Chancellor Javid resigns a month before Budget day; Sunak takes over
Sajid Javid has surprised everyone by quitting as Chancellor of the Exchequer – with just four weeks until the Budget. Rishi Sunak has taken over the keys to the Treasury and No.11 Downing Street.
Super-rich & sustainable: How climate change is affecting the luxury property sector
HNWIs and developers are changing their behaviour as the socially responsible revolution rolls on, writes Penny Mosgrove…
Surveyors to crack down on conflicts of interest
The RICS is to review its ethical standards with a view to stamping out conflicts of interest over valuations.
Are the Tories mulling a mansion tax again?
Debates have been occurring ‘at the highest levels of the Treasury and No 10’ over ways to tap up wealthy homeowners, according to a Sunday paper…
Basement planning applications have tanked in Westminster
The annual total fell below 100 last year, following a series of high-profile disputes and a tightening up of council policy
What can the government do to set the property market up for a strong 2020?
Along with resolving the remaining uncertainty around Brexit, a few small tweaks to the tax regime and regulatory environment would significantly improve the state of the market, argues Forsters’ Helen Marsh…
Beautiful homes & tree-lined streets should be ‘the norm not the exception’
Roger Scruton and Nicolas Boys Smith’s final report for the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission has been published, offering a series of policy proposals and practical recommendations to make Britain’s built environment more pleasant – including planning reforms, a kitemark for design-led developers, and a massive tree planting drive.
Rethinking the planning system: Downing Street to consider ‘wholesale reform’
Influential think tank Policy Exchange has published a blueprint for the “urgent wholesale reform” of the planning system, calling for a “clean break” with the current regime.
How behavioural science and house-selling could help us reach zero emissions
Behavioural scientist David Comerford explains how simple changes to energy performance certificates – combined with the right timing – could help residents take practical steps to cut their home’s emissions…
Jenrick: ‘We’ll make it easier to build beautiful homes, to end the myth that quality is the enemy of supply’
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick trails the publication of the late Roger Scruton’s Building Better, Building Beautiful report. He suggests a “fast-track for beauty” in the planning system, and pledges to “re-green” cities with an urban tree-planting drive.
Government launches new Building Safety Regulator; demands ‘immediate action’ from building owners
Robert Jenrick’s Housing Ministry says it is “committed to delivering the biggest change in building safety for a generation”; threatens to name-and-shame non-compliant building owners.