Agents confident of post-March property market volumes
Estate agents report increases in the number of new properties coming to market, more prospective buyer registrations and viewings after the pre-Christmas lull, all of which point to positivity remaining in the property market beyond the SDLT deadline at the end of March. The latest Propertymark Housing Insight Report, is based on a survey of members, […]
Two thirds of home moves take longer than expected – Survey
A survey of 1000 home buyers ahead of the SDLT deadline has identified two thirds consider their property purchase has taken longer than expected; with nearly four in ten saying the conveyancing process was the key reason for delays. Conducted amongst movers who had an offer accepted but had not yet completed, the survey identified […]
Over 1/2m transactions causing ‘massive logjam’ ahead of SDLT deadline
Over 1/2m home moves are currently active in the home moving market, just under half of the 1.15m total number of home moves predicted for the whole of 2025, with the ‘massive logjam’ likely to result in 74,000 home movers missing the 31st March 2025 SDLT deadline suggest property portal Rightmove. 25,000 of those who […]
Biggest building boom in a generation promise Labour as Planning and Infrastructure Bill introduced
Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner has described the introduction of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill as ‘creating the biggest building boom in a generation’ following its first reading in Parliament. Much of the bill has been previewed in recent months following the announcement in January it would be introduced in […]
Stamp duty deadline distorting demand – RICS
The impending stamp duty deadline is ‘distorting’ the the underlying demand picture with weakening sentiment in February a result of time running out for new enquiries to take advantage of reliefs for first time buyers. Buyer demand sentiment in the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK Residential Property Survey shows a net balance […]
SDLT deadline plays its part in 94% increase in instructions
Consultant-style law firm Taylor Rose says it has reported a 94% increase in the number of conveyancing instructions it has dealt with when compared to the same time last year. In January and February 2025 Taylor Rose received 5,297 instructions, compared with 2,738 in the same period in 2024. 2024 also saw Taylor Rose take […]
Asking prices cut to beat SDLT deadline
Market analysis indicates home sellers whose property could be considered prime targets for first time buyers have cut asking prices in order to capitalise on the rush to buy before the current stamp duty reliefs finish on 31st March 2025; after which the threshold reduces from £250,000 to £125,000, with a 2% charge applying on […]
Slashing planning red tape; reaction to Government planning reform proposals
Further details of plans to streamline the planning system and prevent developments from being unnecessarily blocked have been confirmed ahead of the introduction of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill this week. The bill includes ‘significant measures introduced to speed up planning decisions to boost housebuilding and remove unnecessary blockers and challenges to the delivery of […]
Reforms could strip councils of their say on large or contentious planning applications
The planning and infrastructure bill could see councillors stripped of powers to block building projects in an effort to increase planning capacity and deliver on the 1.5m promised new homes in this Parliament. The Times reported over the weekend deputy prime minister Angela Rayner will include the plans to prevent councillors from blocking development of […]
FCA to support home ownership with lending rules flexibility
Lenders could relax stress testing rules in an effort to improve access to mortgages as interest rates fall. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is reminding lenders of flexibility in their mortgage rules as the current market approach to interest rate stress testing could ‘unduly restricting access to otherwise affordable mortgages’ says the regulator. The FCA […]
Lessons in logbooks; how Ireland is looking to the UK for inspiration
The Irish government is considering how might digitise its property market and is looking to the experiences of England and Wales as it begins its journey; inviting property professionals from the UK to present to the Oireachtas (Parliamentary) Committee on the Digitisation of the Property Market. Professor Stewart Brymer and Nigel Walley, CEO of property […]
Commonhold to be default tenure for new flats under plans to bring an end to ‘feudal’ leasehold
Following promises to reform the ‘feudal’ tenure system the Government have unveiled plans to introduce commonhold as the default tenure for new flats in a move that could ultimately see leasehold phased out over time. The white paper, launched this week, proposes a new code of practice which will set our how costs would be […]
Second month-end outage leaves conveyancers querying digitisation
A further banking outage on the final day of the month has left the home moving sector enraged as conveyancers faced an uphill battle to get transactions complete. This latest event lays bare the challenges of digitising the home moving process and what safeguards are in place to protect home movers and professionals. Reports of […]
Momentum building for 1.15m transactions in 2025
Property momentum is building to deliver c.1.15m property transactions with both Rightmove and Zoopla predicting a 5% uplift on volumes over the course of 2025. Zoopla’s latest House Price Index indicates double digit growth across key measures of demand and supply alongside a strong start to 2025 according to HMRC’s latest transaction stats. HMRC’s latest […]
Planning reform to deliver homes three times faster
Reforms to the planning system could see house building delivered three times faster as the Labour government continue to tackle its manifesto pledge to build 1.5m in this Parliament. In a Ministerial Statement, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said one of the key elements of the reforms would be to improve the transparency and efficiency of […]
Revealed – How long do property transactions take?
The average time from conveyancers being instructed to completion for purchase transactions was 120 days in 2024, against 123 days in 2023; and for sale transactions that lengthened to 160 days in 2024, up slightly from 2023 (159). For sale transactions this represents an increase of 88% against 2007 timescales; and 60% up on 2007 […]
The case for stronger collaboration between estate agents and conveyancers
With over 50% of conveyancing business stemming from estate agent referrals, it’s time for conveyancers to rethink their approach to these partnerships. Estate agents are not just lead sources—they are critical stakeholders in the transaction process, influencing both the listing and sale stages. As the first point of contact for buyers and sellers, agents often […]
Survey to hear the voice of females in the property sector
A survey designed to capture the experiences and voices of females working in the property sector is encouraging women from across the residential property sectors to contribute their responses. First launched in November 2024, the survey has been created to fill a ‘data void’ of anecdotal evidence of discrimination of women in the workplace across […]
Blame game begins? Rightmove expecting ‘conveyancing logjam’
Property portal Rightmove says it estimates 74,000 properties could miss out on the SDLT reliefs available until 31st March 2025 as it predicts a ‘conveyancing logjam’ in the run up to the deadline; it is calling for a a short extension to be considered. Of those 74,000, 25,000 are estimated to be first time buyers […]
SDLT changes to raise an additional £1.1bn in tax revenue
Changes to stamp duty at the end of March are expected to raise an additional £1.1bn in tax revenue as research suggests four in five existing home owners will be drawn into the reduced nil rate band brackets from 1st April. Research from property portal Zoopla suggests that around 49% of existing home owners who […]