Policy
‘Scapegoated’ landlords could face 100% tax rate – IEA
Landlords are being unfairly blamed for the housing crisis, argues influential think tank, as it calls for a roll-back on recently-passed tax measures
Carrington on Q1: Sliding stamp duty receipts and a Brexit fiasco
SDLT was brought in to cool the market, but this one size-fits-all approach has neither worked for the London market nor the Treasury, says LonRes Chairman William Carrington
Venice had its own ‘Airbnb problem’ during the Renaissance – here’s how it coped
The week's revelation that London now has one Airbnb listing for every two hotel rooms, together with new analysis of the platform's extraordinary impact on Edinburgh (the city's 12,000 Airbnb listings…
Bank of England revises down house price forecasts amid ‘Brexit-related uncertainties’
Political uncertainty, affordability constraints and policy changes have all taken a toll on demand in the UK housing market, warns the BoE in its latest inflation report;
How to prevent a basement dig from sinking a rental investment
James Robinson explains how he is advising an increasing number of PCL landlord clients dealing with noisy construction works, and looks at the questions raised in regard to disclosure...
Wealthy Chinese lead demand for UK’s ‘golden visas’
Nearly two thirds of the applications made for Tier 1 investor visas last year came from Chinese nationals, while demand halved amongst wealthy Russians
RICS looks to ‘clear up the home buying process’
Residential property surveys are confusing for consumers, says the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, as it opens a consultation on an overhaul of the system with mandatory new standards
Stamp duty receipts tumble by £1 billion
Latest statistics from HMRC confirm a massive fall from £12.9bn in 2017/18 to £11.9bn in 2018/19, the biggest decline seen since the financial crisis
London Mayor calls for mandatory register to enforce short-term letting rules
Central London councils and the Mayor are looking to quell the growth of Airbnb-style short-let properties in the capital, by imposing a new 'mandatory registration system for anyone wishing to rent out…
Opinions sought on new money-laundering rules for high-end letting agents
The EU's Fifth Money Laundering Directive is slated to come into play in January, requiring UK letting agents dealing in rents above €10k per month to carry out AML checks on their clients.
Serving Notice on Section21: On the consequences for landlords
As the Government announces its intention to abolish the Section 21 process, otherwise known as the ‘no-fault eviction’, Peter Hermon-Taylor explains the background, key points and potentially far-reaching…
Government to ban ‘no-fault’ evictions in ‘seismic’ rental sector shake-up
James Brokenshire announces Government's intention to abolish 'no-fault' Section 21 evictions, in what's being billed as the 'biggest change to the private rental sector in a generation'