If you can’t afford your mortgage: What the FCA’s lender guidance means for borrowers March 10, 2023 Successive interest rate rises are increasing mortgage costs for millions of borrowers, according to both regulators, lenders and advisers. One of the main City watchdog shas estimated an extra 356,000 mortgage borrowers could face payment difficulties by the end of June 2024, in addition to those who are already behind. The Financial Conduct Authority has issued final [...]
Beleaguered estate agent Purplebricks has ‘several credible expressions’ to buy firm March 1, 2023 Bosses at struggling online estate agent Purplebricks launched a formal process to sell the business after several potential buyers expressed an interest in recent weeks. The company said it had received the approaches after saying in mid-February that it would review its future. Then, the business said “the potential of the group may be better [...]
Total UK housing wealth breaches £7 trillion for first time amid ‘race for space’ February 27, 2023 Net UK housing wealth exceeded £7 trillion for the first time last year, according to calculations from an estate agent. The total value of UK homes reached £8.68 trillion at the end of 2022, Savills said. With outstanding mortgage debt standing at £1.66 trillion, according to Bank of England records, Savills calculated that net housing [...]
Double stamp duty surcharge for overseas buyers to ‘level’ UK property market for locals, urges lobby group February 13, 2023 The UK government should double the stamp duty surcharge overseas buyers must pay when purchasing a property in England, an industry lobby group has said. The National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) said doubling the stamp duty surcharge would “level the playing field” amid an influx of “wealthy foreign buyers”. Under current rules, overseas buyers [...]
House prices: Zoopla says UK property market is off to ‘slow burn start’ with London flats in most demand January 30, 2023 The housing market in the UK has got off to a slow in 2023 with demand for cheaper, smaller properties on the rise as recession fears continue to wobble the market, according to estate agent Zoopla. Zoopla’s house price index appeared to show that buyers were holding off from entering the market and were biding [...]
Persimmon warns of sales slide as interest rate rises push up the cost of mortgages January 12, 2023 Persimmon achieved sales at the top end of its 2022 guidance, despite the mortgage crisis and the wider economic downturn in the second half of the year. The York headquartered company, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, sold 14,868 new homes last year a rise of two per cent compared to 14,551 in 2021. The [...]
London rental market: Why rents might finally stop climbing so fast in 2023 January 3, 2023 London’s rental market is showing signs of “stabilising” with prices beginning to slow despite demand remaining high – meaning rents may finally start to slow their aggressive recent climb in the capital. Estate agency Chestertons has warned that 2023 will still be disrupted by pandemic shifts in supply, but renters may have an easier time [...]
The Yanks are coming: Weak sterling sees Americans pile into London property January 3, 2023 The fall in the value of the pound in 2022 saw a host of wealthy American buyers pick up high-end London property on the cheap, according to a new report. In so-called ‘prime central London,’ some 50 per cent of property transactions over £15m completed in 2022 involved American buyers according to analysis by real [...]
House price growth falls for fourth consecutive month, worst run since 2008 December 30, 2022 House prices have plummeted for the fourth consecutive month by 2.8 per cent in December, the worst run since the financial crisis of 2008. Nationwide’s latest House Price Index shows this month proved to be another sharp slow down in growth down from 4.4 per cent in November. House prices fell by 0.1 per cent [...]
London calling: Capital regains prize as most searched-for property location December 21, 2022 The allure of the countryside during the pandemic has subsided as searches for homes in London have spiked to their highest levels since going into lockdown. Cornwall and Devon held the most searched-for locations for several months in 2021, now Brits are looking to head back to the capital, research from online property agent Rightmove [...]