Archive

The sizes and numbers of gardens in London are reducing because stamp duty is encouraging more extensions as an alternative to moving. That’s...

Estate agents play a key role in identifying tax savings that can benefit all parties. If a purchaser can benefit from...

Stamp Duty receipts for the year to the end of February fell just six per cent despite the high profile SDLT...

Purplebricks is now part of the mainstream landscape of British estate agency. There - I said it. An agency whose whispered name...

High end purchasers of homes in London paid 15 per cent of the stamp duty in 2020, yet the value of...

Rarely do Budgets produce positive sentiments from the agency industry but Chancellor Rishi Sunak appears to have won widespread support for...

The government has issued an official note to detail the announcement made yesterday by Chancellor Rishi Sunak regarding stamp duty holiday...

A radical way to end the current stamp duty holiday has been suggested by three different legal bodies. The Society of Licensed...

A new study suggests that the end of the stamp duty holiday should not significantly dent the purchasing pattens of buy...

The online petition which prompted a debate by MPs has now won the support of around 150,000 signatures. Typically public support for...

Agents and conveyancers are expressing doubt over whether a possible six week extension to the stamp duty holiday will be enough...

A leading bank says as many as one in three buyers pay too much for a property because they are afraid...

There’s been a huge focus on both the stamp duty holiday and Help To Buy deadlines at the end of March...

There is no scientific formula, no list of must-have elements in a successful campaign. That’s especially the case for a campaign involving...

New government figures show that stamp duty transactions in the final quarter of last year were 43 per cent higher than in...

The government is keeping everyone guessing about the stamp duty holiday but one comment by a senior minister suggests movement towards a...

Labour and Conservative MPs have expressed a unanimous view on their desire to see an extension of the stamp duty holiday...

A leading mortgage broker is warning that over half the lenders in a key segment of the market are already unable...

The government may be stopping MPs debating an extension to the stamp duty holiday - despite a pledge they would do...

The latest Rightmove analysis shows it now takes 126 days from the time an offer is accepted until legal completion -...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering an extension to the current stamp duty holiday according to media reports today - and the...

One of the housing market’s senior analysts says the end of the stamp duty holiday on March 31 would not be...

The online petition calling for an extension to the stamp duty holiday is set to pass 100,000 signatures today. This means the...

One of the most respected figures in the industry, trainer and consultant Richard Rawlings, is suggesting that stamp duty should be...

A national newspaper is today launching a campaign for the stamp duty holiday to be extended. The Daily Telegraph says its campaign...

Just a week ago, I thought it was all over. Christmas and New Year had gone, as had the passionate calls...

The sudden end of the stamp duty holiday at the end of March could throw away the market gains achieved in...

The next Budget will be held on March 3 next year - in time for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to change his...

Agents and property experts have reacted angrily to the government's refusal to extend the stamp duty holiday. The government has told campaigners that...

Solicitors’ leaders say members of their industry are suffering mental health problems as a result of the workload to meet the...

A leading property consultancy is suggesting that a possible increase in Capital Gains Tax could end up losing money for the...

MPs lobbied by agents to extend the stamp duty holiday are staying firmly on the fence with standard answers and no...

The secure Conservative victory in the 2019 General Election meant the property market in the sunlit uplands was set for a...

It may make little difference to agents but a leading analyst suggests thousands of buyers have effectively lost money on their purchase...

The director of a conveyancing technology company has hit out at what he calls “an over-reliance on outdated processes” and “age-old...

The founder of OneDome says a likely housing market slowdown is the perfect time for agents to optimise revenue by investing in PropTech. Babek Ismayil believes...

A law firm wants the government to agree that properties that have exchanged but not yet completed can definitely benefit from the...

A survey of people currently buying property suggests as many as a quarter may pull out if they know they’ll miss...

A leading firm of conveyancers will this week tell new clients that their property purchases are likely to miss the stamp...

The national lockdown beginning on Thursday makes the case for an extension to the stamp duty holiday, according to a tax...

Figures just released from HM Revenue & Customs show just how much stamp duty buyers pay, at least before the current holiday...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been told to avoid a stamp duty holiday cliff-edge next March at any price - because it...

One of Britain’s most respected agents is suggesting Chancellor Rishi Sunak could ‘taper’ the stamp duty holiday to avoid a cliff-edge...

It’s been an unexpected year for the property market, shaped by the effects of the pandemic. We didn’t quite anticipate the...

The new two per cent stamp duty surcharge applying to non-resident buyers may cause a wide range of properties to be...

The outgoing chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents is warning that the sales system continues to struggle with...

A tax expert says his research suggests some buyers of homes with annexes may have paid too much stamp duty on...

A Bank of England survey suggests it may be more difficult for prospective buyers to get a mortgage later this year. In...

New figures released this morning give weight to calls for the complete scrapping of stamp duty.  The dats shows there have been...

Stamp duty specialist consultancy Cornerstone Tax claims some 120,000 buyers in the UK may be owed SDLT refunds. It says that in...

A survey says many people under-estimate the costs of moving with conveyancing and mortgage fees often higher than expected. Some 54 per cent of...

Savills has boosted its forecast for housing transactions this year because the stamp duty holiday has been such a success at...

The government claims its stamp duty holiday has supported nearly 750,000 jobs thanks to the ripple effect in the economy. A statement from HM...

The government has published draft legislation giving further details on the two per cent stamp duty surcharge on non-residents purchasing residential...

A prominent industry figure says the current stamp duty holiday could effectively be a trap to lure in buyers who will...

Knight Frank says the stamp duty holiday for properties at £500,000 and below should be made permanent. The holiday is due to...

House raffles and similar competitions have become mired in controversy in recent years, thanks to some of them failing to abide by...

Zoopla says its sale and vendor leads have reached a 2020 high, beating volumes delivered even during the strong start to the...

Zoopla's Research and Insight Director Richard Donnell writes: Just over a fortnight on since the Chancellor announced the Stamp Duty holiday and...

The new thresholds for the Scottish equivalent of stamp duty come into effect today - a week after the SDLT holiday...

A major agency is warning that the current stamp duty holiday could leave the housing market in a state of lethargy...

Evidence is pouring in that the stamp duty holiday introduced 48 hours ago has already produced huge levels of interest from...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak - and the agency industry - will no doubt be delighted to know that visits to Rightmove soared...

It looks like the stamp duty holiday for England and Northern Ireland, already in effect following yesterday’s announcement, is unlikely to...

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has announced that there will be no stamp duty on homes selling for £500,000 or...

A tax and legal specialist says there’s been a huge rise in stamp duty refund cases between March and June -...

NAEA Propertymark has today launched a campaign for the government to introduce what it calls a Property Sector Support Package. This would...

The stamp duty surcharge for non-resident investment buyers announced in yesterday’s Budget is dwarfed by discounts they receive thanks to the...

The Bank of England has announced an emergency cut in the base interest rate to shore up the economy during the Coronavirus...

The right wing political magazine that Boris Johnson used to edit has called on him to cut stamp duty. The Spectator says...

Despite still being in the transition period after leaving the EU on January 31, we are seeing an upturn in the...

A legal challenge by HM Revenue and Customs has stopped a bid to secure a stamp duty discount on a property. The...

The government has been told that raising the stamp duty threshold would both trigger more house moves, and bring the tax...

Boris Johnson is considering introducing a mansion tax for high value homes according to a Sunday newspaper. The Telegraph - citing two...

After a challenging period for the UK property market, recovery is very much on the cards and the end to uncertainty...

Suddenly Brexit Day is nearly here. It may have taken three and a half years from the Referendum but the UK will,...

In the field of conveyancing, there’s a new dynamic at play. And that dynamic is customer-driven and customer-focused, using digital technology...

A survey of readers of Estate Agent Today suggest that the majority believe the Chancellor will fail to honour a pledge...

The new government has announced that its first Budget is to be held on Wednesday March 11 - and it’s giving...

A veteran agent says the new government’s Budget, expected in the next few weeks, should not provide too much help to...

There are reasons to be optimistic that a majority government will improve the housing market, simply by ending political and economic...

The latest figures from investment consultancy London Central Portfolio suggests new build sales have plummeted in prime areas of the capital...

Pressure is building on the Conservative party to honour its previous commitment to reform stamp duty for British buyers and sellers...

Until now General Election pledges of stamp duty reforms were restricted to the Conservatives - but now a tax consultancy says...

The National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents have issued their manifesto for next month’s General...

Of all the UK properties for sale over the last year, 59% would have been exempt from any type of transaction...

Stamp duty won’t take centre stage at the Conservative Party conference - that’ll be Brexit, quelle surprise. But if the government...

If you thought - perhaps hoped - that five weeks of prorogued Parliament meant a break from politics, think again: the...

A blog for the British Property Federation has come up with three radically different proposals for stamp duty, providing food for...

Pressure continued to mount on the government to clearly address the issue of stamp duty as a leading business consultancy suggested...

A London estate agency says one of its buyers wants to delay completion until November 1 “just in case stamp duty...

In the run up to his appointment as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson suggested that he might cut Stamp Duty Land Tax...

One of the country’s leading estate agents is leading the calls on Chancellor Sajid Javid to sort out the government’s stamp...

If anyone thought a Boris Johnson government would be more decisive than Theresa May's when it came to housing policies, the last...

Speculation surrounding whether Boris Johnson will honour his pledge to reduce stamp duty risks bringing the housing market “to a grinding...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been urged to go further with property tax reform and not just stop at reducing stamp...

A new analysis of stamp duty suggests that a cut of around a third in SDLT could produce a 40 per...

Housing experts have expressed their concerns that speculation about a radical stamp duty reduction to be introduced by Boris Johnson’s government...

One of the country’s leading estate agents says shifting the burden of stamp duty away from the buyer - which is...

While media attention has been on Theresa May, Brexit and the Tories, chatter in the agency industry has been about what...

An outspoken building society chief has taken the unusual step of calling for stamp duty to be replaced by capital gains...

HM Revenue & Customs is set to pocket £60m less from one of its property taxes than it forecast. An analysis of...

Over the last few years, there have a number of changes to the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) regime, which have...

Another year is nearly done – and what an eventful year it’s been. We’ve had more than our fair share of breaking...

A leading buying agent says the first quarter of 2019 may be crucial in determining the future of the current stamp...

On the face of it, this year’s Budget was not what you could describe as ‘housing heavy’ in terms of the...

“Do we really need another tax?” - that’s the question from a new buying agency, querying why the government wants to...

Figures released by HMRC over the weekend show another huge rise in stamp duty going to the Treasury - and that’s...

A downbeat report from property investment specialist London Central Portfolio says “there are very few causes for optimism in the domestic...

Lucie Hirst and Delphine Colombo, two of Prime Central London’s most high profile sales agents, have combined forces to set up Hirst...

The former Chancellor George Osborne - architect of drastic stamp duty reform - has come out fighting to defend the tax...

Peter Rollings is one of the most respected and best-known figures in property, having helped to rapidly grow Foxtons (where he...

Figures from the Treasury suggest that the annual revenue from stamp duty for the year to the end of March is...

HM Revenue and Customs has won a key ruling concerning a tax avoidance scheme promoter which claimed to be able to...

One of the most influential select committees in parliament has told the government that it needs to do more - much...

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

The Nationwide says the Chancellor’s decision to effectively scrap stamp duty for the majority of first time buyers will have only...

The housing industry has set out a list of demands in advance of the government’s hotly anticipated Autumn Budget on Wednesday.  Despite...

Jackson-Stops predicts that average UK house prices will remain flat in 2018, with stamp duty, Brexit and political uncertainties taking their...

The Welsh Government has set out the new levels of stamp duty for the country from next year onwards - and...

Analysis by the Nationwide suggests that the proportion of UK-wide stamp duty payments paid by purchasers in the south east of...

Being a leading world-class city comes at a price – they are the most expensive for occupiers and the most lucrative...

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

The average cost of moving home in the UK was £9,472 in 2016 according to a survey by the Centre for...

HMRC says there has been a five per cent drop on the number of transactions attracting stamp duty in the first...

The government should resist any further increase in stamp duty not only to help the property market but to help guarantee...

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

Property Vision, one of the country’s oldest and most respected buying agencies, has added its voice to those saying that stamp...

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

Chancellor Phillip Hammond has introduced no new property taxes in his Spring Budget - but a clampdown on those setting up...

Jeremy Leaf, the London estate agent and former RICS residential chairman, is the latest industry figure to call for the government...

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

No longer just a domain for investors, developers and property traders, the auction room is now the preferred option of buying...

Welsh politicians have called for clarity over the new Land Transaction Tax that will replace stamp duty from April next year. In September...

The government has announced that its next Budget will be on March 8 next year. Until recently, Budgets and their ‘mini-me’ Autumn...

Let me set out my stall from the beginning. Firstly with two buy to lets managed by an agency, I understand and...

The industry has reacted angrily to the Chancellor declining to change stamp duty despite pleas from agents and suppliers ahead of the Autumn...

Estate agency Carter Jonas has made critical comments about the high-end housing market, suggesting a combination of factors have created “a toxic landscape”. Rory...

It may still be too early to start compiling a Christmas wish list, but it is the right time to provide...

Forecasts are a tricky business. And as I wrote in a recent Industry Views opinion piece, any prediction in the current...

Although Brexit, portal juggling and portal wars have stolen property industry headlines in recent months, there's been one story almost constantly...

Transaction levels are forecast to decline from around 1.22m this year to 1.08m next year as uncertainty causes some households to defer...

Estate agents are already setting out their stalls ahead of Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s November 23 Autumn Statement with one simple message...

Despite dire warnings from some estate agents that stamp duty receipts for the government would plummet in London, it now appears...

The key lies in improving your customer experience through technology For Agents, the tremendous growth in online estate agents highlights a strong...

The Welsh Government has announced that from April 2018, Stamp Duty Land Tax will be replaced with a Land Transaction Tax.  The...

Knight Frank is warning that it will “take time” for the three per cent stamp duty surcharge to be absorbed into...

The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that gross mortgage lending reached £18.5 billion last month - the highest April figure since...

A modest 0.4 per cent rise in average asking prices over the past month conceals a nasty surprise for first time...

House prices dipped by 0.8 per cent in April, the first month of the stamp duty surcharge and the period when...

Estate agency Connells says the buoyant start to 2016 created by investors trying to beat the April stamp duty deadline may...

Buy to let investors and second home owners were behind three in five property purchases made in prime London during the...

There was an extraordinary 70 per cent leap in residential transaction volumes in March this year compared to the same month...

Buy to let mortgage sales - one of the key indicators of buy to let property sales - fell drastically in...

A former head of Savills’ buying arm says well-heeled overseas buyers are unphased by the recently-increased stamp duty on high value...

London-based Auction House says the new stamp duty surcharge rules will encourage more sellers to use auctioneers. The additional homes three per...

A top consultancy firm is warning that the stamp duty surcharge coming into effect at the end of this week may lead...

A group of leading tax experts claims the stamp duty surcharge coming into effect one week from today will hurt the...

I want to take this opportunity to share some findings from the National Landlord Association’s latest Quarterly Landlord Panel. The first is...

There is less than a week to go before formal consultation ends on the introduction of the so-called stamp duty surcharge...

In January readers of Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today were given the opportunity to give their views on proposed...

My suspicion in my December Industry Views column that the Chancellor, George Osborne, holds certain types of property owners in contempt...

Controversy is growing over the government’s surprise consultation period for its proposal to levy a three per cent stamp duty surcharge...

The government chose Christmas Bank Holiday Monday to launch its formal consultation on the ‘additional properties’ stamp duty surcharge, first announced...

There’s been shock and anger from agents - especially those in London - at the surprise news of an additional three...