HM Revenue & Customs has reported that the number of homes sold in the UK fell to 62,000 in August, a 60% year-on-year decline. The figure sits alongside latest data from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), which announced yesterday that mortgage approvals for house purchases fell to 21,086 in August, down 63% on August 2007 [...]
The National Housing Federation (NHF), a body which represents 1,300 not-for-profit housing associations in England, has warned the Government that it will miss its 2020 house building target by up to nine years, unless further measures to support the country’s ailing property market are introduced. According to the NHF, failure to act could mean only [...]
Each month the Land Registry publishes data on the UK housing market, with the figures one month behind those of other leading commentators. However, the Land Registry’s tables are based on completed transactions and as such form the most reliable source of data on house prices. The latest figures available show that in July, house [...]
House sales are at their lowest for 30 years. Latest figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) show that in the three months to the end of August estate agents sold an average 14.4 homes, or 1.1 properties per week. The level of transactions is 47% below August 2007 and compares with average [...]
The head of Nationwide Building Society, Graham Beale, is predicting that UK house prices could fall by as much as 25% from their peak last autumn. Speaking to BBC News, the chief executive said that signs of a recovery in the housing market may be delayed until 2010 and that prices will continue to fall [...]
That well-worn estate agents’ phrase, “laid to lawn and flower beds” takes on a new meaning in the light of research from Yorkshire Bank. In its quarterly Homebuyers’ Report, the bank has revealed that the average homeowner thinks a garden is worth over £9,000 in terms of the total price of a property. According to [...]
Halifax has reported that UK house prices fell by 1.8% in August, compared to July, taking the annual decline to 10.9%. The annual figure is based on a three month average; the actual difference in prices between August 2007 and 2008 was -12.7%. According to the lender, the average cost of a UK home is [...]
Taylor Wimpey, the UK’s biggest housebuilder, has reported a catastrophic slide in sales during the first half of the year. Sales of the group’s homes fell nearly 31%, to 8,494, during the six month to the end of June. According to a report in The Times, the level of sales equates to half-a-house per week [...]
Nationwide is the first lender to publish figures for the UK’s housing market in August. The building society has reported a 1.9% drop in prices during the month, taking the annual fall to 10.5%. The average price of a home now stands at £164,654, or £19,000 less than in August 2007. The lender says that [...]
Stewart Milne Homes, the housing developer with projects across Scotland and the North of England, has launched a fixed-rate mortgage equivalent to 4.99%. The loan is fixed until August 2011, after which a bank variable rate applies for the remainder of the term. The Aberdeen-based company, which specialises in family homes and apartments, says the [...]
HBOS is closing 53 branches of it Halifax estate agency. The banking group, which owns leading UK mortgage lender, Halifax, recently reported a 72% fall in first-half profit and has also been embarrassed by its £4 billion fundraising, which attracted the support of only 8% of shareholders. It is now in the process of reviewing [...]
Monthly residential property statistics published by the Government will not be appearing in August because errors have come to light. Under stamp duty requirements, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is advised of completed UK property transactions where values are £40,000 and above. The latest update on house sales was scheduled to be published on 21st [...]
Halifax has published its latest House Price Index, showing a 1.7% fall in the average value of a UK home, in July. According to the research, the annual rate of decline now stands at 10.9%, with the average home now worth £177,351, compared to £199,084 a year earlier. However, the monthly fall in prices appears [...]
The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) is predicting that house prices will begin a rapid recovery at the end of next year, rising by 30% by 2012. Research undertaken for CEBR by Oxford Economics indicates that a shortage of homes will be the main driver behind a return to property price inflation. In [...]
HBOS, the banking group that owns Halifax, is predicting that house prices will fall by up to one-fifth over 2008 and 2009 combined. The lender expects a worsening economic climate to escalate the downturn in the housing market and has announced that will be repricing around one-third of its mortgage products during the remainder of [...]
Nationwide has reported that house prices have fallen by 8.1% in the past year. The UK’s largest building society says that values are declining at their sharpest rate since its records began, in 1991, with July showing a 1.7% fall, following a loss of 0.8% in June. Based on these figures, the average cost of [...]
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is predicting that one in seven UK homeowners will face negative equity over the coming 12 months. Figures from Halifax and Nationwide in April show a 9% year-on-year decline in UK house prices and the credit rating agency expects a further slide of 17%, over the coming year. Research by CACI [...]
The week has begun with a flurry of news on UK house prices. Housing intelligence firm, Hometrack, has reported a 4.4% drop in prices in July and the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations in England, is forecasting that a shortage of supply will push prices up 25% by 2013, although the turnaround will [...]
Hometrack has reported that house prices fell 1.2% in July, declining for the tenth consecutive month. According to the property intelligence firm, the price of the average home now stands at £168,500 or £2,000 less than one month ago. This marks an annual decline of 4.4% that has taken £7,800 off the average house price. [...]
The number of house sales completed in June of his year fell by 45% when compared with the same period of 2007. According to HM Revenue & Customs, which requires notification of all transactions over £40,000 for stamp duty purposes, 140,000 homes were sold in June of last year, with the figure declining to 77,000 [...]
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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