The Government launches its NewBuy mortgage guarantee scheme in March, which will help house buyers by underwriting 95% mortgages on new-build properties up to £500,000 in value. The scheme depends on having sufficient sites available to house builders and housing minister Grant Shapps revealed today that sufficient land for 80,000 properties has already been identified. [...]
The latest figures from the Land Registry show that house prices fell by 1.3 per cent in England and Wales in 2011, with the average property costing £160,384 in December. Prices remained stable at the end of the year, with no change between November and December 2011. The only place in England and Wales where [...]
The cost of moving house is 69 per cent higher than it was in 2001, according to Lloyds TSB, with estate agency fees, mortgage fees and stamp duty responsible for most of the increase. A typical house move cost nearly £9,000 in 2011, £3,632 more than it did a decade ago. Some regions have experienced [...]
House sales fell 1 per cent in 2011, with just 869,000 residential properties sold, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). In January 2011, traditionally the weakest month for property transactions, just 45,000 houses were sold. However, the market did improve at the end of the year, with 76,000 sold in December. The property market [...]
The average cost of renting a home in England and Wales fell to £711 in December, 0.8 per cent lower than November’s average, according to LSL Property Services’ latest Buy-to-Let Index. December was the second consecutive month in which rental costs have fallen, but over 2011 as a whole, they showed an increase of 4 [...]
Despite record levels of search activity on its website this month, estate agency Rightmove reports that the number of new homes being put up for sale has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded. More than 44 million property searches were carried out on Rightmove’s site during the first ten days of 2012, a 27% [...]
Although more new houses were put up for sale in December, transactions were hampered by sellers asking too high a price for their properties, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). December saw the number of houses put up for sale increase for the third month in a row, especially in London where [...]
Mortgage lender the Halifax claims that house prices fell by 1.3 per cent last year to an average of £160,063, their lowest level since July 2009. According to the Halifax House Price Index, house prices fell 0.9 per cent in December, compared with the previous month. Although prices rose in the third quarter of 2010, [...]
LSL Property Services, which includes Your Move and Reeds Rains, announced a 0.4 per cent drop in rent for a ‘typical’ property to £717 in November. Rents have been rising throughout the year, driven by increased demand from people unable to afford to buy a propert and November’s decline marked the first fall in rent [...]
Although the demand for property increased in November, the ongoing economic downturn is holding back housing activity according to the latest report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) Rics’ UK Housing Market survey for the three months to the end of November showed a small improvement in both demand from buyers and property [...]
Difficulty in securing mortgage finance and a slump in house sales is bumping up demand in the market for rented accommodation, but a new report warns that lettings agents’ fees are also soaring. Tenants may have to pay £2,000 upfront to move house according to independent thinktank the Resolution Foundation. As well as a deposit [...]
The Halifax reported a 0.9 per cent fall in house prices in November, compared with the previous month, and it expects the housing market to remain steady over the winter. November’s fall in house prices came despite a 3 per cent increase in the number of mortgages approved during the month to 52,700, according to [...]
The housing market is expected to improve strongly in 2013-14, with a 20 per cent increase in transactions, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said yesterday. An upward trend is expected to start developing in 2012-13, when 1.5 per growth is expected, according to the OBR’s forecasts which accompanied the chancellor’s Autumn Statement. Recent figures [...]
In a move that could cause sales of first-time buyer properties to rise sharply early next year, the current exemption on stamp duty will not be extended as hoped. In his Autumn Statement yesterday, the Chancellor said that this concession has proved ineffective in increasing the number of first time buyers entering the market, therefore [...]
The latest house price figures from Nationwide Building Society contradict yesterday’s news from the Land Registry that house prices have fallen over the past year. Nationwide today said that house prices are ‘surprisingly resilient’ with November’s figures showing a year-on-year increase of 1.6%. In contrast the latest Land Registry figures showed a 3.2 per cent [...]
House prices fell at a faster rate in October than they did in the previous month, according to Land Registry figures, with the average house price dropping to £160,000. The house price index fell 3.2 per cent in October, compared with a 2.6 per cent fall in September. Although house prices in London fell by [...]
David Cameron has announced a new housing strategy designed to get “Britain building again” but Labour claims that the promise of £400m to kickstart stalled developments is ‘small beer’. From July next year, the “Get Britain Building Fund” is expected to support the building of 16,000 new homes for which planning permission has already been [...]
Rents are still increasing at a faster rate than salaries and the average rent is now a hefty £720 a month. However, the rate of increase has slowed, according to a survey by LSL Property Services, the owner of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agencies. Rental costs have increased for nine consecutive months, but [...]
Not so long ago houseowners could rely on the equity in their existing property, generated by its growing market value, to fund a move to a larger home, but new research from HSBC confirms that this is often no longer an option. The bank suggests that a fall in property prices means that first time [...]
While most families think that their first baby will require more financial outlay than subsequent children, new research suggests that the second child may be more expensive because the family may have to move to a larger house. Families with a second baby on the way are paying an average of £60,000 to move to [...]
3.19% five-year fixed mortgage launched
Chelsea Building Society has launched a five-year fixed-rate mortgage at 3.19 per cent. The deal is available on a maximum loan-to-value (LTV) of 70% with a fee of £1,495. The building society’s product manager Jemma Smith said the product “is the lowest five-year fixed-rate mortgage ever to come to the market which is great for [...]
Fewer people declared bankrupt in 2011
The number of people declared insolvent in 2011 in England and Wales declined to 119,850, the lowest level for three years and a fall of 11.3 per cent from a record high in 2010. There was a sharp decline at the end of 2011, when personal insolvencies fell by 5.6% compared with the last three [...]
Government finds land for 80,000 homes
The Government launches its NewBuy mortgage guarantee scheme in March, which will help house buyers by underwriting 95% mortgages on new-build properties up to £500,000 in value. The scheme depends on having sufficient sites available to house builders and housing minister Grant Shapps revealed today that sufficient land for 80,000 properties has already been identified. [...]
Volcanic ash insurance claims to go ahead
Travellers whose flights were disrupted by the Icelandic volcanic eruption in 2010 can now go ahead with insurance claims. Following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in April and May 2010, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) ruled that the resulting volcanic ash cloud, which led to airspace being closed, could be considered a “poor weather [...]
The UK economy needs a fiscal boost of £10 billion to £20 billion in order to avoid another recession, a leading think tank said today. In its annual Green Budget, The Institute for Fiscal Studies calls for Chancellor George Osborne to include a short-term fiscal stimulus in his budget. This would buffer the UK economy [...]
Former RBS chief executive loses knighthood
Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has been stripped of his knighthood for his role in the bank’s collapse during the 2008 credit crunch. The Queen formally approved the annulment of the honour yesterday, after it was decided Mr Goodwin’s award brought the honours system into disrepute. The [...]
ABI calls for action on flood insurance
The Association of British Insurers has warned that time is running out to ensure that UK home owners in areas at risk of flooding can afford to insure their properties in the future. A voluntary flood agreement between the government and the insurance industry expires in June 2013. Under the current agreement, which started in [...]
Personal debt falls by £377 million
Economic uncertainty and the threat of another recession is causing consumers to take charge of their finances and cut back on debt according to the latest figures from the Bank of England. Personal debt, excluding mortgages, fell by £377 million in December, the biggest fall since records began. Howard Archer an economist at Global Insight [...]
Downing Street won’t micro-manage bonuses
Speaking to the BBC after the Royal Bank of Scotland’s chief executive announced his decision to forgo his bonus this year, the government has said that it will not block bonuses to the bank’s other executives. RBS chief executive Stephen Hester was awarded £963,000 in shares but following pressure from public opinion and MPs he [...]
House prices fell 1.3% last year
The latest figures from the Land Registry show that house prices fell by 1.3 per cent in England and Wales in 2011, with the average property costing £160,384 in December. Prices remained stable at the end of the year, with no change between November and December 2011. The only place in England and Wales where [...]
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