Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned today following an extraordinary period of government turmoil.

This story will be updated throughout the day to include industry reaction.

The country, businesses and the real estate industry will be looking for immediate clarity on the leadership of the country, with Johnson confirming at 12:30pm GMT he intends to remain in the role until a new leader is chosen in the autumn.

Flanked by his family and staff Johnson said the succeeding government must continue his government's "levelling-up" agenda and said he was convinced the country had a "golden" future despite dark times. On the "herd" movement in Westminster that he blamed for his decision to quit, he added: "Them's the breaks."

Johnson had appointed a full replacement cabinet following the flurry of resignations that prompted his own. Notably for real estate, Greg Clark becomes Levelling-Up Secretary, replacing the sacked Michael Gove.

Kit Malthouse becomes Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, the most senior minister in the Cabinet Office after the prime minister.

The pound was immediately trading higher on the news of intended Johnson's resignation early this morning, up 0.6% at $1.198 and 0.4% stronger at €1.174, according to PA Media.

The first question is who is likely to replace Johnson as Prime Minister? For real estate professionals, they will want to know the new PM's history and their likely attitude towards the sector.

Those expected to throw their hats into the ring include former chancellor Rishi Sunak, former health secretary Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt, Liz Truss, Suella Braverman, Tom Tugendhat, Nadhim Zahawi and Penny Mordaunt.

The British Property Federation's chief executive Melanie Leech immediately called for much needed clarity on this and a range of other issues.

“The political climate of the last few weeks has damaged the UK’s international reputation and attractiveness to the global investment which will be essential to the revitalisation of our towns and cities. At home millions of people are facing huge pressures on their family budgets and the economy is stalled and teetering on the brink of recession.

"The next few weeks must bring a clear vision and decisive political leadership to tackle these challenges and to create the partnership between public and private sectors that can drive forward the critical agendas of delivering more homes and the decarbonisation of the built environment.”

Richard Moir, partner at Gerald Eve, says in the short-term, Johnson's resignation can only exacerbate the period of uncertainty being experienced by many property markets. But Moir said he personally looked forward to a period when "we can focus more on progressive policies than personality once a new leader is in place".

Moir added: "Property has performed remarkably well through recent challenges and political stability would continue to benefit UK property markets.”

Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops, describes the appointment of Greg Clark as housing secretary as "helpful" given his previous stint on the front line as business secretary as well having previously served as secretary of state for communities and local government.

"That should put him in good standing when examining the deadlock between housebuilders and government, to encourage rather than impede the swift delivery of new homes to meet rising demand."

Leeming says the levelling-up agenda under Gove was a "clear Borism that he has since urged his successors to continue to pursue".

"Whether the Conservatives can retain power in the longer term is something that remains to be seen, with political posturing the course of the day. I hope minsters put the nation first at this critical time for the economy and for the housing market. We need stability for the economy and housing market to thrive and that is what many are predicting for the months ahead, so a quick return to business as usual is welcomed.”

Giles Sutcliffe, head of affordable housing at Cluttons, said with a housing and affordability crisis in the UK, stability is required and a housing minister that is committed and in the post for a strong tenure, rather than a revolving door.

"As an industry we are told housing is crucial but we need to see this in practice. It has only been a few weeks since changes were tabled to the way affordable housing might be provided. The industry needs certainty so that we can plan ahead and work together across the public and private sector to deliver crucial and fit-for-purpose housing for the UK population."

Johnson's newly appointed Levelling-Up secretary is Greg Clark.

Clark has immediately pledged to do his duty to provide stability for however short a period.

He has posted in a statement: "We have a duty to ensure that the country has a functioning government in the weeks ahead. Having been Secretary of State at the Communities department before, I will do my best to provide stability, good governance and accountability to Parliament at this important time."

He served in the Cameron-Clegg coalition as Minister of State in the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2010 to 2012, Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 2012 to 2013, and Minister of State for Cities and Constitution at the Cabinet Office from 2013 to 2014.

Following the 2015 general election, Prime Minister David Cameron promoted Clark to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

In July 2016, he was appointed as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy by new Prime Minister Theresa May and remained in that role until 24 July 2019.

He had the whip removed on 3 September 2019, for voting against the government, before it was restored on 29 October. In May 2022, he was named as Boris Johnson's trade envoy to Japan.

In terms of Johnson's impact on real estate in the UK and the wider business community, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a series of increasingly fraught scandals around ethics, have taken the wind out of many of his administration's wider political aspirations.

A flagship policy for Johnson was the "levelling up" of the country, particularly as he has sought to shore up the "red wall" votes in the north of England that helped him win office.

The policy, which focuses on channelling major infrastructure and other investment into forgotten communities in the UK, has been seen as key part of his government's ambitions to "Build Back Better" as the country exits the pandemic and after Brexit.

Johnson's decision to resign follows an unprecedented 48-hour period of resignations from his cabinet and calls for him to resign by his own Party members and MPs.

The Prime Minister's position became untenable as the Tory Party has argued over his appointment of Chris Pincher as Deputy Chief Whip and how much Johnson knew about allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Pincher. That had followed a series of scandals over ethics under his leadership.

Late last night, he sacked Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove.

So what has Johnson's period as Prime Minister meant for real estate and the wider economy?

Johnson put "levelling up" at the heart of the Conservatives' successful election manifesto in 2019 and his government’s much-trumpeted plans to "level up" the richest and poorest parts of the country were published in February, with a string of announcements of particular significance for UK real estate.

The white paper, unveiled by until-yesterday Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove, laid the groundwork for plans stretching until 2030 with a strategy for major improvements to services including education, broadband and transport.

It will be critical for industry – which has both welcomed the proposals and criticised them for not being bold enough – to see what a new Prime Minister and government plans in this area.

The Levelling-Up Bill in fact represented a watering-down to a degree of some of the government's previously proposed standalone planning bill which Johnson had pledged would be a "once-in-a-generation" series of reforms aimed at increasing home ownership and building.

Johnson had particularly been keen to see the planning system modernised to allow more homes to be built, along with measures to end the practice of ground rents for new leasehold buildings and to make it more difficult for existing homeowners to block new housing schemes.

In reality, much of Johnson's political agenda has been sidelined by the pandemic and the government's response, and then the series of ethical scandals that have engulfed his leadership.

Levelling-up has been the key plank of his government's drive to "Build Back Better", from both the pandemic and post-Brexit, the political event Johnson will ultimately be most associated with.