund infrastructure improvements...

Not for the first time, a government policy on housing ends up begging more questions than it provides answers - but...

Last November, as part of the Conservatives’ general election campaign, Boris Johnson made a surprise announcement that his party would introduce...

He’s a young and very wealthy up-and-coming MP in his 30s, a Cambridge graduate who also studied in the US and...

The new government has announced that its first Budget is to be held on Wednesday March 11 - and it’s giving...

A veteran agent says the new government’s Budget, expected in the next few weeks, should not provide too much help to...

After a year dogged by Brexit deadlock, political turmoil, and slow growth, estate agents’ confidence in the property market hit a...

The scores are in….and it looks like house prices are going to rise gently in 2020 according to forecasts from almost...

It’s a substantial Tory government for the next five years: what does this mean for estate agents, property and the market? We have...

House prices in England and Wales are set to fall over the next three months according to a price index produced...

The National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents have issued their manifesto for next month’s General...

Agents and property industry figures have given a clear message to the government six weeks ahead of the General Election -...

Our own industry’s upheaval over recent years has been no less dramatic than the turmoil at Westminster. The political earthquake has seen...

Britain lives in fundamentalist black-and-white times - all the more surprising when the country's most divisive point of contention sits on...

While media attention has been on Theresa May, Brexit and the Tories, chatter in the agency industry has been about what...

Average house prices in the UK increased by 1.7 per cent in the year to the end of January according to...

The National Association of Estate Agents has met with other members of a high-level government board to look at ways of...

The vast majority of new-build houses are to be sold as freehold with ground rents for new leases capped at £10...

More than 420,000 people have now used the government’s Help to Buy schemes to get themselves on to the housing ladder...

The government says its funding schemes such as Help To Buy will no longer be applied to what it calls “unjustified...

New Zealand’s new Labour prime minister elect has banned non-resident foreigners from buying existing homes anywhere in the country in a...

Conveyancers and the speed of local council searches have come in for criticism as details have emerged of the government’s consultation...

The Queen’s speech to the British parliament this week was a scaled-back affair, which was unsurprising given the Grenfell Tower fire,...

The housing industry has responded with shock, joy, and jitters, after Theresa May’s snap general election went catastrophically wrong, leaving her...

As the nation waits with bated breath to see if Theresa May can form either a minority or coalition government after...

London Central Portfolio, a property investment consultancy, has set out a five point plan for the next government elected this week...

In years to come, students of political history might come to look at the 2017 General Election campaign with some interest....

The banning of letting fees levied on tenants has dominated the industry headlines in recent months but this election campaign suggests...

The Liberal Democrats have set a building target of 300,000 new homes a year, have pledged to scrap housing association Right...

The boss of the UK's largest independent agency has called on the government to be 'radical' and consider a range of...

We’re almost nine months on from the EU Referendum and yet the issue remains the big divide across the nation: an...

Lots of people buy new-build due to the perceived lack of hassle with maintenance, as they are built to the latest...

Estate agents are already setting out their stalls ahead of Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s November 23 Autumn Statement with one simple message...

It’s been a heartening few weeks for those of us who thought that protest was dead – or, more precisely, that...

Average house prices across the UK rose 8.7 per cent in the year to the end of June - so including...

I’m indebted to one of the most enthusiastic estate agents I’ve had the pleasure of meeting for suggesting the subject of...

Nearly three quarters of people who have sold or bought a property deem it more stressful than having a child or...

The controversy over whether the Land Registry should be sold off will now not be resolved until a new Prime Minister...

The National Association of Estate Agents has given a cautious welcome to new government plans to expand shared ownership.  David Cameron has...

It now appears likely that there will be a new government house price index launched in the first half of next...