Gareth Lewis, commercial director of property lender MT Finance, says that house prices are likely to stay the same for a while. ‘With house prices bumping along at the same level for a while now, this is beginning to look like the new norm for the market. Gone are the spikes in pricing, the unpredictable […]
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I won’t shift stamp duty to sellers, says chancellor…
Chancellor Sajid Javid has said he has no plans to make house sellers rather than buyers pay stamp duty tax. “I wouldn’t support that,” the chancellor said in a tweet on Sunday. His comments came after the Times reported on Saturday that Mr Javid was considering the idea, to save first-time buyers from paying the tax. […]
First-time buyers fell in June…
New figures from UK Finance show that the number of first-time house buyers fell in June by 1.5%, compared to the same month in 2018. In June, 32,760 first-time buyer mortgages were completed in June, and 31,000 home mover mortgages were handed out – a 3.6% decrease like-for-like. As for buy-to-let purchase mortgages, there were […]
UK house prices and sales ‘losing momentum’…
House prices and sales are “losing momentum” amid Brexit uncertainty, surveyors say, although parts of the UK are still seeing property values rise. Key aspects of the housing market were “pretty much flatlining”, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said. Many homes valued at more than £1m were being sold for under the asking […]
Mortgage lending picks up…
That Bank of England data shows borrowing was £3.7bn – close to the average of the previous three years – in June and a pick-up on May when it stood at £2.9bn. The annual growth rate of mortgage lending remained stable at 3.1%, around the level that it has been at since 2016, the Bank […]
Ministers pledge to end ‘poor doors’ in new build housing…
Ministers have pledged to put an end to the use of so-called “poor doors” in housing developments in England. The separate entrances for social housing tenants living in new builds “stigmatise” and divide them from private residents, the government said. Communities Secretary James Brokenshire said he had been “appalled” by the examples of segregation he […]
Renting: How landlords can refuse to let to tenants with children…
Landlords can refuse potential tenants with children when letting out a UK property, which has prompted complaints from some of those turned down. Some families searching for a home to rent say it is unfair and discriminatory to rule out tenants with children. But landlords point out that not all properties are suitable for youngsters, […]
UK housing market ‘resilient’…
Average house prices dipped by 0.3% to £237,110. last month compared to June last year, according to the Halifax. However, they rose by 5.7% in the three months to June from the same period last year. Halifax managing director Russell Galley, said: “More generally the housing market is displaying a reasonable degree of resilience in […]
Homeowners staying put amid Brexit uncertainty…
Latest figures show little sign of a Spring bounce in the UK property market, with some potential buyers seemingly put off by Brexit uncertainty. The number of property transactions remained below 90,000 for the second successive month in May, according to figures from HM Revenue and Customs. Generally, at this time of year, there is […]
Flats out of fashion with first-time buyers…
First-time buyers are bypassing flats and moving straight into houses – leading to a fall in the cost of apartments, official figures suggest. The cost of a typical apartment or maisonette in England has fallen by 2.1% in a year, while other types of property have become more expensive. Experts suggest people are buying their […]


