Angela Rayner: Smaller builders the bedrock for change
Housing secretary Angela Rayner wants smaller housebuilders to pick up more of the slack when it comes to building homes. Speaking at a visit to an Oxfordshire site in Didcot,…
Home availability stronger in the South
There are more homes available for purchase in the south of England, Zoopla data shows. There are 21% more homes for sale in the South West compared to this time…
Goodlord alters insurance policies to reflect Renters’ Rights Bill
Letting platform Goodlord has updated its Rent Protection and Legal Expense Insurance product, which it said it designed to help agents and landlords prepare for the Renters’ Rights Bill. From…
Government injects more money into building apprenticeships
The government will train up 120,000 workers with the help of 30,000 apprenticeships over the course of the parliament. With the help of a £3 billion apprenticeship budget the government…
Fewer HMOs being approved thanks to tighter regulations
HMO approvals dropped past year, suggesting that tighter licensing rules are hampering the sector. The number of approvals dropped by -5.9% in 2024, which saw 25,445 new licences issued, a…
Busiest May for home sales since 2021
The number of agreed property sales in May reached its highest rate in four years, Zoopla’s house price index has revealed. There’s been a 13% year-on-year increase in homes for…
£100 million industrial scheme launching in Barnet
A two-storey industrial scheme worth over £100 million will come to Colindale after Royal London Asset Management Property has been granted planning permission by Brent Council. The scheme will deliver…
Most housing association homes have EPCs above C
Some 76% of properties from housing associations have achieved an Energy Performance Certificate rating above C. This reflects “sound progress”, according to a report from Sustainability for Housing, in collaboration…
Buy-to-let landlords mostly being recommended 5-year fixes
Mortgage brokers are mainly recommending fixed-rate mortgages to landlords, with 5-year fixed products being the top choice. Buy-to-let lender Landbay found that 83% of brokers are recommending fixed-rate mortgages, with…
EPC ratings should take property type and age into account, says trade body
Estate agency trade body Propertymark has called for EPC ratings to be conducted on a ‘property-by-property’ basis. That means taking varying property types into consideration, and acknowledging that homes in…