Archive

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned this October’s Budget will be “painful.” Speaking as MPs return to Parliament next Monday, he warned...

At last! Well, they say small is beautiful and, if you’re in the property sector right now, you’d better believe it! The...

We welcome the thrust of the Deputy Prime Minister’s announcement this week on planning reform.  In particular, we support the return of...

All councils in England will be given new, mandatory housebuilding targets under planning reforms unveiled by the Government yesterday. Deputy Prime Minister...

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

NOBODY does pomp and ceremony like us Brits and, wow, it was on full display in Westminster last week. Despite the prestige...

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

Just a week after Labour’s landslide election victory and already their top team is coming under scrutiny and being asked to...

Just a week after Labour’s landslide election victory and already their top team is coming under scrutiny and being asked to...

While housing is a devolved matter, ESPC hopes that the promises made by Labour in the recent general election might help...

The Government has dropped the previous Tory Party’s levelling up slogan. Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner confirmed the move...

New Chancellor Rachel Reeves has used her first speech to reinstate housebuilding targets and pledge to build one and a half...

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

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 have to wonder who is advising Rishi Sunak these days. Months ago, Silverstone must have seemed a terrific venue to hold...

The Conservative Party’s General Election manifesto has committed to resurrecting the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme and temporarily removing Capital...

The Conservatives appear to have abandoned plans to reverse Stamp Duty thresholds for first-time buyers if the party returns to power...

In a week when the election campaign descended into claim and counterclaim of lies over tax plans and Nigel Farage was...

Rightmove has criticised the lack of focus on housing policy during the first General Election TV debate this week. Housing was rarely...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has become the latest high-profile MP to announce he would step down ahead of July’s General Election. Gove...

Could it be that a politician has finally done the property market a favour? Rishi Sunak’s decision to call the general election...

Affordability is a bigger factor for buyers than the confirmed General Election, Savills claims. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has set a date...

Even the most junior of estate agents will tell you that if you are going to bet the house on pulling...

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

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

April 22nd marked ‘Earth Day’, yet it seemed to pass relatively unnoticed within the mortgage market. While the market was once abuzz...

Propertymark has welcomed a move by the Government to lift restrictions on development along the abandoned HS2 route. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak...

As Conveyancers we operate in such a volatile market, where government economic policy can and has repeatedly made our professional lives...

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

The factor most likely to influence the housing market next year is entirely outside the industry’s control: the General Election. Knight Frank...

While Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, may have announced a u-turn on Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) plans in September, we continue to...

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

The Property Energy Professionals Association (PEPA) has opened its annual conference in Derby to estate agents and conveyancers for the first...

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

Landowners who had their land compulsorily purchased by the government for HS2 are being urged to seek expert advice if they...

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

I listened carefully, and I even played it back afterwards.  But, even now, I remain astonished by what I didn’t hear.  On Wednesday, in his...

Agents have slammed the scrapping of the northern leg of HS2. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped the Birmingham to Manchester portion of...

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

Buyers and sellers are still factoring energy efficiency into property valuations despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rolling back net-zero reforms. Analysis by...

It is just over one year since former Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s ill-fated mini-Budget and homeowners and...

Propertymark has backed delays to the Government’s net zero policies, claiming the shift to more sustainable and environmentally friendly homes should...

The process from a Local Plan allocation to a digger on site typically stretches beyond the length of a five-year political...

The Government has set out yet another attempt to meet it manifesto commitment to build 1m homes over this Parliament. Prime Minister...

The National Association of Property Buyers’ Jonathan Rolande gives his take on why it’s those working across the sector who will help drag us...

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak clashed over housebuilding and housing market support yesterday. Sir Keir questioned Sunak’s...

The National Association of Property Buyers’ Jonathan Rolande gives his take on a manic week for the property market. This is the week when...

Mortgage rates have officially broken the 6% barrier. Average rates for home loans are now back at the level that prompted the...

MPs have urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to hold an emergency summit in Downing Street with banks and mortgage lenders to...

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

Housing policy formation must go beyond electoral cycles, academics have warned. A group of Cambridge University alumni has teamed up to urge...

Rishi Sunak has admitted Conservative Party members were a factor in ditching centralised housing targets. The Government officially watered-down proposals for mandatory...

The Labour Party has outlined three ways it will help first-time buyers onto the housing ladder as it ramps up its...

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is believed to have snapped up the historic Brightwell Manor as his new home. Johnson, who was...

Homebuyers should prepare for short-term volatility as mortgage rates are currently being repriced, OnTheMarket chief executive Jason Tebb has warned. Tebb warned...

When Winter stabs its icy fingers at us Brits our thoughts tend to turn to sun-kissed beaches, the lapping Mediterranean and...

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

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...

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

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

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will have a go at balancing the nation’s books today and the main thing agents seem to want...

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

Agency sale stock has improved by almost 40% in parts of Scotland over the past month, new research claims. Analysis by Scottish...

House prices could fall by 10% next year as higher mortgage pricing and rising inflation dampen buyer budgets, Savills has warned. The agency...

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

Propertmark is calling for a 12 month exemption on additional Stamp Duty rates to boost rental property supply. The issue will be...

Mortgage rates look likely to fall after Rishi Sunak’s appointment as Prime Minister but analysts are still unsure how far the...

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...

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

Estate agents have already filled Michael Gove's inbox with property-related tasks after he returned as Housing Secretary yesterday. New Prime Minister Rishi...

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

Housing Secretary Simon Clarke has left Cabinet after Rishi Sunak officially entered Downing Street as Prime Minister this morning. Clarke cited his...

Property professionals are hoping for calmer markets after Rishi Sunak was confirmed as the new UK Prime Minister yesterday. Sunak won the...

Rishi Sunak has been confirmed as the new Conservative Party leader and will become the next UK Prime Minister. He will replace...

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...

Levelling Up and Housing Secretary Simon Clarke has given his backing for a return of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. Clarke was...

Liz Truss became the shortest serving UK Prime Minister yesterday, resigning after just 45 days and prompting a new Conservative Party...

New Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been described as a safe pair of hands who could limit the extent of a housing...

How did the housing market transform from incredibly strong - almost too strong - early in the year, to a situation...

As I watched Liz Truss take to the stage at this week’s Conservative Party conference, my eyes were drawn to the sign behind her. “Getting Britain...

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...

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

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

High street agents are eagerly anticipating a government announcement on support for business energy bills today. As with many businesses, estate agents...

The Bank of England is being urged by property professionals to avoid further interest rate hikes this week. The Bank’s Monetary Policy...

Time is up for Boris Johnson's tenure as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, serving 3 years and 44...

New Prime Minister Liz Truss has been urged to consider a tax overhaul to boost property supply. There have been plenty of...

Prime London discounts are widening and tempting buyers but there are longer term economic risks that could hit the property market,...

Tackling the cost of utility bills has been highlighted as the top priority that new Prime Minister Liz Truss should focus...

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...

Agents and property professionals paid tribute to the Queen last night after Buckingham Palace announced she had passed away. Readers were celebrating...

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

The results are finally in, and to no-one’s surprise Liz Truss has been named the new leader of the Conservative Party...

Home hunters are increasingly searching for eco-friendly homes amid concerns about rising energy bills, figures suggest. New data from Legal & General...

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