Tenants could be given first refusal at ‘fair market price’ on home sales Daily Telegraph 10/04/26 Landlords could be banned from selling their properties to the highest bidder under plans unveiled by the Scottish National Party (SNP) ahead of the election. John Swinney, the First Minister, pledged to introduce new laws that would give private renters “a period of first refusal” if their homes come up for sale, which would prevent landlords from freely selling their properties on the open market. Landlords would be forced to first offer their properties to their tenants “at a fair market price” if they put them up for sale, the SNP leader said. However, Mr Swinney did not explain how that price would be decided or by whom. Properties in areas such as Edinburgh are commonly sold for tens of thousands of pounds above their home report valuation. If that valuation were used as the basis for the new laws, landlords could lose a significant amount compared with selling on the open m...
PM compares US president to Putin and states he is unhappy about impact of Iran war on British families Telegraph 10/04/26 Sir Keir Starmer said he was “fed up” with Donald Trump and appeared to compare him to Vladimir Putin. During a trip to the Gulf, the Prime Minister stated that he was unhappy with the impact of the Iran war on the domestic cost of living. Sir Keir told ITV’s Robert Peston: “I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses’ bills go up and down on energy because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world.” He also split with the US president over Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, saying the strikes “shouldn’t be happening”. “That should stop – that’s my strong view – and therefore, the question isn’t a technical one of whether it’s a breach of the agreement or not,” Sir Keir said. “We haven’t all got access to all the details of the ceasefire.” He then added: “Let me be really clear about i...