Archive

Recently a number of politicians and charities have been calling for the introduction of rent controls or rent freezes in the...

With Boris Johnson winning the Conservative leadership election and becoming Prime Minister, he has spent his first few days in office...

Our own industry’s upheaval over recent years has been no less dramatic than the turmoil at Westminster. The political earthquake has seen...

A new and comprehensive analysis of the housing market shows a jaw-dropping collapse in stamp duty revenue going to the Treasury...

New figures from HM Revenue and Customs suggest that stamp duty receipts have fallen by no less than £1 billion. The drop...

It’s being suggest that a recent tax tribunal verdict might just open the way to challenges to the three per cent...

A solicitor is warning estate agents and the public about allegedly wrong advice relating to the additional homes stamp duty surcharge. Julie...

The government has launched an official consultation about a new stamp duty surcharge - the long-awaited additional one per cent for...

It’s safe to say that the majority of agents will be glad to see the end of the past two years....

As 2018 draws to a close, it is fair to say that stretched affordability and uncertainty over the Brexit negotiations has...

The holiday home market may still be struggling in the wake of the three per cent additional homes stamp duty surcharge...

Experts suggest that overseas buyers are likely to act quickly to take advantage of a delay in any stamp duty surcharge on...

The agency industry has reacted in a broadly downbeat way at the relatively few housing-related proposals that were announced in yesterday’s...

Stamp duty relief for first time buyers of full-priced houses and apartments is to be extended to first time buyers of...

Perhaps it’s been our pre-occupation with Brexit, or on the other hand maybe we’re bored with politics, but this year’s Budget...

A leading London estate agency is reporting a surge in overseas buyers sealing deals ahead of the government’s new stamp duty...

It’s time to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to overseas buyers of property. If you listen to Theresa...

Knight Frank appears to have shrugged off the problems hitting the high end of the housing market, reporting a 14 per...

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

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

An accountancy trade body has revealed that last year it briefed MPs - including the Prime Minister and Housing Minister of...

One of London’s highest profile and most outspoken estate agent chiefs has scolded ‘Maybot’ Theresa May on the day she is to...

Agents have continued to express their shock and opposition to the announcement by the government that it wants a stamp duty...

Experts suggest that overseas buyers are likely to act quickly to take advantage of the delay in any stamp duty surcharge...

The government has used this week’s Conservative party conference to announce a new stamp duty tax of one per cent to three...

Landlords and letting agents might feel they’ve taken a bit of a battering from the government in recent years – and...

Data from the buying agency Black Brick reveals just how big an impact has been made by the additional homes stamp...

Research by Estate Agent Today reveals that there have been 12 different stamp duty regimes in the UK since the Millennium. What’s...

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

An analysis of HMRC stamp duty statistics for the second quarter of this year suggest that receipts are down 13.8 per...

The Money editor of The Mirror newspaper has finally sold a home he first put on the market in late 2016...

Prime London’s transactions are now the preserve of so-called ‘needs-based buyers’ and not investors according to high-end agency Knight Frank -...

National estate agency Jackson-Stops claims that the 3% stamp duty surcharge on additional homes is still confusing buyers, despite being in...

Research from the Nationwide suggests that the share of cash transactions has declined over the past 18 months, at least partly...

Holiday home sales in one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations are holding up, despite stamp duty and the age...

A range of factors - including fierce competition under the supplied housing market, rising property prices and political uncertainty – have...

Foxtons has this morning given details of a sharp fall in both profits and revenue, wirth sales significantly falling away and...

A set of figures produced by Haart suggests the market has had a difficult past 12 months - but the firm...

Franchise giant Winkworth has told its shareholders that its revenues for 2017 are likely to be less than five per cent...

The small print of the Budget has revealed that the government is to make minor changes to the ‘additional homes’ three...

Agents and even the Labour Party have backed the government’s scrapping of stamp duty for first time buyers’ purchases up to...

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

The London residential market is at last improving - but faces a make or break situation with next week’s Budget according...

HMRC has refunded £185m to some 15,000 house buyers since the introduction of the stamp duty surcharge in April of last...

The largest mutual life pension and insurance company in the UK has added its voice to growing calls for stamp duty...

Central London’s housing market is showing a recovery from price falls which followed stamp duty changes in 2014 and 2016 according...

A breakdown of data from over 4,100 agents has revealed that it takes on average 201 days to move home, from...

Pressure is continuing to build on the government to reform stamp duty in next month’s Budget. Firstly a group of senior financial...

Like many of Labour’s recent policy proposals, its call for rent controls leaves more questions than answers.  There has been widespread criticism...

Winkworth says solid performances from its lettings and property management services, plus new franchise deals, have compensated for a challenging sales...

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

It’s not just the evenings drawing in that marks the approach of autumn - it’s also the return to work of...

The number of existing home owners moving house fell two per cent in the first six months of 2017 compared with...

A think tank says the penalties now levied against second home owners - such as the stamp duty surcharge and phasing...

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

Agents say the latest Nationwide index showing a surprise rise in house prices does not change the fact that it is...

Foxtons has reported its half-year figures for the six months to the end of June and, as expected, they show how...

The number of transactions in the housing market has fallen for the third successive month - and for the first time...

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

National average house price growth bounced back in April after a slow March, according to official figures. The latest UK House Price...

The introduction of a 3% stamp duty surcharge on the purchase of additional properties has 'shattered' the property market, according to...

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...

Asking prices of homes coming to the market have now been rising for five consecutive months says Rightmove.  Asking prices rose 2.0...

A respected City analyst has pointedly dissed Purplebricks over its allegedly modest inventory of homes for sale and rent. Antony Codling of...

Transaction levels in Prime Central London (PCL) increased for the third consecutive quarter during Q1 2017, according to Strutt & Parker. However,...

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

Property transactions rose marginally in March this year, up 0.5 per cent on February’s total according to figures from HM Revenue...

I wrote last month about how the Government, in introducing a 3% stamp duty surcharge on second homes, had scored an...

My apologies if this causes you to break your Easter egg with a little too much aggression, but I reckon the...

A series of strong sales performances at recent auctions has led one firm to claim the sector is leading the residential industry’s...

Land Registry data shows that homes across the UK have risen in price by an average 5.8 per cent in the...

In recent years the mortgage industry has gone through some testing times. Recession and regulation have led to more stringent lending...

A year ago, we were days away from the introduction of a 3% stamp duty surcharge on second homes – a...

Contrary to some reports suggesting London’s housing market may be recovering, new data from Hometrack reveals the capital’s performance is still...

The average asking price rise for homes coming to the market in the last month has been a chunky 1.3 per...

The government has admitted that the three per cent stamp duty surcharge has raked in twice as much as expected. In November...

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

Over the past two decades, investing in buy-to-let has been a relatively easy way to make money, which is why so...

Rightmove secured over 131m visits last month, an all-time high for January. The 131m total was some three per cent above January...

The rapid growth in popularity of buy-to-let in recent years, fuelled in part by the failings of the pensions industry, has...

Connells Group’s mortgage services wing has recorded a 10 per cent increase in the number of mortgages in 2016 and has generated...

The government’s attitude of “Nanny knows best” has “squandered another opportunity” to make a real difference to the housing crisis, according...

An analysis by Savills shows that so-called ‘additional homes’ - that is, those carrying a three per cent stamp duty surcharge...

The latest HM Revenue and Customs figures show that there were 1.23 million property transactions in 2016, the highest figure recorded...

The rental market has had to face a raft of changes over the past year, including the introduction of the 3% stamp...

Data from HM Revenue & Customs shows that the sale of residential properties rose a marginal 0.8 per cent last month...

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

New data revealed by investment consultancy Central London Portfolio claims that transactions in prime central areas of the capital have dropped 24...

Brexit and wider economic uncertainties worsened by changes to property taxation have forced the Council of Mortgage Lenders to cut its...

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

Forecasts are so last year: who anticipated Bowie, Brexit or Balls for example? Quotes, on the other hand, really ARE last year...

Next year is likely to be a challenging time for letting agents, following a raft of changes introduced by the government...

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

Recent stamp duty changes have resulted in a substantial decline in transaction numbers and HM Revenue & Customs missing its revenue...

Estate agents have spent the weekend finalising their wish-list and lobbying MPs and government ahead of Wednesday’s Autumn Statement. Top of the...

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

London agency Stirling Ackroyd is the latest to call for reforms to stamp duty, with a claim that prices for the most expensive...

Strutt & Parker says both the volume of sales and the sum of the selling prices of homes in Prime Central London...

Buy-to-let landlords may have failed in their recent legal battle against planned government tax relief changes for buy-to-let homes set to...

One of the most respected buying agencies in the country, Property Vision, says the estate agency industry's turnover is down not because of...

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

The housing market has not fallen over in the wake of the Brexit vote, contrary to come predictions, “but there are...

The Conveyancing Association says new Chancellor Phillip Hammond should use next month’s Autumn Statement as the opportunity to reverse controversial buy...

Annual house price growth in 20 UK cities dipped to 8.2% last month, according to the latest figures from Hometrack. The research...

Provisional figures from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs show there were 109,630 residential property transactions in the UK during August.  The figure is...

The highest number of second homes in UK local authority areas exist not in the south west, the Lake District or...

The huge rush to acquire buy-to-let property in the first quarter of the year ahead of the stamp duty change deadline...

It’s been a heartening few weeks for those of us who thought that protest was dead – or, more precisely, that...

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

Prices of homes in Prime Central London have fallen across all sectors in the second quarter of the year and over...

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

There was a small two per cent drop in residential valuations in July compared to the same month last year, according to...

A report says agents in the Cornish holiday home haven of St Ives admit the local market has been hit by...

LSL Property Services - which owns agency brands including Your Move, Reeds Rains and Marsh & Parsons - has reported strong...

The Centre for Economics and Business Research says that house prices across the UK are set to increase by 5.7 per...

The latest figures on mortgage lending suggest that higher house prices led to greater lending in June this year than 12...

With a number of agent partner programmes available nationwide, estate agents can often increase business by offering sales by auction, especially...

Countrywide says it is too early to say whether the stamp duty surcharge introduced in the spring has had any significant...

The latest figures from the HMRC show the scale of sales market drop-off following the surge in purchases by buy to...

Home-owners borrowed £8.1 billion for house purchases in April, which was four per cent down on the same month a year ago. There...

The first new ‘official’ UK House Price Index, released this morning, shows an annual price increase of 8.2 per cent which takes...

Worsening affordability caused by a sustained period of higher-than-earnings house price growth, should curb demand and result in a slowdown in...

Valuation activity in May rose by nearly a fifth on an annual basis despite the upcoming EU referendum according to research...

The head of one of the country's largest estate agency chains has urged sellers to be more realistic with the asking...

Conveyancing transactions hit a post-recession high during the first quarter of 2016, according to new figures. Search provider Search Acumen's analysis of...

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...

New figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors backs up the theory that the market is slowing down significantly ahead...

Property sales slowed dramatically in April as the market readjusted following the frenzy of buying before the stamp duty surcharge deadline...

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...

Land Registry house price data has shown a 0.5 per cent drop in March, taking annual house price inflation to 6.7...

Marsh & Parsons is now “outperforming” Foxtons in terms of revenue growth in the London market, according to a comparative analysis...

Another agency has warned of the likely market slowdown caused by the June 23 EU referendum and political uncertainty over the...

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

The National Association of Estate Agents says there is light at the end of the tunnel for first time buyers seemingly...

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

A consumer group which champions home owners claims twice as many members of the public support the stamp duty surcharge as...

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

The rush to beat the stamp duty surcharge deadline has pushed average asking prices to a record high according to Rightmove...

Political and economic uncertainty caused by the upcoming EU referendum is beginning to hit the housing market according to two different...

Home lending in 2016 saw its best opening quarter for nine years according to the figures from chartered surveying firm e.surv.  An...

It’s unlikely that this is what George Osborne wanted when he announced his stamp duty surcharge but its deadline for introduction...

Research by The Guardian has revealed that the Blair family’s property empire has expanded - secured just ahead of the stamp...

There has been a broad welcome for what would appear to be a government U-turn over the imposition of the stamp...

There was a significant drop in interest in purchasing buy to let properties in March as the April 1 stamp duty surcharge...

Connells Survey and Valuation says the total number of valuations conducted in March showed a 21 per cent increase over the...

Prime country house prices have been rising for 13 consecutive quarters despite the concerns over stamp duty reform, according to Knight...

House prices in the three months to March were 10.1 per cent higher than in the same quarter a year earlier...

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

The former secretary of state at the Department of Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, is to write to Chancellor George...

The price of a typical home increased by 0.8 per cent in March, while the annual rate of house price growth...

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

The numbers of households purchasing their first home has grown by almost seven per cent annually, despite the surge in buy...

The National Association of Estate Agents has quantified what the industry has known for some weeks - there has been a...

A key Bank of England body has revealed its proposals for tougher borrowing standards to prevent buy to let lending overheating the wider...

The government - which controversially launched consultation on its stamp duty surcharge between Christmas and New Year - has now used...

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

Unlikely as it seems, the Treasury has tipped-off the 909 individuals and organisations that responded to formal consultation over the stamp...

Average house prices across the UK increased by 7.9 per cent over the year to January, up from 6.7 per cent in...

The government’s official consultation exercise on the stamp duty surcharge - launched in controversial circumstances over the Christmas holidays - attracted...

Data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows that gross mortgage lending reached £17.6 billion last month - that's the highest...

Yesterday George Osborne delivered his eighth budget as chancellor, announcing an extra £3.5 billion in spending cuts by 2019-20. The Office for...

In today's budget, the Chancellor, George Osborne, has announced a number of measures which will impact the property industry.  The Chancellor confirmed...

Later today chancellor George Osborne will make his latest budget speech. The announcement is expected to confirm the details of the 3%...

A property buying spree recorded in the East of England last month has now spread across the rest of the UK.  The...

The UK’s largest property auctioneer has announced that February was the best ever sales month in the company’s nine-year history.  Auction House...

When it comes to Budgets and Property, you have to hope that the old adage that ‘things happen in threes’ turns...

The Law Society is calling on its members to warn not just clients but also estate agents if there is a...

The Nationwide is warning that the busy start to 2016 in the housing market is driven at least partly by the...

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

The supply of homes to buy is at its lowest level in 14 years according to the National Association of Estate...

An estate agent has spoken out about the threat of ‘abandoned sales’ if a completion bottleneck prevents purchases of properties going...

Agents have reacted cautiously to a surprisingly-high 2.5 per cent increase in house prices - in just one month - announced...

The chief executive of Countrywide says there’s “no change of course” after a 37 per cent slump in operating profits were...

Banks have approved the highest number of mortgages for almost two years as the rush to purchase buy to let properties...

The Chartered Institute of Taxation has called on government to introduce an exemption from the stamp duty surcharge for parents buying...

Haart says a shortage of conveyancers and lawyers is leading to delays in transactions, made worse by the high volume of...

Another online petition has been launched against one of Chancellor George Osborne’s fiscal measures seen as an attack on the private...

A letter from the Financial Secretary to the Treasury appears to suggest that the government is set on implementing the three...

The Society of Licensed Conveyancers is calling on the government to reconsider the three per cent stamp duty surcharge being introduced...

Increased competition amongst mortgage lenders and the rush to buy investment properties before the April 1 stamp duty surcharge deadline have...

A consumer group which supports the principle of a stamp duty surcharge on second homes and buy to let properties has...

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

Prime Minister David Cameron has dismissed out of hand appeals and comments from Estate Agent Today readers to reconsider the recent...

Landlords trying to beat Chancellor George Osborne’s stamp duty surcharge deadline are behind the latest upbeat assessment of the housing market...

Your Move claims the higher end of the Scottish housing market is recovering from the introduction of Land and Building Transaction...

A major estate agency is demanding urgent clarification on a three per cent tax levy - a ‘mini-me’ version of the...

Today is the last chance for Estate Agent Today readers to have their concerns about proposed stamp duty increases and recent...

Estate Agent Today readers are being given the rare opportunity to have their concerns about proposed stamp duty increases and recent...

There is just four weeks left for the official consultation period set by the government over its controversial proposal to levy...

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...

The Scottish finance minister John Swinney is to introduce a three per cent surcharge on the full purchase price above £40,000...

The director of two major agencies says George Osborne’s stamp duty surcharge and stock at an “historically low level” will force...

Countrywide says the current malaise in the central London housing market is not, as many agents and commentators suggest, simply down...

Once you go beyond the industry’s anger about the Chancellor’s three per cent stamp duty surcharge – and that’s an anger...

Estate agents and accountants are investigating whether there are legal ways of circumnavigating the three per cent stamp duty surcharge that...

- From April 2016 buy to let landlords and people buying second or holiday homes will have to pay an additional...