Shaping the profession

The capital’s draft planning strategy proposes more than half a million new homes over ten years, alongside investment in infrastructure, commercial space, and greener neighbourhoods. We support these ambitions, but our members’ experience across London’s property sectors highlights the gap between identifying land for housing and delivering homes that can be financed, built, and occupied. We have called for a more practical approach to delivery that gives greater recognition to the role of the private rented sector and existing buildings.

Once implemented, the Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026 will introduce a new regime for assessing and managing building safety risks in multi-occupied buildings, led by a designated local authority in each of Wales’s three fire and rescue authority areas. The success of the regional Building Safety Authorities (BSAs) will depend on sufficient resources, clear guidance, and meaningful engagement with property and managing agents to support a consistent approach across Wales.

Informed by our engagement with member agents operating in Wales, Propertymark has called on the Senedd’s Finance Committee to ensure the 2027–28 Budget addresses the real financial pressures facing property businesses and the wider housing market. We urge the Welsh Government to prioritise practical action that improves the availability and quality of homes, rather than adding costs or regulation that could reduce supply.

Propertymark has urged the Senedd’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee to make increasing the supply of homes its top priority. Our response to the Committee’s consultation on its future work programme sets out three priorities: delivering more homes across all tenures, sustaining a well-regulated private rented sector, and promoting professionalism and consumer confidence in property agents.

To reduce the tax burden on the housing market rather than introduce further changes in isolation, we warn the Scottish Government that plans for two new council tax bands risk adding complexity while doing little to increase revenue.

We have responded to consultations from Bath and North East Somerset Council and Gosport Borough Council on proposed approaches to housing enforcement and financial penalties in the private rented sector. We support robust action where landlords or agents deliberately, seriously or repeatedly fail to meet their legal responsibilities. However, it must be proportionate, transparent and focused on improving compliance rather than simply increasing financial penalties.

The Law Commission’s latest proposals aim to make business tenancy renewals clearer, quicker, and better suited to the modern commercial property market. While we welcome most of the proposed changes, we have highlighted important caveats where caution is needed to prevent a rise in disputes and to ensure that all parties have adequate protections.

Propertymark has urged the UK Government to ensure that reforms to the building lifecycle support property agents, improve the home-moving process, and give consumers confidence that building work has been completed properly. Our members work closely with other professionals throughout the life of a building, and we have highlighted how consistent standards, clear responsibilities, and reliable records would help agents provide a better service to sellers, buyers, landlords, tenants, and leaseholders.