House prices fall in largest annual drop since 2009 as inflation and higher borrowing costs dampen property market March 31, 2023 House prices fell 3.1 per cent in March, the largest annual decline since July 2009 as consumer confidence remained weak and household budgets came under increasing pressure from high inflation. According to data from Nationwide, East Anglia, which was the strongest performing region last quarter, saw a significant slowdown, with prices falling 1.8 per cent [...]
A quarter of private renters in England don’t ask for repairs for fear of eviction March 30, 2023 A quarter of renters in England don’t ask for repairs in their homes for fear of eviction, a survey has found. The polling, conducted by YouGov for homelessness charity Shelter, found 76 per cent of private renters had experienced disrepair in the past year, and 51 per cent experienced damp or mould. An additional 31 [...]
Controversial Help to Buy policy to boost home ownership to end tomorrow March 30, 2023 A flagship policy to boost home ownership among young people will come to an end tomorrow. The Help to Buy Scheme, launched in 2013, will be wound up, after more than 350,000 people used it to buy their first home, with more than £2.2bn of support last year. But some property experts have warned the [...]
Mortgage approvals snap back following mini budget chaos, but net lending at lowest since 2016 March 29, 2023 Mortgage approvals have improved for the first time since August, as the market begins to shake off the stress of the mini-budget, however experts have warned that the housing market will “remain price sensitive”. According to the Bank of England’s Money and Credit report for February, net mortgage approvals for house purchases increased to 43,500 [...]
Bellway: How a spring uplift in the property market is giving housebuilder cause for optimism March 28, 2023 Bellway has said homebuyer demand has started to improve after seeing reservations plunge by nearly 50 per cent due to soaring mortgage rates. The housebuilder group, whose headquarters are in Newcastle, reported underlying pre-tax profits falling 4.6 per cent to £312.1 million for the six months to January 31. It delivered record revenues, up 1.6 [...]
Moorgate moves: Why a Malaysian property fund is betting big on Deutsche’s London HQ March 28, 2023 A MALAYSIAN property fund has teamed up with London-based Castleforge to buy Deutsche Bank’s current London base in Moorgate for just over a quarter of a billion – in what amounts to a big bet on London’s commercial property market and the ‘flight to quality’ in office space. Castleforge and its Malaysian partner Gamuda plan to refurbish [...]
Complaints over unsafe housing taking a year to resolve after campaign to speed it up March 28, 2023 Social housing tenants are being forced to wait 12 months or more for the housing ombudsman to deal with complaints of unsafe conditions, despite a government campaign to speed up the process. Earlier this year, Michael Gove, the Housing Secretary, launched the “Make it Right” advertising campaign, directing people to complain to the housing ombudsman [...]
Exclusive: Home REIT’s biggest tenant dished out £1.2m to bosses before bankruptcy March 27, 2023 The three bosses of Home REIT’s now-bankrupt biggest tenant pocketed over £1.2m last year even as the firm struggled to pay rent and slumped to a multi-million-pound loss, City A.M. can reveal. Gurpaal Judge, the chief of Wolverhampton-based social housing provider Lotus Housing, hiked his own and two directors’ pay to £1.2m in 2022 – [...]
Belvoir weathered mini budget interest rate storm with small dip in profit March 27, 2023 Belvoir reported a small dip in pre-tax profit this morning as its chief cited a “general pressure on interest rates” from the mini-budget for its results. For the year, the London-listed property firm reported pre-tax profits dip two per cent to £9.1m from £9.3m, saying the budget from Liz Truss shook the market. The Lincolnshire headquartered [...]
Michael Gove: Four more firms signed up to Grenfell safety contracts after being named and shamed March 24, 2023 Michael Gove said four more companies have signed up to post-Grenfell building safety contracts after he named and shamed some of the firms earlier this month that had not signed up to the agreement. The Communities Secretary had given companies until March 13 to sign up to the agreement aimed at addressing cladding issues following [...]