Has Boris vetoed the Mansion Tax with the appointment of a new Chancellor?

NEWS OF THE WEEK: Mansion Tax scrapped after PM vetoes the idea The government will not announce a Mansion Tax at next month’s Budget. Estate agents and Conservative politicians criticised the idea, and it has now emerged that Sajid Javid - the former Chancellor who resigned on Thursday - had been told by a senior backbench MP prior to the Cabinet reshuffle that many Tories were up in arms at the prospect of such a tax. https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2020/2/mansion-tax-scrapped-after-pm-vetoes-the-idea NEWS OF THE WEEK- New research shows that 77 per cent of consumers use portals to conduct property searches - meaning, surprisingly, that almost a quarter of buyers do not use them. Another unexpected statistic is that some 59 per cent of agents use portals as their primary marketing tool; suggesting the other 41 per cent do not. These are the findings of a major study conducted by Zoopla. It says that its recent State of the Property Nation survey - which involved speaking with 6,000 consumers and over 650 agents across the country - revealed that some 12 per cent of house hunters now using Facebook to browse for homes, a 50 per cent increase from the same time a year ago. It says that 53 per cent of the agents surveyed are also set to beef up their digital and email marketing with nearly two thirds also planning to make more use of social media. Email remains the communication method of choice for consumers, however, with the survey revealing that 47 per cent of those wanting homes to rent or buy set up email alerts via portals. Perhaps unsurprisingly, email alerts are most popular with Londoners where over six in 10 are signed up. Portals remain important to agents and house hunters alike with almost six in 10 of agents surveyed using them as their primary marketing tool. Amongst consumers, 77 per cent use portals to conduct their property search. Particularly popular with renters and buyers, two thirds of leads now originate from a property portal, according to the agents surveyed. https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2020/2/77-of-buyers-use-portals-and-growing-numbers-search-via-apps