February 2, 2012
Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, has unveiled a range of measures aimed at helping first-time buyers and boosting prospects for house builders.
From March, the NewBuy Guarantee scheme will be on hand to help those buying newly-built properties.
The scheme brings lenders, builders and ...
NewBuy Guarantee scheme launches in March
Permalink: NewBuy Guarantee scheme launches in March
by Gill Montia
February 1, 2012
UK house prices slipped by 0.2% in January, according to Nationwide, with the annual rise pared down to 0.6% (December 1%).
The value of the typical home currently stands at £162,228 but the lender is not surprised by the soft start to 2012 ...
Nationwide: house prices slip 0.2%
Permalink: Nationwide: house prices slip 0.2%
by Gill Montia
January 31, 2012
December figures from the Land Registry show house prices in England and Wales down 1.3% on the year, to an average £160,384.
Overall, there was no monthly change from November to December, although the North West experienced an impressive rise (+1.5%) ...
House prices down 1.3% over 2011
Permalink: House prices down 1.3% over 2011
by Gill Montia
January 30, 2012
Buying a home in Scotland is cheaper than renting, according to Bank of Scotland.
For a three-bedroom house, the typical mortgage payment in the region amounted to £510 in December, or 6% less than the monthly rent of £540 for the same ...
Buying 6% cheaper than renting
Permalink: Buying 6% cheaper than renting
by Gill Montia
January 28, 2012
The cost of moving house in the UK has risen at a faster rate than house prices over the past decade, according to new research by Lloyds TSB.
Since 2001, house prices have jumped 64% whereas the average cost of ...
Moving costs rise faster than house prices
Permalink: Moving costs rise faster than house prices
by Gill Montia
January 26, 2012
Gross mortgage lending of £9 billion in December was at its strongest for the whole of last year, according to the British Bankers' Association, with the total up 12% on the same period of 2010.
However, repayments by homeowners remained high and ...
Mortgage lending rallies in December
Permalink: Mortgage lending rallies in December
by Gill Montia
January 25, 2012
A new report on Britain's "squeezed middle" claims that a radical shift is taking place in the housing market among under 35s in the low to middle income bracket (LMI).
According to the Resolution Foundation, household income for LMIs typically amounts ...
Lower / middle earners stuck as tenants
Permalink: Lower / middle earners stuck as tenants
by Gill Montia
January 23, 2012
Gross mortgage lending in December stood at an estimated £11.7 billion, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
The total falls 12% short of the £13.2 billion recorded in November but is up 12% year-on-year.
In fact, December was the fifth ...
CML: mortgage funding prospects “uncertain”
Permalink: CML: mortgage funding prospects “uncertain”
by Gill Montia
Rents rise 4% over 2011
Permalink: Rents rise 4% over 2011
by Gill Montia
January 20, 2012
The Knight Frank/Markit house price sentiment index remained steady in January with some 19% of households questioned saying the value of their home had fallen since December, and around 5% reporting a rise.
The resulting house price sentiment index of 43.2 is down ...
House price sentiment steady
Permalink: House price sentiment steady
by Gill Montia
January 18, 2012
Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, is calling on councils to give elderly people more choice and control over where they live, so they are not forced into selling homes that no longer meet their needs.
Under the FreeSpace project piloted by the ...
Councils to help elderly rent out homes
Permalink: Councils to help elderly rent out homes
by Gill Montia
January 17, 2012
Mortgage payments for new borrowers have almost halved as a proportion of disposable income, down from a peak of 48% in the third quarter of 2007 to 27% at the end of 2011.
According to new Halifax research, repayments for both ...
Mortgage payments most affordable in 14 years
Permalink: Mortgage payments most affordable in 14 years
by Gill Montia
January 16, 2012
Early indications from Rightmove suggest strong interest from potential home buyers in 2012, despite the lack of mortgage finance.
Search activity on the property portal shot up 27% in the first 10 days of January, compared with a year earlier.
However, the supply ...
Sharp rise in home buyer interest
Permalink: Sharp rise in home buyer interest
by Gill Montia
November mortgage lending revival
Permalink: November mortgage lending revival
by Gill Montia
January 13, 2012
House prices in England and Wales rose 0.2% during December, to an average £220,385, but fell 0.5% annually.
According to the latest LSL/Acadametrics index, London property prices ended the year 3.1% higher, with Wales the only other region to show annual house price ...
House prices show “remarkable resilience”
Permalink: House prices show “remarkable resilience”
by Gill Montia
January 12, 2012
Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, has set out proposals to make unlawful sub-letting and "key-selling" in the social housing sector criminal offences.
According to Mr Shapps, thousands of homes could be freed up for those on social housing waiting lists if the practices ...
Social housing sub-letting to be criminalised
Permalink: Social housing sub-letting to be criminalised
by Gill Montia
January 11, 2012
Real estate specialist, Knight Frank, is expecting UK property prices to fall 5% this year, and the prospect of a new batch of forced landlords entering the private rental market has prompted the National Landlords' Association (NLA) to issue some timely tips ...
Timely tips for first-time landlords
Permalink: Timely tips for first-time landlords
by Gill Montia
January 10, 2012
UK house sales remained steady in December, despite a rise in the amount of new stock coming to market and no signs of a revival in mortgage lending.
According to the latest housing market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors ...
House sales steady but prices fall
Permalink: House sales steady but prices fall
by Gill Montia
January 6, 2012
House prices in the final quarter of 2011 were 0.1% lower than in the previous quarter, according to Halifax.
The value of the typical home slipped 0.9% between November and December, to £160,063, but modest increases earlier in the year meant prices ...
2011 shaves 1.3% off house prices
Permalink: 2011 shaves 1.3% off house prices
by Gill Montia
Mixed outlook for mortgage lending
Permalink: Mixed outlook for mortgage lending
by Gill Montia