Surveyor’s notes.
A short note most days on the EPC, landlord and surveying news that actually changes something — and what it means for the people it lands on.
Surveyor's notes — 3 August 2026: the cladding window
A funding window opens this month for sub-11m cladding fixes, and this week's tax deadline is the first bite of a threshold reaching far more landlords.
078 2 Aug 2026Surveyor's notes — 2 August 2026: the Section 21 deadline
The transitional deadline for old Section 21/8 notices expired this weekend, and Thurrock's selective licensing scheme survived its final High Court challenge.
075 1 Aug 2026Surveyor's notes — 1 August 2026: the £7,400 HMO warning
A Cardiff landlord's £7,400 fine for an unlicensed HMO riddled with damp, mould and fire risk, plus a Surrey council moving to shut off small HMO conversions.
072 31 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 31 July 2026: deadline day for landlords
Today's the deadline for old Section 21 notices, and the Bank of England held rates at 3.75% with three members pushing for a rise.
069 30 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 30 July 2026: the £104m nudge letter
HMRC clawed back £104m from landlords, mortgage rates crept up as approvals recovered, and HMO landlords quietly get ahead on EPC C.
066 29 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 29 July 2026: the Section 21 countdown
Two days left to file lapsed Section 21 claims, Surrey landlords fined £75k in two years with barely half recovered, and Burnham rules out a stamp duty shake-up.
063 28 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 28 July 2026: the £10k-an-hour minister
Angela Rayner banked £20,000 from a letting agents’ trade body weeks before regulating it again, and two Norfolk landlords are fined over £216,000 for repeat safety breaches.
060 27 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 27 July 2026: the critic joins the desk
Angela Rayner rules out rent controls as her department misses today’s leasehold reform deadline, and the MP who criticised the delay is now inside it.
057 25 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 25 July 2026: Paperwork is the defence
A new £7,000 hazard penalty turns on landlords’ paperwork, not just property condition, and London’s Mayor puts £58.7m behind social home retrofits.
054 24 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 24 July 2026: Landlords go professional
Build-to-rent hits £2.2bn a quarter as landlords professionalise, HMRC posts record monthly inheritance tax, and asking prices fall hardest in a decade.
050 23 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 23 July 2026: London falls, rents don’t
A SpareRoom survey finds renters overwhelmingly back rent controls as the NRLA relaunches its campaign against them, ONS data shows London prices falling for a ninth straight month while its rents keep rising, and the auction market posts its strongest June in years.
047 22 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 22 July 2026: cut today, freeze looming
Burnham confirms a £45 VAT cut on electricity but won’t rule out freezing rents, two London boroughs move to license most of their rental stock, a Making Tax Digital deadline looms, and fire chiefs clash with the government over evacuation lifts.
044 21 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 21 July 2026: new desk, same in-tray
Angela Rayner returns to Housing, a new DESNZ secretary inherits the Warm Homes Plan, landlords race a 31 July court deadline, and gilt yields move before the reshuffle dust settles. A working surveyor’s read.
042 20 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 20 July 2026: it wasn’t the World Cup
Asking prices post their steepest July fall in a decade, the Land Registry clears its backlog, a landlord is fined less than three months’ rent for two winters without heating, and HMRC narrows interest relief. A working surveyor’s read.
040 19 Jul 2026Surveyor’s notes — 19 July 2026: rental supply turns negative
Rental supply falls for the first time since 2022, twelve days left on served Section 21 notices, a £9,000 heat pump grant from Tuesday, and Awaab’s Law phase two. A working surveyor’s read.