HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has today revealed a fall in the number of homes sold in August in the UK. According to HMRC, 78,000 homes worth at least £40,000 or more were sold in the month – 6,000 less than the previous month and 3,000 lower than in August 2010. However, August is traditionally [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has today reported that the UK housing market remained weak in August with house prices falling further. According to the Institution, homeowners remain reluctant to put their properties up for sale, while buyers continue to struggle to secure a mortgage and remain uncertain about the economic climate. The [...]
According to the Land Registry, house prices rose by 1.3% in July compared with June, putting the average cost of a home at £163,049 in England and Wales. On an annual basis, the Registry said prices are 2.1% lower. It must be noted that the Land Registry compiles its data from completed transactions and therefore [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices rose by just 0.3% in July on a monthly basis – the third consecutive monthly rise. The latest rise takes the average cost of a UK home to £163,981, the Halifax said. However, on an annual basis, prices are 2.6% lower. When comparing prices in the three [...]
Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a drop in asking prices for the month of July – the first fall this year. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales fell by 1.6% in July. The property website, which claims to advertise 90% of the properties on the market, said the [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices rose by 1.2% in June on a monthly basis. The rise represented the biggest month-on-month gain since October and takes the average cost of a UK home to £163,049, the Halifax said. However, on an annual basis, prices are 3.5% lower. When comparing prices in the three [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has today reported a pick up in the number of house viewings in April, as a result of the warm weather. This time of year is traditionally busy for the housing market but securing a mortgage remains difficult for many potential buyers – particularly first-time buyers. Furthermore, the [...]
Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, has today reported a 9.5% fall in pre-tax profits as conditions on the High Street remain challenging. Profits fell to £265.2 million in the 12 months to 26 February compared with £293 million in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, revenue was almost 3% lower on [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices crept up by 0.1% last month compared with February, when prices dropped 0.9%. The latest house price rise takes the average cost of a UK home to £162,912, the Halifax said. Meanwhile, in the three months to March, prices dropped 2.9% compared with the same period a [...]
Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a rise in asking prices in the four week period to March 12. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales grew 0.9% on an annual basis, up from February’s 0.3%. On a monthly basis, asking prices were up 0.8%, slowing from February’s 3.1% – [...]
Department store group Debenhams said like-for-like sales fell 1.5% (excluding VAT) in the 26 weeks to 26 February. Despite the fall, the no. 2 department store (after John Lewis) said it was well placed to manage the uncertainty surrounding the economy, which is squeezing household incomes due to soaring inflation. It said it will focus [...]
Housebuilder Bovis Homes issued a positive statement today after saying 2011 had started well for the company and it will resume dividend payments. According to the company, pre-tax profits for 2010 were £18.5 million – more than double the £7.5 million it reported for the 2009 year. Revenues were up 6% at £298.6 million and [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has today revealed the UK housing market remains weak. However, it appears house price falls are easing. While prices in England and Wales continued to fall last month, it was at the slowest pace since last summer. The Rics revealed 26% more surveyors reported house price falls than [...]
Leading think tank, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), has today suggested higher inflation and unemployment will knock the housing market recovery and lead to a fall in UK house prices. It is forecasting a 1.7% fall for prices this year, reversing its earlier prediction of a rise of 0.8% for 2011. While [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has today revealed uncertainty surrounding the economy means buyers and sellers remain cautious. As a result, the housing market has got off to a slow start in 2011 as buyer demand remains weak and supply levels remain low. However, the Institution said new buyer enquiries picked up in [...]
Housebuilder Bovis Homes has today issued a positive trading statement after saying it expects profits to be ahead of expectations for the 2010 year. The company, which is one of the smaller listed housebuilders, said it will also start paying dividends again to shareholders. Many housebuilders took a battering during the housing market slump and [...]
A survey of 5,287 homeowners by online property website Zoopla.co.uk has revealed housing market confidence is at a two-year low. More than half (54%) of those questioned said they expect house prices to rise over the first six months of 2011 – this is down from the 81% reported this time last year. The website’s [...]
The latest house price index from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a 0.4% rise for the month of December compared with November. The latest rise means house prices are now just 0.4% higher than this time last year with the average UK home costing £162,763. Commenting on the figures, Nationwide’s chief economist Martin Gahbauer, [...]
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has today revealed a further fall in the number of new mortgages approved by the major banks in November. According to the BBA, the number of new mortgages approved in the month fell to 29,991, down from 30,689 in October – representing a 20-month low. Net mortgage lending fell to [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has today indicated house prices could fall by around 2% in the next 12 months. However, the Institution highlights that the fall could be much more severe if the Government’s austerity measures hamper the economic recovery. Many reports have pointed to a cooling housing market with continuous falls [...]
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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