Category: Real Estate

By Allison Thompson, national lettings managing director, Leaders The Renters’ Rights Bill is currently moving through the House of Lords and is expected to bring wide-ranging changes to the way privately rented…

The number of mortgages at 90% and 95% LTV is at its highest level in 17 years, suggesting that lenders are fiercely competing for this business. There are currently 1,360 options, while…

Newly appointed housing secretary Steve Reed has vowed to increase housebuilding ahead of meeting developers and housebuilders this week. The Telegraph reports that Reed is pledging to “leave no stone unturned” in…

The government has been slammed after both the housing secretary and homelessness minister lefts under a cloud. Firstly Angela Rayner resigned as housing secretary and deputy PM on Friday after it emerged…

Landlords with HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) are seeing gross annual income levels far beyond what non-HMO landlords are enjoying. The average non-HMO landlord made £61,846 in gross rental income during the…

Almost a third of households in England are occupied by just one person, with the number of people living on their own increasing by as much as 14% in the past 10…

Provider BluePine Living has launched an affordable housing platform in England to deliver homes through social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership. BluePine is backed by institutional funding and is investing in…

A 253-home build-to-rent development is coming to Edinburgh city centre from developer Vastint UK. New Fountainbridge is located on the Union Canal on a former brownfield development site and features a mix…

The former Reno nightclub site in Manchester is being redeveloped into 212 affordable homes across a mix of tenures. There will be a mix of family houses and apartments across three to…

A tax raid on landlords in the upcoming Autumn Budget would cause more financial issues for tenants, Daniel Bell, director and mortgage adviser at Bell Financial Solutions, has said. Recent rumours have…

The UK’s rental supply crisis is now most acute in towns as more renters are priced out of cities, Q2 2025 demand data from flatshare site SpareRoom has revealed. Demand has more…

Homebuyers in the South East and East of England are the most likely to search for homes further afield due to expensive house prices in the regions, Zoopla research shows. Some 35%…

Letting agents in Haringey have been hit with over £100,000 in fines for failing to display clear fees and breaching Client Money Protection rules. Client Money Protection safeguards rent and deposits, ensuring…

The Scottish government has committed to investing £4.9 billion in the next four years to deliver around 36,000 affordable homes by 2029-30, as part of its ‘Housing Emergency Action Plan. This should…

By Robert Poole, director – block management, Glide Property Management, part of LRG In an industry increasingly shaped by regulation, rising expectations and squeezed margins, the promise of AI and automation in…

Hull, Sunderland and Carlisle are the most affordable student cities across Great Britain, analysis from Rightmove shows. In Hull and Sunderland you can typically rent for £804 per month, will Carlisle coming…

By Trevor Abrahmsohn, Glentree International The problem with having a thoroughly inexperienced Chancellor and a properly ‘woodenheaded’ Prime Minister, is that they are learning the job ‘on the hoof’ and we are…

Dr. Neil Cobbold, commercial Director, Reapit Buyers, sellers and the bond market are digesting the recent property tax speculation as government borrowing costs head in the wrong direction What began as media…

The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) has created a series of social media videos for students as well as their parents and guardians. The UK’s largest protector of deposits said that it…

More homes are coming to a market and a greater number of sales are being agreed, according to data from eXp UK. New listings climbed by 15.1% between the first and second…

Property investors and experts are concerned about Labour’s leaked idea to charge landlords national insurance contributions on their rental income. While details have yet to be announced, such contributions are charged at…

Landlords are already heavily taxed and this tax could result in the nation’s tenants paying the price, writes Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown. The British love affair with property…

Yet another tax on landlords in the form of National Insurance contributions would result in fewer smaller landlords and more corporate ownership. That is according to Nick Latimer, partner, private clients, at…

The Treasury should tax commercial banks to compensate for the effects of quantitative easing, according to think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). This would be reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher’s…

Landlords could have to pay national insurance payments based on rental income under leaked plans being considered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. National Insurance contributions are charged at 8% on employee income, but…

Coastal areas in southern England have the most competition amongst sellers, meaning property buyers are well placed to haggle in those areas. Zoopla analysis said this particularly applies in Truro, Exeter, and…

Some 40% of properties owned by anonymous firms based in tax havens are in the UK capital, analysis from international NGO Global Witness has found. This has served to push prices up…

There’s been an influx of mortgages issued worth more than £5 million, driven by non-doms departing from the UK. In 2024 there were £3bn worth of mortgages at the £5m+ mark, a…

Capital gains tax on main homes, council tax reform and scrapping stamp duty are among the proposals ministers are reportedly exploring to plug the fiscal gap. By Tom Bill, head of UK…

The government needs to be careful about stalling parts of the market with far-reaching tax changes, Rightmove has warned. One speculated change is removing stamp duty and replacing it with a sellers’…

Property experts are cautious about changes to stamp duty, though most acknowledge that the current system is flawed. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering swapping the tax with one paid by sellers…

Just over half of flatsharers (51%) are relying on some form of loan, credit, advance or a second income stream to help them pay their rent, Spareroom research shows. In an August…

Kevin Shaw, national sales managing director, Romans (an LRG company) When it comes to property maintenance, prevention is the best cure. So, whether you’re a homeowner or landlord, you should have an inspection…

Bradford was the leading property hotspot in the country between May and July, research from OnTheMarket has revealed. This is based on the number of available sales per available properties, while it…

By Trevor Abrahmsohn, Glentree International Rumours are rife that our hapless Chancellor is cooking up some very unpalatable recipes to plug the holes in her Budget bucket The first rumour was about…

It’s predicted that the government will rake in over £9bn from inheritance tax this tax year, exceeding the previous year’s total of £8.2bn. Specialists at Irwin Mitchell Private Client Advisory made the…

Annual house price inflation has climbed to 3.7% in June from 2.7% in May, bringing the average to £269,000, the government’s UK House Price Index has found. The average monthly rate of…

Private rental growth slowed in July, falling to 5.9% from 6.7% the month before, ONS data shows. Despite the slowdown rental growth is outstripping house price inflation, which rose by 3.7% year-on-year…

There’s speculation that capital gains taxes could be revamped to prevent wealthy individuals from hoarding wealth in the form of assets. As it stands, capital gains taxes on inherited properties are reduced…

A property expert has raised concerns that replacing stamp duty with a new tax could force the elderly to move. One option is charging an annual property tax on expensive properties, the…

Some 170,520 landlords bought a property in the last 12 months compared to 255,780 a year earlier – demonstrating that the market has drastically slowed in that time. Just 6% of the…

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering replacing stamp duty with a tax paid by the sellers of high-value properties. It’s thought a national tax could be paid by owner-occupiers on houses worth more…

A commercial building that receives the highest rating in one country could receive a grade up to four places lower in another, Savills found in its Impacts research programme. The lack of…

The typical asking price of properties has dropped by £10,000 in just three months, pointing to a buyers’ market where it’s possible to haggle on price. The average price has fallen to…

The CEO of an organisation representing individual investors, advisers and businesses has called for an Italian-style flat tax for investors. Leslie McLeod-Miller warned about changes to the non-dom tax regime, which is…

Four in five (81%) landlords across Yorkshire & the Humber are experiencing strong tenant demand, indicating that there’s strong competition for every property in the region. In contrast, London and the East…

By Robert Poole, director – block management, Glide Property Management, part of LRG As scrutiny of service charges continues to intensify, one line item consistently stands out: insurance. In residential block management,…

Buy-to-let mortgage repossessions are up by 11% year-on-year, data from UK Finance shows. Some 790 buy-to-let mortgaged properties were repossessed in the second quarter, which is at least 2% fewer than in…

The average two-year mortgage rate is at a three-year low at 4.99%, the first time below 5% since the Liz Truss mini-budget, according to Moneyfacts. However, the question is, will interest rates…

Leasehold structures are limiting upgrades and pushing landlords away from buying flats, research from Leaders Romans Group (LRG) shows. Some 46% of landlords with leasehold flats say their biggest challenge is dealing…

Fears of a mass landlord exodus ahead of the Renters’ Rights Bill becoming law have yet to materialise, analysis from London lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves has revealed. The number…

By Allison Thompson, national lettings managing director, Leaders The government is preparing to extend the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time. A version of this standard…

The Renters’ Rights Bill, currently in the reporting stage in the House of Lords, is expected to be enacted by late 2025. The Bill will overhaul the private rented sector (PRS), aiming…

An AI agent has been launched to automate tenant communications called WorkFlo, which has been developed by VerbaFlo. This is designed to replace tools like spreadsheets, email blasts and third-party SMS to…

Sarah Dodd runs Tree Law, a tree law firm The UK is experiencing another spell of hot, dry weather, with temperatures once again rising above 30°C. As people adjust their routines to cope…

Santander has changed its loan-to-income rules so those earning less than £45,000 can borrow up to 4.45x their income across all LTV levels This comes after the Treasury loosened its loan-to-income rules…

Tenants should be protected from escalating rents by caps, similar to caps to energy and water bills. That is according to campaign group Generation Rent, which responded to Q2 statistics from Rightmove,…

The cost of beach huts has surged by 102.1% in three years in West Sussex, where the going rate is now £33,004. This asking price still pales in comparison to what you’re…

UK property investment volume slipped to a two-year low in Q2 – largely due to a lack of large-scale deals, Lambert Smith Hampton’s latest UK Investment Transactions (UKIT) report has found. In…

Three in five landlords had to deal with their fixed rate buy-to-let mortgage maturing in the past two years, analysis from mortgage software company Pegasus Insight has found. Of this group, over…

Tom Bill is head of UK residential research at Knight Frank A House of Lords event last week underlined growing disquiet over the government’s non-dom tax reforms. But any new direction on…

The Buckinghamshire towns of Chesham and Amersham have been ranked as the best places to retire by Legal & General’s retail business. This is based on factors like health and access to…

The number of homeowners remortgaging reached a two-year high in June according to Bank of England data. They rose by 200 from the month before to 41,800 in June, the highest number…

Three in five (58.5%) landlords have raised rents in the past year alone, signalling that many are profiting from an increasingly competitive market. What is more, a third (36.3%) say they plan…

The government has unveiled plans to protect existing pubs, clubs and music venues from noise complaints made by people in new developments. Developers will be responsible for soundproofing their buildings if they…

House prices surged by nearly £28,000 in East Lothian and by £20,000 in Midlothian, the regions East and South of Edinburgh respectively. They also rose by nearly £19,000 in Edinburgh itself. The…

Daniel Austin, CEO and co-founder at ASK Partners, asks Chancellor Rachel Reeves on how she can stablise the property market ahead of the Autumn budget? Dear Chancellor Reeves, As you prepare your…

More people are dipping into their properties as a source of wealth, data from the Equity Release Council shows. In Q2 2025 there was a 10% increase in total lending when compared…

Property management platform Concurrent from Sturents has partnered with guarantor waiver service Leap to offer landlords protection against financial risks associated with the Renters’ Rights Bill. Leap’s service removes the need for…

While the housing market has cooled over the summer demand for family homes has remained strong, data from mortgage tech provider Twenty7tec shows. Searches for homes priced between £250,000 and £300,000 are…

Berkeley Group has launched the Net Zero Skills in Construction Programme, an initiative providing construction training, support and awareness for two years. Organisations like Berkeley Group, Kier, Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall, and…

Plans for 274 homes in Lots Road South, a brownfield regeneration site in Chelsea, have been submitted by specialist developer Mount Anvil in partnership with Kensington and Chelsea Council. There will be…

Tax contributions paid by the UK’s wealthy individuals increased by 40% in the past four years alone, Ashtons analysis shows. In the 2023-24 tax year, wealthy individuals – defined by HMRC as…

There’s been a 38.6% increase in buy-to-let loans issued in the first quarter of 2025 year-on-year, the Buy-to-let Mortgage Market Update from UK Finance has revealed. Average buy-to-let rates have dropped in…

Landlords are routinely failing to carry out Section 20 consultations, where landlords should consult leaseholders before starting major works. The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE), a government-funded advisory body providing trusted, found that…

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has made James Cleverly shadow housing secretary, bringing him back to the frontbench. Cleverly was formerly home secretary during Rishi Sunak’s tenure as Prime Minister between November 2023…

Private renters are seeing costs rise at a faster rate than mortgaged homeowners, analysis from Zoopla has revealed. In the past three years the average mortgage repayment has risen by £218 to…

Landlords will be targeted for minor issues in a draconian move that will see council officers targeting law-abiding landlords. Landlord Licensing & Defence has warned. A new amendment to the Renters’ Rights…

infinitSpace is to open its fourth – and biggest – flexible workspace location in central London as the company doubles its European footprint since the start of 2024. infinitSpace creates and operates…

Rents are only expected to inflate by 1.0% in 2025, after Hamptons downgraded its forecast from 4.5%. So far this year tenant demand is 11% lower year-on-year, as well as 20% lower…

Non-doms are leaving the UK but holding on to their London properties, according to Knight Frank. Under the old rules, non-doms could live in the UK without paying tax on overseas wealth….

Tenants now stay in a tenancy for nearly three years on average, a 40% increase on just four years ago, research from The Deposit Protection Service has revealed. Tenancies now last for…

The latest U-turn in the Renter’s Rights Bill (RRB) concerning pet ownership may temporarily protect landlords from the cost of pet-related damage, but it leaves major questions unanswered, warns Inventory Base, the…

16 and 17 year olds will be able to vote in the next general election, meaning a greater number of renters will be able to have their say. The reforms will bring…

Issues with the Japanese knotweed are by far the most prevalent in Bristol, analysis from invasive plant specialist Environet shows. In the city there are 33.91 incidences per mi², followed by Merseyside…

Knight Frank expects prime central London house prices to fall by 1% this year, down from a prediction of a 1% rise in January. This prediction was made before Rishi Sunak called…

John McHugh is managing partner of DM Hall, LLP, Chartered Surveyors. Scotland’s residential property market has long defied simple categorisation. Unlike other parts of the UK, it is best understood not as…

The inflation rate climbed to 3.6% in the year to June 2025, threatening the prospect of an August base rate cut. This latest increase, from 3.4% the month before, means inflation is…

By Trevor Abrahmsohn, Glentree International Our biggest issue stems from fellow estate agents who deliberately elevate the vendor’s expectation of value, and this tactic is designed to outcompete their peers, some of…

Ed Philips is construction partner at Wedlake Bell The UK data centre industry boom – fuelled by the unprecedented adoption of AI, the further proliferation of connected devices, and interest in the sector…

More lenient buy-to-let stress tests are rejuvenating the market with more product choice and lower rates, research from mortgage adviser Alexander Hall has found. In March 2025 the Bank of England lifted…

The government’s relaunch version of the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme called Freedom to Buy has been confirmed. The scheme, which is launching immediately, is designed to boost the availability of mortgages with a…

Smaller housebuilders are struggling to build at scale because they have to submit more planning applications than the big players for the same number of homes. That is according to agency body…

The real estate and construction sector is showing cautious but growing optimism for Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) and inward investment activity in 2025. Some 65% of senior leaders expect an increase in…

Legal requirements to install solar panels on the roofs of new properties by 2027 is already impacting the financial viability of housing schemes, property consultancy Fisher German has warned. The consultancy found…

Across London and the South East of England the loan-to-income ratio is approximately 3.65 times, higher than other regions, analysis from brokerage platform Acre has found. However, this rises significantly when looking…

The Financial Conduct Authority’s loan-to-income limits won’t make a big difference and feels like more of a pilot. That is according to Tom Davies, group financial services managing director of estate and…

Tight supply compared to demand is continuing to push up both yields and rents, Fleet Mortgages’ rental barometer for Q2 2025 has found. Average rents across all regions rose by 2.9% over…

Scottish housing secretary Mairi McAllan has targeted preventing “unacceptable” levels of empty homes in the country. She that she was going to fund more empty homes officers to bring privately owned houses…

The government plans to ban upward-only rent reviews for commercial leases, a practice where rent is guaranteed to increase on review. The government said such clauses “pit landlords against businesses and can…

A wealth tax would further affect the already beleaguered Prime London market, Camilla Dell, managing partner at property consultancy service Black Brick, has warned. Downing Street has left the door open to…

By Trevor Abrahmsohn, Glentree International After all the debacle around winter fuel payments, the welfare reforms, the two-child benefit cap, the £28billion green investment promise and now, maybe the non-dom issue, team…

Details of the permanent successor to the mortgage guarantee scheme are set to be announced next Tuesday by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Dubbed ‘Freedom to Buy’, the permanent successor to the previous scheme…

The Renters’ Rights Bill has been amended so tenants keeping pets will have to pay an extra deposit to cover any damage. The deposit will be an additional three weeks’ rent, after…

The House of Lords have altered the Renters’ Rights Bill by giving student landlords more power to evict tenants. An amendment to Ground 4A means landlords of one- and two- bedroom student…

Lloyds Banking Group and Peabody have signed a £60m loan agreement to fund the sustainable retrofit of thousands of social homes across London and the Southeast. The loan, partially guaranteed by the…

Property prices were flat in June after falling by 0.3% in May, Halifax’s house price index has revealed. The long-term trend has still been a price uplift however, as the average price…

The lack of a government-backed guaranteed price for selling back surplus clean power to the UK energy grid is discouraging the installation of solar PV systems, according to energy consultancy Longevity Power….

A developer has won a case against a high-rise building designer – after opting to carry out remedial works. Following the Grenfell Tower disaster developer BDW Trading investigated a number of high-rise…

First-time buyers are leaning harder on high loan-to-value mortgages, analysis of UK Finance data from HouzeCheck has revealed. In the first quarter of 2025 the average LTV on a first-time buyer mortgage…

According to property platforms such as Rightmove and Zoopla, energy-efficient homes can sell faster and can even add up to £10,000 to your selling price. Ryan Willdig, sustainability expert at Heatforce, says…

By Allison Thompson, national lettings managing director, LRG As the Renters’ Rights Bill continues its progress through the House of Lords, landlords should be preparing for a much tighter framework around possession….

After exactly one year of the new Labour government, its biggest failures relating to the property market are ineffective planning reform and a lack of incentives for developers and investors. That is…

Online remortgage searches dropped by 10% in June, indicating that many are waiting for an expected base rate cut. That is according to tech firm Twenty7tec, which found that searches dropped by…

The Prime Central London market is the most ‘anxious’ it’s been for over a decade, according to London property broker Black Brick. Much of the anxiety steps from the departure of wealthy…

The British obsession with property as a means of building wealth is outdated, as today’s house buyers will not match the gains of past generations, asset manager Rathbones has warned. The report,…

By Jonathan Pearson, director at Residentially I have spent many years working in social housing, yet rarely have I felt such a tension between size and speed. Yes, the government’s ambitious commitment…

Telecoms masts are increasingly becoming a barrier to redevelopment or urgent building works – and the legal framework for removing them is tightening, Henry Russell at law firm Clarke Willmott has warned. …

The Decent Homes Standard is being extended from social housing to private in the Renters’ Rights Bill, but the National Residential Landlords Association has warned that it needs to be enforceable. This…

The government is reforming the Building Safety Regulator in a bid to speed up construction of high-rise homes. This will include a ‘fast track process’, where existing new build cases and remediation…

Only one legal challenge will be permitted on decisions on major infrastructure in a bid to reduce building delays. The government said this would push back against a challenge culture where small…

 Some 69% of landlords plan to sell at least one property in the next 12 months, research from GoSimpleTax has revealed. The top concern (43%) among investors is changing regulations, likely referring…

UK house price inflation has slowed to 1.4%, led by falling values in London and the South, Zoopla’s house price index has revealed. This represents a reduction from 2% earlier this year,…

The Stafford Building Society has introduced two buy-to-let mortgage products – which includes a 2-year product at 3.05% to 70% loan-to-value. It does come with a 5.00% arrangement fee – which is…

The South West of England is the UK’s top destination for over-50s looking to downsize, as nearly half (43%) of the region are over that age, research from Regency Living shows. At…

Jessica Anderson is senior associate at Hunters Law The High Court’s Decision in London Trocadero (2015) LLP v Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd and others [2025] EWHC 1247 (Ch) A recent High Court ruling…

The Renters’ Rights Bill’s cap of advance rents to one month could have the effect of pushing vulnerable tenants out of the market, an estate agency boss has warned. Des Simmons, managing…

The Renters’ Rights Bill, which includes measures to ban Section 21 evictions, won’t pass until Autumn at the earliest. That is according to The Financial Times, which blamed a “choked” legislative schedule…

The Mortgage Works (TMW) has called for EPC regulations to focus on the least energy efficient properties first, rather than expecting all properties to reach a C rating by 2030. TMW recommended…

Tenants and first-time buyers could be left worse off if the government continues to squeeze landlords, industry figures warned. Landlord groups are worried the Chancellor Rachel Reeves could again increase taxes on…

Planned changes to the Renters’ Rights Bill will mean landlords will be required to shoulder the risk of damage to properties by pets. Proposed amendments will reverse plans to enable landlords to…

The majority of estate agents rely on AI or automated valuation models (AVMs) – despite most distrusting the results. The consensus is they routinely fail to reflect a homes true value, especially…

The government wants to reduce energy costs for businesses as part of its ‘industrial strategy’. It will launch a “British industrial competitiveness scheme” from 2027, with automotive, aerospace and chemicals companies being…

London needs to allow more high-rise buildings in areas with strong public infrastructure, a think tank has recommended. Centre for London said this could be achieved by enhancing compulsory purchase orders for…

infinitSpace, the global flexible workspace provider, has appointed Heiko Himme as its new Head of Real Estate for Continental Europe, marking a significant step in the company’s strategic expansion across the continent….

OBS Group has launched a technology-led buy-to-let lending brand called Rely. Rely will use data-led underwriting on a newly created platform, which it said will lead to faster and more accurate decisions….

The falling number of high-value residential transactions has put more pressure on the government’s finances, Knight Frank estimates show By Tom Bill, head of UK residential reseaach at Knight Frank It’s exactly…

Oliver Novakovic, head of innovation at Barratt David Wilson Homes, has provided seven expert tips for keeping your home cool during a heatwave During the summer months when temperatures soar, staying cool…

Gemma Donnelly, head of customer propositions at Gatehouse Bank A recent webinar poll of property professionals showed that many are less confident in buy-to-let this year, instead favouring the first-time buyers’ market…

The government has pledged to spend £725 billion in 10 years to boost infrastructure. As part of this commitment £39 billion is going towards affordable housing, as the newly announced National Housing…

A UK law firm has spoken out against councils for discouraging tenants from pursuing ‘no win, no fee’ compensation claims. Councils across the UK are said to have highlighted cases where tenants…

The Bank of England has opted to hold the base rate at 4.25% – but its Governor indicated that further rate cuts will happen this year. Andrew Bailey (pictured) said we are…

The government has failed to explain how they will ready the courts for the end of Section 21 evictions, prompting frustration from property groups. The British Property Federation, the National Residential Landlords…

A fake landlord has been convicted of fraud after booking Airbnbs and selling them on as long-term rentals. Samy Daim would advertise the properties on Rightmove and Zoopla, asking for a year’s…

Tenant applications surged by 35% between April and May, counteracting April’s dip with a strong seasonal uplift. At the same time listings rose by 9% month-on-month, Foxtons data shows. While this means…

Mark Bailey, partner at Landwood Group Attempts to improve the energy efficiency of UK properties are laudable but, without adequate funding and support, are doomed to fail. Energy Performance Certificates have been…

The government has launched a publicly owned ‘National Housing Bank’ to support small housebuilders and provide certainty on funding for housing projects. SMEs will be backed by via lending alliances with private…

Three estate agents and two letting agents have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay compensation awards to consumers. Prime Property Agents, Cowlings Estate Agents, Nexmove, The Jolly Landlord…

Kevin Shaw, national sales managing director, Leaders (an LRG company) The property market tends to thrive when the economy is strong and stable. Historically, economic uncertainty has negatively impacted house buying and…

Robin Edwards is a partner at Curetons Property Finders, central London-based property buying agent For decades London’s prime property market has been one of the most desirable destinations for global capital. Its…

Estate and lettings agents say they feel unsupported by the government after ‘drip pricing’ was outlawed, which is when consumers see a low initial price but extra fees are added later. Drip…

An iconic railway viaduct crucial to the Peak District quarrying industry is getting a multi-million-pound upgrade this summer. Network Rail is investing £7.5m to improve one of Chapel Milton’s twin Victorian viaducts…

GB Bank has opened up access to foreign nationals and expatriate clients who do not hold UK residency, but hold a UK bank account. Foreign nationals can now apply for loans up…

A growing number of homeowners are using second charge mortgages, also known as secured loans, for home improvements. Internal data from mortgage lender Pepper Homeloans found that people in Birmingham (13.4%), Sheffield…

By Trevor Abrahmsohn, chief executive of Glentree Estates Having heard the Chancellor trying to make a quasi plausable job of carefully ‘applying lipstick to a pig’, I wear a wry smile, since…

The higher-priced South West, South East and London areas have seen the largest price drops this month (June). Rightmove, which conducted the research, said buyers in these regions are disproportionately affected by…

A London Assembly Housing Committee has called for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to cap service charges for shared-ownership homes in London. The committee said service charge are “soaring”, as the…

Much of the property industry has responded positively to the Chancellor’s Spending Review, with the exception of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA). Rachel Reeves committed to investing £39bn in social and…

The cost of renting should inflate in the months ahead due to a shortage of landlord purchases combined with stronger tenant demand, the RICS UK Residential Survey has revealed. A net balance…

The government has committed to investing £39bn in social and affordable housing in its Spending Review. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said this represents “biggest cash injection into social and affordable housing in 50…

Flexible workspace provider infinitSpace has completed a new partnership with PATRIZIA, an investment manager in global real assets, to open its second flexible workspace in Berlin. The new site will be located…

The government will launch an Artificial Intelligence tool in collaboration with Google to speed up the planning system. The AI tool will be called ‘Extract’ and can be used by planning officers…

Trevor Abrahmsohn is managing director of north London agency Glentree International Let’s face it, estate agents are pretty clueless when it comes to closing a complicated deal. Fermat’s Last Theorem Whoever said…

If regulations go through Scottish properties will need to comply with a minimum EPC rating of C for newly let properties by 2028, the same target that could be imposed. The requirement…

The government is refusing to publish the Justice Impact Test for the Renters’ Rights Bill, a document outlining the legislation’s impact on the courts and tribunal system. The test is generally carried…

Representatives from major high streets have urged the government to reform policing and crime reporting across the UK. High Streets UK, which represents 5,000 businesses, spoke out against escalating violence against shop…

Kevin Shaw, national sales managing director, LRG Historically, older properties have been generally viewed as more desirable than new builds, mainly because their supply is finite and they can be in the…

A decline in planning permission in England is threatening UK housebuilding targets, Investec research shows. In 2024 only 241,000 housing units received planning permission in England, a 3% decrease from the previous…

A council is using a second homes tax to fund loans to first-time buyers in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The Homebuy Pembrokeshire scheme will provide a loan of up to 30% of a property’s…

There was a 25% uptick in projects staring in the three months to the end of May, research from Glenigan has found. This represents a 10% increase on 2024 figures. Allan Wilen,…

Dallas-based private equity firm Lone Star Real Estate Fund VII has agreed to buy nine purpose-built student accommodation assets for £212 million. The seller is Unite Student, the UK’s largest developer and…

May was especially busy this year, with agreed sales reaching a four-year high, Rightmove research has revealed. More favourable mortgage conditions have helped, as the average five-year fixed mortgage rate is now…

The National Residential Landlords Association has accused the government of setting ‘unachievable’ and ‘unrealistic’ goals when it comes to EPC targets. It’s being proposed that every property across the private rented sector…

The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) has called on Labour to focus on detailed infrastructure projects to boost economic growth. These could include the building of new hospitals, roads, schools and prisons….

Flatshare adverts have surged amidst the looming spectre of the Renters’ Rights Bill, research from flatshare site SpareRoom has found. Between January and April both the number of landlords using the site,…

UK landlords should prepare for a shift in how they manage tenancies, given how the Renters’ Rights Bill is rapidly moving through parliament, according to Allison Thompson of property services group LRG….

Nearly half of buy-to-let landlords (44%) plan to pre-emptively raise rents in response to the new Renters’ Rights Bill, survey data from Landbay can reveal. Under the Renters’ Rights Bill, landlords will…

A rogue landlord is letting out properties as emergency accommodation via a third-party provider, The Bristol Cable reports. Naomi Knapp, the owner of 29 properties, was handed a ban by Bristol City…

Chris Hemmings, partner, Carter Jonas Do the changes to the NPPF really open up opportunity? The publication of a substantially revised NPPF shortly before Christmas was the first in a series of major planning…

Leaseholders are increasingly responding with legal action as freeholders and property managers look to develop flat roofs. That is according to solicitor firm Thackray Williams, which said legal challenges are particularly common…

Buyers in North Eastern United States are attracting the most buyer interest, led by Buffalo in New York state, Zillow research has found. Buffalo has relatively affordable homes ($234.9) and a strong…

HMO investors can net a 10% return by turning a 3–4-bedroom property into a 6-bed, analysis from debt advisory and investment firm Excellion Capital has revealed. This is despite the average cost…

Areas like Sheffield and Rotherham are some of the worst for burglaries in the UK, research by Go.Compare Home Insurance shows. In South Yorkshire there is one burglary for every 73 homes,…

Savills has expanded its super prime lettings business beyond the capital with a team covering the prime rental market across the UK. The advice firm said the growth of the department reflects…

Mark Wilson, director of Myleasehold and a member of ALEP (Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners) The government wants to make leasehold ‘easier and cheaper’. That’s the headline. It is a virtuous message,…

Mortgage intermediaries are very confident in the state of their own business, signaling that most are confident in the thriving nature of the mortgage market. Some 98% felt ‘very confident’ (46%) or…

Housing secretary Angela Rayner wants smaller housebuilders to pick up more of the slack when it comes to building homes. Speaking at a visit to an Oxfordshire site in Didcot, the deputy…

By Trevor Abrahmsohn, Glentree International When I started Glentree in 1976, estate agents were a crusty old lot, populated by the quintessential ‘Group Captain Windbag’ with the customary handlebar moustache, fob watch…

The number of agreed property sales in May reached its highest rate in four years, Zoopla’s house price index has revealed. There’s been a 13% year-on-year increase in homes for sale, while…

Luxury estate agency firm Circa London has partnered with Castlemere Developments to market its new £9.6 million townhouse development in Dulwich to buyers in the Far East. Circa London has taken on…

A commercial building spanning 233,000 sq ft near Manchester’s Piccadilly Station is being constructed called The Republic. The development will sit within Mayfield Park from developer Landsec with construction business Bowmer +…

The true scale of mortgage fraud in the UK may be far greater than official enforcement figures suggest, client due diligence platform Thirdfort has warned. Mortgage fraud often involves forged documentation, fake…

Matt Clarke, director, Boyer (an LRG company) To meet housing targets, it is imperative that the challenging issue of water scarcity is fully and effectively addressed.  And so it is encouraging there…

Just 3% of property professionals are most confident in the prospects of buy-to-let this year, suggesting many regard the current environment to be hostile towards investors. Instead, half (50%) have most confidence…

Government agency Homes England has surpassed its housing delivery targets for 2024-25. The agency facilitated the completion of 36,757 homes, 14% more than its 2023-24 delivery levels, and above its target of…

Wales is home to the most in-demand shared living market in Britain, analysis from HMO management platform COHO has revealed. Across Great Britain an estimated 10.4% of all shared living opportunities currently…

Housebuilders’ suppliers are on the hook for building remediation costs following a ruling from the Supreme Court. The developer Barratt Redrow won a Supreme Court ruling against engineering consultancy URS, in which…