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 [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: Stamp duty changes are a kick in the teeth and may be the final straw for some landlords November 25, 2015 Today's big headlines may be about the tax-credits u-turn, but one of the most significant of the chancellor's announcements was the new additional rate of stamp duty on buy-to-let properties and second homes. This additional three per cent will come as a kick in the teeth for landlords who've already had to cope with the loss [...]
Will Brexit knock house prices? Not in prime central London May 13, 2016 In a bid to sway voters, George Osborne is predicting Armageddon in every economic sector as the collateral damage of Brexit. This week he pointed the finger at property prices, predicting a significant dampening if the UK votes to leave. The chancellor is correct that the property market does stall in the face of investor uncertainty, [...]
Land Registry: London house prices hit half million-pound mark October 28, 2015 UK house prices rose by 5.3 per cent in the year to September, with the price of an average London property reaching half a million pounds for the first time, Land Registry figures show. London posted the biggest annual rise of 9.6 per cent in September and also outpaced the rest of the UK on a [...]
Autumn Statement 2015 buy-to-let advice for landlords: After the chancellor’s stamp duty hike, what should investors do? November 27, 2015 The chancellor's announcement of a three per cent stamp duty levy on non-primary residences – specifically buy-to-let investments and second homes – caught many by surprise. This change is an incredibly blunt instrument to deal with a complex set of housing market issues. In principle, it will reduce the competition between first-time buyers and investors for many [...]
Why more private developers are looking to buy up the air rights above your building and make a fortune September 28, 2016 It isn’t hard to find a property expert claiming the future of the London housing market is up in the air. But there’s a growing band of developers who agree with them, albeit in a more literal sense. Smaller housebuilders have to get creative when looking for viable development opportunities, and for an ambitious few, [...]
UK and London house prices: How long does it take to save a deposit for a property? 104 years for people in Brighton October 20, 2015 Wannabe homeowners in Brighton are worse off than Londoners when it comes to jumping onto the first rung of the property ladder. A resident in the town would need to save for more than 104 years to amass a deposit for a property in the area, based on average salaries and property prices, The average cost of a [...]
London house prices broke the £600k barrier for the first time in April, according to the latest House Price Index from Your Move and Reed Rains May 12, 2016 London house prices broke through the £600,000 barrier for the first time in April, while the value of homes in the capital has almost doubled over the past seven years. Property prices in London have risen 11 per cent (£59,605) since this time last year, surpassing all other regions of England and Wales, according to the latest House [...]
British home transactions jump in June July 21, 2015 THE HOUSING market picked up pace in June as both buyers and sellers returned to the market after shaking off uncertainty from the General Election. There were 104,590 residential property transactions in June, according to figures released yesterday by HMRC. It marks a 16-month high as well as a 4.7 per cent jump on May. [...]
Budget 2015: Young first-time home buyers given a helping hand with Help to Buy Isa March 18, 2015 With fewer young people able to afford to buy a home, the Budget aims to help them out. Tim Wallace asks: Will it work? Can you imagine paying £22,000 for a flat? It sounds like a joke now, but it was the average price of a first-time buyer’s home in Britain in 1984. It was [...]