Budget 2016 predictions: When is it and the key points Chancellor George Osborne will cover in his speech? March 16, 2016 Last year we had three of them. So far we've made it through two months without one, but fear not campers – there's a new Budget in town. This is everything you need to know about this month's fiscal update from the government. When is the Budget 2016 and how to watch live Chancellor George Osborne is [...]
Blockchain, the technology behind digital currency bitcoin, makes a splash in insurance to offer a solution to homeowners renting out part of their property March 10, 2016 SafeShare is making digital waves by launching the first blockchain-based insurance solution for the sharing economy on the market. The insurance startup, in partnership with Vrumi, is offering the product, which was created with Z/Yen Group and using open source timestamp service MetroGnomo, to homeowners. Sharing economy firm Vrumi allows homeowners with extra rooms to [...]
UK house prices: More than £63bn properties have been bought using cash instead of mortgages since 2011 March 8, 2016 More than £63bn has been spent on £1m-plus homes over the last five years by buyers using hard cash as opposed to mortgages, new figures show. High net worth adviser Bower Private Clients said 7,200 homes worth more than £1m are being bought on average each year alone without the help of a mortgage. This is [...]
UK house prices: Stamp duty changes should be linked to carbon emissions – Think tank PolicyExchange March 2, 2016 A leading think tank has called for homebuyers who choose properties that perform poorly on energy efficiency to pay more stamp duty. Under the proposal by London-based Policy Exchange, a £220,000 house with a poor energy efficiency rating would see stamp duty rise 30 per cent from £1,900 to £2,470. However, those buying an energy efficient home of the same value [...]
UK house prices: two thirds of workers earned less than the average property last year February 26, 2016 Two out of five UK workers (38 per cent) earned less than the average home in the last 12 months, a new study by Post Office Money claims. The Cost of Buying & Moving report, which was compiled by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) found that average house prices rose by seven per cent – [...]
London house prices: Thousands of London homes are left vacant long-term February 21, 2016 Despite a chronic housing shortage in the capital, tens of thousands of homes in London are left vacant on a long-term basis, according to new data. More than 22,000 homes have been left empty by their owners for more than six months, despite soaring rents and property prices, data obtained under Freedom of Information by the [...]
UK house prices: Britain’s property millionaires are set to triple by 2030 – as one in four London homes hit £1m February 18, 2016 Worried about how exactly to become a millionaire after the Adam Smith Institute's predictions this week that we will all be hitting the millionaire milestone by 2050? Not to fear – your property will do most of the work for you, according to new research out today that forecasts that the number UK properties worth at [...]
London house prices: South Ruislip the hottest property spot on the Tube map as Crossrail boosts prices in Zones Three and Four February 15, 2016 When you're thinking of the hottest property spots in London, Hillingdon's finest South Ruislip might not be the first location to pass your lips. But the Zone Five station has named London's most in-demand neighbourhood out of the 280 Tube stations on the network, with 75 per cent of available properties selling within the last three [...]
Home ownership is becoming a pipe dream for younger workers, think tank warns February 13, 2016 Owning a home is set to become a pipe dream for young workers on modest incomes, according to new research. Data from the Resolution Foundation found it is becoming increasingly difficult for young people on modest incomes to get onto the housing ladder, with just one in 10 set to be a homeowner by 2025. [...]
UK property prices are rising at twice the pace of wages as housing activity picks up February 11, 2016 House prices are now rising at twice the pace of earnings after a resurgence in demand at the start of the year, new research today shows. Prices rose 0.2 per cent – or £688 – in January, taking the average value of a property in England and Wales above £290,000, according to estate agents Reeds Rains [...]