Experts have predicted house prices will drop for the first time since 2012, with London hit hardest June 9, 2016 Experts are predicting UK house prices will drop for the first time since 2012 in the coming months. According to a survey conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), members, UK house prices will drop rather than rise in the next three months. London is expected to be the hardest hit with 43 per [...]
UK housing market: Interest-only home loans going out of fashion as take up slumps, say Council of Mortgage Lenders September 22, 2015 Warnings that interest-only mortgages are a “ticking time bomb” appear to be filtering through to the market, with figures out yesterday showing a 16 per cent drop in the number of such loans outstanding. A quarter of the reduction is the result of loans reaching maturity and being redeemed while a further 40 per cent [...]
Which banks will offer the Help to Buy Isa? Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, NatWest, Santander and Virgin Money July 25, 2015 Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, Natwest, Santander and Virgin Money are among the banks and building societies which will offer the government's widely anticipated Help to Buy Isa. Help to Buy Isas, unveiled by chancellor George Osborne in his Spring budget, aim to give first-time buyers a much needed helping hand onto the property ladder. [...]
UK house prices: Supply of properties for sale crashes to 11-year low as National Association of Estate Agents warns “We’re reaching crisis point” September 25, 2015 The supply of houses for sale has slumped its lowest level for 11 years, exacerbating fears that housing affordability is set to continue declining. The number of properties available to buy per estate agent branch dropped to 38 in August, according to figures released today by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) – a [...]
London pricing out first-time home buyers February 25, 2015 THE LONDON housing market is cooling, according to figures yesterday released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Loans to first-time buyers totalled 12,000 in number and £2.9bn in value in the three months to 31 December. It marks a drop of 11 per cent in number and seven per cent in value on the three [...]
Mortgage lending rises sharply in September for the fourth month in a row October 22, 2015 The amount of mortgage lending to UK homebuyers jumped by 12 per cent in the year to September as rising employment and earnings growth helped keep confidence levels high. Gross mortgage lending reached £20bn in September, up from £17.8bn the same time last year and two per cent higher than August’s lending total of £19.7bn, [...]
Buy-to-let tax change: Why is business-friendly George Osborne punishing landlords and renting business? September 25, 2015 The majority of landlords put their faith in the Conservative Party in May believing the Tories had a better understanding of private renting than the other parties. So when the chancellor announced restrictions on the tax relief on buy to let mortgages, it came as a shock, with many feeling betrayed. The government claims the [...]
Yes, Selfridges has just opened its Christmas shop and this is what it looks like August 1, 2016 Is that a little bit of Scrooge spirit we sense spreading across the capital? That would be because Selfridges became the world's first department store to open its Christmas shop. Bah, humbug. The retailer has put 50,000 decorations on display, with plans to expand the store later this year to accommodate another 70,000 decorations. When the [...]
Focus on Notting Hill property: Prices may have fallen, but is it all down to stamp duty reform? May 19, 2016 Notting Hill hasn’t been having the best of weeks, if truth be told. On Tuesday, a report from estate agent Stirling Ackroyd revealed that average house prices had fallen in several prime central London locations. In W11, they’ve gone down by 10 per cent from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of [...]
Veri-hoo? The $4.83bn Verizon Yahoo deal is go – here’s what you need to know July 25, 2016 It's official: the US telecoms firm Verizon has snapped up the messy internet business of Yahoo in a deal worth $4.83bn (£3.7bn). That includes such things as Yahoo's online search, Yahoo Mail and instant messaging, and – perhaps most importantly – its ad business. Yahoo first announced it was on the chopping block earlier this year several firms [...]