Archive

The Spring Budget last Wednesday rounded out to be mostly a disappointment for the property industry, but it was also perhaps...

Concerned homeowners and gardeners are frequently mistaking common garden plants such as bindweed, dogwood and lilac for highly invasive Japanese knotweed,...

There’s no question that trust is the bedrock of any longstanding client relationship. It is built on delivering on your promises...

The government should reverse some of its latest energy efficiency policies so owners, landlords and tenants can enjoy cheaper fuel bills The...

Leading digital compliance firm SmartSearch has launched an innovative new solution to help professionals working within the UK property sector to...

For most people, buying a house or flat is the largest financial commitment they will ever make. Which is why many...

New research shows that while the UK homebuyers are paying far more than those in many other countries, the properties they...

Amidst mounting regulatory pressure and the escalating threat of financial crime, property firms must embrace innovation to protect themselves and their...

Recent research estimated that up to £100 billion is being stolen in the UK each year, with much of it due...

The dreaded ‘C word’ – compliance – has been facing Estate Agents for years now and it’s not going anywhere. Looking ahead...

A financial adviser has hit out at the Bank of England, claiming homeowners and business should be furious about its interest...

SmartSearch, the UK’s leading provider of digital compliance, has published an agenda-setting whitepaper to highlight the anti-money laundering shortcomings and sanctions...

It seems as if optimism is out of fashion right now: just look at the headlines to see what I mean....

Thousands of foreign companies with property in the UK have failed to declare their true owners. It comes as new anti-money laundering (AML)...

Sanctions against Russian oligarchs are working but agents and property professionals are being warned against getting complacent when checking international buyer...

Rich Americans will dominate ultra-premium property purchases in 2023, Beauchamp Estates claims. The luxury agent suggests that the strength of the dollar...

Northern Ireland has been named as a potential hotspot for money laundering. New data from anti-money laundering software provider SmartSearch has identified...

Dozens of estate agents have been fined a combined total of £519,645 for failing to meet their obligations under anti-money laundering...

Liz Truss became the shortest serving UK Prime Minister yesterday, resigning after just 45 days and prompting a new Conservative Party...

The Government’s mini budget on September 23 was anything but ‘mini’ with several major announcements one of the most significant of...

If recent headlines are anything to go by, estate agents and the wider property industry are not just feeling the heavy...

Over the last five years, the Government has introduced a range of measures to regulate the property market, particularly in the...

It’s taken Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the UK to finally take a much-needed step in the right direction to stop...

Agents have been celebrating some of the top fundraising exploits of the past 12 months but the activity continues. Remember, if you...

The recovery of the prime central London property market is being hampered by a lack of international buyers and Russia’s invasion...

Up to 70% of property firms have not changed their approach to onboarding new customers since sanctions were imposed on Russia...

As another round of property firms is fined, named and shamed for breaching anti-money laundering rules, it feels like the road...

Fewer foreign buyers are purchasing property in the UK, anti-money laundering data suggests. The property market has been hampered in recent years...

Anti-money laundering specialist SmartSearch has reached 1,000 clients in the property industry. It comes amid increased scrutiny of money laundering amid sanctions...

In this latest ‘Women in Property’ edition of the Natter, I check in with Collette Allen, who was recently appointed as...

You can tell that spring is in the air as this week's Agents Do Charity is full of outdoor fundraising pursuits...

It’s easy to overestimate the importance of something in one’s own industry or work, but there seems good reason for believing...

Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is believed to have become the first MP to take in Ukrainian refugees under the government’s...

The property sector has continuously been showing its generosity Ukrainian refugees amid the ongoing Russian invasion. Support ranges from financial donations to...

The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues to dominate the thoughts of our industry as this week’s ADC shows - a wonderful...

Hello and welcome to another Agents Do Charity, the weekly round up of fund-raising in our industry. Once more our thoughts are...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a dramatic future income tax cut, changes to National Insurance thresholds and scrapping VAT on more...

A Russian billionaire says he no longer owns many of his former properties in the UK, raising question marks over the...

The Building Societies Association’s regular confidence tracker about the housing market shows rising pessimism over interest rates, the escalating cost of...

A legal expert has warned that everyone is theoretically at risk of committing a breach of sanctions against Russia - but...

High end estate agency Savills says the imposition of sanctions on Russians, amid new measures obliging overseas buyers to be more...

Hello and welcome to this week’s ADC, an opportunity for see how selfless our industry can be at times of hardship...

An analysis of anti-money laundering compliance shows the estate agency industry as one of the UK’s worst performing sectors. And the expert...

The UK government appears to have given sanctioned Russian property owners a get-out-of-jail card valid for six months.  It’s been confirmed that...

A prominent estate agency figure is urging the industry to dig deep to help the Ukrainian humanitarian effort. Arun Group managing director...

Despite the latest Halifax house price index showing a 10.8 per cent annual rise, a leading housing market analyst is warning...

The Mayor of London is demanding ministers take sanctioning Russian oligarchs seriously by moving immediately to seize assets that can then...

A leading London agency has launched an urgent appeal for goods and equipment to be handed in to its offices today...

Almost exactly a decade ago I wrote a blog on the back of a spate on mainstream news stories about prime...

Peta Milne, founder of Instagram growth and PR service Monimo, and a content writer at Choices Estate Agents, recently sat down...

A well known UK estate agency has pledged £50,000 to help the growing Ukrainian refugee crisis. Brown & Co - the 13-branch...

Momentum is building up in support of the government’s probe into whether the London homes of oligarchs on the sanctions list...

An analyst is warning that the latest buoyant house price figures could be the last hurrah before a significant depression. The Nationwide’s...

The government is considering seizing British property owned by Russian oligarchs on the sanctions list without paying compensation. The Financial Times says Housing...

A new analysis has revealed those areas of England and Wales with the largest numbers of Russian-owned homes. Credas Technologies analysed Land...

Estate agents and other property businesses need to ensure their customer screening processes are robust and up to date following extensive...

Agents are being told by a trade body to conduct more frequent risk reviews and check purchaser identities against up to...

A leading surveyor in London says the likely introduction of a register of overseas property ownership and sanctions making it difficult...

It is claimed by Propertymark that the government’s Economic Crime Bill - to be debated in the House of Commons today -...

London mayor Sadiq Khan says he supports the seizure of property assets connected to the allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  The...

The outcome of the Ukraine crisis is far from certain, but one thing has become abundantly clear. The long-overdue Economic Crime...

Share prices of estate agencies and property companies plummeted yesterday as tensions continued to rise following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Purplebricks...

An estate agency says retrospective investigations into Russian ownership of London properties could lead to substantial amounts of wealth moving out...

It appears that new controls on property ownership may feature in future sanctions against Russia in response to its aggression in Ukraine. Prime...

If the UK and its allies have been played by Russia over the Ukraine ‘invasion’, and it’s beginning to look that...

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, wants the government to put a stop to the capital being used for international money...

Prime Central London’s attraction to multi-millionaire and billionaire buyers appears to have soared during the pandemic. High end agency Beauchamp Estates says...

In this latest Natter piece zoning in on independent agents doing things differently, following on from the one I did with...

Right now it seems that another day means another house price record, an all-time high for transactions, and a conveyancing log-jam...

The coronavirus pandemic has somewhat eclipsed Brexit this year – which is no mean feat. Cast your mind back to pre-Covid...

NAEA Propertymark is calling on agents to show “greater diligence” when dealing with Russian buyers, in the light of the report...

How prime London has changed. In 2002 work began on The Knightsbridge. Located within a stone’s throw of Harrods and a near-neighbour...

High-end agency Beauchamp Estates is claiming to have bagged the capital’s biggest deal during the lockdown period - a mansion which...

UK estate agents are amongst the worst paid in any country in the world according to new data. Digital marketing firm Yell...

Hello and welcome to the first Property Jobs Today of 2020 - and we’ve plenty to report even with the New...

Britain lives in fundamentalist black-and-white times - all the more surprising when the country's most divisive point of contention sits on...

A high-end estate agency is reporting a dramatic rise in the number of US buyers in London as they have taken...

Fine & Country is opening a new office in York, joining some 300 similarly branded outlets worldwide.  Frances Bowling, manager of Fine...

Every cloud has a silver lining, and a high end prime central London estate agent appears to have found one from...

The head of a leading Chinese property portal has taken the unusual step of commenting on a British tax policy -...

First things first, I have to mention the World Cup. The dream is over, football’s not quite coming home (not until...

An outspoken high-end London estate agent says millionaire foreign buyers purchasing “cheap” properties in the capital represent what he calls “the...

Summer is traditionally the time of the year when the property market slows down, with people going away on their holidays...

So what did you think of the match? A deserved 2-1 win or a lucky victory snatched from the jaws of...

One of London’s best known high-end estate agents, Gary Hersham, says corruption crackdowns in this country and overseas may be deterring...

A US TV company is considering making a news programme about Russian involvement in property transactions in the UK and particularly London. The...

UK measures to retaliate against alleged Russian government-sponsored nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal have excluded any attempt to...

The UK property sector has been a hotbed for financial crime in recent years, with many criminals seeing it as an...

Japanese knotweed, the invasive plant brought over to Britain in the Victorian era, threatens millions of pounds worth of property transactions...

After the fun and over-indulgence of the festivities, most of us are now back to the world of work. And, with...

John Taylor, a high-end international estate agency which until earlier this year had a presence in London, says it intends to...

Investors from countries as diverse as South Africa and Russia are getting a 21 per cent discount on UK property according...

Luxury global estate agency Sotheby's International Realty has expanded its operation in Italy. The firm has opened a new office in the...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is to expel an estate agent for breaking several of its membership rules.  Dion Beard,...

What is Properstar? Properstar helps UK estate agents cross the chasm from local to global in respect of advertising their properties. Using...

Summer finally arrived, the transport system (as always) went into meltdown, everyone complained that it was too hot and the sun...

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

It’s all too easy to look sleazy in the eyes of a sceptical world, and there’s a danger right now that...

Who are you? My name is Sham, I am based in the UK and my core experience is in running cross border...

Money laundering and the controversies raised by the From Russia With Cash documentary will be amongst the subjects under discussion at...