Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
A new report claims there is an urgent need for more affordable homes and says that five key housing issues are getting worse. The Housing Report published by the National Housing Federation, homelessness charity Shelter and the Chartered Institute of Housing, calls on the government to ‘get Britain building’ in order to provide the homes [...]
Homes by the sea have shown a greater price increase than inland properties, according to the latest figures from the Halifax. The price of houses in seaside towns has increased by 97 per cent over the last decade, compared with a 95 per cent increase for the whole of England and Wales. In Seaham, County [...]
The first quarter of 2012 saw 9,600 homes repossessed, the same as in the first quarter of 2011, breaking a run of year-on-year increases. According to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), repossessions were 10 per cent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2011, when 8,700 homes were repossessed. However [...]
Almost half of those buying a home would be willing to fork out extra to guarantee they would have good neighbours. A survey of 2,011 adults, carried out by findaproperty.com, suggests that house purchasers would pay around 7 per cent more, or £15,321 on an average home, for the peace of mind of having quiet [...]
The average price of a house in England and Wales fell by 0.6 per cent to £160,372 in March according to new Land Registry figures. However, there were wide regional variations with prices falling by 1.8 per cent in London and 4.1 per cent in Wales, but increasing by 5.6 per cent in the North [...]
The number of houses sold in the £1 million to £2 million price bracket fell by 5% to 6,911 in 2011 according to a report from Lloyds TSB based on figures from the Land Registry. The figures represent the first annual fall in million-pound sales since 2009. In contrast, sales of homes priced above £2 [...]
The asking price for property in the UK has reached record high levels, boosted by a surge in prices in London, according to property site Rightmove. The average asking price for property in England and Wales increased by 2.9 per cent in April to £243,737 Asking prices in London increased by 2.1 per cent to [...]
The average age of a first time buyer in the UK has increased to 30 according to research by Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks. In the face of large mortgage deposits, a shortage of affordable housing and pressure on personal incomes, many potential house buyers have to wait longer before they can afford to take their [...]
Mortgage fees have increased by 27 per cent in just three years, according to new data from independent comparison site Moneyfacts. The average mortgage arrangement fee is now £1.502, which is £321 more expensive than it was in 2009. While residential mortgage rates have fallen over the same period, helped by a record low Bank [...]
House prices increased by 0.2 per cent across the UK in March, according to property analytics business Hometrack, representing the first price rise in 20 months. The increase was helped by increased demand from first time buyers, a scarcity of homes on the market and strong interest in properties in London from overseas buyers. First [...]
House prices have fallen for the first time in six months, with the decline attributed to changes in stamp duty. The average house price in March was £163,327, 0.9 per cent lower than in March 2011. It was the largest fall in house prices since June last year. Nationwide’s figures showed a fall in nearly [...]
The number of £2m-plus homes sold in England and Wales fell to 103 in December 2011, 18 per cent lower than the figure for December 2010. Eighty of the £2m-plus properties sold during the month were located in London, where prices have been rising faster than in other parts of the UK. The most popular [...]
UK house prices increased by £3,687 to £236,939 in March, a 4.9 per cent increase compared with the 2011 first quarter. The figures, from Rightmove’s house price index, represent the largest first-quarter rise in property prices since 2004, boosting hopes for an continued improvement in the market for the rest of the year. In London, [...]
Rents on private accommodation fell by 0.6 per cent last month, to an average of £707, according to the latest Buy-to-Let Index from LSL, a provider of residential property services. The agency suggests that the fall is likely to be temporary as it is related to an increase in the number of tenants deciding to [...]
Signs are emerging that the UK property market is slowly starting to improve. According to the latest figures from The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the number of house sales increased in January, helped by first-time buyers rushing to secure a purchase before the end of the stamp duty exemption on homes under £250,000. [...]
House prices fell 1.1 per cent in February according to The Halifax, contradicting earlier figures from Nationwide suggesting that property prices have increased. According to the Halifax’s three monthly index, house prices were 1.1 per cent lower in February than in the previous three months. The mortgage lender’s annual index showed that property prices fell [...]
The average value of houses in the 13 postal districts closest to Olympic park in Stratford, east London, has increased by more than £62,739 to £268,884 since July 2005, when the capital was awarded the right to host the 2012 Olympics. A study by Lloyds TSB shows that house prices have risen by 30%, which [...]
House prices remained steady in January and February according to property analysis firm Hometrack, but there was a surge for interest from potential buyers. The firm’s Monthly National Housing Survey found that property values fell across six regions, remained the same in three, and grew by just 0.1 per cent in London, in the first [...]
UK property website Rightmove saw traffic to its property portal soar by 22 per cent to 9.3 billion pages in 2011. The site accounted for 84 per cent of the pages viewed on the top four property websites. Over two-thirds of Rightmove’s advertisers took advantage of additional advertising products available to promote their properties, with [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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