2015 was a record year for new car registrations – but VW has lost January 7, 2016 Everyone's a petrolhead now. The year 2015 was a record year for new car registrations, new figures have shown, with 2.63m new vehicles registered during the year – up 6.3 per cent from last year. That was boosted by December – the biggest on record – during which 180,077 new cars were registered, up 8.4 per [...]
UK house prices: Sales to first time buyers rise by almost a quarter in 2015 as deposit costs drop January 5, 2016 First-time buyer sales rose at their fastest rate in November since August 2007 as the cost of owning a first home continued to fall. An estimated 31,300 first-time purchases were completed in November, up 23.7 per cent on the same month last year, according to figures released today by estate agents Your Move and Reeds [...]
UK house prices: There are now 10 buyers for each property on the market – with first-time buyers hit hardest January 4, 2016 Thinking of putting your house on the market this year? Now's the time to do it, after new figures suggested there are now 10 prospective buyers for each property on the market. The National Association of Estate Agents' (NAEA) November Housing Market Report showed the number of house-hunters grew 20 per cent in during the [...]
Londoners buying property outside the capital hits highest rate in eight years December 26, 2015 Eye-watering property prices forced Londoners to leave the capital at their highest rate for eight years in 2015, as they spent £24bn on homes outside of the city. 63,000 homes outside the capital were purchased by Londoners in the past year – a two-thirds increase on the 38,000 purchased in 2014 – as house prices continued to skyrocket in the capital. According [...]
UK house prices: Home ownership is a distant dream even for middle England December 20, 2015 Almost half of people who don't own their own home believe they never will as the time needed to save for a deposit hits an astonishing 24 years. Even a quarter of the richest of non-home owners think they will never get a foot on the first rung of the property ladder, new research reveals. "Low to middle [...]
It’s time for radical solutions to address London’s housing crisis December 17, 2015 As MP since 2001 for the most central London constituency, I cannot recall a time when housing issues have not dominated my postbag. No surprise, perhaps, when UK buyers compete for a limited supply of homes with a global citizenry seeking its own slice of prime London. But I have also witnessed how the polarisation [...]
The Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme is boosting high loan-to-value lending December 17, 2015 The government's Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, which offers greater protection for lenders, is boosting high loan-to-value (LTV) lending, according to new figures released today. The number of mortgage deals offering loans equal to 95 per cent of the value of a property climbed to 260 in November, the data from mortgage insurer Genworth [...]
UK house price growth hits its highest since March – and that’s before buy-to-let investors began the rush December 15, 2015 UK house prices grew seven per cent in the year to October, their highest growth since March. The average house price rose to £287,000, up from £286,000 in September, the Office for National Statistics said, as the prospect for low interest rates continued to fuel the market. The largest increase was experienced in the East of England, [...]
The definitive guide to where you can afford to buy a home: Unless you earn £42,645 forget about living in London December 14, 2015 Where in the UK can you afford a house? If you're a first-time buyer, the answer is "very few places". If you earn under £42,645 per year, you’re going to struggle to find anywhere in the capital. Use the tool below on desktop to find out where you can afford to buy, based on the interest rate on [...]
Getting onto the housing ladder is £2,300 a year cheaper than renting, says Santander December 14, 2015 First-time buyers could save £2,300 a year by getting on the property ladder compared to renting, according to research by Santander Mortgages. The average monthly rent in the UK is currently £995 compared to monthly repayments of £805 for the average first-time buyer household, meaning buyers could save £190 a month, the lender said. In [...]