Some decent cross-industry, stakeholder engagement for once, as 17 different groups and bodies engaged within the Private Rental Sector (PRS) have come up with a Code of Practice and that has to be welcomed. See a download link … [Read more...]
Scotland’s future…causing me to lose sleep now!
I have been mostly unconcerned about the Scottish referendum for most the last year...until this weekend. The release of a poll that for the first time puts the Yes camp ahead has now sent a shiver down my spine to be honest. I do not have a large swathe of family and friends north of the border … [Read more...]
EU making it harder to get a BTL mortgage in the UK
This has crept back onto the agenda after we thought it was seen off last time around. Regulation of the buy-to-let (BTL) sector in the UK is what I am talking about here. The UK resisted and subsequently avoided this when the EU tried to impose tighter control of all mortgage lending, by … [Read more...]
Proposal for 40 Garden Cities in England Wins £250,000 Prize
This is such an interesting concept - the development of the so-called garden cities. Looking at the winning entry of the Wolfson Economics Prize, this idea has a lot of appeal. Essentially, it involves taking some decent sized towns and expand them out to make them into large towns or small … [Read more...]
Pre-election Manifesto from the Council of Mortgage Lenders
Nice idea this...a pre-election 'manifesto' from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), an industry body, clearly intended to influence political party policies in their respective election manifestos. Housing, I am sure is going to be a key aspect of debate at the next election. The link to the … [Read more...]
6 ways to ‘cool’ the housing market
Six property commentators - six policy ideas to ‘cool the housing market’. They are: Build more social housing Raise interest rates Refrom the rental market (longer tenancies) Liberalise planning process Boost build-to-let Reform property taxation (replace stamp duty & council … [Read more...]