Conservatives: 20pc off house prices for first-time buyers under 40 September 27, 2014 The conservatives have announced that if they are voted in at the next general election in May, people under 40 will be able to buy their first homes for 20 per cent less than market value. Prime Minister David Cameron revealed the plan ahead of the Conservatives' annual party conference starting tomorrow. He said [...]
This time next year we’ll be millionaires: How have iconic TV house prices risen? September 26, 2014 After making – and losing – their fortune, Del Boy and Rodney might be pleased to know their flat at Nelson Mandela House could have been helping them towards their much-hoped-for millionaire status all along. Only Fools and Horses characters' iconic Peckham home may not have looked like much when the show started back [...]
Labour MPs speak out out against Ed Miliband’s mansion tax proposals September 25, 2014 LABOUR MPs yesterday hit out against Ed Miliband’s plan for a “mansion tax” on £2m-plus homes, which he has pledged to introduce to boost spending on the NHS. Hampstead MP Glenda Jackson joined Labour colleagues David Lammy and Margaret Hodge in warning that pensioners without the income to pay for the tax were likely to [...]
London house price growth outstripped by Dublin September 24, 2014 We thought the rate of house price growth in London was extreme – but new figures show it has been outpaced by that in Dublin. House prices in the Irish capital grew by 25.1 per cent in the year to August, easily outstripping London's 19.1 per cent rise. The two markets are, of course, coming [...]
London house prices make it the world’s most expensive city September 23, 2014 London is the world's most expensive city, according to a new report. High property costs (the average price just went over £500,000 according to the ONS), high transports costs and expensive drinks have long been the bane of Londoners, and now a new report from Savills, an estate agent, has calculated London to top its [...]
Labour Party Conference: Critics slam Miliband’s mansion tax plans September 23, 2014 Ed Miliband today confirmed Labour's plans to introduce a "mansion tax" on homes worth more than £2m – but his plans have already met with criticism. Nick Leeming, chairman of national estate agents Jackson-Stops & Staff, has dubbed it the "Downton Abbey view of politics" claiming it is "distorting" the view of who owns homes [...]
No more UK house price bubble? Mortgage approvals fall to a 12-month low in August September 23, 2014 This could be the end of the house-buying frenzy of early 2014. New mortgage approvals hit their lowest since September last year in August, figures by the British Banking Association showed today, with just 41,588 new mortgages approved during the month, down from 42,715 in July, and 14.1 per cent lower than January's 76-month high [...]
Miliband to tax mansions to fund new NHS splurge September 22, 2014 ED MILIBAND will today deliver a key pre-election speech at his party’s annual conference in Manchester, in which he is widely expected to announce a funding boost for the NHS. Miliband is thought to have found a way to pay for a budget increase for the health service as he seeks to position Labour as [...]
UK house prices soar as lack of homes fuels cost of living crisis September 22, 2014 House building in the UK has been in a continual state of decline since the 1970s, making it harder to own a home and to pay rent, according to a report released yesterday. In the several years preceding the financial crisis, just under 200,000 houses were completed per year – half the number that [...]
Ed Miliband to announce mansion tax to improve NHS health and social care September 22, 2014 Ed Milliband is set to announce a "mansion tax" to fund new an NHS spending increase. In a speech tomorrow to party activists in Manchester the Labour leader will announce the plan to tax properties worth more than £2m, with the proceeds paying for improvements in health and social care. With the election fast approaching, Miliband [...]