Archive

If there’s one thing that received a boost as a result of Covid and lockdowns, it’s podcasts – which reached whole...

People in prominent positions in the housing industry aren’t always perfect role models. After all, Chris Pincher was housing minister for...

Independent agent Barrows and Forrester has called for the appointment of a housing tsar for a fixed term as yet another...

It’s often fashionable to criticise trade bodies and official groups, but right now I think that’s absolutely inappropriate. In well over 20...

Agency trade bodies have backed the “clarity” provided by Trading Standards after it deemed “price on application” listings unlawful. It comes as...

An Australian PropTech platform called PEXA aims to break into the UK property industry this year, claiming to improve transaction processes. PEXA...

For an unregulated industry, agents have an awful lot of regulations to deal with. For example, there’s the mandatory membership of a...

The Guild of Property Professionals is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a pledge to work hard this year to stand out...

Some 14 trade bodies in the estate agency, conveyancing, property management and surveying industries have jointly launched new upfront documents which...

The industry’s two leading trade bodies have spoken out about the incident in which an agent accosted England’s chief medical officer,...

In this week’s In Conversation Today, I am delighted to chat with Lucy Morton, Head of Residential Agency at JLL, about...

Local elections rarely set the pulse racing and this year’s poll on Thursday faces a similar problem. But this time, it’s a...

We have more regulations controlling the sector than ever before and we have more ‘regulators’ involved in controlling the sector than...

Automatically changing the main marketing photo on a portal listing can attract up to 40 per cent more traffic, it has...

Being a letting agent today means keeping up to date with the long list of rules and regulations governing how a...

The new chief executive of Propertymark, now combining five agency trade bodies including the NAEA and ARLA, has no experience at...

Just as the new chief executive of Propertymark holds interviews across the industry, so The Guild of Property Professionals is coming out...

Propertymark, the overarching body aiming to bring five different associations (ARLA, NAEA, NAVA, ICBA and APIP) into a single brand, was...

Countrywide and Foxtons have thrown their weight behind an idea to identify every single UK residential property with a unique number. The...

It’s that time of year again. Black Friday has been and gone and the run-up to Christmas is well and truly...

As you may have seen over the weekend, the long-running Property Natter column – penned by Angels Media chief executive, Nat...

They are the names we hear about often, pushing for this or seeking clarifications on that. They are the representatives of...

A new estate agency Code of Practice is to be written by a group set up by the Royal Institution of Chartered...

Back in the day, party politics and the private rental sector used to be straightforward. Conservatives were pro-landlord, Labour were pro-tenant, while...

If it’s really the case that estate agents’ offices could be in the category of High Street premises first allowed to...

The controversial Help To Buy scheme looks likely to be expanded in breadth and extended in duration to help kick-start the...

Two financial trade bodies say most mortgage providers will give customers who have exchanged contracts the option to extend their mortgage...

Estate and lettings agencies that have closed temporarily as a result of the Coronavirus lockdown are to be to exempted from...

The government has dismissed a request from the NAEA and ARLA Propertymark to review business rates for agency offices on High...

Now we’re well into the second month of the year, we have reached a crucial point in the ongoing plans to...

Well-known outsourced communications service Moneypenny has become an official industry partner to Propertymark, and its NAEA, ARLA and NAVA trade bodies.  Combined...

The Law Society has announced that there will be a new TA6 Property Information Form launching next week, on Friday February...

Rightmove and Zoopla have been working with key figures from government and the agency and conveyancing industries on how to reform...

Some older estate agents may end up retiring when mandatory examinations and qualifications are introduced as there will be no ‘free...

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

Is this the ultimate in accountability or a desperate bid to win back public support for a company damaged by the...

The industry press has given substantial space to recommendations from the Regulation of Property Agents, the government’s working party which has...

Trade bodies and property firms have strongly welcomed the recommendations for root and branch reform of the agency industry - and...

Some of the most radical reforms ever proposed for estate and letting agents are expected to be signed off today by...

A new industry regulator is likely to be in place within two years according to the chair of the government’s Regulation...

When it comes to major issues confronting housing, and in particular the direction that the government would like to take the...

When it comes to letting a property, it is important that landlords and renters have faith in their agent. The more...

There’s nothing new about identifying 10 figures who have helped shape an industry over the past year, but that doesn’t mean...

The introduction of the Propertymark brand as a ‘consumer friendly’ umbrella name for a series of trade bodies has been a...

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...

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

Any day now we’ll hear the date for the Autumn Budget: it may be delayed to wait for a Brexit deal...

The Property Redress Scheme says it’s recruited another 1,750 members following the shake-out last week when one of its rival redress...

One of three schemes with government backing to offer redress for complaints about estate and letting agents has reignited the debate...

New research from the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents reveals that no fewer than...

It’s traditional before Christmas to either review the year past or anticipate the one ahead - but I’m intrigued about what...

Earlier this week, Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered the Autumn Budget with a strong focus on housing.  The decision to cut stamp duty...

There has been a wide range of views from trade bodies and individual agents on the government’s surprise ‘call for evidence’...

Online review organisation Trustpilot has issued an open letter regarding its Purplebricks reviews. In it, the review company - which is often...

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

Are you protecting your data right? This may sound like the sort of direct warning you get from cold callers or...

  You’ll see a lot of 10th anniversary stories in the property industry and consumer media in the coming days: early August...

That the private rental sector has become the government’s whipping boy for housing problems - landlords in particular, letting agents almost...

As an agency business, how much are you spending on professional body memberships? Perhaps it’s time to question how much you...

Industry trade bodies NAEA and ARLA Propertymark have announced the appointment of their new presidents. At an AGM on Friday, Katie Griffin...

A network of almost 80 independent estate agency offices has launched what it calls a hard-hitting campaign against 'internet-based call centre...

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

Peter Robinson, CEO of AIPP – Association of International Property Professionals – shines a light onto the international property market. Some UK...

The Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents, which is to be set up formally from next week, has set out...

The story of the week has been the first steps of a trade body to represent independent estate agents - as...

The Residential Property Surveyors Association is the latest of many trade bodies to come out against government proposals to privatise the...

The new mayor of London Sadiq Khan has pledged to do all in his power to help make London “better” after...

There are a number of fairly recent regulations that agents need to comply with. One of them, now just over a year...

It is to the credit of our political parties - and our own industry’s lobbying - that so many housing-related matters...