Archive

The Law Society is exploring concerns that Propertymark's Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) puts agents at risk of legal issues, Estate Agent...

Following the disappointment of his Autmn statement, many property professionals were hoping for a kick-start to property sales in Jeremy Hunt’s...

Agents would be happy to pay for regulation but the sector should be wary of costs, a Propertymark executive has told...

Property professionals have called for the Government to allocate its promised £3m towards improving the home buying and selling process to...

It usually takes a scandal or a reshuffle to remove a Government minister so it came as a bit of a...

Parliamentary news may have been dominated by the fallout from the Rwanda Bill yesterday but another important piece of legislation also...

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLHUC) has hit back at media claims about its housebuilding targets. The Times newspaper...

Agents are hoping for further support for the housing market north of the border as the Scottish Government prepares to set...

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill is falling short of its own objectives, an industry executive has claimed. Linz Darlington, founder of...

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill passed its second reading in Parliament last night. Housing minister Lee Rowley pledged that the legislation...

The long-awaited Leasehold and Freehold Bill is set to be unveiled in Parliament today. The Bill aims to make it cheaper and...

The United Kingdom stands on the precipice of a historic overhaul in property ownership. With the King's speech unveiling the anticipated...

Propertymark has expressed its opposition to Scottish Government plans to increase council tax premiums on second homes. Speaking to the Scottish Parliament’s...

It was US disability rights advocate, Helen Keller, who said: ‘alone, we can do so little, together we can do so...

Campaigners and commentators have reacted cautiously to leasehold reform proposals put forward in the King’s Speech. The King took part in his...

By Neil Cobbold Recent data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show that 24,260 households served a valid Section...

The best way to judge the UK housing market is to check on what’s happening in Parliament, not the price indices...

Housing supply rather than the private rented sector (PRS) made the headlines during the Conservative and Labour Party conferences this year...

More families need a home they can call their own, the Housing Secretary Michael Gove has claimed. Speaking at the Tory Party...

Introduced to Parliament in May, the Renters (Reform) Bill seeks to improve the private rental sector for both tenants and landlords....

I recently wrote that the long-gestating Renters Reform Bill, finally introduced in Parliament back in May, could be poorly timed, both...

Propertymark has written to the Government to ask why attempts to protect leaseholders are being ignored. It comes as the Earl of...

The process from a Local Plan allocation to a digger on site typically stretches beyond the length of a five-year political...

Over recent years, as successive governments have tightened lettings legislation and increased the tax burden on landlords, some with investment properties...

Housing Minister Rachel Maclean MP is probably looking forward to her summer break this year. But wherever she's going and whatever she's...

The Government has set out yet another attempt to meet it manifesto commitment to build 1m homes over this Parliament. Prime Minister...

‘Schools out for Summer’ as the Alice Cooper song goes and the kids are not the only ones looking forward to...

It’s not a sentence that I thought I would be writing, but Housing Secretary Michael Gove has indeed finally done something...

According to the latest English Housing Survey, there were 495,000 second homes in the UK in 2018/19 – a figure said...

MPs have cast doubt on the Government’s ability to achieve its target of 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s...

Two all-party groups of MPs and Peers have called on the government to act to turn empty buildings into good quality,...

The long-awaited Renters Reform Bill was finally introduced in Parliament in May, but is it really good news for tenants? Several...

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been criticised for figures she used when highlighting how much mortgage borrowers are set to see...

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has ruled out providing financial support for struggling mortgage borrowers as rates hit new highs. Average mortgage rates hit...

At present, the space heating of homes accounts for roughly 14% of the UK’s annual emissions. If we are to meet...

The Government is not taking any responsibility for the thousands of people that have had spray foam installed by Green Homes...

Sleight of hand, optical illusion, card up the sleeve – we all love a good conjuring trick, don’t we? And they say...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has been slammed for “unhelpful” comments about abolishing leasehold after it emerged that there may not be...

The UK is on its rear - fact. Whilst many were breathing a sigh of relief after surviving a global pandemic,...

A Propertymark-supported amendment that aimed to bolster support for leaseholders in unsafe buildings failed to gain approval in the House of...

The issue of conditional selling in estate agency has hit Westminster. There have been several reports in recent months about agents requiring...

Agency trade body Propertymark has welcomed reforms to the business rates system, meaning high street agents, and other businesses, could finally...

The property industry may be going to great effort to digitise and improve the process of buying and selling a home...

Agency trade body Propertymark has backed calls for greater leaseholder protections as the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill proceeds through Parliament. The...

The important issue of hard-to-sell inherited properties has been raised in Parliament. Labour MP Zarah Sultana issued a written question asking what...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has signalled that legislation to allow for further leasehold reform will be included in the next parliamentary...

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

Lucy Frazer became the 13th Housing Minister to leave the role in the past decade yesterday after she was promoted to...

The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is the direct result of European Legislation. They were introduced because of the Energy Performance of...

Half of Estate Agent Today readers agree that industry regulations and minimum qualifications will improve standards in the sector but a...

Should commercial properties be converted into homes? I think so. I don’t mean the upscale barns becoming large houses, or the fashionable...

Conservative MPs are continuing to question when new estate agency regulations will come in as the Government sticks to its stock...

Happy New Year, to you all. Now that we’re all back in harness and Christmas feels like a long-distant memory, I...

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and ex-Home Secretary Priti Patel had around three years in Government to sort out housing but...

Is it really just a year ago that we were nervously wondering whether yet another Christmas would be Covid-affected? Little did we...

The Government has officially watered-down proposals for mandatory local housebuilding targets as it brings its flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill...

The Government’s latest Housing Minister Lucy Frazer brings plenty of property experience as a landlord and has also indirectly received donations...

Recent political changes – and there have been quite a few in recent weeks – have brought about something of a...

A Bill to bring the Government’s Stamp Duty reductions into legislation reached its second reading in the Houses of Parliament this...

I can’t really write about anything else this week, can I? Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have...

Simon Clarke is set for his first grilling by MPs as Levelling Up and Housing Secretary. Clarke will be questioned by the...

The new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has reversed almost all of the tax cuts set out in Kwasi Kwarteng's disastrous mini-Budget three...

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

There has been an understandable focus on things other than Government since the death of Queen Elizabeth was announced, but Prime...

New Housing Secretary Simon Clarke may be an unknown entity to many agents but he has a track record of supporting...

The government has rebuffed calls to assess whether different rates of Stamp Duty could incentivise property development or sales of energy...

A parliamentary petition calling for ground rent charges to be extended to existing leases has reached the required number of signatures...

When it comes to housing policy, the Conservative MPs have given their party a choice between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle DumDum. Rishi...

Recent statistics published by the government’s Business Insights and Conditions Survey revealed the extent to which many real estate businesses have...

The Tory leadership candidates have been urged to not forget about housing as the race to be the new Prime Minister...

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

New rules on leasehold homes came in this week, banning ground rents on new leases but a property expert warns this...

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

In retrospect, it was perhaps inevitable that the infamous dead cat would come into the debate over government housing targets and...

The issue of agency qualifications has finally been mentioned in the Houses of Parliament, almost three years since the landmark Regulation...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently announced that he is considering extending Margaret Thatcher’s Right-to-Buy scheme, that gives council tenants the chance to...

A high-profile peer has questioned why estate agency regulation wasn’t extended to property management companies in the Queen’s Speech this week. Lord...

Agents have pledged to keep a close eye on planning reforms amid a proposed overhaul announced in the Queen’s Speech yesterday. Prince...

The Queen’s Speech has unveiled proposed overhauls on planning, consumer and economic crime laws that could all have an effect on...

The government’s legislative agenda will be set out this morning in the Queen’s Speech and there are plenty of potential laws that...

The property industry is fortunate in including many great people, doing great work across a range of businesses – from traditional agency...

You will hopefully have seen that the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 has now received its Royal Assent, meaning it...

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

The government has insisted it is still committed to introducing agency qualifications and minimum standards in the sector. It is almost three...

The introduction of a register of land owners has triggered concern from the agents’ trade body Propertymark.  A Register of Persons Holding...

It’s not an easy time for many renters (and homeowners). The cost of living is going up across the board for...

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

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

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

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

The government is threatening to deny planning consent to developers who refuse to pay towards the removal of unsafe cladding on...

A campaigning MP is to meet with a government minister to discuss controls and disincentives for second homes. Former Liberal Democrat MP...

A new housing minister has been named this afternoon, to replace Chris Pincher. Stuart Andrew has been confirmed by Downing Street as...

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

The lettings sector looks set to steam ahead in 2022 after a record-breaking 2021, despite the financial and mobility challenges of...

Propertymark has appointed an insider to the key role of policy adviser - effectively the position vacated last month by industry...

As this is the first Natter back since the Christmas break, I should like to first wish all our readers a...

House and apartment sales are still being hit by confusion and worry over ground rents on existing second-hand leasehold properties. This is...

It appears almost certain that there will be limits imposed on the number and location of second homes in Wales, following...

A petition calling on the government to set up an independent enquiry into the cladding crisis has reached a key 10,000...