Thousands of £250,000 starter homes are about to be built (outside London) January 3, 2017 Housing minister Gavin Barwell has given the green light for the construction of thousands of new starter homes outside of the capital. Built on brownfield sites, the new homes are designed for first-time buyers between 23 and 40 years old, and will be sold at a discount of 20 per cent below market value, with [...]
From Southern rail’s backfiring poster to Google’s April Fool prank gone wrong: Six of the most memorable business blunders of 2016 January 1, 2017 2016 has been an interesting year to say the least. There has of course been a plethora of notable political events over the past 12 months, but there’s also been plenty going on in the business world. With that in mind, here are some of the most memorable company clangers from over the year – from [...]
UK house price growth has edged up from its November low December 29, 2016 December may traditionally be a bad time to try to sell your house – but UK house prices bucked the trend this month, with growth edging up from their low in November. Nationwide's house price index showed prices rose 4.5 per cent in the year to December, up from 4.4 per cent in November, its [...]
All I want for Christmas is… an ultra-hard Brexit (and nine other pro-growth policy wishes) December 22, 2016 Here is my Christmas wish list for Santa. Ten policy measures which, if implemented, would make future growth prospects truly joyous, with Christmas every day of the week. But these are also economic policy measures Santa won’t be too familiar with, as he boards his sleigh somewhere north of the Nordic economies. I don’t pretend [...]
One in five first time buyers have been given a hand by Help to Buy December 15, 2016 One in five house purchases made by first time buyers are now being supported by the government's Help to Buy Isa. The scheme, which was started on 1 December last year, gives aspiring home owners a 25 per cent boost to their savings when buying a property worth £250,000 or less. The price limit rises to [...]
Loans to home buyers fell in October December 14, 2016 Loans to home buyers fell by eight per cent in October, despite the amount borrowers are paying towards interest rates hitting a historic low. First-time buyers borrowed £4.5bn, a monthly decrease of eight per cent, and a year-on-year drop of two per cent, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Read more: [...]
UK House prices are on course to fall below £300,000 in December December 12, 2016 The UK's house prices are on course to fall below £300,000 in December – and house price growth is likely to weaken next year, new figures have shown. The Rightmove House Price Index showed prices are on course to fall 2.1 per cent in December, after a 1.1 per cent fall in November. That will put [...]
Revealed: The “deeply worrying” decline of buy-to-let sales after the government’s “war on landlords” December 9, 2016 Sales of buy-to-let homes have plummeted more than half in the last 12 months, after the government launched a "war on landlords". Figures by estate agent Haart showed the number of properties sold as rental homes in England and Wales fell 63.7 per cent in the year to November, while the number of landlords registering [...]
The London luxury properties that have had their prices slashed by over 30 per cent December 7, 2016 London's high-end homes are in crisis. House prices in prime central London have been falling since 2014, when former chancellor George Osborne slapped higher rates of stamp duty on homes worth over £1m. This year, he introduced a further three per cent hike for people buying second homes. Read more: This is how far house prices have fallen [...]
Remortgaging valuations surge and drive rest of mortgage market as homeowners try to lock in low interest rate deals December 7, 2016 Homeowners scrambling to lock into mortgage deals before a rise in interest rates drove remortgaging valuations to surge almost 25 per cent year-on-year in November. Remortgaging outperformed all other mortgage market valuation activity last month, according to research from Connells Survey & Valuation, rising 4.9 per cent compared to October. Read more: Time to remortgage? [...]