Archive

There was a long-awaited return to the House of Commons this week when the Renters (Reform) Bill finally rose to the...

Yulia Barnes is founder and managing partner of Barnes Law   2024 is set to be another significant year for the property...

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

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

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

The Government is not taking any responsibility for the thousands of people that have had spray foam installed by Green Homes...

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

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

The latest measures for property the Chancellor included in his Autumn Statement may not have been dramatic, but has it given...

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

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

There’s talk of 50-year mortgages being introduced, loans that, along with the property they finance, could be passed to the next...

At least 18 MPs have come out in favour of a new annual Proportional Property Tax which would be levied on...

It is claimed by Propertymark that the government’s Economic Crime Bill - to be debated in the House of Commons today -...

It appears that new controls on property ownership may feature in future sanctions against Russia in response to its aggression in Ukraine. Prime...

A campaigning MP is to meet with a government minister to discuss controls and disincentives for second homes. Former Liberal Democrat MP...

A wealth tax on overseas owners of UK homes could raise £5 billion a year to help local people buy their...

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

A surprise statement from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says the stamp duty holiday, which goes on until the end...

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

The House of Commons Library has published what may be the definitive record of estate agency regulations issued in recent years...

The MP who chairs one of the most important committees in the House of Commons has urged the government to increase...

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

Licensing of the short-term lets sector in Scotland was due to be introduced next month. However, it was recently announced that...

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

Labour and Conservative MPs have expressed a unanimous view on their desire to see an extension of the stamp duty holiday...

You can watch the Parliamentary debate on a possible Stamp Duty Holiday extension here, using the streaming link at the bottom of...

Labour has entered the cladding controversy by calling a vote in the House of Commons to force government action on the...

The Prime Minister this afternoon stated that lockdown will remain in effect until early March at the earliest. He told the House...

It's been announced that MPs will after all debate the Stamp Duty Holiday extension following a hugely popular online petition. The 90-minute...

The government may be stopping MPs debating an extension to the stamp duty holiday - despite a pledge they would do...

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

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

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

As we approach the end of the year, there is no doubt that it has been a turbulent 12 months for...

The coronavirus pandemic has somewhat eclipsed Brexit this year – which is no mean feat. Cast your mind back to pre-Covid...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has resisted changing any property taxes in the short term, but has used his Spending Review statement to...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the furlough scheme until the end of March. It will continue under the current rules, with the...

The Bank of England’s monthly interest rate decision was made today - but instead of it being announced at 12 noon,...

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

NAEA Propertymark is calling on agents to show “greater diligence” when dealing with Russian buyers, in the light of the report...

Housing minister Chris Pincher has now been named in media investigations into allegations concerning his political boss, Robert Jenrick, and the...

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

A taxation institute is urging the government to delay Capital Gains Tax changes relating to housing transactions until the virus crisis...

The Chancellor has announced that the furlough scheme is to be extended until the end of October. He made the announcement in...

The government has - once again - announced the introduction of a New Homes Ombudsman.  The news came yesterday when Housing Secretary...

The Law Society’s new TA6 Property Information Form has just launched, as previewed on Estate Agent Today 10 days ago.  “The TA6...

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

The controversial former Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, is to be the keynote speaker at a property industry...

The Liverpool Echo says housing minister Esther McVey, who was born in the city, is now ”reviled” there following comments about poor families. According...

A briefing note for MPs prepared from government statistics shows that housing starts and completions have increased from the lows observed...

A slew of bad news stories about online estate agencies may have taken the lustre off the sector in recent weeks,...

When it comes to letting a property, it is important that landlords and renters have faith in their agent. The more...

Landlords and letting agents might feel they’ve taken a bit of a battering from the government in recent years – and...

A government minister has made a pointed jibe at estate agents who appear not to regard cash purchases of high-value properties...

So here’s another week’s great work being done by colleagues in our industry - and we’re very pleased to salute them. Everybody...

  Chancellor Phillip Hammond claims over 60,000 first time buyers have already benefitted from the stamp duty relief he announced at his...

It’s no surprise that figures don’t always show the results or consequences we expect - even if they are entirely accurate. Look...

A House of Commons committee has prepared a briefing document on areas of the UK residential and commercial properties sectors most impacted...

Labour MP Justin Madders is working on a Private Members' Bill creating leasehold reform in a bid to help leaseholders who, he...

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

Parliament is sitting again and the entire lettings industry is waiting with bated breath for more detail on the government’s proposal...

New housing minister Alok Sharma is set to make his first key speech this week, at the Housing 2017 conference in...

The Green Party, one of the final political groups to launch their manifesto for the June 8 General Election, wants an end...

Anyone hoping that the General Election could herald an immediate change of heart by the Conservatives on high levels of stamp...

Estate agents have been broadly supportive of the decision by Prime Minister Theresa May to push for a snap General Election...

Housing minister Gavin Barwell says the government will put forward proposals in the new year to stop abuses of the leasehold...

Housing minister Brandon Lewis has joined many others across the country in paying tribute to Jo Cox, the Labour MP murdered last...

The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team has over the weekend repeated its intention to investigate allegations of so-called portal juggling...

A Conservative MP is to raise the portal juggling controversy in the House of Commons. Derek Thomas, MP for St Ives in...

And so it begins. Four months and counting before we vote to leave or remain. For a country apparently so divided about...

So housing made itself top of the list of questions by the new Leader of the Opposition’s first PMQs on Wednesday...

A new All-Party Parliamentary Group for Housing and Planning has been announced to address what it calls “the national housing emergency”...

An MP has tabled an Early Day Motion calling on the Land Registry to require greater transparency for overseas company purchases...

With another hung parliament looking increasingly likely, the so-called ‘challenger parties’ look set to have a major say in who forms...