Policy
Future Homes Standard: The impact on build costs, supply chains & land values
Higher build costs to adhere to the government’s stricter energy requirements are already being factored into land bids, writes Lydia Mclaren...
Stamp duty holiday ‘to be extended until end of June’
Reports claim the Chancellor is planning a boost for the property market in his upcoming Budget.
RBKC gets tough on owners of empty homes
Council to trial the use of Empty Dwellings Management Orders and forceable sales in ‘severe circumstances’.
Why the Covid stamp duty holiday reveals big problems in the housing market
HM Treasury "misjudged" the property market when it introduced the Stamp Duty holiday last year, writes Michael Ball, Professor of Urban and Property Economics at the University of Reading's Henley Business…
Telegraph: ‘Stamp duty holiday could be extended by six weeks’
The Telegraph has reported an unnamed Treasury source as saying that the Chancellor is considering a short extension to the Stamp Duty holiday.
Property developers to face two new taxes to pay for cladding scandal bill
Robert Jenrick has announced that residential property developers will face two new levies, starting in 2022, to pay for some essential fire safety works on high rise buildings, following 2017's Grenfell…
Tory MP urges abolition of Stamp Duty and Council Tax; backs calls for a proportional annual property levy
"Replacing council tax and stamp duty with a proportional property tax is the right thing to do for millions of people up and down the country," argues John Stevenson MP.
Watch: MPs discuss extending the SDLT holiday
"A tapered relief seems to be the most popular view," summarised Elliot Colburn MP after more than hour of discussions about the merits (and some of the pitfalls) of extending the current Stamp Duty holiday.
Government’s new national design code & Office for Place aim to ‘bring back beauty’
The Government has published a new set of national design standards for property developments, formally introducing the word "beauty" into planning rules for the first time.
Property exchanges were up 57% in January – will the stamp duty holiday be extended?
As MPs prepare to debate a petition to extend the stamp duty holiday by six months, it’s worth keeping an eye on two pieces of data that will play a crucial role in the eventual decision, says Tom Bill...
Jenrick signs off Mayor Khan’s London Plan; calls on Boroughs to go further
"You still have a very long way to go to meet London’s full housing need," Housing Minister Robert Jenrick told London Mayor Sadiq Khan, "something your plan clearly and starkly fails to achieve."
Model tenancy contract updated to favour pet owners
Consent for pets is now the default position for tenancy agreements.