Alok Sharma
-
Latest property news
Former housing minister confirms he’s now tested negative for Coronavirus
Industry wishes the front-bench MP and Secretary of State all the best for a speedy recovery after he appeared in Parliament yesterday looking extremely unwell.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Will the footfall return? High streets to re-open on 15th June
Estate agents will hopefully not have to work alone any more on deserted high streets after Boris Johnson last night revealed all retail shops could reopen in two weeks.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Struggling estate agencies given longer to restructure following insolvency changes
Business secretary Alok Sharma announced several key changes to insolvency law that will help companies get through the crisis.
Read More » -
Features
Ultimate Estate Agents’ Guide: Housing ministers
The Negotiator runs a critical eye over the ever revolving door of politicians who have taken on the housing brief, most of whom have not lasted long.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Dominic Raab is the new Housing Minister
The cabinet shuffle continues at No 10 Downing Street, so we now know the identity of our new Housing Minister: Dominic Raab MP for Esher and Walton, in Surrey. He will work in the newly-named Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which is headed by Sajid Javid. How their respective roles will converge is not yet clear. Aged 43, ‘Dom’ (to his friends) was an international lawyer at Linklaters before joining the Diplomatic Service. He was elected to Parliament in 2009, as a Conservative MP with 59% of the vote. In June 2017, he was re-elected and appointed Minister of State for Justice. Away from the House, he may be found wearing a black belt or training at his local boxing club, so we’d best keep friendly with our new Minister – the 16th in 20 years. Raab’s appointment will make him the 16th holder of the title of Housing Minister in just over 20 years, taking over from Alok Sharma, whose tenure of the title has been just six months. The average term of each housing minister has been approximately 16 months. Alok Sharma, has now been appointed Employment Minister, in recognition of ‘the difficult work he undertook in…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Sajid Javid heads up the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Housing has been put at the heart of the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) after Sajid Javid was today given the title of Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Until now Sajid has been simply the Communities Secretary but, it is believed, PM Theresa May wants to raise housing up the political agenda and be seen to be doing something about the ongoing supply crisis. It’s not clear how his role will work with the new Housing Minister, Dominic Raab, and who will be responsible for what within the newly-named government department. The cabinet reshuffle comes at a perilous time for Sajid Javid – who must now steer the tenant fees ban through parliament following a debate on the subject this afternoon in Parliament. “We welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement today. Housing strategy should be at the forefront of the Government’s thinking,” says Richard Lambert, CEO at the National Landlords Association (NLA). “However, we hope that this works out to be more than just rebranding exercise, and that Mr Javid and his department will look to address the housing crisis by genuinely working across all tenures, not by fixating on building more homes.”
Read More » -
Regulation & Law
Government reveals HMO and ‘rogue agent’ crackdown
Housing minister Alok Sharma is to proceed with plans to significantly widen HMO licensing in the UK, and has also published the range of criminal offences that will soon trigger letting agents and landlords being automatically banned from the sector. The new measures will introduce significant additional responsibilities for landlords, letting agents and property managers, and stiff penalties for those convicted of certain criminal offences. The HMO measures, which apply to England and are to be introduced in April 2018 – assuming parliamentary approval – will see some 160,000 additional properties brought into licensing. The proposals frame these as those housing five or more people from two or more separate ‘family groups’. This significantly widens the range of property types included within HMO regulations, which used to only include properties with three or more storeys. Now, apartments and smaller houses will have to be licensed if they fit the new criteria. Enough is enough and so I’m putting these rogue landlords on notice – shape up or ship out of the rental business.” Alok Sharma, Minister for Housing Also, bedrooms offered by landlords and letting agents within HMOs will soon have to meet a new minimum size standard of 6.52…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Chancellor’s promise to build 300,000 new homes a year is on shaky foundations
Figures just published by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) reveal that the number of new homes built in England between July and September dropped by 4%, and by 1% year-on-year. The number of new homes started totalled 40,070 during the quarter, and 166,100 year-on-year, although the figures for completions were marginally better, up 2% to 39,250 on a quarterly basis and by 5% on an annual one. But the figures, which include both local authority and private new builds, reveal that the most marked downturn took place in the private market where quarterly starts were down by 6% compared to the previous quarter, and completions down by 2%. The figures also reveal how much the UK is becoming a nation of house dwellers, despite many governments’ attempts to build more ‘high density’ housing. New homes Just after the Millennium flats made up 25% of all new builds and, despite rising to 50% during the mid-noughties, has slumped back to 25% again. Earlier this month Housing minister Alok Sharma (pictured, left) revealed a £25 million fund to help “ambitious local authorities and third sector organisations in areas of high housing plan for new homes and infrastructure”. “Locally-led developments…
Read More » -
Guest Blogs
Letters
To keep our economy strong, drastic policy changes are needed from the Government to support our struggling housing market...
Read More » -
Latest property news
Housing Minister savaged for “another consultation on a proposal”
Housing Minister Alok Sharma (pictured, right) was roundly savaged in Parliament yesterday when it fell to him to make the announcement on a ‘fairer property management system’ four hours after it had been announced on his department’s website. His speech, which detailed the upcoming consultation on reform of the property management sector, said that management agents overcharge by £1.4 billion a year and pointed out that agents in the sector “do not need any qualifications, training or experience to call themselves an agent. They do not need a criminal records check. They do not even have to know what a managing agent does”. But shadow Housing Minister John Healey (pictured, left) heavily criticised Alok Sharma for “time wasting” with the call for evidence and that the desire to regulate the property management sector was a “feeble effort”. “It is not even a commitment to act; it is a commitment to ask some questions,” he said. “Can he confirm that this “call for evidence” today will not delay still further the announcement the Government made a year ago to ban letting agents’ fees? “When will that legislation be introduced, and when will it come into force? As a result of today’s announcement,…
Read More »
- 1
- 2
