An insurance firm’s analysis of official figures show there are now no fewer than 760,821 vacant properties in England, Scotland and...
Archive
![Hands Off Short Lets - long term empty homes are bigger problem](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/2%20shutterstock_1251325300.jpg)
The embattled short let and holiday let industry has hit out at what it calls the “rampant hypocrisy” of councils when...
27 June 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
![Propertymark backs controversial Airbnb registration scheme](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_2198282283.jpg)
Letting agents’ body Propertymark is throwing its weight behind a mandatory licensing and registration scheme for short let landlords. Anyone who lets...
12 January 2024
From: Breaking News
![Hate campaign launched against Airbnb](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_2198282283.jpg)
A hate campaign against AirBnb appears to have been launched in a Welsh village. Newspaper reports say a sticker reading 'Death to...
15 August 2023
From: Breaking News
![Holiday Homes - here’s where they are and what they’re worth](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/MortgageCalculator.png)
New research reveals that there is an estimated £21.4 billion worth of holiday homes in England and Wales with the South...
12 July 2023
From: Breaking News
![Strict Airbnb regulation gets a massive thumbs-down](/upload/images/2%20shutterstock_2198282283.jpg)
An attempt to introducing statutory licensing for Airbnbs and some other tourist accommodation has got a frosty reception. The Welsh Government -...
10 July 2023
From: Breaking News
![Agency issues guide for ‘responsible’ holiday lettings](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/A%20surveyor's%20guide%20to%20finding%20a%20profitable%20HMO.jpg)
One of the largest vacation lettings agencies - Sykes Holiday Cottages - says a survey shows that two thirds of holiday...
27 June 2023
From: Breaking News
![Are There Too Many Holiday Homes? Census figures revealed](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/EvictionNotice-400x310.png)
New data from the Office for National Statistics, based on the 2021 Census results, show growth in the number of holiday...
23 June 2023
From: Breaking News
![Investment hotspots for holiday home buyers revealed by survey](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/shutterstock_1251325300.jpg)
Cheshire has topped a new ranking of the best places in the UK to invest in a holiday let, according to...
21 March 2023
From: Breaking News
![Bid to identify future private rental properties in London](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/RentOnlineSearch-400x310.png)
A council is introducing a service which it claims will help identify properties which cannon future be used as private rental...
10 March 2023
From: Breaking News
![Political wannabes wrong to blame holiday lets, claims top agent](/upload/images/shutterstock_1251325300.jpg)
A prominent lettings agent has criticised leading candidates for the leadership of the Scottish National Party for anti-holiday let policies. David Alexander,...
03 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
![Politicians insist “we’re not at war with holiday lets”](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/Propertycalculator-400x310.png)
South Hams council in south Devon - one of the UK’s top holiday spots - has unanimously agreed proposals for second...
23 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
![Airbnb registration and short lets planning consent under consideration](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Misc/airbnb400x310.jpg)
The government is to open a consultation on whether residential properties should require planning consent to be used as short lets...
06 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
![Empty homes and holiday homes totals on the rise - new figures](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/BuildToRent-400x310.png)
The number of long-term empty homes has risen in every region of the UK during 2022 according to new government figures. The...
24 November 2022
From: Breaking News
![We want higher council tax for second homes, says lettings agency](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/Taxes-400x310.png)
A holiday lettings agency has taken the unusual step of speaking out in favour of higher council tax for second home...
21 November 2022
From: Breaking News
![Another council hits Airbnbs and holiday homes with higher taxes](/upload/images/library/airbnb-logo400x310.png)
The owners of second homes in a key short lets and tourist hotspot are set to have to pay a premium...
29 September 2022
From: Breaking News
![What do you really think of Airbnb and other short lets?](/upload/images/Logos/AirbnbLogo-400x310.jpg)
Propertymark is calling on letting agents to share their thoughts and experiences on the impact of Airbnb and other short lets. At...
06 September 2022
From: Breaking News
![Huge rise in numbers of holiday lets in popular areas](/upload/images/Miscellaneous/hotel%20400x310.png)
The number of active holiday lets has increased by a third in some of England’s most popular short break destinations. The biggest...
11 August 2022
From: Breaking News
![Airbnb threat to communities leads to ‘locals only’ policy idea](/upload/images/Logos/Airbnb-Alt-400x310.jpg)
Agents are being dragged into a debate over whether locals should be given priority to rent or buy, as a result...
05 August 2022
From: Breaking News
![Building Society slammed for mortgage ban on second homes](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/MortgageDeclined-400x310.png)
A building society which has taken the unprecedented step of stopping lending on second homes has been sharply criticised by a...
02 August 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
![Fighting Back - short lets and holiday homes do NOT hit affordability](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/HolidayHome-400x310.jpg)
Holiday lets and second homes in one hotspot in the UK have not, after all, impacted on house prices and affordability,...
18 July 2022
From: Breaking News
![Mayors may get new powers over Airbnb and short lets sector](/upload/images/Logos/AirbnbLogo-400x310.jpg)
Speculation in national newspapers suggests that the government is considering giving local mayors some powers over parts of the private rented...
28 June 2022
From: Breaking News
![Backlash over wide-ranging holiday lets rules change](/upload/images/Locations/WalesFlag-400x310.jpg)
A tourism chief has likened new anti-holiday let regulations to those of a Stalinist dictatorship. Ashford Price, secretary of the Welsh Association...
23 June 2022
From: Breaking News
![Activists want sweeping new taxes on some lettings properties](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/TaxCut-400x310.png)
Activists are calling on the government to impose swingeing taxes on some lettings properties “to bring them back into the residential...
01 June 2022
From: Breaking News
![Agency reports record lettings year for holiday hot spot](/upload/images/Miscellaneous/staycation%20resize.png)
New research from holiday lettings agency Classic Cottages shows that 2021 was a record year in one of the country’s staycation...
30 March 2022
From: Breaking News
![Lettings agency ‘disappears’ leaving landlords and suppliers in the lurch](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/LandlordStressed-400x310.png)
A lettings firm specialising in holiday properties is reported to have disappeared with all items taken from its office and calls...
11 March 2022
From: Breaking News
![Rival to Airbnb aims to use booking fees for community benefit](/upload/images/library/airbnb-logo400x310.png)
A community interest company is setting up a rival platform to Airbnb, with the aim of using the commission to benefit...
30 November 2021
From: Breaking News
![Airbnb glut slashes rental stock and leads to Housing Crisis - claim](/upload/images/Logos/airbnb-logo400x310.png)
A lack of longer term rental accommodation thanks to the growth of Airbnb and other short lets has led to a...
05 October 2021
From: Breaking News
![New call for rent controls in area hit by short lets and holiday homes](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/Budget-Purse-400x310.jpg)
A part of the country which has seen a severe long term rental stock shortage as a result of switches from...
24 August 2021
From: Breaking News
![Tory MP to declare ‘state of emergency’ over loss of rental stock](/upload/images/Politics%20(MPs%2C%20party%20logos%2C%20etc)/Conservative-logo400x310.png)
A Conservative MP says he is to declare a “state of housing emergency” in his constituency because of the loss of...
03 August 2021
From: Breaking News
![Town with 57% second homes clamps down on future lettings](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/HousingMarketStockImage-2-400x310.jpg)
A town with one of the UK’s heaviest concentrations of holiday homes is clamping down on future purchases by outsiders who...
28 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
![Airbnbs and Holiday Homes should not have tax perks denied to Buy To Let](/img/default/lat.png)
A call has gone out for the longer-term buy to let rental sector to have a similar tax regime as the largely-unregulated...
05 February 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
![Anti-second homes campaigners win talks with top politician](/img/default/lat.png)
Councillors from a town council in Wales are to be given an audience with the country’s First Minister to discuss the...
24 November 2020
From: Breaking News
![No more taxes: Agents warn government on CGT](/img/default/lat.png)
ARLA Propertymark has issued a warning to government not to use Capital Gains Tax reform to further punish the private rental...
16 November 2020
From: Breaking News
![Capital Gains Tax hike risks mass exodus from buy to let - claim](/img/default/lat.png)
A prominent agent and industry commentator says the threat of higher Capital Gains Tax risks forcing yet more investors to quit...
13 November 2020
From: Breaking News
![Housing minister enters row over Labour “bung” accusation](/img/default/lat.png)
Housing minister Chris Pincher has entered the row over Labour claiming that the stamp duty holiday announced last week was in...
15 July 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
![Scrap stamp duty on buy to lets, urges controversial property expert](/img/default/lat.png)
Buy to let investors should be exempted from the three per cent stamp duty surcharge even if purchasers of holiday homes still...
01 May 2020
From: Breaking News
![Holiday rental homes for NHS frontline staff - after crisis is over](/img/default/lat.png)
A Wales holiday lettings agency has worked with owner-clients to offer free holidays to frontline healthcare workers when the crisis has...
13 April 2020
From: Breaking News
![Administrators appointed for short lets agency that owes thousands](/img/default/lat.png)
Administrators have been appointed as a result of action taken by a major creditor of Brighton Holiday Homes, the agency which...
11 June 2019
From: Breaking News
![Heartbreak for customers as short-let and holiday agency shuts its doors](/img/default/lat.png)
Thousands of pounds have been paid to a short let and holiday accommodation agency in Brighton which appears to have closed...
30 May 2019
From: Breaking News
![Airbnb planning consent - could it cross the water and happen here?](/img/default/lat.png)
The Republic of Ireland has adopted new policies requiring owners in 'high housing demand areas' to secure planning consent if they...
01 November 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
![Vast majority of those who let holiday homes live outside the area](/img/default/lat.png)
The holiday lets market is just starting to pick up and new research shows that 80 per cent of those who...
10 April 2018
From: Breaking News
![Automated access means more short let owners may by-pass agents](/img/default/lat.png)
A new PropTech device aimed at UK owners of foreign holiday homes allows them to control who enters their overseas property...
27 June 2017
From: Breaking News
![Brexit means holiday homes give higher yields than buy to let - claim](/img/default/lat.png)
The weakness of the pound since Britain’s decision to quit the European Union a year ago means that holiday properties are...
21 June 2017
From: Breaking News
![Bid to stop buy to let tax grab moves to political arena after court failure](/img/default/lat.png)
The landlords behind the failed attempt to seek a Judicial Review of legislation reducing the mortgage interest tax relief for landlords...
07 October 2016
From: Breaking News
![Labour councillors in bid to levy business rates on HMO owners](/img/default/lat.png)
Labour councillors controlling Brighton and Hove council are reported to be writing to the government for premission to charge HMO owners...
30 September 2016
From: Breaking News
![Lenders tell government: buy to let reforms may be overkill](/img/default/lat.png)
The three per cent stamp duty surcharge proposed for purchases of buy to let and holiday homes risks being seen as...
01 February 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
![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...