Archive

A report in the Times newspaper says Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is planning a stamp duty cut in the early autumn. The paper...

The complexities of the government’s leasehold reform proposals affecting millions of homeowners came under the spotlight at a seminar organised by...

Rumours of the launch of a 1% mortgage deposit scheme have re-emerged with just weeks to go until the Spring Budget  Chancellor...

Housebuilders have indicated that they would prefer a Labour government is formed after the next General Election. The latest Land Index and...

After months of negative messaging and anti-development sentiment, espoused both nationally by the Government, and locally during May’s local election campaigning,...

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

Talk about a wasted opportunity. The Conservative party conference - just finished, and possibly the last one before a General Election -...

More families need a home they can call their own, the Housing Secretary Michael Gove has claimed. Speaking at the Tory Party...

Propertymark is extending its political engagement and reach by exhibiting at the party conferences this week. The agency trade body will be...

Since the Bank of England base rate started making large jumps around the middle of last year, mortgage rates have increased...

The Government is facing calls to resurrect the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme. The housing support scheme, which provided a Government-backed...

And suddenly it’s autumn. It’s just six weeks before the clocks change, days are getting shorter and - the real sign...

Keir Starmer’s announcement about building on the Green Belt attracted some contentious headlines. It immediately thrust housing and planning into the...

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

It has been another busy week in the property sector.  In his latest column, property commentator Jonathan Rolande, provides his take on...

Labour leader Keir Starmer took to the airwaves yesterday, promising to "back the builders not blockers" when it comes to homeownership. Speaking...

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

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

A former Housing Secretary has outlined why the Conservative Party mustn’t abandon its commitment to housebuilding. It comes as some 47 Conservative...

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt should be wary of placing a greater financial burden on homeowners in next weeks’s Autumn Statement, an agent...

A Bill to bring the Government’s Stamp Duty reductions into legislation reached its second reading in the Houses of Parliament this...

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

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

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

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

In retrospect, it was perhaps inevitable that the infamous dead cat would come into the debate over government housing targets and...

What a difference two months and some local elections make. Cast your minds back to March 9 and the annual report of...

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

If you want to sex-up the Chancellor’s financial statement scheduled for lunchtime on Wednesday, you’d call it a Budget or a...

A poll of Conservative voters shows strong majorities for higher taxes on second homes and empty properties, and tougher demands on...

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

We’ve probably all learned to be a little less cynical about politicians in recent weeks, given the tragic events. We perhaps...

There were 13 new buyers for every property listed for sale in the UK in September according to Knight Frank.  Over the...

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

Few political policies have such a ring of the past as rent controls - they were last seen in this country...

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

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and strategist Sir Lynton Crosby - the architect of many Conservative election campaigns -...

Government leaks ahead of today’s Queen’s Speech suggest a major planning shake-up is set to stop NIMBY objectors to new homes. News...

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

The Conservatives have promised that first time buyers would not pay tax when buying a home in Wales if the party wins...

Labour says Chancellor Rishi Sunak “will give away half a billion pounds to second homeowners and landlords through the stamp duty...

Labour has accused the government of promoting “sky high mortgages” instead of providing stable accommodation for younger households. A new mortgage guarantee...

The online petition which prompted a debate by MPs has now won the support of around 150,000 signatures. Typically public support for...

There is no scientific formula, no list of must-have elements in a successful campaign. That’s especially the case for a campaign involving...

Pressure is building for widespread property tax reform beyond short term issues regarding stamp duty. Many MPs in this week’s 65-minute special...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering an extension to the current stamp duty holiday according to media reports today - and the...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he wants to create a ‘Generation Buy’ to help young people purchase homes with low-deposit mortgages. In...

As expected within the property industry, the Chancellor announced a stamp duty holiday in his Summer Statement. This now means that...

Conferences, events and awards dinners are a hugely important part of the property calendar, bringing the great and the good of...

Unnamed government sources quoted in many newspapers today suggest stamp duty reforms may be announced later this year. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to...

Controversial Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is the subject of a harshly critical cartoon in The Times which depicts “pigs in the...

Back in the day, party politics and the private rental sector used to be straightforward. Conservatives were pro-landlord, Labour were pro-tenant, while...

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...

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

An estate agent in London claims he did £53m of property deals within hours of the Conservative victory in the General...

Yes, believe it or not, we’ve nearly reached the end of a whole decade. And what an eventful decade it’s been. We’ve...

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

With Brexit still unresolved, the domestic agenda has been pushed from the headlines by the seemingly overwhelming public and political discord...

The latest figures from investment consultancy London Central Portfolio suggests new build sales have plummeted in prime areas of the capital...

In just over two weeks, the UK population will head to the polls for the fourth general election since 2010. Of course,...

The chief of an online auction service says the Conservatives’ controversial proposal for a three per cent stamp duty surcharge on...

Agents have reacted angrily to General Election proposals by all three main political parties to hike stamp duty for foreign buyers. The...

Pressure is building on the Conservative party to honour its previous commitment to reform stamp duty for British buyers and sellers...

Labour is pledging a “housing revolution” with the biggest council house building programme for decades Its manifesto being launched today will include new...

Until now General Election pledges of stamp duty reforms were restricted to the Conservatives - but now a tax consultancy says...

The National Audit Office, a spending watchdog, has exposed the government’s Starter Homes policy with a damning critique of its failure The...

A survey undertaken for estate agency Jackson-Stops reveals that 55 per cent of people do not believe housing is a priority...

A Labour proposal to dramatically improve energy efficiency in almost every British home would cost an estimated £60 billion. The upgrades would...

It’s on - although judging by the early lack of enthusiasm amongst the British public, you might be forgiven for thinking...

The Conservative Party conference agenda, now published, gives the housing issue several bites of the cherry in Manchester next week. Housing minister...

If you thought - perhaps hoped - that five weeks of prorogued Parliament meant a break from politics, think again: the...

A leading London estate agent has written to The Times dismissing MPs who have been squabbling over Brexit and a possible...

One of the country’s most respected agents has advised the agency industry to treat Boris Johnson’s pledges with real caution. Black Brick buying...

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

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...

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

Four years ago, as we approached the general election, Andrews Property Group held a roundtable debateon the impact the election might have...

In a surprising announcement overnight, housing minister Kit Malthouse says he is standing to become the Conservative party leader and next...

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

An ex-housing minister and ex-Brexit secretary says he wants to radically change taxes on buy to let capital appreciation to help...

Campaigning groups like Generation Rent and Shelter like to think they are simultaneously edgy and radical; likewise some think tanks believe...

Labour’s housing spokesman, John Healey, has spoken out against the split in the party which has so far seen eight MPs...

One of London’s highest profile and most outspoken estate agent chiefs has scolded ‘Maybot’ Theresa May on the day she is to...

The government, which only recently said there would be one Ombudsman covering the entire housing sector, has announced that there is...

The government has used this week’s Conservative party conference to announce a new stamp duty tax of one per cent to three...

Another day, another housing minister – at least that’s what it feels like! The resignation of the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson...

It may not be a good idea for a journalist to be personal about a politician, so I write about our...

Estate Agent Today is 10 years old this weekend. We hope you’ll agree that’s a cause for celebration and a great...

Savills has suggested that it may be time for a fundamental review of what’s left of the flagship policy of Margaret...

If you want to know whether buy to let, landlords and letting agents will be in the firing line for more...

It’s traditional before Christmas to either review the year past or anticipate the one ahead - but I’m intrigued about what...

It’s something of an understatement to say it’s been a busy fortnight for the industry in terms of announcements, consultations and...

It has been revealed that the beleaguered government of Theresa May is to hold a summit at 10 Downing Street tomorrow...

Conservative MP John Stevenson is the latest to throw his weight behind switching the burden of stamp duty from the buyer...

Like many of Labour’s recent policy proposals, its call for rent controls leaves more questions than answers.  There has been widespread criticism...

The Conservative party, in a press statement released to clarify comments made by Theresa May, says the government’s proposed extra £2...

England faces a growing gulf between new build completions and new households being added to the population according to a new...

A Conservative council in London says it is to be the first local authority in the UK to levy a voluntary...