Shared Ownership Week: So what is it anyway? October 5, 2015 Like the sound of Shared Ownership, but not sure how it works? Katie Bond, director of housing association Notting Hill Home Ownership (NHHO), is here to set the record straight for Shared Ownership Week (5-11 October). What is a Shared Ownership scheme and who is it meant to help? Shared Ownership is where you [...]
A place in the sun: Your guide to buying a home in Spain October 5, 2015 Many Londoners have a hankering to buy a second home abroad, and Spain ranks as one of the most popular places to own one. There are officially 750,000 British people living in Spain, and thousands more who own property but live in the UK. Spain’s economy was hit hard by the financial crisis, and [...]
Breaking the Bank: What will rising UK interest rates mean for P2P lending? October 5, 2015 The Bank of England will soon need to rediscover the use of its trigger finger and fire the starting gun on interest rate rises. Still expected to be slow and steady, tightening policy after nearly seven years of ultra cheap money will nevertheless have a sizeable impact on everything and everyone, pushing up borrowing costs [...]
Paying the professionals: Do I need a wealth manager? October 5, 2015 Annabelle Williams explains when it’s worth enlisting the help of a professional Getting your affairs in order is complicated and many people will have considered enlisting the services of a wealth manager, either on an ad-hoc or more permanent basis. But when do you need one, and what should you sort out first? DO [...]
Pensions reform: Lump sums don’t mean Lamborghinis as Britain’s savers are still being prudent October 5, 2015 Pensioners were expected to be buying up Lamborghinis in droves this summer, after landmark pension freedoms came into effect in April. The new system allows people over 55 to take some – or even all – of their pension as a lump sum. It wipes away old restrictions which only let retirees have a [...]
Powder White’s co-founder Fraser Ewart-White on ski lifts, Khazakstan and the credit crunch October 4, 2015 When do the best business ideas come to you? For Fraser Ewart-White, it was while swinging on a chair-lift 1500m above sea level. Ewart-White had recently left his job as head of buying at the entertainment company Blockbuster, turning his back on his career to study for an MBA and, among other great ambitions, to [...]
UK house prices: The property market is mired in uncertainty – brace for higher prices and polarised demand September 30, 2015 It is time for a big think about UK house prices. Does anybody know which way they will turn? Whether we’re looking at the short term or the long term, a tremendous amount of uncertainty abounds. Looking at the short-term outlook, latest figures from the Halifax show prices rising by 9 per cent year-on-year, [...]
Nationwide: Annual UK house price growth edges up September 30, 2015 Annual UK house price growth rose in September for the first time since May, figures by Nationwide have shown – although the figure was a far cry from the same period this time last year. Prices rose 3.8 per cent in the year to September – up from August's 3.2 per cent, but considerably lower [...]
UK house prices: Home lending mortgage products reach post-crisis high September 30, 2015 The number of mortgage products on the market for homebuyers to choose from are at their highest level since 2008, as competition among lenders intensifies, new figures show. A total of 15,838 mortgage products were available in August, up 10 per cent on July when there were 14,395 products and the biggest monthly percentage rise [...]
Land Registry: UK house price growth in August at lowest level in two years September 28, 2015 House prices rose by 4.2 per cent year-on-year in August, according to the latest survey from Land Registry. This is the weakest annual pace since November 2013 and compares with an annual growth of 4.7 per cent in July. The average value of all properties across the UK – now £184,682 – was up 0.5 [...]