|
While most young people are struggling to get on the property ladder, some over 50s are clinging on to the last rung. Research by The Saga Equity Release Advice Service shows that more than a million over 50s are set to face a shortfall when it comes to paying off their interest only mortgage....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Buyer demand for property rose to its highest level in over three years last month, the RICS said. But the NAEA, reporting for March, said buyer interest had waned – proving that it was either a case of what a difference a month makes, or that the two organisations have completely different takes on the market....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
First-time buyer activity remained strong in March with the number of first-time buyers increasing by 20% over February, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. A total of 19,100 loans worth £2.4bn were advanced to first-time buyers in March, up from 15,900 loans in February....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A man with a grudge against agents went on a revenge spree by cutting down more than 100 boards. Anthony Bennett, 39, went out in his van two nights running and used a Stanley knife to hack down the signs. He was angry because he had lost his entire £1,100 deposit over a stained carpet, and blamed agents Mark Boulton & Co in Greater Manchester....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
House purchase lending rose 2% in April, one of the industry’s most accurate forecasters has predicted. E.surv, a surveying and valuations practice that is part of LSL, is predicting that house purchase approvals rose from 53,504 to 54,364 in April – the second consecutive monthly increase, as the mortgage market continued on a trajectory of recovery....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
House prices stood at an average of £166,094 in April, the Halifax has reported. It says this represents a monthly increase of 1.1% and an annual rise of 2%. Martin Ellis, housing economist at the Halifax, said: `House prices continue to pick up gradually....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Government has confirmed it is to implement its amendment to the Estate Agents Act as soon as the parliamentary timetable allows. At the same time, it will lay an order to repeal the Property Misdescriptions Act. Instead, Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) will apply....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The average cost of sharing a rental home in UK is £390, the highest in western Europe, new figures have shown. London is the most expensive city at £757 per month, but Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds all make the top 20 of priciest rental cities in western Europe....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
"The more you take responsibility for your past and present, the more you are able to create the future you seek."...
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A house price increase this month has been fuelled by a shortage of stock – and by the roaring London market, which is now back to the top-of-the-boom levels of 2007. Hometrack said this morning that house prices have gone up nationally by 0....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Delays in getting on the housing ladder will cost the average first-time buyer more than £270,000 over their lifetime. Those who never buy will cost taxpayers dearly, because they will drive up housing benefits and long-term care costs to `truly unsustainable levels`....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Home owners are expecting house prices to rise by 4.5% over the next six months, according to new research from Zoopla. It based its findings on replies from 4,116 people, of whom 3,485 were home owners, in the last week of March. This is the biggest predicted house price increase by home owners in more than three years, the site said....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The most surprising aspect about the estate agent who woke to find an intruder trying to get into his house was not that the police weren’t interested (they let him go), but the role of his dog. The pet labrador woke and alerted his owner, Tim Ferris, of Ferris & Co in Kent....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
UK homeowners are expecting house prices to rise by 4.5% over the next six months, a sign of significant confidence returning to the housing market, according to the latest research from property website Zoopla.co.uk. This is the biggest predicted house price increase by UK homeowners in over 3 years and could signal that 2013 is set to be the best year for the property market since the financial crisis struck....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The number of new applicants seeking to rent in March is up 21% from February – a sign of strong spring bounce in demand according to Sequence Lettings. Demand has outstriped supply as the number of available homes to rent rose only 5% with average monthly rents for March, at £704 unchanged on February....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Hundreds of people who bought homes in recent years are being pursued for extra money after their Stamp Duty was apparently based on purchase prices that were mis-stated to the taxman by their conveyancers. The irregularities relate to a number of solicitors and conveyancing firms, and some cases concern house purchases made over three years ago, says the Financial Times....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Apparently, the estate agent doesn’t even always bother to open. And Brits who own homes there sound desperate – not to mention up the creek without the proverbial paddle. Not so very long ago, buying into the ‘year in Provence’ dream was something that agents on both sides of the Channel could lucratively tap into....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that total gross mortgage lending increased to £11.6billion in March. This is 9% higher than February`s gross lending figure of £10.6 billion but 8% lower than £12.6 billion in March 2012. However, this was just before the first-time buyer stamp duty holiday expired, distorting meaningful comparison....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Bank of England reports an improving housing market activity, both for new home sales and secondary market transactions. That had continued to reflect falls in mortgage rates - including at high loan to value ratios - and an improvement in mortgage availability, as well as the effects of specific government-backed incentive schemes for home ownership....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The number of first-time buyers increased by 3% in February, marking the best start to a year since 2008, according to new data by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Activity in the first-time buyer sector was 17% stronger in February than in February last year, and combined with January reached the largest number of first-time buyers in the first two months of the year since 2008....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Massive growth and a sea-change in its structure lie ahead for the private rented sector, said housing minister Mark Prisk in a major speech. Speaking at the Law Society, London, he emphasised just how transformational the new build-to-rent industry will be for the entire housing market....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Estate agents are measuring up properties with huge discrepancies. A report in the Financial Times says that the difference in measurements between two sets of floor plans for the same properties was as much as 300 sq ft. The paper analysed over 200 properties in London, where homes are increasingly valued by the square foot....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Market confidence is on the rise and many potential buyers are beginning to reassess the likelihood of affording a home, according to the Building Societies Association. A significant portion of those surveyed stated they believed mortgages are at their most accessible for five years....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Tackling the capital’s housing crisis is the focus of the Chartered Institute of Housing’s (CIH) first annual London conference. Deputy mayor for housing, land and property Richard Blakeway will share the latest updates on London’s housing strategy while other key topics will include making the private rented sector work for London, increasing housing supply, the legacy of the Olympics and ending rough sleeping....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Today the lettings industry is due to be discussed in the House of Commons – with the Government set to overturn an amendment for the full regulation of letting agents. Instead, an eleventh hour amendment of its own will require all letting agents to belong to an ombudsman scheme....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The number of house sales in the UK increased slightly during February showing that serious house hunters remain active in the property market, according to estate agents. The latest figures from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reveal a rise in the number of homes sold during February with 8 sales per branch compared with 7 in January, reaching a three month high....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The first quarter of 2013 saw a new high in remortgaging activity, with more landlords trying to raise enough capital to expand their portfolios and take advantage of high gross yields, according to detailed research released by Mortgages for Business, the specialist buy to let broker....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Zoopla Property Group has signed an exclusive partnership agreement to power the property search function for the new Barclays Homeowner App. The free mobile app launched this week by Barclays provides a variety of tools to help house hunters search for properties and navigate the home-buying process with ease....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The number of homes sold in the UK reached a three-year high during March, the RICS has reported. It puts the rise down to greater confidence, saying that its members sold an average of 17.4 homes in the three months to March. House prices did not move in March, with just 1% of the RICS’s mysterious ‘net balances’ of surveyors saying that house prices went up....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Facebook property business Property Network has brought in the former head of PR for Rightmove to help it become a ‘portal killer’. Property Network – formerly Property Place – has appointed Maud Rousseau, who ran Rightmove’s PR for just over three years until 2008....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Snow and bitterly cold weather nipped what looked to have been a promising spring upturn for the housing market firmly in the bud. According to data from telephone answering service Moneypenny, calls had been up by 25% in early March compared with the previous month....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
"Remember, all the answers you need are inside of you; you only have to become quiet enough to hear them." Listen xx...
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Scientists, bankers and engineers may seem an unlikely grouping of people, but each working day they unite in the same online behaviour. Rightmove’s website traffic sees a major jump in activity every weekday-lunchtime, and the three industries holding the highest proportions of lunchtime property addicts have been revealed to be banking & finance, science & pharmaceuticals and engineering & manufacturing....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
House prices in the first three months of 2013 were 1.2% higher than in the final three months of 2012 according to the latest Halifax House Price Index. Commenting, Martin Ellis, housing economist, said: "The housing market continues to show signs of modest improvement....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
London mayor Boris Johnson believes that letting agents should be regulated, at least to the extent that they must belong to an ombudsman service. The revelation, which came from his deputy for housing, Richard Blakeway, means that there is at least one high-level Tory who supports some kind of regulation of letting agents, as proposed by the Hayter amendment....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Government’s 95% mortgage scheme, due to kick in next January in the second phase of the Help to Buy programme, will send house prices soaring. The Centre for Economics and Business Research says house prices will overtake their pre-recession peak next year....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A new wave of buyers could be interested for the first time in buying a new-build home, prompted by the Help to Buy scheme. But will they pay, literally, too high a price? The scheme kicked in this week, and will offer government-backed shared equity mortgages to buyers of new homes only, to both first-time and home movers....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
For the first time in England and Wales, landlords and letting agents can now choose which deposit protection method they use – either custodial or insured – from the same supplier. As from this week, the Deposit Protection Service is offering both services....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
4 out of 10 families with children have cut down on what they spend on food to help pay for their housing costs in the past year. Shelter’s YouGov poll of 4,000 people also found that more than one in four (27%) had cut back on gas and electricity bills to help meet their rent or mortgage costs....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Agents are reminded that as from Monday (April 1), local authorities will have the discretion to charge full Council Tax on empty properties. The change will affect properties that have currently been given exemptions and discounts, including furnished and unfurnished properties for rent....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Agents are reminded that as from Monday (April 1), local authorities will have the discretion to charge full Council Tax on empty properties. The change will affect properties that have currently been given exemptions and discounts, including properties for sale and rent, and second homes....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The plans outlined in this week`s Budget will be a major help for homebuyers, according to MoneySupermarket. Clare Francis, editor-in-chief said: "Further measures to kick start the mortgage and housing market through the ‘Help to Buy` scheme are welcome at a time when so many potential homebuyers are unable to get a foot on the housing ladder, or are trapped by not having much equity in their homes....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts."...
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The ministers responsible for housing, Eric Pickles and Mark Prisk, have spoken of their support for the Help to Buy scheme – as criticism of the idea was mounting. Labour said it was a millionaire`s charter to buy second homes at the taxpayers` expense and think tank Fathom said the initiative would cause the worst outcome – a new housing bubble....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
According to Rightmove, 97% of new-build homes currently listed by developers and 93% of resale homes listed by estate agents have an asking price of £600,000 or below. The £600,000 figure is the ceiling for both the taxpayer-backed mortgage indemnity scheme available on both new and secondhand properties, and also for the shared equity scheme on new properties....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
House prices are being kept up by lack of stock – but affordability appears to be driving new buyers away. The latest Hometrack report, out this morning, says house prices rose by 0.3% this month, but stock volumes and the level of sales agreed were down....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Help to Buy mortgage indemnity scheme which kicks in next January is expected to raise both house transaction levels and property prices. It has also emerged that the scheme, designed to generate £3.5bn of new lending, could be administered by ‘bad banks’ Northern Rock Asset Management and Bradford & Bingley, now in the umbrella of UK Asset Resolution....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Estate agents and home builders are counting themselves among the beneficiaries of the Chancellor’s new ‘Help to Buy’ scheme. The scheme will help not just first-time buyers of new homes, but all buyers of new homes. It will also help buyers of all homes, including secondhand stock....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Over one third of first-time buyers want 100% mortgages, and one in five would be happy with a 120% loan. The findings come in research by discount website MyVoucherCodes, after it noticed a rise in the number of searches on-site for the term ‘first-time buyer 100% mortgages’ and ‘120% mortgages’....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Some light may be appearing at the end of the housing market tunnel. The BSA`s March Property Tracker reveals that access to mortgage finance as a barrier to property purchase has dropped to its lowest level since the survey began at the height of the credit crunch in June 2008....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A study from Churchill home insurance reveals that 88% of estate agents think a well maintained home next door will increase the sale value of a property. Estate agents estimate that well maintained and attractive homes surrounding a property have the potential to increase the sale price by as much as 12% - equal to a staggering £19,400 at current market value....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Asking prices for properties new to the market have shot up to hit an all-time record high for March, boosted by buy-to-let investors `piling into the market`. Rightmove said this morning that the average new asking price is £239,710 – 1.7% higher than last month and just beating the previous record in March 2008 of £239,655....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Rents slowed their downward pace in February, according to the latest Buy-to-Let Index from LSL Property Services. Compared to January, the average rent in England and Wales fell by 0.1%, to £731 per month. However, due to a smaller monthly drop than a year ago, rents in February showed accelerated annual growth of 3....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The number of houses sold in the UK reached its highest level in over two-and-a-half years, with chartered surveyors selling an average of 16.8 homes in the three months to February, according to the latest RICS housing market survey. During February, the increasing market stability seen in recent months translated into an uplift in sales, and surveyors are cautiously optimistic that this trend will continue....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Tenants pay 14% more on average in rent than owners pay in servicing mortgages, according to the latest research from property search website Zoopla.co.uk. Zoopla’s analysis of the cost of renting compared to servicing a mortgage reveals that renting a typical two-bedroom property is £987 more expensive per year than paying an interest-only mortgage on an equivalent home....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
February saw valuation activity hit a twelve month peak, as first time buyer numbers rose to their highest level for four years, according to the latest Housing Market Activity Report by Connells Survey & Valuation. The number of residential valuations conducted by Connells in February showed a monthly increase of 27%....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
As well as ongoing interest from overseas buyers investing in the Prime Central London market, The Buying Solution is seeing an increase of UK expats repatriating to the Home Counties as a result of the weakening pound and strengthening London property market....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
London Mayor Boris Johnson has been told in no uncertain terms to butt out of the property market. Property developers said he should not interfere – in direct contradiction to a call this week by the London Assembly for the Mayor to research the impact that overseas investment is having on the London housing market....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Chancellor will be under pressure to help boost the construction industry in next week’s Budget, after the latest figures reveal output has significantly reduced 7.9% in the last 12 months, largely fuelled by continued stagnation in the housebuilding sector....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The number of houses sold reached its highest level in over two-and-a-half years, with chartered surveyors selling an average of 16.8 homes per branch in the three months to February, says the latest RICS housing market survey. The survey also reports that house prices are slightly down, with both inquiries from buyers and selling instructions flat....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
An estate agency that is no longer in business has been fined £2,000 for failing to register with the Office of Fair Trading. The OFT says that it repeatedly contacted and advised Oliver James between November 2011 and February 2012 of the need to register, but that he failed to do so....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The number of first-time buyers in London rose by 15% in 2012, marking the largest annual total since 2007, according to data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. A total of 37,300 first-time buyers bought a home in London in 2012, up from 32,400 in 2011....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The price of a typical home rose by 0.2% in February, but was unchanged compared with February 2012, according to the most recent Nationwide House Price Index. Robert Gardner, Nationwide`s Chief Economist, said: "For the second month in a row UK house prices remained flat in annual terms, maintaining the trend of broad stability that has been evident over the past two years....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Prices in the three months to February were 1.9% higher than in the previous three months according to the latest Halifax House Price Index. Commenting, Martin Ellis, housing economist, said: "The housing market continued to provide evidence of improvement in February....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
High house prices, the need for a hefty deposit and lack of access to mortgage finance have all undeniably contributed to the creation of "Generation Rent" but not everyone is stuck in the trap - 30% of UK tenants choose to rent rather than buy according to the latest data from online lettings agent Upad....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Nearly two-thirds of first-time home owners who wanted to move up the property ladder last year found themselves stuck. In two damning reports, they have been labelled the ‘ugly ducklings’ of the housing market – overlooked and struggling to move on with their lives....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Can anyone help Trevor Kent with your views and perhaps a willing case study? Big T is doing something for the BBC on the subject of structural surveys and whether buyers get value for money when they pay for one to be done. He is interested to know what EAT readers think of them and also whether anyone knows someone who has not had a survey done and regrets it, or has had one done and wishes they hadn’t....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
In a landmark ruling, the advertising watchdog has today ruled that all letting agents must clearly disclose what their fees are when they market rental properties. The ruling is against Your Move, but also specifically implicates Rightmove, ARLA and the Property Ombudsman....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A report out this morning from consumer watchdog Which? claims that major letting agents are breaking the law. Today’s Which? investigation adds fresh fuel to the controversy over letting agents’ fees. It claims that the agents are not being upfront about the fees they charge – and that is unlawful....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The number of first-time buyers in London rose 15% last year. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the figure was 37,000, up from 32,400 the year before, although still a long way behind the 60,000 in 2007. London first-time buyers paid the price for their aspirations – last year, just 4% managed to buy homes in London for less than £125,000, compared with the 40% who did so around the rest of the UK....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A report out this morning from consumer watchdog Which? claims that major letting agents are breaking the law. Today’s Which? investigation adds fresh fuel to the controversy over letting agents’ fees. It claims that the agents are not being upfront about the fees they charge – and that is unlawful....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer has reiterated his call for some form of regulation of letting agents. He said that ‘realistically’, legislation is the only option, and called on the Government to stop dodging the issue. At the very least he wants all letting agents to be required by law to join an Ombudsman scheme....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Tenancy Deposit Scheme has confirmed that it has not changed its rules for letting agents – despite persistent claims on the internet which triggered anxiety among agents that they could be inadvertently breaking the law. One article, written in December and which reappeared in a forum last week, claims that the TDS changed its rules in January, requiring landlords and agents to update the deposit record when a tenancy becomes a statutory periodic tenancy....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A new prototype property portal is gearing up for launch this spring, with agents being given the opportunity to take a stake in it and to shape its direction. The portal is codenamed Zalea – not necessarily its final name – and is being developed by sister firms Capture Property Marketing and LiteHaus Systems....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
New research from Shelter shows almost two million couples in Britain have moved in together too soon because they can`t afford to live apart. The trend is twice as common among those aged 18-30, though more than half a million 31-44 year olds have rushed in to living together....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A tax specialist has expressed concern that HMRC, armed with information provided by local authorities, could now be hounding private landlords in an attempt to track down tax dodgers. Mike Down, of accountancy firm Baker Tilly, said he had seen a copy of a ‘stencilled’ letter sent to one landlord client....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has reported a fall in the number of properties taken into possession by first-charge residential mortgage lenders from 8,200 in the third quarter of 2012 to 7,700 in the fourth quarter, maintaining a repossession rate of 0....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
House prices in the last quarter were 1.9% higher than in the previous three months, according to the latest Halifax House Price Index. Martin Ellis, housing economist, said: "The signs of improvement in the housing market towards the end of last year continued in January....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Figures from the National Association of Estate Agents show that the housing market is gathering momentum thanks to a growing number of people conducting property searches. The residential property market is said to be gathering upward momentum after new estate agent figures showed a rise in the number of house hunters....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
There are signs of continued improvement in the health of the property market according to the latest Rightmove House Price Index. At £235,741 the average price of newly marketed property is the second highest ever seen in the month of February, just £2,115 shy of the February record set in 2008 prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Demand for high quality commercial and residential property continues to grow across Africa on the back of the continent’s sustained strong economic growth and rising wealth, according to Knight Frank’s Africa Report 2013. Africa is in the midst of a period of dynamic economic expansion, having averaged GDP growth of more than 5% per annum over the last decade....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
PropertyLive, the NFoPP property portal, has been given a three-month stay of execution. In that time, it is to be hosted by an unnamed external party, and will continue to function as a property portal. Anyone interested in taking it over will be able to submit their proposals, which will be assessed by an independent expert – also unnamed....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Remember, happiness doesnt depend on who you are or what you have ; It depends solely on what you think !!...
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Rents now average £777 per month across the UK but with sharp regional differences, says tenancy referencing firm HomeLet. It says that rents in Greater London rose by 6.7% over the past year and now stand at £1,224 per month. By comparison, tenants in the North-East are paying an average monthly rent of £512....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Chinese, Malaysian and other Far Eastern investors are driving demand for new build investment properties in the UK`s regional cities, reports buy to let specialist Assetz, drawn by strong yields and the opportunity to take advantage of a weak sterling....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Benefit fraud, sub-letting, on-going damage, drug rings and even brothels have all been discovered hidden behind the disguise of what at first appeared to be a ‘good’ tenant. So, how would you know if something untoward was happening in your rental property? First-rate research Spot potential offenders before they even step through your front door by being thorough in your background checks and reference gathering....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson is calling on the Coalition Government to allow London to retain all stamp duty receipts raised on its property sales, estimated to be worth £1.3billion a year, to ensure it can build the million homes that London will need by the mid 2030s....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Access to a good broadband signal is an important factor when choosing to buy a home, according to research from Halifax. Nearly one third (30%) of people surveyed said it is likely to affect their thinking on whether to buy a home in a particular area....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A stronger market in January saw a fourth consecutive month of annual growth in valuation activity, according to the latest Housing Market Activity Report by Connells Survey & Valuation. The number of residential valuations conducted by Connells in January grew 39% on an annual basis....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
December data from Land Registry`s flagship House Price Index shows an annual price increase of 1.7% which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £162,080. The monthly change from November to December is an increase of 0.8%....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The compulsory regulation of lettings agents combined with the introduction of minimum professional standards for all agents could generate over £20m of benefits per year to the UK economy, new research from RICS has claimed. The RICS said: `Currently, anyone can set up a lettings agency without appropriate qualifications or industry knowledge....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The needs of families living in the private rented sector are becoming increasingly important after the number of households with children living in rented accommodation doubled in ten years, says a new report. The Building and Social Housing Foundation’s report, Who lives in the private rented sector, found there were 588,016 households with children living in the private rented sector in 2000/01....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Around 80,000 house purchasers in England and Wales could find their Stamp Duty bill triples this year. The prediction comes from property fund London Central Portfolio, and is based not on published Land Registry monthly prices but on the bespoke price survey purchased by LCP itself....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Estate Agency Foundation, the industry’s own charity dedicated to helping homeless people, has decided to stop handing out sums of money to Shelter. Last year, it gave £20,000 to the charity which has successfully fought to make lettings’ agents’ charges to tenants illegal in Scotland and has now brought its fight to England....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Government is setting out how two new schemes will put up to £10billion of lending guarantees to work so investors can expand the private rented sector and build new affordable homes, Chief Secretary Danny Alexander and Housing Minister Mark Prisk announced....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
UK buyers are purchasing only just over a quarter of new-builds in London, with most going to overseas investors. Knight Frank said that UK purchasers have a 27% market share. A total of 52 nationalities bought new-build property in London last year, led by buyers from Singapore (22%), Hong Kong (16%), China (5%), Malaysia (4%) and Russia (3%)....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The price of a typical home rose by 0.5% in January, but was unchanged compared with January 2012 according to the latest Nationwide House Price Index. The typical UK home is now worth £162,245. Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide`s Chief Economist, said: `UK house prices increased by 0....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The boss of a collapsed letting agency which lost £1.2m of money belonging to over 300 soldiers, including those serving in Afghanistan, has been disqualified for nine years. Paul Smith, 47, director of Blue Force Property, a letting agency in Hornchurch, Essex, was disqualified following an investigation by the Insolvency Service....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The critical question of whether rent paid in advance is a tenant’s deposit is to be decided by the Court of Appeal. The case of Johnson v Old is due before the Court in March after the tenant in the case decided to appeal. In Johnson v Old, six months rent in advance had been paid by the tenant, along with a separate sum which was taken as a deposit and duly protected....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Landlords who refuse to comply with requests to improve their properties should be charged a £400 admin bill when orders are made against them. These would include improvement notices, prohibition orders and management orders. The proposal is from Southend Council, which is set to incorporate it into next year’s budget....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A firm selling a database of estate agents’ and letting agents’ contact information has been told to withdraw its ‘money back’ offer in its marketing. A complaint was made to the Advertising Standards Authority about the database, said to consist of over 21,000 estate agent and letting agency records, plus 27,000 email addresses....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
While the UK economy as a whole shrank by 0.3%, there was a small increase in construction output. This follows a fall of 2.5% between Q2 and Q3 of 2012, which as a whole was a bleak one for construction. Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: "It is clear from the Deputy Prime Minister`s recent comments that Government now realises the wider economic benefits that capital investment via construction can bring, however it must do more to unleash the potential in our industry by pulling the right levers....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The audiences of Rightmove and Zoopla are very different, with little crossover between the major property portals. According to independent website auditor Nielsen, over 80% of traffic is unduplicated, with only 19.93% of home hunters visiting both Rightmove and the Zoopla sites in December....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Letting agents’ fees, criminal landlords and longer tenancies all took centre stage in a House of Commons debate yesterday. Labour MPs led by shadow housing minister Jack Dromey called for a clampdown on ‘rip off’ and obscure letting agents’ fees, while calling for tenants to be given secure, longer-term tenancies....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
More landlords are remortgaging compared to 12 months ago, with a number being forced by their existing lenders to find their funds elsewhere, although some are also remortgaging voluntarily in order to expand their portfolios. According to research from specialist buy-to-let broker Mortgages for Business, an increasing number of landlords are remortgaging more complex buy-to-let property....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Last month, 24% more surveyors across the country predicted transactions to rise rather than fall over the next quarter. This more positive outlook comes at a time when confidence has been growing that the market in some parts of the country may now be over the very worst....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Tenants in London are paying rents that are 132% higher, and in some cases 223% more, than in the North-East. According to tenancy referencing and insurance company HomeLet, the average cost of renting a home in London started the new year 6....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Just to update you I have received the oath from the solicitors and I have to complete this and arrange for another solicitor to sign it. This will be returned to my solicitors this week and then they can move forward with the probate. ...
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
"If your guard is up, let it down. If you`ve constructed a defensive wall to protect yourself and keep all the bad guys out, don`t forget who that wall also prevents from getting in - the good guys." ...
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
With new seller prices up by 2.4% (+£5,369) year-on-year, more sellers coming to market, and a new year jump in Rightmove traffic, early indicators offer reasons to be confident that both prices and transaction numbers will see a modest rise in 2013....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Almost two-thirds (65%) of property owners think that house prices will rise over the next six months, up from only 55% one year ago. And less than one in five (19%) of those surveyed expect house prices to fall during the first half of 2013, compared to 29% one year ago....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
There was fury at this week’s meeting of agents in Surrey over the closure of NFoPP’s PropertyLive after a cost thought to be over £2m. At the meeting, attended by both NAEA and ARLA members, agents expressed heated anger to NAEA managing director Mark Hayward, who was present....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Zoopla has said it is not surprised by the decision to ditch PropertyLive, while there was fury at this week’s meeting of agents in Surrey over NFoPP`s closure of the portal after a cost thought to be over £2m. At the meeting, attended by both NAEA and ARLA members, agents expressed heated anger to NAEA managing director Mark Hayward, who was present....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Baroness Hayter has failed in her bid to get letting agents recognised in law as estate agents – for the time being. She withdrew her amendment as a matter of procedure after the Government made it plain that it would not support her bid to extend the scope of the Estate Agents Act to include letting and managing agents....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Property Place, the Facebook-based property search engine, has secured a seven figure investment from three funds – and says it is in a position to take on Rightmove. The venture, launched a year ago and which allows users to search for and share details of properties for sale and rent, is also to rebrand as Property Network....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Zoopla says it has seen record levels of activity on its websites during the first half of January. There were new highs last week for the number of visitors to its sites, the number of searches conducted and pages viewed and the number of inquiries sent to its members....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The announcement was made yesterday and brings to an end an expensive project for the NAEA and ARLA. The cost is thought to have been upwards of £2m. Some members may also be surprised at the timing of the closure. Just one week ago, on January 7, they received an email announcing the relaunch of the site, saying: `It is with great excitement that we announce the brand new PropertyLive brought to you by the NAEA and ARLA....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Up to 59% of a household’s income in London is spent on rent, Shelter has said. The charity, which has asked mayor Boris Johnson to intervene, said that private rents ‘eat up’ more than 50% of a family’s monthly earnings in 23 out of the capital’s 33 boroughs, leaving them unable to save for a home of their own....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Valuation activity grew annually for a third consecutive month in December on the back of growth in buy-to-let, national valuations firm Connells Survey & Valuation has reported. The number of residential valuations conducted by Connells in December was 2% more than a year ago, although activity was down 15% from November....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A second local authority in England is set to bring in compulsory licensing of every private rental property on its territory. Liverpool City Council has launched a consultation for the introduction of a citywide licensing scheme affecting over 50,000 properties....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Just a handful of private rental properties are available to single people on benefits, according to Crisis. The charity for the homeless used mystery shoppers looking for a room in shared properties in Birmingham, Leeds and Lewisham, London....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Last month’s figures on sales agreed look to have been the best for a December since the start of the credit crunch. Board supplier Agency Express said that the number of estate agents’ boards converting to Sold were the highest for December since it began its records in 2007....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Office of Fair Trading has banned a former property agent from estate agency work. But it appears that the ban would still leave Price Property Rental director Sharon Price, a former NAEA member, free to work in lettings, and even to set up her own lettings business again at some point in the future....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Rogue letting agents and landlords should either mend their ways or quit the market. The call has come from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), which says tenant demand will continue to outstrip supply this year, with more families opting – or having – to rent....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The first blanket compulsory licensing scheme of all private rented properties in one area in England came into force on January 1 in the London borough of Newham. However, a notice on the council’s website says the deadline to pay for a licence at a discount has been extended to January 31....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
UK households in six of eleven UK regions expect the value of their home to rise in 2013, despite having believed that house values have fallen for the last 30 consecutive months. The biggest rises in 2013 are expected in London and the South-West, closely followed by Yorkshire and the Humber....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Things are beginning to look up, the Council of Mortgage Lenders is predicting. The CML says there are grounds for optimism that the market recovery – which it says began this year – should continue next year, reinforced in part by Funding for Lending scheme effects....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
We all know how crucial good staff are to an agency’s business. No matter how fresh your logo is or how smart your offices look, it’s your people and how they interact with your clients that have the biggest impact on your success. Which is why, for the third year running, the ESTAs will recognise the efforts of individual members of staff in the People Awards category next April....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Guidance has now been published on Energy Performance Certificates and the changes which kick in from January 9. As our report said yesterday, ALL property adverts will have to show the EPC rating. However, there is no requirement to carry the graphs....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The largest ever fall in asking prices has been reported by Rightmove this morning. It says that new sellers have chopped their asking prices by an average of 3.3%, equating to £7,772. In London, asking prices have come down by an average of almost £20,000, or 4%, to stand at £464,398, down from £483,709 in November....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
UK households in six of eleven UK regions expect the value of their home to rise in 2013, despite having believed that house values have fallen for the last 30 consecutive months. The biggest rises in 2013 are expected in London and the South-West, closely followed by Yorkshire and the Humber....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
London mayor Boris Johnson has announced plans for a major new voluntary accreditation scheme for landlords and agents, the ‘London Rental Standard’. The proposals, which do not include rent controls but do suggest that all letting agents become members of an ombudsman scheme and offer client money protection, are now out for consultation, with a launch due next year....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The importance of mobile phone coverage to tenants and home-movers has been underlined in a new survey of over 2,000 people. The survey, of adults aged 16 and over, found that 46% of tenants would not rent a property with poor mobile phone coverage....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
An estate agent and lettings agency with the same sole director have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman Scheme for a minimum of two years. BLP Property Management, of 43 High Street, Spennymoor, County Durham DL16 6BB, was expelled by TPO Disciplinary and Standards Committee for failing to pay an award of £500 made against it by the Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Buying is cheaper than renting in 90% of 50 towns in Britain. On average, renting in Britain costs £1,080 per year more than buying. The research by Zoopla shows that in York, Peterborough and Reading, the most expensive places to rent, it is cheaper to buy, while it is cheaper to rent than to buy in Swansea, Cambridge and Bournemouth....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Servicing an interest-only mortgage on an average property in Britain costs £1,080 less per year than the cost of renting, according to the latest data released from property website Zoopla.co.uk. Based on an analysis of properties on the market in the top 50 towns in Britain, the research reveals that owning is more cost effective than renting in 90% of locations around the country....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
"Anytime you blame others and complain about your situation, you are choosing to be a victim. By playing the victim role you are putting yourself in an ineffective and weak position. It is virtually impossible to allow incredible miracles to enter your life when you choose to remain in this negative mental state....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Two lettings agents have been bought by housing associations in separate deals. Purchase prices were not disclosed but the acquisitions show the enthusiasm social landlords currently have for strategic expansion into private lettings. Notably, both purchasers said they aimed to improve standards in the private rented sector....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) proposals emerging from Brussels threaten to frustrate UK property development and investment, the British Property Federation has warned. The new EIA proposals are designed to speed up the process in which the environmental, social and economic impacts of development are assessed before being given the go ahead....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Our story last week about The Property Ombudsman mentioned, and provoked interest in, its lesser known and – as far as the property industry is concerned – much newer competitor, Ombudsman Services. Last week’s story referred to the fact that estate agents who register with TPO are not put on the same searchable database as those agents who sign up for membership – even though the two categories cost exactly the same, at £170 per branch....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Property Ombudsman has denied running a divisive two-tier membership system. It strongly refutes that it treats as second-class citizens those agents who sign up only for registration rather than membership – despite charging exactly the same for both categories....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Last weekend`s cold weather brought an early winter freeze and a reminder to home owners of the problems they can face. Following a couple of very harsh winters, 2011 saw a drop in the number of burst pipe claims in the UK of around 20% according to AXA claims data....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The large majority of landlords are planning to freeze rents next year. Just one in four intends to put rents up, and of those, only around one-third plans to hike the rent by more than 5%. According to a new survey by Rightmove, landlords have become increasingly mindful of tenants’ ability to meet rising rent demands, with over one-fifth of current tenants (22%) spending 50% or more of their take-home pay on rent....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
House prices in London will have shot up by 73% between 2010 and 2020. The prediction comes from a property firm, BNP Paribas Real Estate, mainly known for its commercial activities. The firm is also forecasting that UK house prices will have grown 24% in the next four years – between now and the end of 2016....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The October data from Land Registry`s flagship House Price Index shows an annual price increase of 1.1 per cent which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £161,605. The monthly change from September to October is a decrease of 0....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A new property portal is to launch in the New Year, claiming to offer the future for the industry by catering for both the spiritual and practical needs of buyers and sellers. As well as providing legal and financial assistance, the site will help people feel the vibes about any home they are thinking of buying....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
High street banks approved 33,039 mortgages for house purchase in October. The figure was up from the 31,544 the month before and an improvement on the six-month average prior to October of 29,984. The jump was higher than expected, with analysts having predicted a rise to 32,000....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
West End estate agents, LDG, believe that the property market will stabilise in 2013, and those wishing to sell should beware of unrealistic price per sq ft values set by exemplary new property developments in London’s West End. Laurence Glynne, Partner at LDG, comments: `We’ve seen a shift in attitude from vendors, who now understand price per sq ft values (rather than a property being priced on the number of bedrooms), but sometimes, their perception is skewed because they are aware of new schemes in the area and the prices these schemes are achieving....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Pressure is mounting on new housing minister Mark Prisk to get to grips with the private rental sector. Prisk – who is currently treading the party line that he will not regulate either agents or landlords, although before he got his ministerial job he had tried to get just such a measure enacted – is to be pressed for action following a meeting at the House of Lords....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
There are signs that the market weakness of recent months may be coming to an end, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The CML`s forward estimate is that total gross mortgage lending recovered to £12.9 billion in October. This would reverse the sharp dip reported for September, and imply that lending was 4% higher than the same month a year earlier....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Our Abbey Wood branch has just had its new facia & window display fitted !!...
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A competitor agent touting for business gatecrashed some viewings as they were in progress – amazing the vendor, buyers and the other agent. Colin Shairp, of Town and Country Southern, said: `Touting of properties I’m offering for sale by other estate agents is fairly regular, but this sequence of events beggars belief....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
More than one in ten people (11%) who apply for a mortgage are turned down with no reason being given., while 9% say they were turned down because they were self employed. A further 29% say they were refused because their earnings were too low, and 24% were rejected because of their credit scores....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
UK households perceive that the value of their home declined again in November, but at the most modest pace since July 2010. That is the key finding of the latest Knight Frank/Markit House Price Sentiment Index. It also revealed that the outlook for house prices hit the highest level in nearly two and half years, bouncing back from an eight-month low in October Households in every region except Wales (45....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Findings from the latest BM Solutions/ BDRC Continental survey show that a greater proportion of landlords are turning to the private rental sector to prepare their finances for retirement. Of those single property and portfolio landlords surveyed, 80% view their property as a supplementary income to their pension, with 6 out of 10 of these landlords actively planning to live off the rental income....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Crossrail could help create £5.5 billion in added value to residential and commercial real estate along its route between 2012 and 2021 according to new research for Crossrail by GVA, the UK`s largest independent commercial property consultant....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
"Kindness is an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want and do....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Rents in England and Wales have hit an all-time high at an average of £744 a month, LSL has reported. However, the pace of rise has slowed, and tenant arrears have fallen to their lowest level for nearly two years, the report from the parent company of lettings chains Your Move and Reeds Rains says....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A letting agent has warned landlords that they are no longer safe simply to download tenancy agreements from the internet in the belief that all will be well. Ajay Jagota, of KIS Lettings in the North-East, sounded his warning after a Court of Appeal ruling in the case of Ayannuga v Swindell, reported on Landlord Today last week....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The long-awaited consultation into whether to allow people to extend their homes without having to get planning permission has finally been launched. The ‘conservatory’ scheme has already met with opposition from some town halls, which say the plans will create a planning free for all resulting in neighbour conflict and lead to ugly extensions, which could actually devalue properties and blight neighbourhoods....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Government is falling down on its own plans to fix the broken housing market, three leading groups have warned. They say the rhetoric should start being translated into reality. One of the areas most damningly singled out is the private rented sector, while the report says that ministers have so far fallen down on their promise to ‘Get Britain Building’....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Local councils should be given the power to compulsorily purchase second homes that are used for only a few weeks a year. The call has come from trade union GMB, which says that authorities should be given new powers to levy taxes on ‘under-used’ holiday homes and also be able to compulsory purchase them in areas with acute housing need....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Hi Paul, The sellers called earlier to exchange with completion on 14 Dec 2012, BUT my client now wants 7 December (having spoken to his sisters ). I have asked him to speak to his sisters again because we did offer 4 weeks which the sellers have agreed to and going back and forth is very painful at this point !...
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
This month sees a drop of 2.6% (-£6,407) in the asking prices of properties coming to market, following the now familiar post-credit-crunch pattern of falls in November. However, this is the least severe November fall since 2009 and still leaves prices 2% (+£4,617) ahead of where they were this time last year – the highest annual rate of increase achieved in November for five years....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A woman with the dubious distinction of being Britain’s first ASBO landlord has been in trouble again. Catherine Boyle, 59, of Iverson Road, London NW6, was served with an ASBO on January 19, 2011. Her ASBO, which lasts two years, prohibits her from causing harassment, alarm or distress to her tenants, entering their rooms without consent and cutting off their gas and electricity....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Tenants in London are now paying almost one third more in rent than three years ago, after a 6% rise in the last year. According to HomeLet, average rents in Greater London are now £1,240 per month. This means renting a home in the capital is 16% more expensive than in October 2010, and 32% higher than October 2009, when average rents were £940 per month....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
After gloomy figures about September`s plunge in mortgage lending from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, tentative hopes have picked up for the market. The Mortgage Advice Bureau is reporting this morning that October was the busiest month for mortgage applications since before the financial crisis....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
New rules have come into operation, allowing local councils to discharge their duties to homeless people by offering them homes in the private rental sector, housing minister Mark Prisk has announced. Previously, homeless households could turn down a private rental home and hold out for a council house instead, forcing councils to continue to house them in expensive, and supposedly short-term, accommodation during what could be a very long wait....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
First-time buyers will make up 25% of prospective buyers next year – well short of the 40% level seen pre-credit crunch. Rightmove says that 22% of first-time buyers expect to have a deposit of less than 10%. The site said its research showed a growing list of challenges for first-time buyers trying to get on to the property ladder, with three in ten saying their biggest single concern is finding a suitable property to buy....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
It’s that time of the year again, already, when forecasts about next year’s housing market are fished out of the tea leaves. We’ve already had Knight Frank’s mournful prediction of the housing market staging the longest recovery on record, with transactions creeping up just 2% next year but staying well below historic norms for the rest of the decade....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
House purchase lending in October is predicted to have increased by 10% compared to September, as the Funding for Lending scheme increased mortgage availability. The forecast has come from e.surv chartered surveyors, which uses its own valuations data to predict official statistics which take more time to filter through....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Court of Appeal has this week imposed the maximum penalty on a residential landlord following a dispute with a tenant over prescribed information under tenancy deposit law. Virtually all of the prescribed information had been supplied and what was omitted was described as `minor`....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Nationwide Building Society has this morning launched a long-term drive to boost people’s homes and savings. It is doing so with support from a number of charitable partners including Shelter and National Numeracy. Nationwide’s triple-speared campaign is planned to last five years, and comes under the headings of Your Home, Your Money and Your Community....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
UK house prices will not regain their 2007 peak until 2019, making this the longest housing market recovery on record – and a further ‘correction’ in prices looks inevitable. Knight Frank issued a new housing market forecast this morning, which also said that although housing transactions will edge up by 2% next year, sales will remain at ‘well below peak levels’ for the whole of the rest of this decade....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
London councils will be forced to ship thousands of families out of the capital – some as far away as Wales – after next April’s benefits cuts mean they are priced out of the private rental market. A report by the Child Poverty Action Group and Lasa, a welfare rights charity, predicts that 124,480 London households will be hit by a combination of cuts to Local Housing Allowance, the new benefit cap which means no household can claim more than £26,000 a year in total, and under-occupation penalties....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
More than 1.6m people who are on housing benefit live in the private rented sector. The statistic emerged in the answer to a question asked by Labour MP Ian Mearns of the Department for Work and Pensions. The exact figure is 1,645,730. That compares with 3,382,870 for the number of people on housing benefit who live in the social rented sector....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Agents are warned about another change relating to EPCs, which will affect all property advertising – including in newspapers and on portals. A new requirement – albeit in draft but seen by EAT – says that EPC ratings must be ‘clearly shown’ on all advertising....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Tenants living in private rental accommodation and who receive benefits have been offered a rent reduction negotiation service. Islington Council in London is expecting to be one of the worst hit areas when new benefit caps come in next April, due it says to high private sector rents and the high proportion of lone parents....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Agents are not ready to ditch local paper advertising – yet. It is no secret that UK local newspapers are haemorrhaging circulation and are among the worst performers in Europe: only 18% of the population read a local daily compared with 53% in Germany, 21% in France and nearly 70% in Norway and Switzerland....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
In a case that will resonate with the industry, three agents are to face a retrial on a charge that they breached the Property Misdescription Act over the size of a garden. Had the garden simply been described as ‘large’, there would have been no case against them....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Households are being urged to ramp up security as the clocks go back to deter opportunist burglars using the cover of darkness to target thousands of UK homes. Last year Halifax Home Insurance registered almost 9000 burglary claims during the winter months costing £14....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
More of Countrywide’s leads are coming from Zoopla than from Rightmove, the UK’s largest estate agent has reported. Leads from Rightmove are also not as plentiful as those from Countrywide’s own website. Reporting for the third quarter of this year, Countrywide said that 35% of its leads are from its own website, 35% from Zoopla and 30% from Rightmove....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Which? is calling for the Treasury to put tougher obligations on banks taking part in the Funding for Lending Scheme as new research finds half the population are worried about mortgage rates and a quarter (26%) of people with mortgages fear having their home repossessed....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Crossrail could help create £5.5 billion in added value to residential and commercial real estate along its route between 2012 and 2021 according to new research for Crossrail by GVA, the UK`s largest independent commercial property consultant....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Cash-back sweeteners will be offered to private landlords and others who are the first to sign up to the Green Deal. Those quickest off the mark could get as much as £1,000. The offer is on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis and is limited to one per household....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Data from Lloyds TSB has claimed that housing transactions in England and Wales rose 2.2% in the first six months of this year to 282,086. The Land Registry has rather different statistics, but its figures confirm the upward trend in the first half of this year....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The RE/MAX brand has been dealt a huge blow after a number of franchisees defected to a completely new rival organisation. The brand new Scottish Property Centre launched on September 3 with three offices but now already has ten – all of them ex-RE/MAX franchisees....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A new and wide-ranging inquiry into the Private Rented Sector is to be conducted by an influential cross-party group of MPs. Regulation of all landlords and letting agents is on the table – something which previous housing minister Grant Shapps always steered away from, but something for which current minister Mark Prisk has shown an appetite....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Rail commuters to London are typically financially much better off catching the train, rather than living close to their place of work, according to research by Lloyds TSB. Many commuters in the south east may make a 60 minute train journey - with an average annual rail cost of £3800 - but they benefit from a house price that is, on average, £308,000 (55%) lower than living close to their place of work in central London....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
"Remember, happiness doesn`t depend on who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think." ...
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Government has once again rejected a call for regulation of letting agents and landlords, saying there is enough legislation already in place to protect the public. The minister, Baroness Hanham, specifically referred to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 which applies to both letting and sales agents....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Average UK house prices stood at £234,000 in August, the Office for National Statistics has reported. It said this was 1.8% higher than August 2011. The price is in contrast to the Land Registry’s August price of £163,376, which it reported was 0....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Almost a million Britons are letting out a spare room this year, twice the number who did in 2011, according to research from LV= home insurance. This boom is mainly being driven by the economic climate with more than a third (36%) of these live-in-landlords saying they rent out rooms to boost their squeezed incomes....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
In a landmark case, Beresford Adams estate agents, part of Countrywide in Wales, have been found guilty of failing to disclose something about a property which could have put buyers off. The case at Wrexham Magistrates Court, which was heard last month, is believed by the county’s trading standards officers to be a first and one which will set a precedent....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
There is only the loosest possible connection with estate agency, given that a lot of agents are men and used to wear white socks, but EAT felt compelled to share with you a very funny glimpse into the world of gents’ hosiery. We also get an awful lot of press releases and to be quite frank, we’re not sure how we got this one....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
First time buyers will from today (11 Oct) benefit from a multi-million pound boost to help them onto the housing ladder said Housing Minister Mark Prisk. The Minister announced the first allocations from a £280million pot to help a further 16,500 first time buyers benefit from the FirstBuy scheme....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Vince Cable’s amendment to the Estate Agents Act has now been tabled and is to go before Parliament next week as part of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. It follows the hush-hush consultation on the move designed to allow new business models into the market which will be able to operate outside the legislation....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The private rental market in London is set for enormous change and growth. A new report from Cluttons says that with a growing proportion of London households living in private rental accommodation, tenants will find themselves renting for longer, often well into the family-rearing stages of their lives....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The UK housing market should see a slightly stronger end to the year with transaction levels expected to pick up and price falls predicted to slow, says the latest RICS UK housing market survey (9 October 2012). Helped by the prospect of greater mortgage availability on the back of recent government initiatives, chartered surveyors’ expectations for future sales reached their highest level since May 2010....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced new support for local authorities in England to help them freeze council tax for a further year and assist in keeping those bills down. The Government will set aside an extra £450 million to help freeze council tax bills in England....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The UK housing market could pick up between now and the end of the year, the RICS reported. Although September was a flat month, with price falls reported in all regions apart from London, RICS members are predicting transaction levels to increase and the rate of price falls to slow....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Just over half (51%) of potential homemovers are looking to "downsize" within the next three years, compared to just a fifth (22%) looking to trade up to a larger property, according to the latest research from Lloyds TSB. For homeowners reaching retirement it is common to consider downsizing to a more manageable home....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Agents should challenge rogue landlords and refuse to accept properties in poor condition. Sally Randall, deputy director of private housing at Communities and Local Government, also said agents should join SAFEagent and make clear to consumers the benefits of using a reputable agent....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A man has been jailed for three and a half years after selling a house he did not own. Police said that he had conned solicitors, estate agents and a bank into believing he was the real owner, using forged identity details. Sean McGowan, 43, from Partridge Green, West Sussex, was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court, London, following an investigation by Thames Valley Police’s economic crime unit....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Sellers are being warned not to risk over-pricing during the autumn market, following new research from Rightmove which finds that 62% of home-hunters simply won’t view a property they consider to be over-priced, even if it ticks all the boxes on their wish-list....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Britons who are thinking of putting up a friend or relative for a few nights should think again after new research found that more than two thirds of homeowners (68%) have had to endure unwanted house guests at a whopping cost of £1.8billion each year in additional living expenses....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Police in London are enlisting letting agents and landlords in the war against drugs. They are warning that the presence of deodorant, stained coffee filters and small plastic bags may indicate that a property has been turned into a drugs factory....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The UK’s oldest surviving property portal, FindaProperty launched 15 years ago, is now powered by Zoopla, triggering suggestions that the brand is on its way out. Users who visited the site on Monday morning found to their surprise that, although they appeared to be on FindaProperty, the website address was actually Zoopla....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Bank of England’s latest credit conditions survey shows that both the demand for mortgages from individuals and the supply of mortgages from banks have increased in the three months to the beginning of September, according to Deloitte. Damian Hales, partner at Deloitte, said: "The supply of mortgage lending has increased in advance of the Funding for Lending scheme and people are taking advantage of this, resulting in an increase in mortgage lending over last quarter....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Over one-third of home hunters want estate agents to list broadband speeds in all property adverts. The call emerges in a study which shows that poor broadband connection can lose a sale. It also found that one in ten prospective buyers have walked away from properties with bad internet connections, one in five checks out broadband speeds whilst evaluating a property, and one in five say they would pay more for a property with a high-speed broadband connection....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The largest local authority in the UK has announced that it plans to charge full council tax on empty properties from next April. Birmingham City Council, like other local authorities, currently allows a ‘council tax free’ period of six months for empty properties, and an exemption of 12 months on properties undergoing structural repair....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A majority of people believe Government proposals to remove the need for planning permission for extensions would reduce the quality of their neighbourhoods, according to a YouGov poll. The poll was commissioned by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) before news broke that Richmond Council in south-west London voted against implementing any relaxation in planning rules....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Rents have risen for a fifth consecutive month to reach a new record high of £734 a month. LSL, reporting on the August market, said that average rents were up 1.2% on July, hitting new peaks in five regions – London, the South-East, East of England, North-West, and Yorkshire & the Humber....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Finding the right home is considered to be one of the biggest decisions in life. Whether deciding to buy or rent, choosing the right property can be painstaking when you consider other deciding factors such as the proximity to well performing schools, distance from your work and the area itself....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
House prices in prime central London are continuing to defy gravity, Knight Frank has reported. The firm says prices have now risen 51% since the post-financial crisis low in March 2009. Average property values in prime central London are now at yet another new record high, 15% above where they stood before the credit crunch struck....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that gross mortgage lending in August was £12.6billion. This is marginally lower (1%) than July`s gross lending figure of £12.7billion and a 4% fall from £13.1billion in August 2011. CML chief economist Bob Pannell said: "House purchase activity continues to be a little above year-earlier levels, but the housing numbers are far from strong....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Changes to laws governing estate agency in Britain could leave some home buyers with no more protection than if they were buying a used car in a private sale. The warning comes from the Property Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer. He accused the Government, which he said is not prepared to make any attempt to change the Estate Agents Act to protect landlords and tenants, of `moving with unfamiliar speed to remove protection from home buyers`....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Changing the Estate Agents Act to allow ‘passive intermediaries’ to operate outside the scope of the legislation has thrown the spotlight on valuations. Just how will private sellers going through ‘passive intermediaries’ put a value on their properties? The traditional answer would have been to get three agents round to value it and pick the highest valuation (or possibly the middle one)....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
A new club for mortgage brokers has been launched, offering landlords the chance of exclusive deals. The Buy to Let Business has launched the club, thought to be a first in the mortgage industry. Apart from exclusive mortgage deals, a major feature is a help-desk where brokers can discuss potential lenders for individual cases....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Rightmove’s latest Consumer Rental Forecast finds that six in ten (60%) tenants expect to be paying more for their rented accommodation in 12 months’ time, up from 53% a year ago. In a market where the supply of rental properties is failing to keep pace with high demand from tenants across most of the UK, the anticipation of upwards rental pressure is greater among tenants in London and the South East....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
Asking prices on Rightmove dropped for the third month in a row, the portal reported this morning. The average asking price of a property new to the market is now £234,858, down from August’s £236,260. Property coming to the market is £11,000 cheaper than it was three months ago....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
So, what do the new changes actually mean? This story refers to the repeal of the Property Misdescriptions Act, and the next to the amendment of the Estate Agents Act. Following its decision to ditch the PMA – a move strongly criticised by the NAEA – the OFT has published new guidance to help estate agents and ‘others involved in property sales’ understand their responsibilities under consumer and business protection regulations....
|
|
Click to Read
|
|
|
|
