Author: Benjamin

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: The Home Office sparked fresh controversy over the weekend when it formally called on landlords to house asylum seekers to help cope with a record number of migrants. Serco, one of the three private contractors working for the Home Office, has offered landlords five-year guaranteed full rent deals at the taxpayers’ expense if they agree to house asylum seekers, according to reports. More than 8,000 migrants have arrived in the UK this year after crossing the English Channel in small boats reached, according to the Home Office. Serco, in a…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: Paul Smith We’ve been talking about the lack of women in senior estate agency roles for years – but depressingly little has changed. Walk into any branch and you’ll find talented women running the show. Look up at the boardroom, and it’s still a sea of men. I hold my hands up – that includes Spicerhaart. Despite more than half our workforce being women and some of our best-performing agents being female, there’s just one woman on our board: Samantha McLoughlin, our HR Director. So we’ve been asking the hard…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: Property purchasers paid out £1.4bn in stamp duty deadline rush, as the Treasury cashed in on homebuyers flocking to complete before the March 2025 deadline. Higher transaction levels prior to the change to residential Stamp Duty Land Tax thresholds from April 2025 and higher rates of SDLT surcharge for additional properties fuelled the sharp rise in receipts in February to March 2025. The £1.4bn in stamp duty in March, represented a £357m – 34% – increase from February, and a £544m – 63% – hike from March 2024, according to…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: First-time buyer mortgage completions increased by 131% year-on-year in March 2025 as buyers raced to finalise purchases ahead of the stamp duty threshold rollback on 1 April. The spike underscores the urgency felt by first-time buyers determined to avoid the looming tax increase, according to Moneybox, which provided the data. Felicity Holloway, head of mortgages at Moneybox commented “This significant spike in March completions shows just how determined first-time buyers were to cross the finish line before the stamp duty changes came into effect. It’s a powerful…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: Jared Kilgarriff appointed as lettings regional director at John D Wood & Co. Jared Kilgarriff John D Wood & Co in London has announced the appointment of Jared Kilgarriff as lettings regional director for central London. In this key role, Kilgarriff will drive the lettings strategy across the region, reinforcing the strength of the John D Wood & Co. brand and supporting its growth ambitions. Kilgarriff brings with him 23 years of extensive experience in lettings. Prior to joining the business, he was a Partner at Knight Frank, where he…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: Avocado Property has reported its strongest financial quarter to date, as buyers dashed to beat the March 2025 deadline. The self-employed estate agency brand says that several of its self-employed partner agents earned more than £60,000 in a single month, with one even approaching £80,000. “It was a phenomenal quarter for the brokerage,” said Ian Macbeth, founder and managing partner at Avocado Property. “And it wasn’t just a flash in the pan – many of our agents followed up big months with back-to-back performances. This is a signal of sustained…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: EYE has just been informed that Upad will be closing down soon. The online letting agency has faced difficulties in recent years after being forced into liquidation in October 2019 after founder James Davis said ill health had led him to discontinue the business. The company was recused by online lettings platform Howsy who acquired the business for an undisclosed sum, with a view to operating the firm as a separate business, Upad was later taken over by Dexters, as part as part of a distressed sale after…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: The Lettings Hub has launched its latest product, a Professional Guarantor solution designed to help letting agents and landlords secure tenancies faster. The new tenant guarantor product launched by the PropTech specialist aims to provide a viable alternative for tenants who may struggle to provide a suitable guarantor. Heidi Shackell, CEO of The Lettings Hub, said: “We’ve listened to our agents, who told us that missing or unsuitable guarantors were holding up deals and costing them time, and their tenants more anxiety over securing homes. Our Professional Guarantor product solves…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: Paul Shamplina, the founder and managing director of Landlord Action, has launched a new YouTube channel, Paul Shamplina Talkin’ Property. With more than 25 years of frontline experience in the property industry, Shamplina has pledged to deliver a straight-talking show that addresses issues landlords and property professionals. Paul Shamplina Talkin’ Property will feature interviews as well as reflections on what is happening in the property industry.      Daily news email from EYE Enter your email below to receive the latest news each…

[openai_chatbot] rewrite this content and keep HTML tags as is: The fifth episode of UK Property News, the YouTube show hosted by the team behind the National Landlord Investment Show, has just been released, and reflects specifically on the mortgage sector and the potential impact the Renters’ Right Bill will have on funding in the buy-to-let sector.   Aimed primarily at property investors, this episode covers: + The latest on the Renters’ Rights Bill from a Mortgage perspective + How potential new regulation could shape mortgage pricing and lending   The show also covers: + Lenders tailoring packages specifically for property…