The Land Registry has reported that house prices in England and Wales increased by 0.4% in July, with growth at its strongest since the start of the year. The rise took the average value of a home to £166,798 but left annual growth at 6.7%, down from 8.4% in June. Data for London show monthly [...]
Housing market transactions increased for the second consecutive month in July, according to the LSL/Acadametrics House Price Index. The Index, which is based on every house sale in England and Wales, showed an 11% rise, to 72,100, meaning that activity has doubled since January. July also saw house prices increase for the first time in [...]
New figures from HM Revenue & Customs show the number of homes sold in the UK rising to 86,000 in June. Completed transactions on properties worth over £40,000 increased by an annual 15%, having leapt 21% on May. The summer bounce also took volumes for the first six months of the year up 21% on [...]
House prices in England and Wales slipped by 0.2% in May, according to Land Registry data. The average cost of a home stood at £165,314 during the month, with the decline taking the annual rate of inflation down to 8.2%. However, the Registry points out that May was the seventh month in a row in [...]
On 6th April, Finance Markets published an article entitled “HIPs get all-clear on influencing sales volumes” reporting that the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) had announced there has never been a correlation between the number of new properties put up for sale and the introduction of the HIP. However, researcher Ipsos MORI, which [...]
The UK Payments Council has revealed that by 2015, cash payments will be used for fewer than half of all transactions. A 23-page report titled ‘The Way We Pay 2010’ by the Council found that card payments and cheque usage is rapidly declining, claiming “cash is king no more”. The report found that more than [...]
Swiss banking giant UBS has been fined £8 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) – the third largest penalty ever handed out by the UK regulator. However, the fine would have been £10 million but the Swiss bank agreed to settle with the FSA at an early stage. The bank, which is Switzerland’s fourth [...]
Official figures released today show that orders for the scrappage scheme have reached 154,927. £300 million was put aside from the Government, along with the matched funding from manufacturers – enough to fund 300,000 transactions. Consequently, over half of the money within the scheme has been spent. The Government’s car scrappage scheme, branded ‘bangers for [...]
Latest figures from the Land Registry show house prices in England and Wales declining by 0.2% in May, with the average property worth £152,497. While the monthly change remained negative, the rate of fall eased from 0.3% in April and the annual rate of decline fell back to 15.9% compared with 16.2% in April. In [...]
Latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) show a rise in the number of homes sold in the UK during May. Transactions involving properties worth over £40,000 increased by 7% last month to 62,000 and were at their highest since October 2008. However, they remained significantly below levels seen at the height of the [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has updated its 2009 forecast for the UK housing market, reducing its estimate for repossessions from 75,000 to 65,000. The body, whose members provide 98% of all residential mortgage lending in the UK, explains that while the housing and mortgage markets remain “extremely challenging” existing borrowers are benefiting from [...]
Lloyds TSB Scotland has published its latest review of the region’s housing market, in which it concludes that while Scottish house prices continue to fall, sales are beginning to rise. In the three months to the end of April, the cost of the average home fell 4.3% to £148,990. The rate of decline is ahead [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the US have revealed that holiday homes and investment property sales had fallen by 30 percent as the economic climate and tighter lending procedures have meant many buyers have not taken advantage of low prices. The average price of a holiday and investment home has actually fallen by [...]
The extent of the slowdown in the UK housing market is amply illustrated by latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which receives notification of all residential property transactions with a value of over £40,000. According to HMRC, a mere 59,000 residential properties changed hands in September. The figure is at its lowest since [...]
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 [...]
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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