A report in the Times newspaper says Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is planning a stamp duty cut in the early autumn. The paper...
Archive
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...
20 April 2024
From: Features
Plans to set ground rents at a ‘peppercorn rate’ are reported to have been dropped amid opposition from freehold campaigners and...
25 March 2024
From: Breaking News
Both 'beauty' and ‘gentle density’ are central themes of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).. The notes which accompany the NPPF state...
23 March 2024
From: Features
The architect of the Regulation of Property Agents (ROPA) reforms has expressed frustration that the recommendations have failed to materialise as...
22 March 2024
From: Breaking News
The Government has taken the unusual step of intervening in the London Plan to boost housebuilding in the capital. Housing Secretary Michael...
19 March 2024
From: Breaking News
The complexities of the government’s leasehold reform proposals affecting millions of homeowners came under the spotlight at a seminar organised by...
02 March 2024
From: Features
Last weekend, Levelling Up and Housing Secretary, Michael Gove wrote in the Sunday Times that the nation’s housing crisis was so...
17 February 2024
From: Features
Building on brownfield sites may not be the silver bullet it is made out to be, the government has been warned. Housing...
14 February 2024
From: Breaking News
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has given the strongest hint yet that housing measures could be included in the Spring Budget. Chancellor Jeremy...
12 February 2024
From: Breaking News
Sir Simon Clarke’s call for Rishi Sunak to be ousted from Downing Street may well express what many of his MP...
27 January 2024
From: Features
The Register of Overseas Entities has hit the 30,000 registration milestone. The register, which is administered by Companies House, came into force...
03 January 2024
From: Breaking News
As the world marches relentlessly forward to 2024, the government’s flagship legislation for the private rented sector (PRS) remains in limbo. This...
30 December 2023
From: Features
The Government has published long-awaited reforms to its National Planning Policy Framework, confirming that local housebuilding targets will be advisory rather...
20 December 2023
From: Breaking News
In July the Government committed to ‘a new era of regeneration, inner-city densification and housing delivery across England, with transformational plans...
16 December 2023
From: Features
There is rarely a quiet year in the property market. And 2023 has felt like the usual rollercoaster at times. On...
15 December 2023
From: Breaking News
It may be a measure of the government’s incompetence in the area of housing that two recent major announcements were sorely...
02 December 2023
From: Features
The long-awaited Leasehold and Freehold Bill is set to be unveiled in Parliament today. The Bill aims to make it cheaper and...
27 November 2023
From: Breaking News
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will deliver his Autumn Statement this afternoon amid rumours of Stamp Duty reforms and support for first-time buyers. The...
22 November 2023
From: Breaking News
Lee Rowley has returned as housing minister. The reappointment comes after Rachel Maclean was sacked this morning and follows reports that the...
13 November 2023
From: Breaking News
Propertymark has written to the Housing Secretary Michael Gove to reiterate its longstanding call for regulation of property agents. The agency trade...
13 November 2023
From: Breaking News
The Government has outlined five proposals to reduce ground rents for existing leaseholders as its latest attempt to reform the sector...
10 November 2023
From: Breaking News
All new houses in England and Wales will have to be sold as freehold properties under government plans to phase out...
30 October 2023
From: Breaking News
Housing supply rather than the private rented sector (PRS) made the headlines during the Conservative and Labour Party conferences this year...
14 October 2023
From: Features
Talk about a wasted opportunity. The Conservative party conference - just finished, and possibly the last one before a General Election -...
07 October 2023
From: Features
More families need a home they can call their own, the Housing Secretary Michael Gove has claimed. Speaking at the Tory Party...
04 October 2023
From: Breaking News
And suddenly it’s autumn. It’s just six weeks before the clocks change, days are getting shorter and - the real sign...
09 September 2023
From: Features
Labour’s Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner is to add the housing brief to her deputy leader role. She takes over from Lisa Nandy...
05 September 2023
From: Breaking News
I recently wrote that the long-gestating Renters Reform Bill, finally introduced in Parliament back in May, could be poorly timed, both...
26 August 2023
From: Features
The Government has set out yet another attempt to meet it manifesto commitment to build 1m homes over this Parliament. Prime Minister...
25 July 2023
From: Breaking News
It may be all change - again - at the Department of Levelling Up, Communities and Local Government if media speculation...
17 July 2023
From: Breaking News
It’s not a sentence that I thought I would be writing, but Housing Secretary Michael Gove has indeed finally done something...
15 July 2023
From: Features
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has ruled out providing financial support for struggling mortgage borrowers as rates hit new highs. Average mortgage rates hit...
21 June 2023
From: Breaking News
In his latest column, property commentator Jonathan Rolande, provides his take on the biggest stories from the past seven days. For a long...
26 May 2023
From: Breaking News
The Labour Party has pledged to introduce legislation within its first 100 days of Government to abolish leasehold if it wins...
24 May 2023
From: Breaking News
It has been another busy week in the property sector. In his latest column, property commentator Jonathan Rolande, provides his take on...
19 May 2023
From: Breaking News
Sleight of hand, optical illusion, card up the sleeve – we all love a good conjuring trick, don’t we? And they say...
13 May 2023
From: Features
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has been slammed for “unhelpful” comments about abolishing leasehold after it emerged that there may not be...
12 May 2023
From: Breaking News
A coalition of businesses from across the property industry have united to call on the Government to do more to speed-up...
11 May 2023
From: Breaking News
The property market is broken, Housing Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged yesterday. Despite the Conservative Party being in power since 2010, Gove insisted...
04 April 2023
From: Breaking News
In November, research conducted by The Housing Forum's Futures Network unearthed concern with the potential to meet the requirements set out...
18 March 2023
From: Features
The property industry may be going to great effort to digitise and improve the process of buying and selling a home...
13 March 2023
From: Breaking News
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has signalled that legislation to allow for further leasehold reform will be included in the next parliamentary...
21 February 2023
From: Breaking News
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has committed to leasehold reform and fixing cladding issues before the next election. It comes as the Government...
30 January 2023
From: Breaking News
It’s been a year since Housing Secretary Michael Gove declared that was “morally wrong” that leaseholders should pay to fix unsafe...
11 January 2023
From: Breaking News
As we get ever closer to 2023, this final Natter of the year is dedicated to the five biggest property moments of...
17 December 2022
From: Features
Is it really just a year ago that we were nervously wondering whether yet another Christmas would be Covid-affected? Little did we...
10 December 2022
From: Features
The Government has officially watered-down proposals for mandatory local housebuilding targets as it brings its flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill...
06 December 2022
From: Breaking News
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has committed to look into issues with the Building Safety Act after MPs claimed leaseholders and Help to...
22 November 2022
From: Breaking News
MP for South East Cambridgeshire Lucy Frazer has been confirmed as the latest Housing Minister as part of a department reshuffle. Michael...
09 November 2022
From: Breaking News
The Government’s target of constructing 300,000 new homes annually by 2025 has been called into question due to a lack of...
04 November 2022
From: Breaking News
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...
29 October 2022
From: Features
Recent political changes – and there have been quite a few in recent weeks – have brought about something of a...
29 October 2022
From: Features
Estate agents have already filled Michael Gove's inbox with property-related tasks after he returned as Housing Secretary yesterday. New Prime Minister Rishi...
26 October 2022
From: Breaking News
Michael Gove has returned to frontline politics and his previous role as Levelling Up and Housing Secretary. He is among the new...
25 October 2022
From: Breaking News
Analysis: What did Boris Johnson do for the UK property market during his 3 years as Prime Minister?
Time is up for Boris Johnson's tenure as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, serving 3 years and 44...
17 September 2022
From: Features
First off, my own quick tribute to the Queen, who died on Thursday afternoon aged 96. Despite her age and declining...
10 September 2022
From: Features
Simon Clarke has been confirmed as the new Housing Secretary in the Cabinet of new Prime Minister Liz Truss this evening. He...
06 September 2022
From: Breaking News
A parliamentary petition calling for ground rent charges to be extended to existing leases has reached the required number of signatures...
28 July 2022
From: Breaking News
A senior member of the Home Buying and Selling Group has insisted work on reforms is ongoing despite the ministerial merry-go-round...
11 July 2022
From: Breaking News
Estate agency trade body Propertymark is hoping to “maintain momentum” with newly appointed Housing Secretary Greg Clark. He replaces Michael Gove, who...
08 July 2022
From: Breaking News
Greg Clark has been named as the new Housing Secretary. Clark will replace Michael Gove who was sacked by Prime Minister Boris...
07 July 2022
From: Breaking News
Independent agent Barrows and Forrester has called for the appointment of a housing tsar for a fixed term as yet another...
07 July 2022
From: Breaking News
Michael Gove has been sacked as Housing Secretary as Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to reject calls to resign. Johnson was hit...
06 July 2022
From: Breaking News
Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid sensationally quit as Chancellor and Health Secretary respectively this evening but Housing Secretary Michael Gove is...
05 July 2022
From: Breaking News
Anyone working in the property market should have at least one eye on supply. Of course, it’s a constant issue for...
02 July 2022
From: Features
It’s the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell fire tragedy, but are high rises any safer today than they were then? On 14th...
18 June 2022
From: Features
The government’s new Right to Buy policy for housing association tenants appeared to unravel last night after the Housing Secretary said...
14 June 2022
From: Breaking News
Housing Secretary Michael Gove and minister Stuart Andrew are set to be grilled by MPs on their property market plans today. The...
13 June 2022
From: Breaking News
This question is not as flippant as it sounds because over recent years the status of the private landlord has taken...
11 June 2022
From: Features
A significant housing announcement has been promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a part of a sweetener that saw him...
07 June 2022
From: Breaking News
In retrospect, it was perhaps inevitable that the infamous dead cat would come into the debate over government housing targets and...
21 May 2022
From: Features
Propertymark has expressed hope that the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will help boost much needed agency supply. The trade body has...
16 May 2022
From: Breaking News
The government last night revealed more details on its flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill including letting local authorities double council...
12 May 2022
From: Breaking News
A lack of support to help people onto the property ladder has been highlighted as one factor for the Tory party’s...
09 May 2022
From: Breaking News
What a difference two months and some local elections make. Cast your minds back to March 9 and the annual report of...
07 May 2022
From: Features
The property industry is fortunate in including many great people, doing great work across a range of businesses – from traditional agency...
30 April 2022
From: Features
Fifteen businesses which had bought freeholds from housing developer Countryside have now given formal undertakings to remove terms that cause ground...
21 March 2022
From: Breaking News
Too many leaseholders will fall through the cracks of the government’s “piecemeal measures” to combat the cladding crisis. That’s the view of...
16 March 2022
From: Breaking News
The government has now formally launched the Homes For Ukraine scheme, heavily leaked in recent days. The Secretary of State for Levelling...
15 March 2022
From: Breaking News
Momentum is building up in support of the government’s probe into whether the London homes of oligarchs on the sanctions list...
04 March 2022
From: Breaking News
The government is considering seizing British property owned by Russian oligarchs on the sanctions list without paying compensation. The Financial Times says Housing...
03 March 2022
From: Breaking News
Agents have told Housing Secretary Michael Gove that his Levelling Up agenda needs to include positive efforts to bring hundreds of...
02 March 2022
From: Breaking News
The government is threatening to deny planning consent to developers who refuse to pay towards the removal of unsafe cladding on...
16 February 2022
From: Breaking News
Housing ministers have lined up in recent days to support beleaguered Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Housing minister Chris Pincher, upon hearing of new...
07 February 2022
From: Breaking News
The government’s new Levelling Up White Paper, revealed this morning includes a radical reshaping of the private rental sector. Section 21 eviction...
02 February 2022
From: Breaking News
22 January 2022
From: Features
Owners of second homes who abuse a tax loophole by claiming their often-empty properties are holiday lets will be forced to...
14 January 2022
From: Breaking News
Leaseholders in lower-rise blocks of flats will not have to take out loans to remove dangerous cladding under new government rules...
10 January 2022
From: Breaking News
A company linked to the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower is being excluded from the government’s Help to Buy scheme, pending the outcome...
20 December 2021
From: Breaking News
The government should reset planning policy and scrap proposals for thousands of new homes in high-risk flood areas. The think-tank Localis, in...
22 November 2021
From: Breaking News
It’s been a busy and arguably fruitful year for the property market, with an eager consumer base pushing forwards with their...
17 November 2021
From: Features
A part of the Connells Group is telling the new Housing Secretary that he and his government “must do more” to...
18 October 2021
From: Breaking News
Leading politicians operating in the housing industry have paid tribute to murdered backbencher Sir David Amess. Housing Secretary Michael Gove tweeted: “David...
18 October 2021
From: Breaking News
There’s good news and bad news from the shake-up in government ministers and ministries that was presented to the nation last...
25 September 2021
From: Features
A leading planning consultancy has claimed that ‘the myth’ that housing developers are hoarding land after gaining planning consent in order...
23 September 2021
From: Breaking News
Affordability has always been a hot topic when it comes to the property market, and this is doubly true for first-time...
22 September 2021
From: Features
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has changed its name to reflect the government’s levelling up agenda. The department’s...
20 September 2021
From: Breaking News
New Housing Secretary Michael Gove is reported to be set to press ahead with plans to pause controversial planning reforms. It came...