Scotland cracking down on empty homes
Scottish housing secretary Mairi McAllan has targeted preventing “unacceptable” levels of empty homes in the country. She that she was going to fund more empty homes officers to bring privately…
‘Wealth tax would be latest blow to London property market’
A wealth tax would further affect the already beleaguered Prime London market, Camilla Dell, managing partner at property consultancy service Black Brick, has warned. Downing Street has left the door…
Social housing satisfaction rises to nearly 75%
Three quarters (74.5%) of social tenants are satisfied, rising by around 1% year-on-year, the Pulse Survey from data company Housemark shows. Satisfaction with repairs also rose, to 89.7%. Organisations are…
Specialist high rise practice launches
Block management firm LRPM has created a specialist practice focusing on high rise residential blocks. There are now separate regulations for buildings over 80 metres tall following the Grenfell Tower…
Property sales finally picking up again
Monthly demand for properties has finally risen after months of being in a malaise, the UK Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has found. New buyer…
New mortgage guarantee scheme to unveiled next week
Details of the permanent successor to the mortgage guarantee scheme are set to be announced next Tuesday by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Dubbed ‘Freedom to Buy’, the permanent successor to the…
North East businesses seeing rising struggles
The North West overtook Greater London as the region with the most business failures, analysis by law firm Shakespeare Martineau has found. There were 165 administrations in the North West…
Loan-to-income mortgage rules loosened – but lenders want more
Regulators have opted to remove mortgage loan-to-income limits for lenders with a residential loan book of less than £150 million – meaning more smaller lenders don’t have to abide by…
Leaseholders to be handed powers to challenge service charges
Leaseholders will be able to more easily challenge extortionate service charges subject to a consultation on the subject. Matthew Pennycock, housing minister, told Sky News: “The system has some inherent…
Tenants will have to pay extra deposit to keep pets
The Renters’ Rights Bill has been amended so tenants keeping pets will have to pay an extra deposit to cover any damage. The deposit will be an additional three weeks’…