Rachel Reeves eyes boost for first-time buyers with mortgage reforms July 15, 2025 Rachel Reeves will today unveil a fleet of reforms in a bid to boost home ownership as she plans to slash ‘financial red tape’. Speaking in Leeds ahead of her Mansion House address, the Chancellor will announce plans for the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to increase high loan-to-income mortgages (over 4.5 times a buyer’s income) [...]
First-time buyers ‘becoming less reliant on parents’ April 8, 2025 First-time buyers are completing on their homes with less help from their parents – albeit slightly later in life – according to new data. First-time buyers who received money from a friend or family member went from 34 per cent of buyers in the first quarter of 2024 to just under 30 in the first [...]
Property and the Spring Statement: Is anything going to change? March 24, 2025 Labour faces some tough choices with its Spring Statement: after increasing business taxes and public spending last autumn, the government now has to grapple with unhappy companies and a maxed-out credit card. The last budget was a mixed bag for the property market: there was widespread concern amongst landlords that the government would hike up [...]
The end of stamp duty relief isn’t the only cost going up for first-time buyers February 11, 2025 First-time buyers (FTBs) are facing higher costs across the board as they grapple with not only high stamp duty fees, but a low stock of affordable houses, more stringent lending requirements and higher upfront costs. First and foremost, stamp duty relief is set to end on March 31, which has driven a significant boost in [...]
Property analysts forecast strong spring as stamp duty deadline looms January 10, 2025 Activity in the UK’s property market closely followed government policies on tax last year, something set to continue as the reality of the stamp duty deadline sinks in for first-time buyers. Real estate experts have predicted a burst of activity in early spring ahead of the end of stamp duty relief for first homes, which [...]
London rents rise again as house prices hold: ‘It is nothing short of brutal’ December 18, 2024 Rents in London have continued to show double-digits rises despite a stablisation in the housing market and lower mortgage rates. Average UK private rents increased by 9.1 per cent in the 12 months to November 2024, with rents in London up 11.6 per cent, according to the latest ONS figures. Propertymark chief Nathan Emerson called [...]
Housing market braces for the New Year rush December 16, 2024 The housing market is getting ready for a big Boxing Day bounce following a seasonal dip in house prices this month. New seller asking prices dropped by 1.7 per cent in December to £360,197, according to Rightmove, but ended the year 1.4 per cent above December last year. Activity remained substantially stronger than the same [...]
UK housing market returns to growth as north outpaces south November 29, 2024 Zoopla has predicted positive house price growth in all regions and counties of the UK in 2025, with the north expected to outpace the south. The real estate platform has forecast sales growth at five per cent and house price growth at 2.5 per cent across the UK, with the fastest price increases in Northern [...]
First-time buyers could see huge tax hit under rumored Budget change October 28, 2024 First-time buyers could see huge tax hit under changes rumored to be included in the Autumn budget. It has been rumoured that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will rule out any changes to stamp duty land tax in the Budget. Stamp duty land tax currently applies to homes costing over £250,000, but in March [...]
Purplebricks boss: Rental market is ‘completely broken’ and is a ‘disaster for first-time buyers’ October 15, 2024 The rental market is "completely broken" and is a "disaster for first-time buyers", the boss of Purplebricks has said.