The Scottish National Party, which as part of an alliance with the Greens introduced controversial rent controls in Scotland in 2022,...
Archive
20 June 2024
From: Breaking News
![Build To Rent claims it already conforms with Reform Bill ideals](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/BuildToRent-400x310.png)
A trade body representing Build To Rent operators claims that the sector “already accommodates the Bill’s proposals” in terms of tenants’...
26 April 2024
From: Breaking News
![Managing agent bags hundreds of homes in new deal with L&G](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/UKHomesTraditional-400x310.png)
Property management and facilities firm Pinnacle is to become the leading managing agent for Legal & General Affordable Homes. In recent weeks, the...
16 April 2024
From: Breaking News
![Nationwide demands four tax changes to help the private rental sector](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/Top%20tips%20property%20investment%20rent-calculation-1-400x310.png)
Nationwide has taken the unusual step of using its buy to let lending arm - The Mortgage Works - to make...
05 March 2024
From: Breaking News
![Tax Grab - rental sector may not be viable warns Propertymark](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/TaxCoins-400x310.png)
The chief executive of Propertymark has made an outspoken attack on the government in response to its latest attempt to extract...
04 March 2024
From: Breaking News
![Tax Raid planned on rental sector in Budget - report](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/Taxes-400x310.png)
The Budget on Wednesday will contain a £300m tax raid on the rental sector according to a report this morning -...
03 March 2024
From: Breaking News
![Shock figure reveals tax burden paid by private rental sector](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/TaxMan-400x310.png)
Property taxes in Scotland exceeded £600m over the last year according to analysis of the latest statistics by the country’s largest...
17 January 2024
From: Breaking News
![Politicians told - You’re wrong on additional homes tax surcharge](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/TaxMan-400x310.png)
Propertymark has told politicians that an additional homes tax will not succeed in increasing housing supply. Timothy Douglas, head of policy and...
23 November 2023
From: Breaking News
![Agent slams introduction of new additional homes tax](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/Taxes-400x310.png)
A leading estate agent on one of the Channel Islands has slammed the way additional homes are now being taxed. Since last...
28 June 2023
From: Breaking News
![Council chief slams holiday lets 'tax subsidy' scheme](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/2%20shutterstock_1251325300.jpg)
A Liberal Democrat council leader says all properties - even those in properly established lettings businesses - should be charged council...
15 June 2023
From: Breaking News
![Stamp Duty Surcharge triggers long-term slump in off-plan sales](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/StampDuty1_400x310.png)
Off-plan new build properties - at one time a solid favourite amongst landlords - are now falling out of favour with...
23 May 2023
From: Breaking News
![Agent tells Gove: cease attacks on private rental sector](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/PropertyNews-400x310.png)
A prominent lettings agent in the north of England has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove urging him to cease attacking...
22 March 2023
From: Breaking News
![Extra tax on buy to lets can help housing be ‘more equal’ - claim](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Buy-to-let-400x310.png)
The political party propping up the Scottish Government says higher taxes on buy to lets will help the housing market be...
31 January 2023
From: Breaking News
![Agents on warpath over increasing additional property tax threat](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/TaxMan-400x310.png)
Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson has personally written to a leading politician about a tax threat to the rental sector. Emerson has...
18 January 2023
From: Breaking News
![Reverse The Tax Threat - major agency backs petition](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/TaxRefund-400x310.png)
A high profile lettings agency has backed a petition demanding the reinstatement of tax relief for landlords. Benham and Reeves says it...
11 January 2023
From: Breaking News
![Buy To Let Tax Surcharge - agent puts politician on the spot](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/TaxMan-400x310.png)
One of the politicians backing a tax surcharge on the purchase of second homes and buy to lets has been put...
30 December 2022
From: Breaking News
![Buy To Let tax rise - agents angry at damage to rental sector](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/TaxRefund-400x310.png)
Letting agents in Scotland are angry at the Scottish Government for increasing the tax surcharge on buyers of buy to lets...
20 December 2022
From: Breaking News
![Tax on buy to lets and second homes up to 6% - will rest of UK follow suit?](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/TaxPlanning-400x310.png)
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax - the Scottish equivalent of stamp duty - has risen to six per cent for all...
16 December 2022
From: Breaking News
![Game Over for renting if stamp duty rises too much, agent warns](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/StampDuty1_400x310.png)
A respected agent is warning that a proposal to increase stamp duty on additional homes could kill off the rental market...
29 November 2022
From: Breaking News
![Council buying homes to stop them becoming Airbnbs](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/BTL-CardboardHouses-400x310.jpg)
A council has purchased some 40 properties to avoid them becoming holiday homes and Airbnbs. Highland council in Scotland is spending up...
27 July 2022
From: Breaking News
![Propertymark group lobbying politicians ahead of rental reforms](/upload/images/Locations/WalesFlag-400x310.jpg)
Propertymark has set up a working group of experts, agents, landlords and stakeholders in response to radical reforms to the private...
18 July 2022
From: Breaking News
![Buy to let - the areas with the largest proportion of purchases](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/BTL400x310.png)
Some parts of London have recorded over 50 per cent of sales as second or additional properties. Research by lending firm Octane...
01 July 2022
From: Breaking News
![Buy To Let Bounces Back - new investment hotspots](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/house-prices-rise400x310.png)
New figures indicate the ongoing growth of buy to let. Analysing data on additional property purchases made in the financial year 2020/21,...
20 June 2022
From: Breaking News
![Higher taxes on empty homes? OK with us, says Propertymark](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/Tax-400x310.png)
Propertymark says it welcomes measures in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that will mean swifter action to get the hundreds...
25 May 2022
From: Breaking News
![New tax system for Airbnbs and holiday lets being finalised by government](/upload/images/Logos/airbnb-logo400x310.png)
The government says it’s finalising plans for a new tax regime to apply to additional homes, and in particular those used...
09 November 2021
From: Breaking News
![Wales to clamp down on holiday lets and additional homes](/img/default/lat.png)
Wales’ Labour-led administration is to announce a three-pronged approach to affordability issues - and it looks likely to involve a clampdown...
06 July 2021
From: Breaking News
![MPs say holiday homes to let are risk to stable communities](/img/default/lat.png)
Cornish MPs have spoken up in the House of Commons to highlight what they claim is the danger of having too...
24 June 2021
From: Breaking News
![Capital Gains Tax - agents back extended time limit, with qualifications](/img/default/lat.png)
ARLA Propertymark has thrown its weight behind a call for HMRC to extend the time limit for the payment of Capital...
11 June 2021
From: Breaking News
![Stamp Duty slashes size of buy to let sector claims agency](/img/default/lat.png)
The five years since the introduction of the three per cent stamp duty surcharge on additional homes has led to a...
17 May 2021
From: Breaking News
![Capital Gains Tax changes likely in autumn, not tomorrow - experts](/img/default/lat.png)
A leading tax expert is forecasting that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will duck making any changes to CGT in tomorrow’s Budget and...
02 March 2021
From: Breaking News
![Pressure now on Sunak to raise stamp duty on buy to lets - claim](/img/default/lat.png)
A leading property law expert says there is now pressure on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to raise stamp duty on buy to...
30 December 2020
From: Breaking News
![“Airbnb pricing us out of our communities!” - MP slams short lets](/img/default/lat.png)
An MP claims the proliferation of short lets via Airbnb and similar online platforms is indirectly pricing local people out of...
04 November 2020
From: Breaking News
![Rents under pressure across UK and in London in particular](/img/default/lat.png)
New data from Zoopla shows that a two-speed rental market is operating across the UK, with London in particular hitting major...
05 August 2020
From: Breaking News
![Labour says stamp duty holiday is “a bung for landlords”](/img/default/lat.png)
Labour has described the stamp duty holiday introduced last week as “a £1.3 billion bung for landlords” because the tax break...
13 July 2020
From: Breaking News
![Budget “fails tenants” say trade groups - but at least no new rental taxes…](/img/default/lat.png)
The Budget has failed tenants by doing nothing to increase the supply of private rental property according to two lettings sector...
12 March 2020
From: Breaking News
![Agency claims it’s winning landlords from “lax” rivals](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agency in one of the most competitive markets in Britain says it’s enjoyed a record year winning landlords from...
05 February 2020
From: Breaking News
![Prime London lettings market back in the black says Savills](/img/default/lat.png)
The prime London lettings market has returned to growth after three years of falling rents, according to new five-year forecasts from...
31 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![120,000 buy to let mortgages redeemed since 2016 SDLT surcharge](/img/default/lat.png)
Savills says some 120,000 buy to let mortgages have been redeemed since the launch of the additional homes stamp duty surcharge...
24 June 2019
From: Breaking News
![Thousands of buy to let investors may be due stamp duty rebates - claim](/img/default/lat.png)
Landlords have been urged to seek advice about potential stamp duty rebates on ‘uninhabitable’ second properties after a landmark tribunal case. A...
18 June 2019
From: Breaking News
![Fees Ban: many London tenants won't feel the benefit, insists agent](/img/default/lat.png)
The fierce competition in the lettings market in parts of London means that some tenants will feel no benefit from the...
28 May 2019
From: Breaking News
![Buy to let back in favour three years after SDLT surcharge, says agent](/img/default/lat.png)
Three years after the introduction of the second homes stamp duty surcharge, landlords are “beginning to come to terms with the...
30 April 2019
From: Breaking News
![Buy to let mortgages now much cheaper than three years ago](/img/default/lat.png)
Buy to let mortgage costs remain stable with little movement recorded over the past three months according to a market snapshot...
01 April 2019
From: Breaking News
![Scottish 'stamp duty' surcharge rising to 4% later this month](/img/default/lat.png)
The stamp duty surcharge - which across the rest of Britain is currently three per cent on additional homes such as...
08 January 2019
From: Breaking News
![Rents reach record high as plummeting supply begins to hurt](/img/default/lat.png)
Rightmove is reporting that average asking rents outside London have topped £800 per month for the first time, fuelled by a...
29 October 2018
From: Breaking News
![Opposition grows to threat of another stamp duty attack on buy to let](/img/default/lat.png)
Opposition is growing fast to the threat of another stamp duty attack on the buy to let sector, rumoured to be...
07 August 2018
From: Breaking News
![Warning - ANOTHER stamp duty threat to buy to let this autumn](/img/default/lat.png)
A newspaper in warning that the beleaguered buy to let sector may be under attack yet again with the government considering...
06 August 2018
From: Breaking News
![Net loss of 133,000 homes to let in coming year, trade body warns](/img/default/lat.png)
A trade body says the country faces a net loss of 133,000 homes for private rent over the next year -...
12 July 2018
From: Breaking News
![Collapse in demand for buy to let in London says top buying agency](/img/default/lat.png)
One of the most respected buying agencies, Black Brick, says the collapse in demand for buy to let is the most...
09 July 2018
From: Breaking News
![We need more tax reform to help rental sector, repeats trade body](/img/default/lat.png)
The government should scrap the tax on new homes which is punishing those in need of a home to rent, the...
29 June 2018
From: Breaking News
![Huge surge in buy to let forecast for next seven years](/img/default/lat.png)
The latest major piece of research into the private rental sector is forecasting a huge surge in demand - meaning there...
17 May 2018
From: Breaking News
![Stamp Duty figures show massive reliance on buy to let purchases](/img/default/lat.png)
Some 43 per cent of all stamp duty comes from buy to let investors and holiday home purchasers - and almost...
10 April 2018
From: Breaking News
09 April 2018
From: Breaking News
![Leading Conservative says government should cut tax for rental sector](/img/default/lat.png)
A leading Conservative peer says the government should cut taxes for buy to let investors and regard them as part of...
05 April 2018
From: Breaking News
![Lettings sector directly diminished by stamp duty surcharge - claim](/img/default/lat.png)
Over two thirds of landlords are reluctant to invest in new properties as a result of the stamp duty surcharge on...
22 November 2017
From: Breaking News
![London's rental market to outperform sales long-term, says Savills](/img/default/lat.png)
Rental growth is forecast to exceed house price growth in London, despite a glut of properties on the lettings market in...
03 November 2017
From: Breaking News
![UK buy to let investors slipping down European league table](/img/default/lat.png)
Yields from buy to let in the UK are now amongst the worst in Europe according to a new league table drawn...
19 September 2017
From: Breaking News
!['One in 11 landlords could stop using agents to save money'](/img/default/lat.png)
A survey conducted for MyDeposits suggests some nine per cent of landlords - or one in 11 - is likely to...
01 September 2017
From: Breaking News
![Shrinking lettings supply pushes up rents, says Your Move](/img/default/lat.png)
Your Move says a shrinking supply of properties, in part created by government measures against the lettings sector, has led to...
31 August 2017
From: Breaking News
![Agency denies buy to let crisis and says 25% of buyers are investors](/img/default/lat.png)
Romans says one in four of its registered buyers in the first half of this year has been an investor, suggesting...
30 August 2017
From: Breaking News
![Most lettings investors want stamp duty surcharge scrapped](/img/default/lat.png)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a survey reveals that most buy to let and other property investors want the three per cent stamp duty...
24 August 2017
From: Breaking News
![Massive slump in buy to let lending since stamp duty surcharge](/img/default/lat.png)
Mortgage lending for the buy to let sector has halved since the introduction of the stamp duty surcharge in April 2016 according...
18 May 2017
From: Breaking News
![Agency boss calls stamp duty surcharge 'a government own goal'](/img/default/lat.png)
The chief executive of Andrews Property Group says the government’s three per cent additional homes stamp duty surcharge on buy to...
27 March 2017
From: Breaking News
![The Great Buy To Let Debate 2017 - who said what](/img/default/lat.png)
Letting Agent Today’s Conor Shilling was in the audience of The Great Buy To Let Debate - always one of the...
01 March 2017
From: Breaking News
![Many buy to let investors 'set to reduce portfolios in next year'](/img/default/lat.png)
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has given a stark warning about the cumulative effect of the additional homes stamp duty...
10 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Stamp duty windfall 'justifies scrapping buy to let tax changes'](/img/default/lat.png)
The government should think again about punitive tax changes to the private rented sector after receiving greater-than-expected revenue from the three...
02 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Trade body sets out seven-point wish-list for March Budget](/img/default/lat.png)
The Residential Landlords Association has been quick off the mark to issue what it calls a seven point wish list to...
27 January 2017
From: Breaking News
![Trade group warns politicians over new tax powers](/img/default/lat.png)
The Residential Landlords Association says new tax powers devolving to the Welsh Assembly should involve exemptions when it comes to the...
20 January 2017
From: Breaking News
!['Hands off Buy to Let' mortgage chief tells the government](/img/default/lat.png)
Another prominent mortgage chief has called on the government to show its support for the private rental sector by repealing some...
10 November 2016
From: Breaking News
![Revealed - how buy to let provides government with huge tax take](/img/default/lat.png)
Anyone who thought the buy to let sector’s recent anger at higher government taxes may have been misplaced may wish to...
31 October 2016
From: Breaking News
![Industry body urges major tax breaks to boost Build To Rent](/img/default/lat.png)
The British Property Federation is urging Chancellor Phillip Hammond to bring in tax measures to help the purpose-built Build To Rent...
18 October 2016
From: Breaking News
![We need another 1.8m homes to rent by 2025 claims RICS](/img/default/lat.png)
The government must urgently deliver 1.8m new rental homes as new figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reveal a...
05 October 2016
From: Breaking News
![Rents hit a record high as second homes surcharge begins to hit](/img/default/lat.png)
Rents in Scotland are at a record high, after the fastest month-on-month growth on record. Data from Your Move shows that average...
22 June 2016
From: Breaking News
![Massive buy to let lending slowdown after stamp duty deadline](/img/default/lat.png)
There was a massive slowdown in buy to let lending by investors as the additional homes stamp duty surcharge passed -...
16 June 2016
From: Breaking News
![SDLT surcharge leads to slowdown in London development pipeline](/img/default/lat.png)
The additional homes stamp duty surcharge is contributing to a slowdown in the central London development market according to JLL. The number...
07 April 2016
From: Breaking News
![Stamp duty surcharge increases buy to let set-up costs by £4,500](/img/default/lat.png)
The imposition of the stamp duty surcharge on additional homes would add another £4,500 to the cost of setting up a...
04 April 2016
From: Breaking News
![Warning against falling for stamp duty surcharge 'avoidance' scam](/img/default/lat.png)
The Residential Landlords Association is warning private investors not to be lured by firms offering schemes which allegedly promise to help...
09 February 2016
From: Breaking News
![Buy to let boom as mortgage firm reveals 80% surge in business](/img/default/lat.png)
Paragon Mortgages, one of the buy to let sector’s biggest and best-known lenders, says its buy to let lending in the...
28 January 2016
From: Breaking News
![Warning: choose 'efficient' conveyancers to beat stamp duty deadline](/img/default/lat.png)
Fleet Mortgages is telling clients to choose an efficient conveyancer if they are buying an investment property with a view to...
20 January 2016
From: Breaking News
![Two in five letting agents say rental supply set to slump by 2020](/img/default/lat.png)
Forty per cent of letting agents are predicting supply will decrease over the next five years – the highest rate this...
24 December 2015
From: Breaking News
![Buy to let targeted as Scotland slaps extra 3% duty on 'additional homes'](/img/default/lat.png)
Scottish finance minister John Swinney is to introduce a three per cent surcharge on the full purchase price of all ‘additional...
17 December 2015
From: Breaking News
![The scores are in: top 10 property forecasts for 2016](/img/default/lat.png)
The scores are in - we have asked 20 senior agents and analysts for their forecasts for capital values the 2016...