Buy-To-Let Landlords Snap Up A Million Homes

Buy-to-let landlords have driven a massive shift in the property market that has taken a million homes out of residential ownership in a decade. Since 2005, an extra one million homes are now occupied by a tenant rather than homeowner. Countrywide, which conducted the research, said amateur landlords and other property investors make formidable competition for those trying to buy a place of their own. Two million homes have changed tenure in the last decade, either switching from home owners to landlords or vice versa. The rapid growth of the private rented sector over the last 10 years means that one million homes occupied by the owner in 2005 are now owned by a landlord. Read more on the Introducer Today website.

New Shadow Housing Minister Named

Alison Seabeck has been announced as the new shadow housing minister. She will work with one of Labour's former housing ministers, Caroline Flint, who was appointed shadow secretary for Communities and Local Government in Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet.  Seabeck, the MP for Plymouth Moor View, was parliamentary adviser to former housing minister Nick Raynsford for 12 years, focusing on housing, planning and local government. She will work alongside Jack Dromey, who has been tasked with covering housing, regeneration, and the big society. Read the full story on Introducer Today.