Archive

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

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has secured agreements from eight freeholders to remove “problematic ground rent” terms from leases. The competition...

The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has set out the key questions it could ask agency representatives as its...

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

Representatives from Propertymark, Trading Standards and The Property Ombudsman (TPO) are set to discuss estate agency regulation in the House of...

Attempts to get the long-awaited Regulation of Property Agents (ROPA) rules introduced into the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill have failed. The...

Peers in the House of Lords have launched an inquiry into agency regulation. The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee will...

Dave Sayce, Founder and Managing Director of Compare My Move, reflects on the legal changes that will make leasehold purchase more...

Conveyancing fees increased by around 6% last year, analysis suggests. Property Solvers’ annual research of legal practices in England and Wales has...

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

Estate agency regulations and minimum standards may finally see the light of day after Labour put forward amendments to the Government’s...

Parliamentary news may have been dominated by the fallout from the Rwanda Bill yesterday but another important piece of legislation also...

March was the most popular month for completions this year as sales took longer and buyers focused on affordability, analysis has...

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill is falling short of its own objectives, an industry executive has claimed. Linz Darlington, founder of...

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

I think we can all agree that the National Trading Standards Material Information reforms are a good thing for the property...

Leasehold campaigners are urging anyone responding to the Government’s consultation on ground rents reform to boycott all options but capping them...

It may be a measure of the government’s incompetence in the area of housing that two recent major announcements were sorely...

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

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

The Government appears to have gone through so many housing ministers that it is now repeating them. Lee Rowley was appointed as...

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

Three members of the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners take a brief look at some of the trials and tribulations awaiting...

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

Campaigners and commentators have reacted cautiously to leasehold reform proposals put forward in the King’s Speech. The King took part in his...

The majority of agents back parts B and C of material information rules but more guidance is needed on where to...

Propertymark has given its backing to commitments from the Housing Minister on the long-awaited next steps of leasehold reform. Timothy Douglas, head...

All new houses in England and Wales will have to be sold as freehold properties under government plans to phase out...

Despite the announcements, the publicity, the guidance and the acres of website information, the most common complaint surrounding house sales is...

The Labour Party is being urged to take the lead on estate agency regulation and help driving up standards in the...

As an Estate Agent it’s important to be able to interpret and understand the information that a Title Deed document presents...

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

Propertymark has written to the Government to ask why attempts to protect leaseholders are being ignored. It comes as the Earl of...

The latest material information rules will be introduced this Autumn, the industry regulator has revealed. Speaking at the Propertymark One Conference in...

An estate agent is urging people selling their flats to have building safety documentation in place before putting the property on...

Flat owners have seen their service charges rise by 8% over the past year, research suggests. A new service charge index launched...

In his latest column, property commentator Jonathan Rolande, provides his take on the biggest stories from the past seven days.  For a long...

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

An artificial intelligence-powered property due diligence platform that is popular in the commercial market has raised £7.5m to help expand into...

Real estate consultants SHW is advising leaseholders not to wait to extend their lease. The call follows the start of the Government’s...

The Building Safety Act will cause further delays to the home moving process, a senior industry executive has warned. Rob Hailstone, chief...

In simple terms, as you are probably aware, ‘lenders’ are the organisations who loan you something, in this case money to...

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

The Conveyancing Association has launched a guidance document for firms that addresses the Building Safety Act and Building Safety (Leaseholder Protection)...

A senior peer has vowed to do more to ensure that leaseholders excluded from new building safety regulations get the support...

A Propertymark-supported amendment that aimed to bolster support for leaseholders in unsafe buildings failed to gain approval in the House of...

Trade and representative bodies representing the legal, surveying, estate agency and property management sectors have launched the fourth iteration of the...

As an estate agent, you know that securing the sale is just step one of a successful journey. But with issues...

The Residential Logbook Association (RLBA) has launched the first iteration of its register, which aims to speed-up transactions and stop property...

The Home Buying and Selling Group (HBSG) has announced a new update to the Leasehold Property Enquiries (LPE1) form, which it...

Agency trade body Propertymark has backed calls for greater leaseholder protections as the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill proceeds through Parliament. The...

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

The slowing housing market may have at least one benefit for leaseholders looking to sell their homes, a property lawyer claims. House...

Over the last few years, the property industry has been focusing on the need to provide more information to buyers ‘up...

Agents may be regularly debating increasing their fees but property buyers and sellers are already used to paying more for conveyancing,...

Lucy Frazer became the 13th Housing Minister to leave the role in the past decade yesterday after she was promoted to...

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

The Property Redress Scheme (PRS) has formed a new member panel that will be chaired by senior industry figure Eric Walker. The...

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

Trade and representative bodies covering the legal, surveying, estate agency and property management sectors, including the Conveyancing Association (CA), have launched...

As we move closer to the end of the year, we invariably begin to think of what 2023 will bring, how...

The Government has unveiled a pilot scheme aimed to help more flat owners whose homes have become unsafe and, in some...

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

In this feature, Jonathan Daines looks at how landlords can do their bit to make the rental market greener. Global leaders have...

Increasing numbers of complaints about agents are being resolved without formal investigation but issues are becoming more complex, The Property Ombudsman...

Recent political changes – and there have been quite a few in recent weeks – have brought about something of a...

With reform of the home buying and selling process as crucial as it's ever been, and disrupters like Coadjute and PEXA...

Housing minister Lee Rowley is set to make one of his first official public appearances at a Conservative Party fringe event...

Property expert Kate Faulkner has been announced as the host of this year’s Society of Licensed Conveyancers’ annual conference. The event is...

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

Thousands more leaseholders are expected to see ground rents cut and some may even receive refunds. It forms part of the Competition...

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has closed its investigation into alleged mis-selling of leasehold houses by Barratt Homes. It is the...

Despite all the controversy surrounding it in recent years, and various government attempts to address the leasehold scandal, new research from...

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has announced the schedule for its annual Conference. The event returns to its traditional in-person format this year,...

Century 21 UK, the British arm of the US-based franchising agency, has opened its first offices in Northern Ireland. It comes after...

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

As Britain’s housing boom continues,  SDL Property Auctions has warned of ten ways new homeowners could be fined up to £5,000...

There has been so much coverage recently over how painfully slow conveyancing is at the moment - 18-20 weeks is now...

The Property Redress Scheme (PRS) is putting together an advisory panel to improve governance, accountability and sector representation when formulating policies. It...

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...

New rules on leasehold homes came in this week, banning ground rents on new leases but a property expert warns this...

Agents may have to include the broadband speed and mobile signal for a property on listings in the next round of...

The Bank of England’s continued rise in interest rates – the latest being a shift up to 1.25% - is, in...

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

The head of the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) has suggested the material listings rules should be...

Boris Johnson has promised a review of the mortgage market and housing benefit rules to help more people to get on...

The new owner of Century 21 UK, the British arm of the US-based franchising agency, has set his sights on rivalling...

Century 21 UK, the British arm of the US-based franchising agency, has been sold. Nicholas Faulkner, the owner of leasehold property management...

A high-profile peer has questioned why estate agency regulation wasn’t extended to property management companies in the Queen’s Speech this week. Lord...

Agents have pledged to keep a close eye on planning reforms amid a proposed overhaul announced in the Queen’s Speech yesterday. Prince...

You will hopefully have seen that the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 has now received its Royal Assent, meaning it...

Propertymark has given its backing to the ban on ground rents for new leasehold properties and has reminded agents of their...

They say that in fashion, if you wait for long enough, clothes that are hanging at the back of your wardrobe...

Challenger portal group OneDome has linked with a chain repair service to provide what it calls an end-to-end property offering. The OneDome...

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...

Those aficionados of the Sound of Music will recognise the tag line above. It came to my mind when thinking about...

The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agent Team has released background information on how it came to make changes to...

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