The Market
Planning for Dummies: Boles launches simple guidance portal
Planning Minister Nick Boles has (nearly, finally) published a new national online planning guidance resource for public testing and comment
20% of prime properties have had prices reduced
Price reductions at the top-end of the property market are falling: 20% of £1m+ homes currently on the market have been reduced in price, compared to 28% at this time last year, according to some research …
Root & Branch: Why the UK’s outdated property tax system needs a serious overhaul
Stamp duty is now at a level that jeopardises the economic viability of a property purchase; a sliding scale would make far more sense, says David Hannah...
PCL prices now 60% above their 2009 market low; Greater London prices catching up
Prime central London property prices rose for the 34th month in a row in August, according to the latest from Knight Frank, with a 0.6% month-on-month increase taking that rise to 4
Busted Flush: Estate agency insolvencies on the rise
The number of estate agencies going bust in Britain has leapt by 57% in the last 12 months, according to a report by accountants Wilkins Kennedy
British buyers hone in on West End prime
Flying in the face of recent reports estimating that nearly three-quarters of London's new-build stock is sold abroad, one agency has reported a very different story going on right in the heart of the…
Trumping the Gazumpers: How to avoid getting burned as the market heats up
Buyers will need to have their wits about them as gazumping returns with a vengeance, says Camilla Dell...
Pickles wants cameras in planning meetings after bloggers threatened with arrest
Eric Pickles has warned that freedom of speech and independent journalism are under attack in local government, after local residents were threatened with arrest for filming and reporting council meetings
Defra puts the wind up DECC over rural house prices
There's a storm brewing between the Depart. for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Dept. for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) over what impact wind turbines have on rural house prices.
Landlords policing immigration would be “bureaucratic and overly cumbersome” – RLA
The Residential Landlords’ Association has put in its official response to the Government’s consultation on plans to introduce mandatory tenant immigration checks (announced back in May) – opposing the pl…
Jones Lang LaSalle revises forecasts; PCL prices to rise by 6% in 2013 and 3% nationally
Jones Lang LaSalle has joined the flurry of firms significantly revising their market predictions up for the rest of the year and beyond
Birmingham tops buy-to-let hot spots
Birmingham is best for buy-to-let investors, offering a 10%+ rental yield, according to a new survey by Home.co.uk and Move with Us