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Book a demoLet a friendly Gnomen expert answer all of your questions and take you through the system online in 15 minutes. Just choose a time that suits you. |
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Montana HBusiness Development Director
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All of us at Gnomen hope you all enjoyed a fantastic Christmas and on behalf of all the team here, I’d like to wish you and all your staff a very Happy New Year.
2017 was another hectic one for the property industry. We saw the abolishment of stamp duty for certain first-time buyers as well as the start of the controversial phasing out of buy-to-let mortgage interest tax relief.
And all of this went on against a backdrop of ongoing Brexit negotiations and domestic political uncertainty.
We anticipate more of the same this year and of course agents must always expect the unexpected!
In the meantime, here's some key dates for estate and letting agents' 2018 diaries…
February 28 2018 - NAEA Propertymark ConferenceAt the end of February, the great and the good of the estate agency world will descend on 155 Bishopsgate to learn and share ideas about the future of the industry, current trends and key agency issues. Visitors benefit from numerous keynote presentations and exhibitions from some of the industry's best suppliers. This year's speakers include Christian Majgaard, former global executive for Lego, financial journalist Sally Bundock and Jim Lawless, an inspirational public speaker. Find out more details about the event here.
March 13 2018 - The Spring StatementReplacing the Spring Budget, the Spring Statement will see Philip Hammond deliver a 'mini-Budget' on behalf of the Treasury. There are usually some property-related measures announced and it's likely the Government might release further details of outstanding policies such as longer tenancies, the ban on letting agent fees and regulation of the lettings sector.
April 1 2018 - Formal introduction of MEESIt's been a long time coming, but April Fool's Day 2018 will see the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) regulations become law. If you don't know already, these regulations require all privately rented property to have a minimum Energy Performance Certificate rating of an E-. It's been estimated in the past that around one in 12 properties will fall under this benchmark and so it's key you continue to communicate to your landlords about MEES as we move towards their introduction.
April 17 2018 - ARLA Propertymark Conference and ExhibitionThe sister organisation to NAEA Propertymark, ARLA Propertymark is holding its conference and exhibition at ExCel London. The event, which will be attended by almost 1,000 delegates, will give lettings professionals the chance to get up to speed on continuously changing legislation while networking and learning from industry colleagues and suppliers. Key speakers this year include former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and business magnate Justin King. Find out more about the event here.
May 25 2018 - GDPR implementation dateThis is a policy which has huge implications for agents. The General Data Protection Regulations, known as GDPR, will be replacing the existing Data Protection Act 1998. The regulations will require agents to ensure that all communications only include information that recipients have consented to receive, among a host of other criteria surrounding how they store, process and collect data. Those that don't comply could be hit with huge fines from the ICO. You need to be preparing for the new system now if you haven't already. We've written about GDPR in more detail here.
September 30 2018 - Conservative Party ConferenceLater in 2018, the Conservative Party will be descending on the ICC in Birmingham for its annual party conference. This is always a key event for updates on the Government's housing policies and at the 2017 event, for example, there was a whole range of new PRS measures outlined by Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid.
There'll be more property events later this year for which we are yet to know the date, most notably the proposed ban on letting agent fees, while 2018 will also play host to a certain Royal Wedding and a football World Cup in Russia.
Here at Gnomen, we provide estate and letting agents with cutting-edge, all-in-one cloud-based property software.
We also design websites that not just look beautiful but work beautifully too.
For more information or to book a free demo, please get in touch with us on: 0208 123 9019.
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