Policy
Scare B&B: Just how risky are short term lets?
Following recent reforms allowing Londoners to let their property on short leases without the need for permits, an increasing number of high value homes have appeared on short term letting websites. B
Is Islington about to ban mega-basements too?
Just a week after the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea claimed victory in an "historic battle" against mega-basements, another London council is eyeing up a subterranean crackdown.
Government outlines plans to help small-scale developers
Minister of State for Housing and Planning Brandon Lewis has been busy updating Parliament on the coalition government's attempts at freeing up the planning system.
At-A-Glance: SDLT Now & Then
You can read LCP's excellent analysis of the new SDLT landscape here, and go deep into all the industry reactions here, but here are a few handy at-a-glance overviews from Keats (third graph) and Chestertons…
Stampede Duty: £10k ‘success fees’ offered as buyers rush to beat tax deadline
After George Osborne gave top-end buyers a window of exactly 11 hours and 29 minutes between SDLT reforms being announced and kicking in, there's been reports of estate agencies and law firms turning int…
Rising Stamp: Surveying the new SDLT landscape
The movement from a Stamp Duty slab tax to a graduated tax is a welcome move, says residential fund management outfit LCP on the first day of the new SDLT regime.
Autumn Statement: Stamp Duty hike for high-value homes
George Osborne rounded off this year's Autumn Statement with "a complete reform" of SDLT (which he called "one of our worst-designed and most damaging of all taxes"), ditching the slab structure in favour…
Autumn Statement: SDLT reform ‘overdue’ but will buyers at the top end ‘eventually take it on the chin’ or is it a ‘disaster for prime property sales’?
Most agree that some kind of stamp duty reform needed to happen, and the consensus is generally - although definitely not exclusively - positive
Crib Sheet: Autumn Statement 2015
This was a gloves off, political Autumn Statement in the run up to the 2015 election says Mishcon de Reya
Crib Sheet: 2015’s CGT for non-residents
HMRC has confirmed a few things about next year's imposition of Capital Gains Tax for non-residents
Royal Burrow Ban: Council declares victory in war on mega-basements
Plans to significantly limit subterranean development in the Royal Borough have officially been given the thumbs up, after what Kensington & Chelsea Council has dubbed "an historic battle".
De
A303 revamp will bring more London buyers to the South West – Knight Frank
Mention to anyone west of Andover that the A303 is 'finally being widened', and you'll see their eyes roll.