There was a long-awaited return to the House of Commons this week when the Renters (Reform) Bill finally rose to the...
Archive
Last weekend a story by The Sunday Times’ Deputy Political Editor indicated that the Government is proposing implementing a £250 cap...
27 April 2024
From: Features
The Law Society is exploring concerns that Propertymark's Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) puts agents at risk of legal issues, Estate Agent...
13 March 2024
From: Breaking News
Following the disappointment of his Autmn statement, many property professionals were hoping for a kick-start to property sales in Jeremy Hunt’s...
09 March 2024
From: Features
Agents would be happy to pay for regulation but the sector should be wary of costs, a Propertymark executive has told...
06 March 2024
From: Breaking News
Property professionals have called for the Government to allocate its promised £3m towards improving the home buying and selling process to...
04 March 2024
From: Breaking News
It usually takes a scandal or a reshuffle to remove a Government minister so it came as a bit of a...
31 January 2024
From: Breaking News
Parliamentary news may have been dominated by the fallout from the Rwanda Bill yesterday but another important piece of legislation also...
17 January 2024
From: Breaking News
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLHUC) has hit back at media claims about its housebuilding targets. The Times newspaper...
18 December 2023
From: Breaking News
Agents are hoping for further support for the housing market north of the border as the Scottish Government prepares to set...
18 December 2023
From: Breaking News
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill is falling short of its own objectives, an industry executive has claimed. Linz Darlington, founder of...
13 December 2023
From: Breaking News
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill passed its second reading in Parliament last night. Housing minister Lee Rowley pledged that the legislation...
12 December 2023
From: Breaking News
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
The United Kingdom stands on the precipice of a historic overhaul in property ownership. With the King's speech unveiling the anticipated...
25 November 2023
From: Features
Propertymark has expressed its opposition to Scottish Government plans to increase council tax premiums on second homes. Speaking to the Scottish Parliament’s...
22 November 2023
From: Breaking News
It was US disability rights advocate, Helen Keller, who said: ‘alone, we can do so little, together we can do so...
11 November 2023
From: Features
Campaigners and commentators have reacted cautiously to leasehold reform proposals put forward in the King’s Speech. The King took part in his...
08 November 2023
From: Breaking News
By Neil Cobbold Recent data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show that 24,260 households served a valid Section...
04 November 2023
From: Features
The best way to judge the UK housing market is to check on what’s happening in Parliament, not the price indices...
31 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
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
Introduced to Parliament in May, the Renters (Reform) Bill seeks to improve the private rental sector for both tenants and landlords....
15 September 2023
From: Sponsored Content
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
Propertymark has written to the Government to ask why attempts to protect leaseholders are being ignored. It comes as the Earl of...
15 August 2023
From: Breaking News
The process from a Local Plan allocation to a digger on site typically stretches beyond the length of a five-year political...
12 August 2023
From: Features
Over recent years, as successive governments have tightened lettings legislation and increased the tax burden on landlords, some with investment properties...
05 August 2023
From: Features
Housing Minister Rachel Maclean MP is probably looking forward to her summer break this year. But wherever she's going and whatever she's...
29 July 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
‘Schools out for Summer’ as the Alice Cooper song goes and the kids are not the only ones looking forward to...
22 July 2023
From: Features
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
According to the latest English Housing Survey, there were 495,000 second homes in the UK in 2018/19 – a figure said...
15 July 2023
From: Features
MPs have cast doubt on the Government’s ability to achieve its target of 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s...
14 July 2023
From: Breaking News
Two all-party groups of MPs and Peers have called on the government to act to turn empty buildings into good quality,...
10 July 2023
From: Breaking News
The long-awaited Renters Reform Bill was finally introduced in Parliament in May, but is it really good news for tenants? Several...
08 July 2023
From: Features
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been criticised for figures she used when highlighting how much mortgage borrowers are set to see...
04 July 2023
From: Breaking News
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
At present, the space heating of homes accounts for roughly 14% of the UK’s annual emissions. If we are to meet...
14 June 2023
From: Sponsored Content
The Government is not taking any responsibility for the thousands of people that have had spray foam installed by Green Homes...
16 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
The UK is on its rear - fact. Whilst many were breathing a sigh of relief after surviving a global pandemic,...
29 April 2023
From: Features
A Propertymark-supported amendment that aimed to bolster support for leaseholders in unsafe buildings failed to gain approval in the House of...
26 April 2023
From: Breaking News
The issue of conditional selling in estate agency has hit Westminster. There have been several reports in recent months about agents requiring...
11 April 2023
From: Breaking News
Agency trade body Propertymark has welcomed reforms to the business rates system, meaning high street agents, and other businesses, could finally...
31 March 2023
From: Breaking News
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
Agency trade body Propertymark has backed calls for greater leaseholder protections as the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill proceeds through Parliament. The...
01 March 2023
From: Breaking News
The important issue of hard-to-sell inherited properties has been raised in Parliament. Labour MP Zarah Sultana issued a written question asking what...
23 February 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
We’re only in February and it’s already clear that this year will set the future direction of the private rented sector...
15 February 2023
From: Features
Lucy Frazer became the 13th Housing Minister to leave the role in the past decade yesterday after she was promoted to...
08 February 2023
From: Breaking News
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is the direct result of European Legislation. They were introduced because of the Energy Performance of...
30 January 2023
From: Sponsored Content
Half of Estate Agent Today readers agree that industry regulations and minimum qualifications will improve standards in the sector but a...
30 January 2023
From: Breaking News
Should commercial properties be converted into homes? I think so. I don’t mean the upscale barns becoming large houses, or the fashionable...
28 January 2023
From: Features
Conservative MPs are continuing to question when new estate agency regulations will come in as the Government sticks to its stock...
17 January 2023
From: Breaking News
Happy New Year, to you all. Now that we’re all back in harness and Christmas feels like a long-distant memory, I...
14 January 2023
From: Features
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and ex-Home Secretary Priti Patel had around three years in Government to sort out housing but...
11 January 2023
From: Breaking News
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
The Government’s latest Housing Minister Lucy Frazer brings plenty of property experience as a landlord and has also indirectly received donations...
10 November 2022
From: Breaking News
Recent political changes – and there have been quite a few in recent weeks – have brought about something of a...
29 October 2022
From: Features
A Bill to bring the Government’s Stamp Duty reductions into legislation reached its second reading in the Houses of Parliament this...
26 October 2022
From: Breaking News
I can’t really write about anything else this week, can I? Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have...
22 October 2022
From: Features
Simon Clarke is set for his first grilling by MPs as Levelling Up and Housing Secretary. Clarke will be questioned by the...
18 October 2022
From: Breaking News
The new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has reversed almost all of the tax cuts set out in Kwasi Kwarteng's disastrous mini-Budget three...
17 October 2022
From: Breaking News
Over the last five years, the Government has introduced a range of measures to regulate the property market, particularly in the...
12 October 2022
From: Features
There has been an understandable focus on things other than Government since the death of Queen Elizabeth was announced, but Prime...
24 September 2022
From: Features
New Housing Secretary Simon Clarke may be an unknown entity to many agents but he has a track record of supporting...
07 September 2022
From: Breaking News
The government has rebuffed calls to assess whether different rates of Stamp Duty could incentivise property development or sales of energy...
07 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
When it comes to housing policy, the Conservative MPs have given their party a choice between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle DumDum. Rishi...
23 July 2022
From: Features
Recent statistics published by the government’s Business Insights and Conditions Survey revealed the extent to which many real estate businesses have...
23 July 2022
From: Features
The Tory leadership candidates have been urged to not forget about housing as the race to be the new Prime Minister...
18 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
New rules on leasehold homes came in this week, banning ground rents on new leases but a property expert warns this...
30 June 2022
From: Breaking News
It’s often fashionable to criticise trade bodies and official groups, but right now I think that’s absolutely inappropriate. In well over 20...
25 June 2022
From: Features
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
The issue of agency qualifications has finally been mentioned in the Houses of Parliament, almost three years since the landmark Regulation...
20 May 2022
From: Breaking News
Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently announced that he is considering extending Margaret Thatcher’s Right-to-Buy scheme, that gives council tenants the chance to...
14 May 2022
From: Features
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...
13 May 2022
From: Breaking News
Agents have pledged to keep a close eye on planning reforms amid a proposed overhaul announced in the Queen’s Speech yesterday. Prince...
11 May 2022
From: Breaking News
The Queen’s Speech has unveiled proposed overhauls on planning, consumer and economic crime laws that could all have an effect on...
10 May 2022
From: Breaking News
The government’s legislative agenda will be set out this morning in the Queen’s Speech and there are plenty of potential laws that...
10 May 2022
From: Breaking News
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
You will hopefully have seen that the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 has now received its Royal Assent, meaning it...
30 April 2022
From: Features
It’s easy to overestimate the importance of something in one’s own industry or work, but there seems good reason for believing...
23 April 2022
From: Features
The government has insisted it is still committed to introducing agency qualifications and minimum standards in the sector. It is almost three...
19 April 2022
From: Breaking News
The introduction of a register of land owners has triggered concern from the agents’ trade body Propertymark. A Register of Persons Holding...
31 March 2022
From: Breaking News
It’s not an easy time for many renters (and homeowners). The cost of living is going up across the board for...
26 March 2022
From: Features
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a dramatic future income tax cut, changes to National Insurance thresholds and scrapping VAT on more...
23 March 2022
From: Breaking News
A legal expert has warned that everyone is theoretically at risk of committing a breach of sanctions against Russia - but...
16 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
The outcome of the Ukraine crisis is far from certain, but one thing has become abundantly clear. The long-overdue Economic Crime...
26 February 2022
From: Features
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
A campaigning MP is to meet with a government minister to discuss controls and disincentives for second homes. Former Liberal Democrat MP...
15 February 2022
From: Breaking News
A new housing minister has been named this afternoon, to replace Chris Pincher. Stuart Andrew has been confirmed by Downing Street as...
08 February 2022
From: Breaking News
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, wants the government to put a stop to the capital being used for international money...
07 February 2022
From: Breaking News
The lettings sector looks set to steam ahead in 2022 after a record-breaking 2021, despite the financial and mobility challenges of...
22 January 2022
From: Features
Propertymark has appointed an insider to the key role of policy adviser - effectively the position vacated last month by industry...
21 January 2022
From: Breaking News
As this is the first Natter back since the Christmas break, I should like to first wish all our readers a...