Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a rise in asking prices in October – after three months of falls. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales rose 3% and the group attributed the rise to vendors refusing to adjust to new market conditions. Rightmove warned sellers that increasing their asking [...]
Redrow chairman, Steve Morgan, is calling attention to the plight of first-time buyers, pointing out that they are forced into saving upwards of 20% of the value of their first homes, compared with an historic first-time buyer deposit of around 6%. With demands for large deposits remaining “the major constraint” to the full recovery of [...]
Smartnewhomes.com is warning of a shortage of family accommodation across the UK property market and initiating a campaign to bring back the family home. The property portal blames the recession for a continuing decline in new family homes, claiming that last month only 476 such properties were marketed by developers, down from 595 in February [...]
Buying a home has become a pipe dream for millions of young Britons, the National Housing Federation (NHF) claims. Research by the body, which represents England’s housing associations, suggests that 50% of those wanting to get a foot on the property ladder are preparing for at least a 10-year wait. The YouGov survey commissioned by [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has discovered that a lack of homes up for sale has resulted in the strongest rise in house prices since the start of the credit crunch. According to Rics, its headline house price balance has grown to its highest level since the autumn 2007. It said that almost [...]
Britain’s turnaround and recovery professionals, TMA (UK) is warning that recent house price gains and rises in share prices should not be taken as an end to the economic downturn. According to the group, there is still a severe lack of bank lending to businesses, which in turn has an impact on the capacity of [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) believes that house prices will rise over the next few months due to a shortage of homes for sale. According to Rics, part of the renewed optimism within the housing market comes as a result of demand from new buyers outstripping supply. The organisation said just 8% more [...]
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 [...]
A government initiated report into the UK mortgage market has been published today. The work has been prepared by Sir James Crosby, a former chairman of Halifax, who is heading a review into improving wholesale mortgage funding. Final recommendations will be published in the autumn but in the meantime the report predicts that current funding [...]
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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