The Scottish National Party's (SNP) plans to regulate Airbnb properties in Scotland have been withdrawn from Scottish Parliament due to a lack of coherent support.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.
After all the drama of 2020, many of us were hoping that 2021 might be a calmer year – but January seems to have had other plans. What with new virus mutations, travel bans, floods, a national lockdown and an armed insurrection across the pond, it’s all been going on this month.
England has now moved from full national lockdown (albeit a much lighter version than the one we experienced earlier in the year) back to a three-tiered system where coronavirus restrictions are based on the infection rate in a particular area.
However, the tiered system didn’t work very well at containing the virus last time round, so the restrictions have been toughened up a bit.
As England’s second lockdown gets underway, those in the property sector will be wondering how the new restrictions might affect their business. It’s still too early to gauge the impact on things like sales and lettings, but while the impact will probably be slight for most, there are some developments that may be worth considering.
