Stamp duty abolished for first-time buyers on purchases of up to £300,000 November 22, 2017 The government has used the Autumn Budget to abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers on purchases of up to £300,000. First-time buyers will also receive a stamp duty holiday for the first £300,000 on purchases up to £500,000. Read more: Come again? Two-thirds of Nimbys are worried about rising house prices Launching the policy, the [...]
How the Budget could affect your personal finances, and what you should do if it does November 22, 2017 Philip Hammond hasn’t got it easy. Putting a Budget together is difficult at the best of times, but with Brexit looming large over the UK, producing a financial plan for our economy is now a hell of a lot harder. In such an uncertain time, how can Hammond hope to offer the stability the [...]
Autumn Budget 2017: Chancellor Philip Hammond’s speech in full November 22, 2017 You can read the chancellor's Budget speech in full here: Mr Deputy Speaker I report today on an economy that continues to grow, continues to create more jobs than ever before and continues to confound those who seek to talk it down. An economy set on a path to a new relationship with our European [...]
Autumn Budget 2017: Pressure piles on chancellor Philip Hammond to boost the Tories, save his own job and keep Theresa May in place November 22, 2017 Philip Hammond is facing one of the most challenging days since he became chancellor: unveil a radical, game-changing, vote-winning Budget with enough gimmes to appeal to the youth, while not spending money he doesn’t have or putting up taxes and alienating the party’s core voter. He must tread a tightrope today – one misstep either [...]
Will Budget 2017 affect UK house prices? Here’s what Philip Hammond’s Budget will mean for property sales November 20, 2017 As with most Budgets, this Wednesday’s fiscal extravaganza has been heavily trailed by the government – so it should come as a surprise to few that one of the main focuses is expected to be solving the UK’s housing crisis. In advance of the speech, Theresa May has hinted at policies to “build more houses, [...]
Opinion: Should Philip Hammond scrap stamp duty or reform it? Either way, these first time buyers think something has to be done November 17, 2017 Scrap stamp duty – revenue should not come at the expense of working people by Jack Brentnall Benjamin Franklin famously said that our only certainties in life are death and taxes. Thankfully, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) does not have to be such a certainty. Considering the context of the current housing crisis, it is [...]
The avocado toast generation needs houses, not lectures on frugality November 17, 2017 The avocado toast generation just can’t catch a break. On Tuesday, a contrarian estate agent published a report guaranteed to antagonise everyone under 40, claiming that a millennial couple could easily save up the £90,000 average deposit for a first home in London, if only they spent less on silly things like sandwiches and lottery [...]
Focus On Forest Hill: Meet the up-and-coming part of south east London that’s been dubbed the “new nappy valley” November 16, 2017 Like a lot of south east London, Forest Hill likes to keep a low profile – lest anyone find out just how good it is. But as the affordability crisis forces more and more Londoners to search the nooks and crannies of the capital for decent housing, many of them have alighted upon this useful [...]
Area guide for property in Richmond November 15, 2017 In a list compiled by accountancy firm Grant Thornton last year of the most “vibrant” places in England to live and work, Richmond-upon-Thames was the only place in London to qualify for the list. With more green space than anywhere else in the capital – and its biggest, most deer-stuffed Royal Park – Richmond is [...]
Housebuilder share prices are being pushed lower for the second day: Redrow, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and Berkeley Group drop November 9, 2017 Shares in housebuilders tumbled for the second consecutive day this morning, after a double whammy of bad news from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and housebuilder Redrow spooked investors. On the FTSE 100, Persimmon was the biggest faller, dropping 2.6 per cent, but Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and Berkeley Group all slid lower. On [...]