Mortgage lending increased by 24 per cent to £12.2 billion in May, after a fall in April, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The figure was 13 per cent higher than a year ago. However, when the effect of the end of the stamp duty holiday on first-time buyer properties is excluded, the [...]
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, [...]
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. [...]
Paula John, the editor-in-chief of Your Mortgage magazine, has advised first-time-buyers to consider paying for their home through an offset mortgage. Offset mortgages are “the way forward” she said, suggesting they are “the most tax-efficient way of using any excess income”. However offset mortgages are only suitable for potential house buyers who have a significant [...]
In a round-up of January mortgage lending, Bank of England figures show approvals for house purchases falling 17%, compared to a month earlier. However, the month-on-month decline takes into account the end of the stamp duty holiday, which resulted in transactions being pushed through in time for December completions, and winter weather conditions that would [...]
Gross mortgage lending plummeted in January, adversely affected by the end of the stamp duty holiday. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) puts the gross figure at £9.1 billion, down 32% from £13.4 billion in December and 21% year-on-year. While a decline is typically experienced between December and January, advances were at their lowest since [...]
First-time buyer mortgage approvals hit a two-year high in December as those buying properties costing up to £175,000 rushed their purchases through before the end of the stamp duty holiday. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), 24,900 first-time buyer loans were sanctioned worth £2.9 billion, leaving both figures up 26% on November. In [...]
First-time buyers were in short supply during November, according to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA). Figures from the body show only 19% of house sales involved those getting a foot on the property ladder, a substantial drop from a May peak of 45%. The proportion is also at its lowest since December 2008, [...]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has chosen not to extend the stamp duty holiday, which comes to an end on 31st December, despite hopes that the UK’s housing market would be buoyed by a further concession on the tax. From 1st January, the duty becomes payable at 1% on properties worth between £125,000 and £175,000, [...]
As commentators on the UK property market mull over the impact of the end of the stamp duty holiday, Zoopla.co.uk is claiming that far fewer home buyers have benefited from the concession than the Government intended. The threshold on the duty was raised from £125,000 to £175,000 in September 2008 and is due to revert [...]
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) is calling on the Government to extend the stamp duty holiday on properties worth up to £175,000. The threshold at which one per cent stamp duty is paid was raised from £125,000 to £175,000 in September of last year, creating an opportunity for homebuyers to save up to [...]
A year has passed since the government replaced Child Trust Funds with Junior ISAs (JISAs) but more than half of parents are unaware that they exist, according to research by friendly society Family Investments Children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 were eligible to open a Child Trust Fund and to receive [...]
PPI costs increase for Lloyds and Barclays
Lloyds Banking Group has set aside a further £1 billion to cover compensation costs for customers who were mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Yesterday, Barclays revealed £700m of PPI costs in the 2012 third quarter increasing its total provision to £2bn. Lloyds Banking Group, which has made the largest PPI provision out of all the [...]
Bonfire Night worst day for burglaries warns Aviva
Insurance group Aviva is warning households to be vigilant over security at this time of the year, as burglaries tend to increase signficantly between Halloween and Bonfire Night. On Bonfire Night the number of burglaries increases by around 25 per cent compared with an average day, according to the company’s research. Aviva also reported a [...]
Consumer confidence hits six-month low
Although the UK has officially emerged from recession, consumer confidence fell to -30 in October from -28 in September, according to market researcher company GfK NOP. This is the lowest level of consumer confidence since April when the UK was in an economic slump. Analysts had expected the index to remain stable at -28. Respondents [...]
100,000 mortgage holders escape negative equity trap
New figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reveal that the number of borrowers in negative equity fell 13 per cent to 719,000 between the first quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012. The number of borrowers paying a mortgage greater than the value of their property fell despite a further small [...]
Banking commission appoints counsel to cross-examine witnesses
The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards has appointed counsel to cross-examine witnesses during its inquiry into the collapse of Halifax Bank of Scotland. Barrister David Quest has been appointed to question witnesses in a public evidence session, as part of a sub-committee panel inquiry into the bank. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commission said: “This [...]
Mortgage approvals increased in September
An increase in the number of mortgage approvals in September suggests that the ‘Funding for Lending’ scheme, launched by the Treasury and the Bank of England, may be starting to give the property market a boost. According to Bank of England figures, the number of loans approved for house purchase increased by 2,103 to 50,024 [...]
Five million paid less than living wage
Five million people in the UK are paid less than the ‘living wage’ of £7.20, or £8.30 in London, according to a new report by KPMG. In Northern Ireland, 24 per cent of workers receive less than they require in order to pay for essentials and the situation is little better in Wales where 23 [...]
Commission calls for radical change in housing market
A new study by the Future Homes Commission suggests that the way homes are built in the UK is dysfunctional and needs a radical overhaul. The organisation, which was established by the Royal Institute of British Architects, believes that 300,000 extra homes could be built every year without any input from Government funding. Instead, the [...]
The UK economy emerged from recession yesterday and now leads the way in Europe according to research group Capital Economics. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by one per cent in the third quarter from July to September, the biggest rise for five years, the latest official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. [...]
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