Archive

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...

Robert Jenrick has been sacked from his post as Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary. He was the third major name to...

Media reports over the weekend suggest the government is preparing a triple whammy - three measures which may reduce the number...

Proposals to resuscitate the self-build housing sector have been welcomed by the government. Conservative MP Richard Bacon has published an independent report...

The number of Energy Performance Certificates issued for new build homes in England rose 16 per cent in the year to...

Propertymark has welcomed the move by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick to help make certain leasehold flats more attractive to would-be buyers...

Labour says the stamp duty holiday is an example of the government’s “failed approach” to home ownership and housing affordability. Labour’s Shadow...

The government has thrown its weight behind the concept of Unique Property Reference Numbers as a way of speeding up transactions. UPRNs...

The Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017 exposed the dangers of inflammable cladding on residential tower blocks, and what has come...

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has revealed that what it calls its “second HQ” will be in Wolverhampton,...

Over 300,000 new-builds in England have been purchased using the government's Help to Buy Equity Loan since its launch in 2013. Of the...

The government has set up a committee to push forward ideas on the collective form of homeownership known as commonhold. Housing Secretary...

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

The government has launched a formal consultation process on a new residential property developer tax which is to contribute towards cladding...

Two of Britain’s largest house builders have reacted sharply to calls by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick and the Competition and Markets...

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...

It’s now more than a year since the government offered an additional £4 million to councils to combat rogue landlords. At the...

The government has given details of two new taxes to provide funds to address the cladding problem on high rise tower blocks...

Agents and a wide range of property experts have demanded yet more government funds to end the cladding crisis that is...

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced “an exceptional intervention” promising that leaseholders in high-rise buildings above 18 metres will bear no...

As we now find ourselves in the UK’s third national lockdown in 10 months, what tenants want, and need from their...

Countrywide and Foxtons have thrown their weight behind an idea to identify every single UK residential property with a unique number. The...

Millions of leaseholders will be given the right to extend their lease by a maximum term of 990 years at zero...

A mortgage lender says it will now accept ‘no-search indemnity insurance’ for residential purchases in a bid to speed up the...

Here’s hoping you managed to have as good a Christmas and New Year as Covid rules allowed. Journalism in early January is...

The housing market is to stay open across the UK, including in the new Tier 4 areas of England. An announcement from Housing Secretary...

Safety checks which are apparently now preventing thousands of owners selling flats are to be eased - but there is confusion...

Watching the government’s surprise press conference a couple of weekends ago the message was clear; we were heading into a gruelling...

An agency in London which was stung by fierce criticism in the spring lockdown has announced its policy for branch activity...

The housing market is to remain open in the four week lockdown in England. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government...

The Times has revealed new allegations concerning the behaviour of Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick. The Cabinet member has been under the spotlight...

NAEA Propertymark has thrown its weight behind a Competitions and Markets Authority investigation into whether consumer protection law has been broken...

The ban on evictions was due to end earlier this month, but following a last-minute U-turn from the government, it has...

Controversial Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, tipped by some for sacking when the Cabinet is reshuffled next month, appears to be confident...

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed that the First Homes scheme will provide newly built homes at a 30 per cent...

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

Home owners in England will be entitled to add up to two storeys to the height of their home via a...

It’s a big day for leasehold reform today with the Law Commission due to publish three residential leasehold and commonhold reports. They...

The recommendations to regulate and train the estate agency industry put forward a year ago remain on the Housing Secretary’s desk...

Estate agents facing crippling running costs as the wider impacts of the Coronavirus crisis hit home may benefit, at least in...

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

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick - currently at the centre of a planning controversy - could be sacked in a September Cabinet reshuffle. The...

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...

The government is extending the eviction ban for a further two months. A tweet early this evening from Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick...

The Metropolitan Police says it’s “assessing” the controversial surrounding the Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, and a planning decision over which he...

Dominic Cummings has been at worst a cause of huge anger to a nation that’s already extremely anxious. At best, he’s been...

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick - accused by some of breaking the lockdown some weeks ago - is now in more hot...

Housing Minister Chris Pincher and Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick stayed well clear of the Dominic Cummings row over the weekend -...

It’s back to work today for England’s estate agents and the housing market - but it’s the start of a new...

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is expected to announce tomorrow that the housing market in England can resume with estate and letting...

Details being presented to Parliament today may include information on how agents can return to work in some sort of ‘new normal.’ A 50...

Agencies, many of which campaigned vigorously to be included in the business rates holiday announced in March by the government, have...

Three of the highest profile industry suppliers and house moving services have given government a four-step plan to restart the housing...

Countrywide has added its weight to the campaign asking the government to allow agents to get back to work - and...

It’s been reported that the government is talking with banks and building societies about putting the housing market ‘on ice’ during the...

The author of dramatic reform proposals for estate agents has given a clear message to ministers - Get On With It!  Lord...

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

Earlier this month, Boris Johnson carried out a reshuffle of his cabinet, telling ministers they must 'repay the trust of those...

Hello and welcome to the start of a new week - and it’s been a frantic seven days since the last...

The government will not announce a Mansion Tax at next month’s Budget. It was first reported by the Sunday Telegraph a week ago,...

The new housing minister is Christopher Pincher, who for the past decade has been Conservative MP for Tamworth having had a...

Agents have reacted angrily to the government contemplating introducing a Mansion Tax, and to the Housing Secretary not ruling out the...

Unsourced stories in a number of newspapers over the weekend - all likely to have come from government off-the-record briefings -...

The government has announced its First Homes scheme - a policy under which it says some new homes will see their...

The proportion of 25 to 34 year olds who own their own home in England has risen for the first time...

He’s a young and very wealthy up-and-coming MP in his 30s, a Cambridge graduate who also studied in the US and...

The government has given details of a scheme allowing 30 per cent reductions for what it calls ‘local first time buyers’...

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...

November 6 has been declared Budget Day - at least if there is a Brexit deal agreed in principle in the...

In recent years, governments and local councils have sought to change the private rented sector (PRS) to make it more appealing...

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

A £3.6 billion Towns Fund to support towns across England to build prosperous futures through innovative regeneration is a perfect chance...

It’s been quite a week for news so you might have missed this story - there is yet another boost for...

A well-respected agent who was president of the NAEA just five years ago has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking...

The Housing Secretary says he wants to make home ownership more affordable for first time buyers - which could mean discounts...

The new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government is the relatively unknown Robert Jenrick -  but his new housing...

In recent weeks our campaign to replace leasehold with commonhold has continued to gather momentum both in the press and across...

The government has revealed that it’s to ‘test’ the workings of the New Homes Ombudsman before the scheme formally launches. Housing Secretary...

The dust may have settled on the government’s recent announcement regarding housing and property complaints, but opinion is still split on...

Kit Malthouse has been making headlines this week, but – in keeping with his tenure as Housing Minister so far -...

Developers have continued to sell thousands of new-build houses with leaseholds, despite a government pledge to ban the “unscrupulous” practice a...

The National Association of Estate Agents has welcomed the government’s move to ensure most future new-build houses are sold as freehold...

The vast majority of new-build houses are to be sold as freehold with ground rents for new leases capped at £10...

It seems a lifetime ago but in fact we’re approaching just the first anniversary since the government triggered its Call for...

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

Sales of holiday homes could be hit as a result of a new £560m tax proposal put forward by Labour.  Under the...

It’s holiday time: schools have broken up, quite a few estate agents are taking time off, and the MPs are in...

Councils across England will have new powers to charge dramatically more council tax on homes left empty for many years following...

The government says its funding schemes such as Help To Buy will no longer be applied to what it calls “unjustified...

A London council is seeking widespread powers to ban For Sale and To Let boards which it claims are seen by...

To say this is a turbulent time for UK politics would be something of an understatement. As I write, the Brexit...

Estate Agent Today understands several major national agencies and some smaller operators are involved in a project to understand why transaction...

A leasehold reform campaigner has called on the government to ensure it publishes its report on leasehold reform before the summer recess at...

The game of musical chairs that has so often gone on with politicians in charge of housing continues today with the...

The Conveyancing Association has backed the government’s calls for extensive reform of the buying and selling process, announced at the weekend. The...

Have you noticed a new turf war going on on the fringes of the agency world? It’s not a high-profile battle like...

An estate agent and former chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says the government’s latest drive to build new...

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

Housing minister Dominic Raab took to Twitter to make a Trump-style criticism of trade magazine The Negotiator and its editor, the...

A new national housing agency – Homes England – has been launched by the newly-rebadged Ministry of Housing Communities and Local...