Archive

The term “Levelling Up” - introduced by ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson - has been ditched by the new deputy Prime Minister,...

Labour MP Matthew Pennycook has been named as the principal housing minister in the new government. He was shadow housing minister when...

Angela Rayner has been appointed Levelling Up Secretary with responsibility for housing - a role she has in addition to being...

The next Government should create a separate Ministry of Housing and encourage MPs of all parties to work together to solve...

Outstanding council tax arrears have soared according to new government figures. Data from he Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities shows...

Leasehold reform still has a long way to run, according to the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP). The major party manifestos...

As the Renters Reform Bill makes its way through the House of Lords, Propertymark has advised peers not to miss this...

A Labour MP is calling for rent controls to be introduced, with powers for councils to tweak them as they see...

The corporate freeholder which has been obliged to fix serious building safety issues at a tower block has issued a statement...

Housing minister Lee Rowley will be taking centre stage at the largest property agency conference in the UK this summer, Propertymark...

A coalition of higher education and student housing organisations have called on the government to make further changes to the Renters...

Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities hit back overnight at critics of the government’s Renters Reform Bill. The Bill...

Propertymark says it will continue lobbying government for the implementation of the Regulation of Property Agents - even though the government...

The government’s failure to act on the Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) working party - chaired by Lord Richard Best and...

Propertymark is demanding equal treatment with the social housing sector. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove intends to boost standards in social housing...

The Open Property Data Association has released a new version of its property data standards framework to help letting agents comply...

Sharpened rules to double council tax on long term empty properties will come into force from April 1, says the government.  A...

A national newspaper says the Renters Reform Bill is “on the brink of collapse” as Tory MPs are divided on their...

Labour has waded into the increasingly-fractious debate over the Renters Reform Bill. Activists in groups such as the Renters Reform Coalition and...

Ukrainians who came to the UK following the Russian invasion will be able to apply for 18-month extensions to their visas,...

Propertymark is urging the Sunak government to introduce specialist housing courts with expert Judges who can expedite cases and create a...

Qualifications for property managers in the social housing sector should be extended to the private rental sector too. That’s the view of...

A prominent housing market commentator says Labour would introduce a tougher version of the Renters Reform Bill if it forms the...

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to bring in an emergency ban on no fault evictions and banks repossessing people’s homes...

The first meeting has been held of the Housing Coalition, a new group including Propertymark and some landlord bodies. A statement from...

Senior Labour MP Clive Betts says the party’s official house building policy won’t actually solve the shortage of homes. Labour deputy leader...

A row has broken out over Section 21 between Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and an all-party...

Propertymark wants Housing Secretary Michael Gove to continue with ground rent reforms for leaseholders following the launch of a consultation into this...

The new Housing Minister is Lee Rowley - who was a former housing minister during the short lived premiership of Liz Truss. Rowley...

The government is considering five different options for ground rent as the reform process for the sector begins. The government is committed...

Propertymark has welcomed the pledge by Housing Secretary Michael Gove not to introduce rent controls in England. The trade body says such...

PropTech supplier Lettspay has launched a new client account banking service for letting agents and property managers in partnership with Griffin...

A government minister has pledged to act on the threat to lettings agents posed by banks acting against pooled client accounts. Many...

A charity claims the Renters Reform Bill, which gets its Second Reading in the Commons next week, will help reduce homelessness. New...

The National Audit Office says the government will soon have to take hard decisions on the future for the Homes For...

Government data shows that as of 2022 some 15.29 per cent of homes in England are privately rented, with 14.9 per...

The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities says a new How To Rent guide will be issued today, October 2. Letting...

The Select Committee that shadows the work of Michael Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is complaining that its...

A lettings trade body is urging the government to make clear how it will help courts tackle a growing backlog of...

Automated client accounting platform Lettspay is set to launch a new client account banking product for letting agents. The supplier has worked...

Rental sector organisations have been given an indication by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that a new How...

Labour’s new shadow Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, Angela Rayner, says she will put council Housing at the heart of...

New directives issued by the government put the emphasis firmly on private landlords and their letting agents to take responsibility for...

Crisis, the homelessness charity, has slammed the government over the growing gap between housing benefit levels and even the lower end...

The Renters Reform Bill will cost letting agents over £275m in the next decade as fewer landlords use their services. That’s the...

It appears almost certain that the Second Reading of the Renters Reform Bill - expected some weeks ago - will not...

It appears that a “wider range of behaviours” are likely to be taken into account in future when tenants are considered...

The Renters Reform Bill is being discussed by MPs this afternoon - although not as part of its long-running passage through...

A Liberal Democrat council leader says all properties - even those in properly established lettings businesses - should be charged council...

Propertymark has given an insight into how letting agents are likely to be expected to use a new Landlords Database. The database...

In a surprise move, Housing Secretary Michael Gove has given the stand-in leader of activist group Generation Rent a prime role...

New government figures show how overdue the government's reform of private renting is, claims campaigning charity Shelter. The charity says the figures...

The government has back-tracked on its decision to publish the long-awaited Renters Reform Bill this week. The Mirror newspaper reports that “procedural issues”...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove says the long-awaited Renters Reform Bill, first promised in 2019, will finally be introduced into Parliament this...

Propertymark has thrown its weight behind the idea of a compulsory national register of landlords and hosts operating Airbnb and other...

Airbnb is warning the UK government not to be heavy handed in its planning controls restricting the short lets sector. At the...

The new trade body for short lets has reacted angrily to a government plan for AirBnb and other short let hosts...

The government has taken the first step to introducing a mandatory ombudsman scheme which private landlords must join. This is effectively the...

The government has indicated that the delayed publication of the latest How To Rent document is to be Friday March 24. The...

The government has delayed publication of the latest How To Rent document - it had been expected today.  The How to Rent...

Campaigning charity Shelter is angry with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt over his Budget  While most in the property industry have expressed relief that there...

West Oxfordshire council is the latest to demand new government legislation to increase council tax on empty and second homes in...

A much-hyped government proposal to introduce a Rental Mediation Service to resolve disputes, sustain tenancies and reduce pressure on the courts...

Propertymark says current government policy over leaseholder protections is too weak. The letting agents’ trade body has thrown its weight behind a...

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

Propertymark has hit out at a proposal from a group of MPs that there should be a single Ombudsman covering the...

The activist group Generation Rent is backing a call by MPs for the government to tighten up proposals to scrap Section...

It appears likely that Rachel Maclean is set to become the sixth housing minister in 12 months, replacing Lucy Frazer. In the...

Agents’ body Propertymark wants more government action to boost housing supply - and it wants the views of the industry on...

The Labour Party is to launch a major review of the private rental sector, led by the head of a London...

Legal & General Capital helped fund over 17,000 new homes last year across a range of tenures, chiefly Build To Rent.  Chief...

A warning letter signed by 330 major players in the private rental sector has been delivered to Housing Secretary Michael Gove. The...

A buy to let investment site has used Artificial Intelligence to identify 10 top property investment opportunities in 2023.  Based on analysis...

The government claims buildings will be made safer under new proposals including compulsory second staircases for new tower blocks. It says this...

Over the last decade, the proportion of people aged 24 to 64 living in their own home has fallen and the...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has sent a letter to the Competitions and Markets Authority saying the watchdog is independent - but...

The government is to open a consultation on whether residential properties should require planning consent to be used as short lets...

Three councils will be sharing £1.21m in public cash over the next two years to tackle poor quality properties in the...

A not-for-profit company that matches rental properties with vulnerable tenants in need of accommodation has partnered with a maintenance firm to...

The government has made a general commitment to work with those who want council tax reforms for Homes in Multiple Occupation. Earlier...

Propertymark has given its backing to a clampdown by Housing Secretary Michael Gove on private landlords - although landlords themselves appear...

A lettings network is urging landlords to back a campaign to abolish council tax re-banding for shared houses. Platinum Property Partners says...

A holiday lettings agency has taken the unusual step of speaking out in favour of higher council tax for second home...

Propertymark backs government plans to introduce a social housing-style Decent Homes Standard in the private sector.   But it says there must be...

Labour’s new housing spokesperson, Matthew Pennycook, says his party would go further than the government on the subject of private rental...

As the Rishi Sunak government’s lower ranks finally take shape, the junior ministers working with Housing Secretary Michael Gove have been...

There seems to be an industry-wide sigh of relief that Rishi Sunak has become Prime Minister. His coronation marks the end of...

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned advertorial material issued by the government department responsible for rental reform and housing. Two Labour MPs...

The government may be changing its mind on scrapping Section 21 eviction powers according to a bombshell story in The Times. Outlining what...

The latest update from industry discussions about allowing more pets in private rental properties suggests there’s not been a solution yet...

There appears to be no space for discussion on the government’s private rental sector reform policies at the Tory Party conference...

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced that stamp duty will be cut.  In future there will be no stamp duty on the first...

The cost of living crisis could have a ‘catastrophic’ impact on homelessness unless an immediate eviction ban is introduced. That’s the view...

In a late night announcement it was confirmed by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that Lee Rowley MP...

The National Audit Office has made scathing criticisms of government efforts to build more affordable housing. The public spending watchdog says the...

Two new ministers have been appointed to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities - but at this stage it’s...

A leading lettings agency has warned the government not to forget the importance of small-scale landlords in its plans for the...

Agents are calling for a pilot project to measure the impact of the government abolishing Section 21 eviction powers. In its response...

The government is intervening further in the running of Liverpool council, which operates a controversial private rental sector licensing scheme. Housing Secretary...

It’s been confirmed that the controversial Renters Reform Bill will still be introduced by the end of this session of Parliament,...