First-time home buyers should get a mortgage rather than rent, says Halifax February 15, 2015 Record low mortgage rates are contributing to a market where it is cheaper for first-time buyers to buy rather than rent. The average monthly cost associated with a first-time buyer buying a three bedroom house was £658 in December, according to figures released by mortgage lender Halifax at the weekend. It compares to an average [...]
Outgoing Morrisons boss Dalton Philips puts £1.65m York home up for sale February 15, 2015 WM Morrison outgoing chief Dalton Philips has put his £1.65m York townhouse up for sale, giving The Capitalist and all you other curtain-twitching, Kirsty Allsopp-watching property clickers a welcome chance to snoop through his home. And what a house you can get for that money in York! The tasteful five-bedroom listed Georgian pile comes complete [...]
Kensington and Chelsea leads fall in London house prices after boom peters out February 12, 2015 London house prices stalled in December, dipping 1.1 per cent on the month, LSL Property Services said today. The fall does not unwind all of the gains of the boom-period, as prices are still up 13.9 per cent on the year to stand at an average of £576,093. Kensington and Chelsea has the most expensive houses [...]
Forget slowing UK house prices, Redrow just doubled its profits February 11, 2015 The figures Redrow, the British housebuilder, has revealed a bumper set of half-year results (to 31 December) this morning, showing revenue up 54 per cent to £560.6m and pre-tax profit up 92 per cent to £91.2m, in a rosy assessment of the market’s demand for new homes. The impressive results allowed the group to double [...]
The cost of renting this medieval castle has fallen 14 per cent in 18 months February 9, 2015 It seems the cost of being an Englishman has fallen over the past two years, after the price of renting a castle has fallen 14 per cent. Or at least, that's if Bellister Castle is anything to go by: the property has just come up for rent, at a significant discount to last time it [...]
House prices climb over winter February 5, 2015 THE HOUSING market boom that saw price growth peak at 10.2 per cent year-on-year in July may not be over, according to one of the UK’s biggest mortgage lenders. House prices jumped two per cent in January – the biggest monthly increase since 2009, figures released yesterday by Halifax show. The average house price in the [...]
UK house prices come roaring back in January: Mortgage rates, stamp duty or just an outlier? February 5, 2015 The night is always darkest before the dawn, but house prices have skipped the daybreak formalities to come bouncing back. According to Halifax, the figures are bullish: 1.9 per cent quarterly growth hasn’t been seen since September, and the two per cent monthly bounce hasn’t been bested since last February. Annually, and perhaps most reliably, [...]
Hedge funds hit back at Labour over tax row after Ed Miliband queries stamp duty avoidance February 4, 2015 Hedge funds have hit back at Labour’s proposals to impose a new tax on them, after Ed Miliband called for a change in current stamp duty arrangements. During Prime Minster’s questions yesterday, Miliband repeatedly asked Prime Minister David Cameron about “hedge funds avoiding stamp duty on their share transactions”, prompting an angry response from the [...]
Focus on Beckenham: Rising London house prices make this a south east hotspot January 29, 2015 Moving out to the sticks to start a family is hardly a new phenomenon, but the rapid rise of inner city house prices means more people are re-evaluating where the sticks start and the rat race begins. As a result, areas like Beckenham, once the preserve of the affluent suburban family, are starting to appeal [...]
UK house price growth slowest since 2013 January 29, 2015 House prices in the UK have risen at the slowest pace in more than a year, according to the latest figures from building society Nationwide, a further sign that the UK housing market is cooling. Annual house price growth slowed for the fifth month straight to 6.8 per cent this month, down from 7.2 per [...]