Uncategorised

The government’s housing planning system is unable to demonstrate it is meeting housing demand effectively, public spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. The government wants 300,000 new homes a year from the mid-2020s onwards. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has a standard method, developed in 2017, for local authorities […]

The average price of a property in the UK dropped by 2.9% in January according to the latest Halifax house price index. As a result, the average property is now worth £223,691. It’s the second time in the last three years that house prices have started a new year with a fall, and a stark […]

The annual rise in house prices “almost ground to a complete halt” in January, according to the latest survey from the Nationwide. Prices grew by just 0.1% from a year earlier, the building society said, down from an annual rate of 0.5% in December. The Nationwide said prices edged up 0.3% in January compared with […]

The number of loans given to borrowers taking their first step on the ladder increased 5.8 per cent year on year, making up £6bn of new lending – a 9.1 per cent increase. At the same time, new buy-to-let mortgages dropped nine per cent year on year to 6,100. The deals were worth £0.8bn of […]

The City regulator is planning a change of rules that could lower the housing costs of thousands of so-called “mortgage prisoners”. Some 140,000 homeowners are trapped on high interest-rate home loans with unregulated or inactive firms, and are unable to switch to a cheaper deal. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has now said it is […]

UK house prices grew at an annual pace of 0.5% in December, the Nationwide building society has said, the slowest annual rate since February 2013. The lender says uncertainty over the economic outlook appears to be undermining confidence in the market. London and surrounding areas saw a small fall in house prices in 2018. Northern […]

Around 367,038 first-time buyers secured mortgages in 2018, up from 362,800 in 2017, according to figures released by Yorkshire Building Society. The analysis indicated that the number of first-time buyer mortgages exceeded 2007 levels, when 359,900 first-time buyers took out mortgages. It was almost double the 193,300 seen in 2008, when the financial crisis impacted […]

Annual house price growth across the UK slowed to its weakest levels in over five years in October, official figures show. And for the first time since 2011, annual house price falls have now rippled out into the London suburbs – following a falling trend already seen across central London this year. Average house prices […]

Surveyors like Mark Hunter say Brexit will affect confidence for a while to come Uncertainty and gloom about Brexit are likely to hit the UK housing market well into next year, surveyors believe. The latest report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) predicts that the number of homes being sold – and their […]

Annual growth in UK house prices slowed to its lowest rate for six years with property values barely changed from a year ago, a major lender has said. The Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group – the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, said prices rose by 0.3% in November compared with a year earlier. House prices […]