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An activist shareholder has escalated its campaign against CoStar Group – which through a subsidiary owns UK property portal OnTheMarket – accusing the company’s board and chief executive of destroying shareholder value through years of poor governance and heavy spending…

Estate agents are being urged to prepare for a shift toward a smart property data market, as work begins on a government-backed project to test how property data can be securely shared and reused. The Smart Property Data Trust Framework…

A new survey indicates that most landlords are unprepared for Making Tax Digital (MTD), the government’s tax overhaul set to take effect this April. Only one in eight landlords say they understand the new rules, while nearly nine in ten…

Long hours have always been part of life in estate agency, with evenings, weekends and constant availability often seen as part of the job. But behind the listings and lettings, overstretched teams are quietly burning out. A new survey suggests…

After announcing a positive trading update yesterday, LSL has unveiled a new £12m share buyback programme, which pushed the company’s share price up 6.35% to 268p. Following the recent completion of its £7m share buyback programme which was announced on…

OnTheMarket (OTM) says its growth strategy is exceeding expectations, boosting its popularity with estate agents and establishing itself as a credible alternative to market leaders Rightmove and Zoopla. Two years after being acquired by CoStar – a move hailed by…

Sir Keir Starmer The government has announced plans to reform the leasehold system in England and Wales, with millions of leaseholders expected to be affected. Under the proposals, ground rents would be capped at £250 a year before reducing to…

A letting agent and a residential leasehold management company have been expelled from a leading redress scheme after failing to pay compensation awarded to consumers. The decision followed a review by the scheme’s independent Compliance Committee, which ruled that both…

Spicerhaart has introduced Forge – Empowered by Spicerhaart, a new employment model that will operate alongside its existing roles. The model allows agents to manage their business areas with a self-employed style of autonomy while remaining part of the national…

David Powell The UK housing market is struggling under a tax system that no longer reflects modern homeownership, says David Powell, chief executive of Andrews Property Group. At the centre is stamp duty – a levy designed for a different…