Archive

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

It’s tempting to think that Michael Gove’s proposed clampdown on Airbnb-style short lets is a uniquely British form of small-mindedness, part...

Plans to set ground rents at a ‘peppercorn rate’ are reported to have been dropped amid opposition from freehold campaigners and...

The architect of the Regulation of Property Agents (ROPA) reforms has expressed frustration that the recommendations have failed to materialise as...

The Government has taken the unusual step of intervening in the London Plan to boost housebuilding in the capital.   Housing Secretary Michael...

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

Building on brownfield sites may not be the silver bullet it is made out to be, the government has been warned. Housing...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has given the strongest hint yet that housing measures could be included in the Spring Budget. Chancellor Jeremy...

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

The Government has published long-awaited reforms to its National Planning Policy Framework, confirming that local housebuilding targets will be advisory rather...

The long-awaited Leasehold and Freehold Bill is set to be unveiled in Parliament today. The Bill aims to make it cheaper and...

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

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

The Government has outlined five proposals to reduce ground rents for existing leaseholders as its latest attempt to reform the sector...

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...

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

I recently wrote that the long-gestating Renters Reform Bill, finally introduced in Parliament back in May, could be poorly timed, both...

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

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

It’s not a sentence that I thought I would be writing, but Housing Secretary Michael Gove has indeed finally done something...

The Labour Party has announced it will be hosting an emergency mortgage summit this week. The summit, happening in London tomorrow, is...

Labour says it will reform how land is valued under Compulsory Purchase Order powers in a bid to increase house building...

The Labour Party has pledged to introduce legislation within its first 100 days of Government to abolish leasehold if it wins...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has been slammed for “unhelpful” comments about abolishing leasehold after it emerged that there may not be...

A coalition of businesses from across the property industry have united to call on the Government to do more to speed-up...

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

The property market is broken, Housing Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged yesterday. Despite the Conservative Party being in power since 2010, Gove insisted...

The property industry may be going to great effort to digitise and improve the process of buying and selling a home...

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

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has committed to leasehold reform and fixing cladding issues before the next election. It comes as the Government...

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

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...

The Government has officially watered-down proposals for mandatory local housebuilding targets as it brings its flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill...

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

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has committed to look into issues with the Building Safety Act after MPs claimed leaseholders and Help to...

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

The Government’s target of constructing 300,000 new homes annually by 2025 has been called into question due to a lack of...

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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

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

First off, my own quick tribute to the Queen, who died on Thursday afternoon aged 96. Despite her age and declining...

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

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

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

MPs have criticised the lack of detail in the government’s flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill when it comes to housebuilding...

Jacob Rees-Mogg is reportedly being lined up as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities should Liz Truss win...

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

Housing Secretary Greg Clark, who is also the Levelling Up Secretary, has been caught up in the storm surrounding Rishi Sunak...

A parliamentary petition calling for ground rent charges to be extended to existing leases has reached the required number of signatures...

A senior member of the Home Buying and Selling Group has insisted work on reforms is ongoing despite the ministerial merry-go-round...

Estate agency trade body Propertymark is hoping to “maintain momentum” with newly appointed Housing Secretary Greg Clark. He replaces Michael Gove, who...

Greg Clark has been named as the new Housing Secretary. Clark will replace Michael Gove who was sacked by Prime Minister Boris...

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...

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

It’s the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell fire tragedy, but are high rises any safer today than they were then? On 14th...

The government’s new Right to Buy policy for housing association tenants appeared to unravel last night after the Housing Secretary said...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove and minister Stuart Andrew are set to be grilled by MPs on their property market plans today. The...

A significant housing announcement has been promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a part of a sweetener that saw him...

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

Propertymark has expressed hope that the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will help boost much needed agency supply. The trade body has...

A lack of support to help people onto the property ladder has been highlighted as one factor for the Tory party’s...

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

Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is believed to have become the first MP to take in Ukrainian refugees under the government’s...

Fifteen businesses which had bought freeh­olds from housing developer Countryside have now given formal undertakings to remove terms that cause ground...

Too many leaseholders will fall through the cracks of the government’s “piecemeal measures” to combat the cladding crisis.  That’s the view of...

The government has now formally launched the Homes For Ukraine scheme, heavily leaked in recent days. The Secretary of State for Levelling...

Momentum is building up in support of the government’s probe into whether the London homes of oligarchs on the sanctions list...

The government is considering seizing British property owned by Russian oligarchs on the sanctions list without paying compensation. The Financial Times says Housing...

Agents have told Housing Secretary Michael Gove that his Levelling Up agenda needs to include positive efforts to bring hundreds of...

The government is threatening to deny planning consent to developers who refuse to pay towards the removal of unsafe cladding on...

The government’s new Levelling Up White Paper, revealed this morning includes a radical reshaping of the private rental sector. Section 21 eviction...

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

Owners of second homes who abuse a tax loophole by claiming their often-empty properties are holiday lets will be forced to...

The government should reset planning policy and scrap proposals for thousands of new homes in high-risk flood areas. The think-tank Localis, in...

The Budget has proven more generous than many expected - and with most property taxation left unchanged. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has made...

A part of the Connells Group is telling the new Housing Secretary that he and his government “must do more” to...

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

Former Housing Secretary James Brokenshire has died at the age of 53. The Conservative ex-Cabinet minister, who was diagnosed with lung cancer...

A leading planning consultancy has claimed that ‘the myth’ that housing developers are hoarding land after gaining planning consent in order...

Affordability has always been a hot topic when it comes to the property market, and this is doubly true for first-time...

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

New Housing Secretary Michael Gove is reported to be set to press ahead with plans to pause controversial planning reforms.  It came...

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

It’s been a dramatic week in the world of politics – and this has led to another new Housing Secretary, in...

In a day of unexpected drama, Boris Johnson carried out a surprisingly brutal and widespread Cabinet reshuffle which saw a number...