The Market

Kensington & Chelsea Council is to start publishing the pre-application advice given by its planning officers.

Britain's biggest estate agency Countrywide has reported an "encouraging" Q4, despite the general slowdown in transaction volumes and uncertainty around buy-to-let stamp duty and mortgage interest relief.

108,710 residential deals went down in December, according to seasonally-adjusted numbers from HMRC. That's a 1.9% increase on November's number, and a chunky 11.6% above last December's tally;

Average values in prime central London ended 2015 up 1% after a flat December, according to Knight Frank's year-end tallies.

Kevin McCloud's development firm HAB Housing has launched an interesting high-end project on a hillside site near Oxford.

The rate of house price growth across 20 of the UK's top cities has pepped up t0 +11.4%, from +10.2% the previous month and +8.9% twelve months ago, as property investors make a serious impact on the market.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has ruled out an imminent interest rate rise.

"If tax doesn't kill the market, red tape will," growls Alan Page, as a deal becomes mired in an absurd paperwork swamp.

A 12,642 square foot French Renaissance belter on Grosvenor Gardens has become the biggest instruction ever listed with a UK online estate agency.

Jeremy James has returned to the fold after a three-year absence

"Unless somebody is committed to London in the long term, there is a much more compelling case for renting", says PCL agency Tunstall Property of the post-SDLT reform landscape.

A controversial plan to redevelop a swathe of historic Spitalfields warehouses has been given the go-ahead by Mayor BoJo after a long-running battle.