Policy
Scrap stamp duty to free up the property market, say academics and Cabinet members
Replacing SDLT with an annual property tax could raise housing transactions by about 27%, claim academics
Home is where the heart(ache) is: Practical solutions for separating couples
How do the courts deal with the family home in separation cases, and what are the solutions available to both parties?
Property developers shelled out £2.1bn in s106 payments last year
“For smaller developers who are already struggling to find funding for their developments, these added costs can be the final nail in the coffin", says peer-to-peer lender
Carrington on Q2: ‘There are better ways to deflate a bubble’
'The market is adjusting as it always does, but HM Treasury will bear some of the pain this time as they forgot that the London residential market is part of the economy, not a cash cow needing to be milked'…
Hackney pre-empts government with voluntary letting fees ban
London borough becomes the first English local authority to ask agents to stop charging "unnecessary fees" to tenants
Weighing up PCL’s best and worst case scenarios
'Much of the downward pressure on PCL house prices because of Brexit and Stamp Duty changes has likely already been experienced' says Strutts, but significant five-year downside risk remains...
Government launches a review of building regs
Independent review will focus on fire safety and tall residential buildings
Stamp duty revenue up again in Q2
Resi receipts up 19% on Q2 2016; annual total hits record high of £8.9bn...
Government proposes a ‘radical’ ban on new-build leasehold sales
The DCLG wants to “ban new-build houses being sold as leasehold as well as restricting ground rents to as low as zero”
Prime London’s post-election ‘paralysis’ bucks 20-year trend
No post-poll rally this time round, says Garrington; market now 'teeming with opportunities' for astute buyers...
We need an end to the Brexit uncertainty, but there are other worries piling up on the horizon
'The current situation is eerily similar to the Phoney War between September 1939 to April 1940, when many Britons daily expected a major calamity, but nothing happened'
Prime London deal drought hitting stamp duty revenue
Buying agency Turnbull estimates £266.05m collected in SDLT across prime London during H1 2017, 4.9% down on H1 2014