London homebuyers are prepared to pay a considerable premium to be close to a Tube or train station, according to research from Nationwide. A property 500m from the nearest station is likely to cost 7% (typically £20,300) more than a similar home 1,500m distant. Premiums increase as you move closer towards a station: for example, [...]
Property Portfolio Rescue (PPR) has published its latest UK distress index, showing a surge in the number of distressed home sellers in major cities in the Midlands and the North. In the three months to the end of September, the index rose by 60% in these regions, compared with the same period of 2008. According [...]
Home movers in London have put the credit crisis behind them and are asking 0.8% more for their properties than in November 2007. In its October round up of market, Rightmove has reported that the Capital is leading the way in positive sentiment for the UK housing market. October has also seen the national average [...]
Nearly half of UK consumers believe that buying property is the best way to invest money. In a study by Scottish Widows, 48% of those polled said investing in property is the best way to maximise returns on hard earned cash. This figure is a significant increase on 12 months ago, when just 28% of [...]
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) claims that lenders are increasingly threatening customers in England and Wales with charging orders, in attempts to intimidate debtors into making unaffordable repayments. A charging order is a means of securing an unsecured loan against equity in the debtor’s property. In a new report entitled “Out of order” the charity [...]
Female investors prefer to put their money in property rather than a savings account. A survey by the National Landlord’s Association (NLA) found that 74% of the 500 female property investors polled believe bricks and mortar offers a better return than putting their money in a bank. Seventy percent said they plan to expand their [...]
Brits would rather invest money in property or stocks and shares than keep it as cash, despite 12 months of falling house prices and a volatile stock market. Research by the Motley Fool found that 30% of UK adults would invest a £50,000 windfall in property. A quarter (26%) would choose shares, whilst 17% would [...]
Upmarket estate agent, Knight Frank, has reported that owners of prime country houses are becoming more realistic when it comes to selling. Prices for prime country residences fell by an average 16% during 2008 but the decline accelerated in the last three months of the year, when values plummeted by 9%. City job losses in [...]
The latest house price figures from the Nationwide show the average cost of a UK home falling by an annual 15.9%, in December. During the month values took another 2.5% dip, taking the average cost of a property down to £153,048, or £29,000 less than a year earlier. According to the building society’s index, prices [...]
The Building Societies Association (BSA) has published the results of its latest Property Tracker survey, which indicate that more people believe that now is a good time to buy a home. Forty-six per cent of those surveyed were, to some extent, positive about making a purchase, compared with 34% in September and 27% in July. [...]
Estate agency network, Countrywide, is mounting and three day end-of-year property sale, from tomorrow (Thursday). According to a report in The Times, around 7,500 vendors across the UK are taking part, offering properties worth a collective £1.65 billion. Some homeowners have cut prices by up to 30% while others, who have already made reductions, are [...]
Investment firm, Alliance Trust, has revealed that the property market downturn has shaken homeowners’ confidence in funding part of their retirement by cashing in on the family home. According to recent research by the company, only 33% of Britons list property investment among their top three methods of pension savings. The proportion compares with 43% [...]
Rightmove is cutting staff numbers by 20% and making 60 people redundant. The property website, which advertises around 90% of homes for sale in the UK, has seen sales plummet and is now joining High Street estate agents in laying-off staff. The company says that while these are the first redundancies it has made as [...]
The downturn in the property market is forcing 60,000 homeowners a month into negative equity. According to the credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, research suggests that 335,000 homes will be worth less than their mortgages by the end of October, a rise of 260,000 over four months. If the trend continues, the number of [...]
Average property prices in some of the UK’s city centres are showing sharp falls as a result of the plummeting values of flats and apartments. According to research by property price website, mouseprice.com, the value of city centre flats in Birmingham have fallen more steeply than anywhere else in the UK. Some areas of the [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has reported that the average selling price of a UK home is now 9% below the asking price. Rics chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, warns that the gap could widen in the coming months as vendors are forced to accept lower offers in a shrinking market. Figures from leading [...]
Rightmove has reported a 1% fall in the asking price of the average home in the month to 13th September. The decline is below the 2.3% recorded by the property website in August but puts the average asking price at £227,438 or £14,204 less than a year ago. The firm has also noted a slight [...]
Property search engine, Globrix, has reported that the majority of homes for sale in the UK have now been on the market for over 90 days. The company’s research has revealed that the proportion of properties unsold after 90 days has risen from 25% at the beginning of the year, to 53% in August. The [...]
New regulations aimed at preventing inflated property valuations have come into force this week. The measures are aimed at protecting mortgage lenders who have in the past become the victim of deliberately inflated valuations. In the case of new build city centre flats and apartments, prices have plummeted in the past year because of a [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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