Archive

Hello and welcome to this week’s hat-tip towards those in our industry doing so much to help others in need. Summer fund-raising...

Part of the South Hams area, a popular tourist hotspot in south Devon, has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a ban...

Transactions across Greater London have plummeted - they were down 7.9 per cent over the past three months and a whopping...

High-end housebuilder Berkeley Homes says “macro and political uncertainty, including Brexit” is leading to some developers previously building in London to...

There’s been a landslide vote to ban new-build second homes in another tourist hotspot. Some 90 per cent of those who voted...

The retirement housing sector has increased its market share considerably in the last two years, creating a 'perfect storm' for estate...

Hello and welcome to this week’s Property Jobs Today, our weekly feature on who’s moving where throughout our industry. And it’s...

One of the three official redress bodies serving the estate and lettings agency industry has conducted a survey of complaints across...

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

The battle to become the single ombudsman service after the government rationalises the redress system across housing has taken an unexpected...

Hybrid agency Emoov is now offering a tailored sales package aimed at attracting developers listing and selling new homes. Rather than paying...

The proportion of first time buyers in the market is still 11 per cent below the level seen before the 2008...

  More details have emerged of the government’s proposals to enhance estate agency regulation, regulate referral fees, offer guides for buyers and...

Barclays is next week launching a so-called ‘green mortgage’ which links the loan to the Energy Performance Certificate rating of the...

At any given moment it’s difficult to say which issue dominates our marketplace, but I think it’s fair to acknowledge during...

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

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

Investment consultancy London Central Portfolio has launched a new index which it claims uses “the most comprehensive data available” to assess...

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

When it comes to property, ‘Japanese knotweed’ are the two words most homeowners and prospective buyers do not want to hear.  With...

When it comes to growing your business sustainably, maintaining a brand that is eye-catching and identifiable with your audience is vital...

London estate agency chain Dexters is expanding its brand once again thanks to a new partnership with Stirling Ackroyd New Homes.  Dexters...

Land and investment deals achieved by Connells Group in 2017 will add a further 2,750 units to its new homes pipeline,...

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

Readers of a certain age may remember the spoon-bending eccentric Uri Geller, self-proclaimed friend of Michael Jackson and an almost permanent...

The number of transactions last year dropped to 1.22m - a minor 0.8 per cent drop on the year before and...

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

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

A specialist leasehold enfranchisement firm has branded government leasehold reforms as "incredibly weak". In an announcement lost in the noise following Damian Green’s sacking,...

Chris Philp, a Conservative MP and Parliamentary Private Secretary to Chancellor Phillip Hammond, says 50 per cent of new homes in...

The consumer group HomeOnwers’ Alliance says buyers of new build homes should be able to retain 2.5 per cent of the...

Another Budget, another pledge of new house building: it appears from statements made over the weekend by Chancellor Phillip Hammond that...

New figures out this morning show that house builders registered nearly 38,000 new homes in the UK during the third quarter...

The residential research associate director of Cushman & Wakefield says there is now evidence that the Help to Buy equity loan...

A minister has floated the idea that stamp duty could be reduced on homes where sellers have improved energy efficiency. Climate Change...

Respected buying agency Black Brick says there is evidence that prices in prime central London may be stabilising and transactions volumes...

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

Labour’s shadow housing minister John Healey is reported to be one of a number of prominent front bench opposition spokespeople being...

Long-established central London estate agency Kay & Co is opening what it calls “a stylish new boutique office” on the ground...

Countrywide Surveying Services has been appointed by Virgin Money as its partner to support borrowers for new build, custom build and...

The government says the number of new build homes that have started to be built has surged to the highest level...

Shelter, the campaigning charity that has been hugely critical of private landlords and letting agents in recent years, has now launched...

Savills has reported strong figures for the first half of 2017 across its worldwide activities, but its UK residential divisions have...

The government has poured cold water over industry speculation that Help To Buy could be phased out or significantly modified between...

The government is thought to be reviewing Help To Buy which, it is claimed, could end with the scheme being scrapped...

Without wishing to blow our own trumpet at this time, we did say at the start of the year that 2017...

There has been general support from the industry for the government’s apparent intention to ban new homes in England being sold...

The government says it wants to ban “unfair” leasehold charges imposed on buyers of new-build homes in England.  Under the measure, subject to...

The government has published the findings of research which suggest that very few local opponents to new homes will be bought...

Purplebricks has landed a deal to sell new-build homes, an activity previously done usually directly by developers or traditional high street estate...

The housing market is approaching something of a standstill as the summer holiday season begins according to a downbeat report from...

A leasehold enfranchisement expert wants government action over what he calls the "forgotten casualties" of the recent ground rent scandal.    Louie Burns,...

Government schemes like Help To Buy, supposedly assisting more people get on the ladder, have little impact on improving social mobility...

LonRes has launched a new product which it says helps developers and agents ensure maximum exposure to previously untapped buyers. A new...

A cluster of conveyancing and legal experts, known as the Legal Sector Group, has published a raft of proposals on leasehold...

London Central Portfolio, a property investment consultancy, has set out a five point plan for the next government elected this week...

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

It has been announced that Uber, the taxi company, has teamed up with build to rent firm, Moda Living, to ‘revolutionise renting’.    This...

Given that around 95% of property searches now start online, it is more important than ever that an agent has an...

Since the seventies, housing starts and completions across England and Wales have been on a downward trajectory. The long run average...

There has been widespread praise for the Nationwide building society's crackdown on criteria for mortgages for leasehold new build homes.   From May...

Residents in two parts of Cornwall will vote tomorrow on whether to join the holiday resort of St Ives in banning...

Not only did Theresa May stun everyone with her decision to call a ‘snap election’ but with the campaign now underway...

More than three quarters of developers want to see the government go into reverse on its stamp duty and mortgage interest...

The number of new homes built in London will reach record levels in 2017, according to high-end agency Savills - but...

“I predict that within a few years, folks advertising properties for rent or to buy will start to show if their property is a...

The results of a survey conducted by the Home Builders Federation has been attacked by consumer group, the HomeOwners Alliance. For over...

Peter Robinson, CEO of AIPP – Association of International Property Professionals – shines a light onto the international property market. Some UK...

The property market in northern England, supported in part by the Northern Powerhouse concept, has attracted a lot of media attention,...

The Competition and Markets Authority is to review the operation of new home structural warranties issued by the National House Building...

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

Former Conservative minister Michael Portillo has made an outspoken attack on his former party over its switch of housing policy emphasis from...

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

A house builder has set aside £7m to spend on repairs to its own new properties after a series of complaints...

What would Norwich’s own Alan Partridge say? An estate agency in the city is offering residents a one-off opportunity - the...

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...

The government has set out 29 key points in its Housing White Paper.   Introducing it in the Commons this afternoon, Communities Secretery Sajid...

There's bad news for the government in the form of house building targets on the eve of its long-awaited Housing White...

Lots of people buy new-build due to the perceived lack of hassle with maintenance, as they are built to the latest...

Over 168,000 new homes were completed in the year to March 2016, according to data released by the government, over 15,500...

The East of England, which takes in areas from Hertfordshire to Norfolk, has recorded the biggest hike in property prices over...

The end of 2016 saw the launch of 30,000 new build-to-rent (BTR) projects in London alone. With market growth projected to...

The government appears to have slipped back on two deadlines concerning measures key to the property industry. Firstly the consultation on the...

After years of surveys suggesting the UK’s new-build homes were getting smaller, and may even be the smallest in much of...

The chief executive of one of Britain’s top house builders is warning that the industry must do more to prevent an...

The Halifax says house prices across the UK will rise between 1.0 and 4.0 per cent in the next 12 months...

2017 is set to be the first year since 2008 that the UK constructs 200,000 new homes, suggests Redrow, one of...

The Adam Smith Institute, a right-wing think-tank, has blasted the campaigning charity Shelter over its allegations of land-banking by house builders in...

Following a strong start to 2016, particularly in the lower to middle range of the UK housing market, that lasted up...

Humberts says it is throwing its weight behind a fledgling organisation set up to bring estate agencies and new-build developers together...

House prices will stall in 2017 and there won’t by any significant improvement in affordability for many hard-pressed buyers - but...

A housebuilder that has in the past profited from its concentration on high-end London schemes says demand for its units is...

A firm is warning of “a wave of litigation from home owners who were given inadequate advice from their solicitors or...

In case you missed it yesterday, here’s a summary of everything relating to property that was in Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s Autumn...

A solicitor has asked how the ban on the sale of new-build apartments and houses to holiday home buyers in a...

Barratt Homes, the UK’s largest housebuilder, is slashing the asking prices of some of its most expensive London homes by 10 per cent. In...

Some sectors of the industry have been giving their initial reactions to the shock Donald Trump victory in the US presidential election.  Camilla...

There are now around 715,000 homes classed as ‘retirement housing’ which is equivalent to about 2.6 per cent of total housing stock. The...

Another agency has opened an office in the troubled Nine Elms scheme in central London - this time the new entrant...

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

A campaign group says it wants to state the case for more new homes in a county which until now has...

Countryside Properties and Telford Homes are the latest housebuilders to report good trading conditions following the result of the EU referendum. Countryside,...

A key decision that may have far-reaching implications for the sale of holiday homes has been delayed by a High Court...

The government has signalled that it is going to publish a housing White Paper later this year with “significant measures” to...

The government says its latest release of figures from its various Help to Buy schemes show that over 185,000 people have...

Some of London’s ailing new homes schemes may have been thrown a lifeline by the decision of technology giant Apple to occupy...

Next week sees a court case which will decide whether there will have to be a re-run of the ‘second homes...

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...

Barratt Homes is the latest housebuilder to report strong figures - for the period up to the EU referendum - with...

The government’s housing policy, while helpful outside London, has had a negative effect on the capital according to one of the...

The importance of overseas buyers in underpinning increasing elements of the capital’s housing market and won support from an unlikely quarter...

In the capital, people will pay a premium to live near great transport links, and as we’ve seen from Crossrail and...

The see-saw of conflcting post-Brexit indicators is continuing with figures from house builder Persimmon suggesting a strong housing market - contradicting...

The industry publication Property Week says it has exclusively discovered that the government is preparing a housing market stimulus package to...

Rentplus, a business providing Rent To Buy homes, has announced that it has new funding of £20m - on top of...

Square foot prices at one of central London’s most controversial new developments - Nine Elms - are down eight per cent...

There has been another indicator that the Brexit effect on the UK housing market has been less severe than some anticipated. Bovis...

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

There is likely to be an October court date set for a judicial review into a ban on new-build houses and...

Savills residential fee income rose 10 per cent in the first six months of 2016 but the firm warns that it’s...

Jackson-Stops & Staff has opened a new branch in in Blandford, Dorset, expanding the agency’s west country presence to nine offices.   Simon...

Sheffield in South Yorkshire, which was once one of the leading industrial cities in Britain and is still recognised for its...

It has been revealed that the new housing minister, Gavin Barwell, appears to be campaigning to oppose a new housing scheme...

With the new Formula One season now well underway, we delve into the fast lane to take you on a whirlwind...

nu-move online estate agents -The Future of Property Nu-move is an online venture that has been created to meet the demand...

Humberts is introducing what it calls a ‘personal assistant’ for retirees in a bid to woo the growing market of elderly...

Berkeley Group, which has given a trading report to the City, says reservations for its new homes are down 20 per...

Property consultancy Arcadis, which monitors construction and development around the world, wants Chancellor George Osborne to offer temporary stamp duty relief...

The government is launching the new official UK House Price Index - to be known in short-form as the UK HPI...

Dear Sales Doctor, I'm aware I sound robotic when qualifying an applicant and don't know how to change it; any ideas? When an...

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners says more leaseholders are complaining of inflated service charges for maintenance, upkeep and communal areas.  The...

Countrywide has taken another step into the residential development mortgage market by acquiring Mortgage Bureau, which works with national house builders as...

The service charges for new-build flats coming on to the market this year are on average 96 per cent higher than...

Research from a residential investment consultancy throws light on the extraordinary large pipeline of new homes to be built in central London,...

Morgan Stanley says fears over a possible UK exit from the EU and other global economic uncertainty could lead to “a...

JLL says the stamp duty surcharge on buy to let properties and second homes has obliged it to downgrade its forecast...

As we know, the property market in London is notorious for sitting a long way outside the conventions of the wider UK...

A detailed analysis by Hometrack reveals that new-build transactions - running at roughly 10 per cent of all house sales for...

Discounted starter homes could be out of reach for the majority of families in need of an affordable home in many...

The government claims 43 per cent of new homes built since the introduction of the Help to Buy equity loan scheme...

A newspaper article claims that Rightmove and Zoopla are “awash” with what it calls “the unofficial resales of flats in developments...

With a little over two months to go until changes to Stamp Duty are introduced that will impact purchasers of second...

Online estate agency easyProperty is marking the start of 2016 by launching a Land and New Homes division. “It’s obviously one of...

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an advertisement from a property company selling new homes in East London, after it was...

In many respects 2015 has been a good year. Despite global challenges, we have seen a marked improvement in the UK...

More than half of the new homes being built today are not big enough to meet the needs of the people...

The Bow Group - a think-tank that was previously a solid backer of the Tories but has recently flirted with UKIP...

It’s been revealed that the National Home Building Council has been helping the National Association of Estate Agents with a toolkit...

The agency marketing expert Doctor Photo has launched what he calls a ‘digital surgery’ to provide agents and developers with images...

High-end property business Savills has launched a new service called Retirement Living, aimed at securing business from retirement scheme developers. The team...

Property journalists, and more than a few estate agents, are beginning their annual autumn ritual – forecasting what’s going to happen...

On Wednesday 21st October future and reality will collide. Back to the Future’s Marty McFly will arrive in the DeLorean to...

The government has launched a £26m fund for house builders and developers to demonstrate the range of high quality homes appropriate...

The Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors says it supports a call by housing minister Brandon Lewis for personnel retiring from the...

Registrations for new private homes rose 17 per cent in the three months to the end of May when compared to...

In my recent article, ‘Is Gazeal for Real?’ I reported on the imminent launch of this new product that claimed it...

A developer is proposing to launch 345 new-build flats at Canary Wharf with a policy of selling to UK buyers before...

Over 28,000 people visited websites connected with the first ever online-only auction for new build properties, according to the event’s organisers,...

The National Association of Estate Agents says HMRC have been making unscheduled visits to individual agency offices to check on their...

Working with a well-connected local estate agent should be a priority for British house-hunters looking for property overseas, according to an...

Auction house Allsop is launching the country’s first ever online-only auction for new build homes - and claims it's a first. The...