A recent report from the National Residential Landlords' Association has highlighted a knock-on effect of the ongoing rent arrears crisis. As evictions and court proceedings ramp up again, tenants in arrears may suffer damage to their credit ratings that will make it harder for them to rent properties in the future.
As expected, the Queen's speech on 11 May unveiled far-reaching changes to the UK's planning system.
The Queen's speech is the official reopening of Parliament for the next session, and is used to announce the government's key priorities for the coming year. This time round, changes to the planning system were high up the agenda. These reforms represent the most significant alterations to our planning laws in more than half a century, and have delighted and alarmed different interest groups in equal measure.
As life inches back towards normality, there are some signs that the Covid-related scramble for property purchases is beginning to ease off. The stamp duty holiday is coming towards its end and figures suggest the start of a welcome slowdown in house price growth.
The Scottish National Party's (SNP) plans to regulate Airbnb properties in Scotland have been withdrawn from Scottish Parliament due to a lack of coherent support. While concerns over short-let properties rented out on Airbnb and similar websites remain, the Scottish government's plans failed to give Scottish councils the powers they need to strike a balance between short and long-term lets in the country. New plans are expected to be submitted later in 2021.
The ongoing stamp duty holiday is due to end on 31 March, and calls to extend it are getting ever louder. A petition with nearly 142,000 signatures was debated in Parliament on 1 February, but it still seems likely that the holiday will end as planned.
Property prices in some of London’s most exclusive areas have dropped significantly since the outbreak of coronavirus, claims one specialist property agency. Recent research from Astons analysed property prices in high-end areas like Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Belgravia, comparing average sale prices from 2019 against those of 2020.
