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The UK’s leasehold system has left a number of householders in unsellable and un-mortgageable homes and changes are needed, a committee of MPs says. Often leaseholders in new-build properties are treated as a source of profit, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee (HCLG) says. It says the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) should investigate […]

Buyers and sellers are “sitting tight” as Brexit uncertainty continues to freeze the UK property market, surveyors have said. Some 77% of members asked by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said that the Brexit impasse was holding back activity. New buyer enquiries, sales, and homes being put on the market all fell in […]

House price growth remained “sluggish” in February, according to the Nationwide Building Society’s latest survey of the property market. The lender said prices were up by 0.4% compared with a year earlier, which was a faster pace than January’s rate of 0.1%. The Nationwide said that prices in February dipped by 0.1% compared with a […]

First-time buyers now make up the majority of home purchases bought with a mortgage in the UK, figures show. The Halifax bank said the last time such a situation existed was 1995. Its research found Pendle in Lancashire and Copeland in Cumbria were the most affordable areas, with homes costing 2.6 times local earnings on […]

Buying a flat or maisonette in England is cheaper than a year ago, according to official figures, with the cost of semi-detached homes rising fastest. First-time buyers have been buying later in life and a number of buy-to-let investors have pulled out of the market owing to tax changes. This may partially account for the […]

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 […]