Archive

Rigorous government targets to improve EPC ratings in the private rental sector and the wider housing stock won’t be met without...

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has written to one of the key areas he believes vital for achieving Labour’s house-building targets, calling...

Labour’s target of delivering an average 370,000 new homes a year could bring about a remarkable £161 billion boost in value...

New Freedom of Information (FOI) data from the Financial Conduct Authority shows that Labour’s plan to introduce a ‘Freedom to Buy’...

A warning has been issued that lettings agencies could lose millions of pounds if landlords quit over new EPC targets. Reapit analysed...

Hamptons lettings agency says it’s calculated what types of homes will be simply unable to be improved to reach the government...

Propertymark says stricter rules for EPC ratings in the private rental sector must be backed up with incentives and financial support. The...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has given a warm welcome to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s planning reforms. This week Rayner...

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has launched a comprehensive review of the National Planning Policy Framework. The objective is...

Clarity is required from the government over how planning changes are to help meet targets for 1.5m new homes in the...

Rightmove has thrown its weight behind the new Labour government’s bid to help first time buyers - and it wants it...

Figures from the National House Building Council show that housebuilding is currently running at only half the rate the new Labour...

Planning permission has been given to the biggest-ever Build To Rent scheme in Milton Keynes. A company under the name PLATFORM_ has...

Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney is warning that homeowners, including those serving the private rental sector, will have to...

Propertymark says it’s contacting all the appropriate new ministers over the summer to trigger an engagement process so agents’ voices can...

Scotland needs to match Labour’s English housebuilding target to tackle the country’s housing emergency according to a high profile lettings agency...

There’s a call from a prominent international building science service for the new Labour government to review the Energy Performance Certificates. EPCs...

Propertymark has struck a lukewarm tone in its response to Labour’s housing ambitions. The trade body says that to meet its manifesto...

Labour’s proposed planning reforms indicates that the new government is serious about change and grasping the nettle on housebuilding. That’s the view...

The biggest rental sector headline from Labour’s manifesto may well be its pledge for the “immediate” abolition of Section 21 eviction...

Labour is likely to make rental sector reform and regulation a priority - at least partly because it will be low-cost...

If Labour wins Thursday’s General Election. expect three major housing announcements within a fortnight. That’s the exclusive claim from the Sunday Times...

A lettings agency which has given broad support to the Renters Reform Bill now says it’s concerned that shadow housing Secretary...

The decision of property developer Berkeley Group to enter the private rental sector is bad news for tenants, it’s claimed. Berkeley plans...

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

Labour has stepped up its programme clamping down on what it calls “unscrupulous landlords strangling growth.” Specifically this means ending bidding wars,...

Shelter has spoken out in favour of what it calls “bold” commitments by Labour on the private rental sector and house...

Labour’s manifesto, just released, makes a pledge to enact the “immediate” abolition of Section 21 eviction powers, along with other private...

Agents, and others in the lettings industry, have given a sceptical response to the Conservative manifesto and its varied pledges about...

Labour is launching a new Freedom to Buy scheme to get 80,000 young people on the housing ladder, over the next...

Citra Living, the Build To Rent offshoot of Lloyds Banking Group, continues with its growth strategy into the private rental sector. Citra...

Rightmove has produced five core demands on behalf of the rental sector, which it would like the next government to meet. These...

Political parties should not allow the lengthy General Election campaign to delay work on a new and beefed-up Energy Performance Certificate...

Propertymark wants Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities to regulate property agents via professional bodies such as itself. The Department for Communities is...

Letting agents believe Help to Buy has been the most positive influence to the property market in recent times, while on...

The Housing Secretary in Wales says that nation is unlikely to follow the example of Scotland by introducing rent controls. At a...

A prominent lettings agency operator says he hopes the “toxic” attitude to the private rental sector by the Scottish Government may...

Propertymark wants the government to cool down on its enthusiasm for brownfield development. It says in a response to a consultation that...

For first time buyers, renting is cheaper than buying in most of the UK according to new data from the Halifax.  London, the...

It’s not easy for anyone - even professionals like lettings and estate agents - to keep up with the blizzard of...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has launched a new Residential Retrofit Standard in a bid to help the housing industry...

A figure in one of the country’s highest profile lettings companies has hit out at a government proposal to penalise the...

The trade body representing short lets providers and support companies has reacted angrily to government proposals for a radical shake up. Housing...

The Building Research Establishment - which undertakes research, advice, training, testing, certification and standards-setting for the housing sector - is calling...

Controversy surrounds a government idea - floated over the weekend - to allow renters to secure mortgages with just one per...

A major property industry supplier claims that the housing sector could meet government targets to improve the Energy Performance Certificate ratings for homes.  Landmark...

Propertymark has urged the government to do more to help the country’s most vulnerable citizens heat their homes.   Office for National Statistics...

The government has launched a public consultation on a radical new UK home energy rating system to replace the long-standing Standard...

One of the first forecasts for the rental market for 2024 suggests that strong growth will continue. Property consultancy JLL says that...

Propertymark has urged Labour to licence letting agents under its plans to ‘fundamentally reform the private rented sector’. The trade body also...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is launching its manifesto at this week’s Tory party conference - and improving the supply...

Propertymark has given strong support to the government’s “flexible and affordable” approach to the green policy agenda,  Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy...

A leading agent has welcomed the dramatic U turn by the government on how it is to meet its net zero...

The Times is reporting that a delay to the controversial ban on gas boilers is being considered by the government as...

A leading property agency is demanding more certainty over new Energy Performance Certificate regulations.  Fisher German says the government should act now...

Propertymark has set out a five point plan to improve the status and usefulness of the Energy Performance Certificate and to...

A consultation setting out proposals to reform domestic and non-domestic energy performance certificates has been opened by the Scottish Government.  It feels...

Research from a property developer suggests that the government needs to deliver an average of 67,500 new homes a quarter by...

Stricter proposals for energy efficiency under review by the government risk damaging the private rental sector if they remain unchanged. That’s the...

Propertymark has branded the plans by Housing Secretary Michael Gove to increase housebuilding “disappointing”. Nathan Emerson, Propertymark chief executive, says: “The UK...

A mortgage lender has conducted a survey of homeowners which has produced a string of anti-landlord and anti-overseas investor attitudes. Market Financial...

A new assessment of the average cost to a UK property owner of improving their EPC rating suggests it’s soared to...

A seasoned property lawyer who has specialised in residential landlord and tenant law for 22 years says she is embarrassed at...

According to new research from Mortgage Advice Bureau, two-fifths of landlords believe that new EPC requirements are important for the environment and will...

A franchise network boss has sharply criticised both Labour and the Tories for their pro-tenant policies. Dominic Agace, chief executive of Winkworth,...

A lack of direction and constant shifts in planning policy at local and national government level is putting a block on...

Leaders Romans Group has announced another new lettings acquisition. It has snapped up Liberty Gate, a single-office Nottingham-based business which also operates...

One of the UK governments has backed a call for private landlords to get cash help to meet new Minimum Energy...

A lettings agency chief says tighter EPC targets will be “devastating” for the private rental sector. Ben Quaintrell - managing director of...

Paul Shamplina, the chief commercial officer at Landlord Action and arguably the biggest name in the lettings sector today, is to...

Speculation is growing that the deadline for the private rental sector to meet new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for new tenants...

The latest market snapshot from the Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors - out today - shows tenant demand continuing to increase...

A new survey of landlords has revealed a patchy record of awareness of new energy efficiency regulations for the rental sector. The...

The British Property Federation, which typically has relatively little to say about the private rental sector, has issued a series of...

Build To Rent provider Sigma Capital Group Limited has announced plans to deliver 865 new homes across 11 sites around the...

Propertymark wants to see more energy-efficient homes, but with realistic targets and incentives to act. In its submission to the government ahead...

Propertymark has told a UK government to stop ignore the damaging effect of its policies on the private rental sector. An outspoken...

Propertymark is querying why there’s no help for the private rental sector to meet energy efficiency targets expressed in a new...

The head of a Martin & Co office in Wolverhampton has been jailed over fraudulent activity. A court heard that Bhavander Singh...

The long-standing head of an agency’s property management and lettings divisions is stepping up to become a partner in the company. Andrew...

Agents have expressed their anger at the government effectively scrapping any meaningful house building targets. Housing Secretary Michael Gove scrapped the mandatory...

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...

The agents’ trade body Propertymark says the government must “get realistic” over the difficulties involved in reaching Net Zero targets when...

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations says its members are key to tackling the cost of living crisis but rent freezes,...

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer picked on the buy to let and holiday home sectors as targets for future restrictions, in...

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

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

Foxtons has revealed that it has a pipeline of what it calls “lettings portfolio targets” - lettings books which it wants...

Forty per cent of privately rented homes in England are unlikely to achieve the energy efficiency rating target set to become...

An apprentice working at Newcastle’s Walton Robinson agency has revealed why she believes it’s her dream job. The agency specialises in residential...

Propertymark says it welcomes measures in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that will mean swifter action to get the hundreds...

A technology platform claims that as many as a third of lettings agencies that should be compliant with anti-money laundering regulations...

Energy efficiency is the hot topic in the lettings sector right now with new minimum EPC levels expected to be introduced...

There’s been a broad welcome from letting agents to the Spring Statement not loading more tax or restrictions on buy to...

New financial incentives are needed to bring thousands of empty homes back into use and give a much-needed boost to the...

New research commissioned by the landlords’ trade body shows that the UK needs almost 230,000 new private rented homes a year...

A new Midlands property investment group has been launched, and says it will target both investors and landlords. Joseph Mews Property Group...

Propertymark has strongly opposed a proposal by the Scottish Government to radically reform the private rental sector. The proposals put out for...

The lettings agency boss at the centre of a major industry takeover has fired a warning shot about rent controls and...