BREAKING NEWS – top 5 stories 08/04/2021

Estate Agent Networking Breaking News

COMPLETIONS IN MARCH – AT A HIGH POINT

Data showing the amount of completions as recorded at HMLR for March show an uptick on previous records. Given that until the Chancellor’s intervention, March 31st was set to be the hard stop SDLT holiday deadline, this is to be expected.

What will be of more interest is how the pattern of completions will look as we go forward to the new SDLT extension deadline of the end of June. And will the market in the Autumn see a tapering off with many looking to move, already having done so?

TSB ENCOURAGES 80-YEAR-OLDS TO BECOME LANDLORDS

Sensing the affluence of the older tier in society, TSB has changed its lending criteria by extending BTL lending to those who are 80 years old. Obviously, these mortgages will only be available if applicants fit the criteria, but it shows that mortgages which are available from the age of 18 years can now be with us into the twilight years. I am not sure if this is reassuring or depressing.

Formally the upper age limit for BTL through TSB was 75 Years.

SRA REPORT £200M OF SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY IN THE LAST YEAR

The Solicitor’s Regulation Authority have informed the authorities of an increasing number of ‘suspicious’ activities which might after investigation mean that criminal activity has taken place. A common factor being money laundering offences.

INVENTORY HIVE’S LATEST INTEGRATION WITH REAPIT, ANOTHER BIG WIN FOR ALL 

Rich Abbots CEO of Inventory Hive is on a mission to increase the UX – the user experience of his clients, by making make things effortless and more efficient. His latest coup a new integration with Reapit, the CRM that manages over 180,000 tenancies globally, and is a major player in the UK CRM estate agency marketplace.

Inventory Hive’s mantra is to help its clients become more streamlined, which reduces time spent on repetitious tasks, and increases the profitability of their businesses. This latest inniative with Reapit  will mean that data can flow into Inventory Hive accounts and back again.

The beauty of this tie-up is that it all goes on, in a fully automated way once installed, so no extra work for Inventory Hive clients. For example, it will allow after the data is imported, for any changes on the Reapit platform to be mirrored and appear identically and simultaneously on Inventory Hive.

This is great news as it means when clients import properties with images, or import tenancies with tenants or any other type of update, if it is carried out on the Reapit CRM it will show up on the Inventory Hive site, or vice versa. Which is a very clever strategy.

DAVID HANNAH OF CORNERSTONE LOSSES STAMP DUTY AVOIDANCE APPEAL

David Hannah who worryingly for some of his clients advises on the best way to minimise paying SDLT to the HMRC has been ordered to pay the best part of £50,000, part of which is £30,600 of stamp duty he failed to pay in a decade ago when buying a property for £765,000. The ruling followed a tribunal case.

Andrew Stanton

CEO & Founder Proptech-PR. Proptech Real Estate Influencer, Executive Editor of Estate Agent Networking. Leading PR consultancy in Proptech & Real Estate.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Are landlord repossessions set to spike ahead of RRA?

Calm before the storm? Landlord repossessions fell in 2025, but they could now spike ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act New analysis from Inventory Base reveals that the number of landlord possessions fell by almost -8% in 2025, but does the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act mean that numbers are set to spike in…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 23/2/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. RO sees large ROI with CRE atford site sale Sale of 56 Clarendon Road Watford by RO Group to Strides Pharma UK RO Group is pleased to announce the successful sale of 56 Clarendon Road, Watford to Strides Pharma UK, the UK arm of global pharmaceutical…
Read More
Breaking News

Volume doubles as property market sees strong return of new applicants

Foxtons Lettings Market Index – January 2026 Demand rebounded sharply from December, with registrations up 93% month on month and new renters per instruction up 11% compared to December, reflecting a seasonal uplift in activity at the start of the year. New renters per new instruction fell 12% year on year, indicating that competitive pressure…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Property valuation leads to agents up 50% on last year

The launch of a new valuation product and AI optimisations to the existing product suite led to a significant uplift in valuation leads for agents from Rightmove in January. Valuation leads grew by 50% in January 2026 compared to the same period last year. The launch of Online Agent Valuation towards the end of 2025 helps connect…
Read More
Breaking News

Worst areas for landlord eviction waiting times

The latest research industry insight from LegalforLandlords has highlighted where the longest and shortest wait times are when it comes to court hearing dates for landlords who are trying to repossess their properties, with the most overstretched courts found in the likes of Birmingham, Croydon, and Slough. Having analysed internal data on wait times for…
Read More
Breaking News

726,000 rented homes could remain non-decent by 2035

And that’s without holding them to the updated standard outlined in the recent DHS consultation A new consultation on the Decent Homes Standard (DHS) has suggested that all rented homes, private and social, must meet an updated, more stringent standard by 2035. However, new research from Inventory Base reveals that if the current rate of…
Read More