Archive

There are often very grim snapshots of the current property crisis.  But one of the most shocking I’ve read in a long...

Every year the media writes a lot about house price crashes, and often pose the question whether this is the year...

Last weekend, Levelling Up and Housing Secretary, Michael Gove wrote in the Sunday Times that the nation’s housing crisis was so...

As sure as night follows day, so our industry sets out a wish list of tax changes which it hopes the...

UK estate agents are split when it comes to their opinion on last week’s Budget, with half concerned about a lack...

I’ve found myself in contemplative mode this week, looking forward to the future and remembering times past. In the immediate future –...

We’re only in February and it’s already clear that this year will set the future direction of the private rented sector...

With the Treasury and the Bank of England stepping in to try and calm the markets, talk of an emergency interest...

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) has long been the bugbear of many property transactions. Even the very wealthy will lose interest...

The Skipton Building Society, which owns Connells estate agency, says the house-selling arm helped it reach a record profit pre-tax profit...

Owners of second homes who abuse a tax loophole by claiming their often-empty properties are holiday lets will be forced to...

There has been criticism of the new Residential Development Tax, levied to fund remedial work on dangerous cladding on high rise blocks. The tax...

A prominent property consultancy is urging the government to ensure that holiday home owners pay more tax.  Colliers claims local authorities are...

Our long-awaited ‘Freedom Day’ approaches. From Monday all of the restrictions, introduced since the Covid-19 pandemic made an impact across the...

Agency staff who worked from home at any point during the pandemic - even for just one day - can still...

The Stamp Duty holiday has been very beneficial for hundreds of thousands of buyers looking to take advantage of savings, even...

There are an estimated 2.7 million landlords in the private rented sector (PRS) providing rental accommodation to multiple generations of tenant,...

One of the chief figures behind Brexit and Boris Johnson’s role as London Mayor is now advising that stamp duty should be...

Two of the most outspoken agents in the industry have criticised those calling for an extension to the stamp duty holiday...

One of the leading ‘new breed’ of hybrids relying on self-employed agents is opening a share offer to investors in a...

Online sector veterans Russell Quirk and Kenny Bruce have used social media to call for a temporary scrapping of all stamp...

If there are agents still uncertain as to whether their company or themselves as individuals are claiming the maximum business support,...

Hello and welcome to the latest Conquering Corona - our guide for agents to get through these challenging times. Please let us...

Earlier this month, Boris Johnson carried out a reshuffle of his cabinet, telling ministers they must 'repay the trust of those...

Some buying agents have batted away the many signs of an improving housing market but one says the Boris Bounce is...

After a year dogged by Brexit deadlock, political turmoil, and slow growth, estate agents’ confidence in the property market hit a...

Yes, believe it or not, we’ve nearly reached the end of a whole decade. And what an eventful decade it’s been. We’ve...

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

We know that the tenant fee ban has cost letting agents dearly, with an estimated loss of £300 million paid to...

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

A record £8.2 billion was paid in Capital Gains Tax in 2017/18 - over £1 billion more than the year before.  The...

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

Sometimes having prior knowledge of a stressful event can be more stressful than the event itself, just look at Brexit for...

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

Theresa May arrived in Downing Street some three years ago - but her premiership has not been a smooth ride. As she...

Who are you and what does it say on your business card? Jake Gready Managing Director NEXA Bristol What services do you provide? buying - selling...

Estate agents have responded cynically to the small-fry property sector announcements made by Chancellor Phillip Hammond in yesterday’s spring statement mini-Budget. Overshadowed...

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...

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

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

It’s Budget day and the government is once again on the receiving end of a blast from one of the country’s...

It’s now almost a month since the government introduced new rules on Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO), as part of its...

An open rental market, where neither landlord nor tenant is in a dominant position, enables rents to rise and fall, which...

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

Were it not for climate change, I would be very close to predicting that the summer is close to being over,...

The buy-to-let sector, which has been under sustained pressure for a number of years now thanks to tax changes designed to...

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

A poll of housing market experts suggests London house prices are likely to fall this year as a result of Brexit...

Why I won’t buy Purplebricks shares and why if I had any, I’d sell fast… In its latest adverts, Purplebricks attempts to...

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

As we hurtle towards the end of 2017, it’s time to reflect on the year that’s just been.   Even better, this property-based...

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

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

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

Ten out of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News say Brexit and economic uncertainty are likely to stall London’s housing market...

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

Stamp duty has become the latest weapon in the ongoing war of words between different wings of the Conservative party, as...

With several agent partner programmes available across the country, estate agents can often increase business by offering sales by auction, with...

In November 2016 when the Autumn Statement was delivered by Chancellor Philip Hammond, the announcement was made to ban letting agent...

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

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

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

In this Natter we have an exclusive interview with David Cox, CEO of ARLA Propertymark and one of the best-known figures...

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

There was nothing doing in the Budget - no stamp duty reform, no second look at mortgage interest tax relief changes,...

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

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

With tax relief changes, a rise in Stamp Duty for second homes and strict mortgage affordability checks now in place, it...

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

The buy-to-let market has gone through significant change in the last year and with the Budget just around the corner, what...

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

2016 was quite a year – eventful, dramatic, shocking and impossible to predict. In no particular order, we saw Leicester winning...

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

There is no doubt that 2016 managed to catch the world by surprise on more than one occassion.  But will 2017 be...

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

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

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...

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

Phillip Hammond has delivered his first Autumn Statement, tackling amongst other things, what he called “the housing challenge.” The speech made no...

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...

We are now only days away from one of the most-anticipated events in UK politics; one which has a considerable impact...

We are now less than a month away from Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Statement to the nation, depending of course on...

The huge consequences of the EU referendum, and the impending Brexit negotiations, have drawn into sharp light the consequences for a...

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...

Fears raised over the UK housing market in the wake of the Brexit vote have so far proved to be ‘wide...

Housing minister Gavin Barwell has met campaigners to scrap anti-buy to let measures introduced by the Cameron government in the past...

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

For many people buy-to-let continues to look an attractive income investment at a time of low saving rates and stock market...

The high-profit property crowdfunding site Property Partner has laid off 13 of its employees - equivalent to around 29 per cent...

I’m indebted to one of the most enthusiastic estate agents I’ve had the pleasure of meeting for suggesting the subject of...

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

What a month it has been. By the time you read this, we'll have a new Prime Minister, a new Cabinet,...

Sales skills, and the ability to negotiate in particular, have always been a core ingredient for any estate agent – and...

Average house prices increased by 0.2% between April and May, according to the latest figures from Nationwide. The bank's House Price Index...

We’re all talking about second home stamp duty, changes to tax relief and the Prudential Regulation Authority’s suggestion that banks should...

We talk about the unstoppable rise of buy-to-let and forget that it was only as recently as the early 1970’s that...