Archive

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

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

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

The chairman of the Commons housing, communities and local government committee has criticised the institutional bulk-buying of existing homes for denying...

A nationalist party has blasted a Labour government in one national region of the UK for its lack of intervention in...

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

An estate agency is being criticised for marketing properties as second homes in an area reportedly suffering a housing shortage. Local media...

Property is considered to be a safe investment. The buy-to-let market is booming, fuelled by a generation unable to get on...

I remember so clearly in my Foxtons days, working as a lettings manager in Putney, that lettings, though less sexy than...

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

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

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

One of London’s leading estate and lettings agents has criticised the government over what he calls its “pitiful” record on affordable...

A high proportion of over-65s would consider moving to a bungalow and believe more properties should be designed exclusively for older...

A report by the influential Public Accounts committee of MPs has been highly sceptical of the effectiveness of Help To Buy. It...

A new digital platform has been set up in a bid to provide a one-stop-shop for self-build enthusiasts - and it...

With Easter now upon us (happy Easter, by the way, and hope you’re enjoying the long weekend, the Easter eggs and...

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

It’s no secret that the UK’s housing sector is in crisis. Headlines scream about the shortage of new-build homes. TV pundits...

Strutt & Parker says the housing crisis - in the shape of too few homes and their stubbornly high prices -...

Phil Spencer is on the warpath against “constant tinkering” by government in housing matters - and instead, he wants the problems...

It’s now almost a month since the government introduced new rules on Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO), as part of its...

It’s time to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to overseas buyers of property. If you listen to Theresa...

Emoov’s founder Russell Quirk has outlined how he would help Britain get out of its current housing crisis to a Labour...

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

By now we’ve all seen news about the long-term decline in property sales and competition from online alternatives leading to ‘more...

James Brokenshire - yesterday appointed Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government - joins the rank of senior politicians...

Estate agency Jackson-Stops says it has discovered precisely how many existing home owners understand the difficulties facing first time buyers in...

Three councils are encouraging local residents to sign a new register which aims to bring more quality homes for sale to...

The government has launched a surprise consultation on the creation of a new redress system for customers of agents and others...

At the start of February, Nationwide suggested that the housing market was picking up. Last week, RICS reported on its continued...

One of the most influential select committees in parliament has told the government that it needs to do more - much...

The Department of Communities and Local Government has been rebadged as the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government in what...

What a year it’s been! Back in 2016 we had Brexit, a new prime minister, Donald Trump’s election, and so when...

Earlier this week, Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered the Autumn Budget with a strong focus on housing.  The decision to cut stamp duty...

The housing industry has set out a list of demands in advance of the government’s hotly anticipated Autumn Budget on Wednesday.  Despite...

Stamp duty on property sales is gumming up the housing market, stopping people from moving to the jobs they need, and...

There has been a wide range of views from trade bodies and individual agents on the government’s surprise ‘call for evidence’...

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

Simon Gerrard, a past president of the National Association of Estate Agents, has called on the government to switch the burden...

I’ve written before about the impact of headlines on the property industry. Interest rate speculation.   Market booms and busts. Demand...

It was only a couple of weeks ago that I was writing about the Google City, in Toronto, and now the...

In their election rhetoric all the political parties informed us that the UK is experiencing a ‘housing crisis’, with all promising...

The vast majority of estate agents believe that not enough people are downsizing to free up family homes, according to conveyancing...

A research report compiled by Strutt & Parker in partnership with Octopus Healthcare has revealed what the baby boomer generation expects...

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...

British homeowners have the most confidence in the Conservative Party to run the nation's housing market. A survey of almost 4,500 homeowners,...

Theresa May’s call for a snap general election on June 8 took many by surprise. But estate agents have been broadly...

The UK Independence Party’s housing policy for the General Election hinges around a huge expansion in modular factory-built housing - but...

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

Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his first Budget this week pledging extra funding for the NHS, transport in the Midlands and the...

Looking ahead to the Spring Budget this week, the Chancellor Philip Hammond will be obliged to face up to the implications...

The chronic shortage of housing supply in the UK relative to demand has been a national issue for decades. The Government...

The government’s attitude of “Nanny knows best” has “squandered another opportunity” to make a real difference to the housing crisis, according...

Now I’m not one to lose sleep over politicians, but it strikes me that Communities Secretary Sajid Javid and Housing Minister...

Home ownership rates among 25-year-olds have plummeted by more than half in 20 years, council leaders have warned.  New analysis for the...

Recent stamp duty changes have resulted in a substantial decline in transaction numbers and HM Revenue & Customs missing its revenue...

It may still be too early to start compiling a Christmas wish list, but it is the right time to provide...

The long-awaited Redfern Review has recommended that improved access to mortgage finance and improved income levels for first time buyers are...

As many northern cities struggled to recover from the 2008 global financial crisis, the north-south divide returned to plague the British...

London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan says some 270,000 homes in London have been granted planning permission but have not yet been...

An agency specialising in land and planning claims that campaigners in favour of maintaining the green belt must accept that some...

The government's most publicised measure of housebuilding excludes around a fifth of all new build completions each year, according to a...

With the number of new homes being built across the UK still significantly below the level needed to meet demand, housebuilders...

More criticism has come of the government’s multi-faceted Help To Buy initiative, this time from campaigning housing charity Shelter. The charity claims...

A National Association of Estate Agents report has been roundly dismissed as being “out of date and unhelpful” in blaming a...

Shelter - recently concentrating on attacking landlords for the qualities of their homes and letting agents for the size of their...

The National Association of Estate Agents says a huge shortage of bricks and the possible consequences of Brexit are two reasons...

If you want an indicator that the United Kingdom isn’t so united any more, have a look at Right To Buy. The...

This week, 25 years ago the world's first website went live to those of us who were around then.  Amazingly, despite the...

Councils have started replacing just one sixth of the number of homes sold under Right To Buy in England in the...

Jackson-Stops & Staff says the housing market has weakened a little since the EU referendum but prices have not suffered and...

The Tory Reform Group has launched a public call for evidence seeking “innovative policy proposals to address the two-fold challenge of...

The morning after the EU referendum, and Westminster, Britain, Europe and the world were left in shock at the news that...

A housing body says that, rather than presiding over a worsening housing crisis as many suggest, David Cameron has actually left...

Property prices were at the forefront of the EU debate in the run-up to the referendum, with the now former Chancellor...

The HomeOwners’ Alliance claims that over the past two years alone over 500,000 owners aged 55-plus have had to ditch plans...

House price falls triggered by weaker economic growth and a drop in economic confidence following the EU referendum may not actually...

A leading land agent has criticised those doubting the government's ability to build a million new homes by 2020. Adam Hesse, land...

The new mayor of London Sadiq Khan has pledged to do all in his power to help make London “better” after...

The race to replace London Mayor Boris Johnson has entered its final few days, and like never before, housing is the...

An agency which specialises in land is calling on local councils to play a greater part in the push to create...

Another online petition has been launched against one of Chancellor George Osborne’s fiscal measures seen as an attack on the private...

As we all know, Peter Redfern is critical to the future of the British housing market and.... What? Wait? You don’t know...

Scotland’s home building industry says at least 100,000 homes of all tenures are needed by the end of the next Scottish...

It would seem that now is a better time than ever for investors to join the buy-to-let market.  The Royal Institute of...

The newly-appointed shadow housing minister says his first priority is to arrest the long-term fall in home ownership in Britain. John Healey...

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

Despite seeing the word in many industry pieces, using ‘crisis’ to describe anything related to the UK housing market at present...

We’ve enjoyed a bit of an Indian summer this week. Not sure it makes up for one of the coldest and...

Labour leadership front-runner Jeremy Corbyn has suggested a party run by him would consider a ban on the purchase of homes...

Communities Secretary Greg Clark will be sacked if there is no improvement in the number of homes built in the next...

Controversial housing charity Shelter has published a report which claims that the government's Starter Homes scheme will fail the people it...

A new website has been launched to fight back against the attack George Osborne made in the Summer Budget on the...

Statistics have been published to suggest that much of Britain’s housing crisis is down to a shortage of skilled labour and...

Labour leadership front-runner Jeremy Corbyn says he would vote for a complete end to all forms of Right To Buy and...

Scottish house prices have seen their sharpest fall in six years as the ‘transaction tax boom’ has come to an end...

One million people will need to be recruited by 2020 if the housebuilding industry is to build the number of homes...

Gentrification is a divisive, provocative issue, but why are estate agents (especially Foxtons) appearing to bear the brunt of the public’s...