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Countrywide, the UK’s largest estate agency group, has cancelled plans for a new bonus package for its bosses following an outcry from investors. The package could have paid out a total of £20m to three executives, depending on the firm’s share price performance over the next three years. Shares in Countrywide plunged earlier this month […]

Rents could rise 15% by 2023 as the supply of new rental properties dries up, according to a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). It said small scale landlords are pulling out of the market. It blamed tax changes brought in last year which have made buy-to-let investments less profitable. RICS said […]

UK house prices picked up last month, rising at the fastest annual pace since November, the Halifax has said. The lender says prices in the three months to July rose by 3.3% from a year earlier, with the average cost of a house hitting a record £230,280. Prices in July rose a stronger-than-expected 1.4% from […]

There has been a “significant” rise in homes being valued at less than what buyers have agreed to pay, the UK’s largest mortgage advisers have said. These “down valuations”, by lenders, can mean buyers having to pay thousands of pounds extra, up front, to avoid the sale collapsing. Estate agents Emoov said it reflected surveyors […]

Millions of flat owners have seen no growth at all in the value of their homes over the past year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). That is the first time that has happened in six years. The main reason is that a quarter of the UK’s flats and maisonettes are in London, […]

Properties in the UK are taking longer to sell than a year ago owing to the “uninspiring” housing market, according to surveyors. Last spring it typically took 16 weeks between a home being listed and being sold, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said. Now that has risen to about 18 weeks on average, […]

UK house prices rose at the slowest pace since March 2013 in the year to June, according to the country’s largest lender, the Halifax. Prices increased by just 1.8%, equalling the pace of growth seen in the year to February. In the last three months, the cost of an average house or flat actually fell […]

Annual growth in house prices fell to its slowest pace in five years as the lull in the UK housing market dragged into summer, the Nationwide said. The building society said demand from buyers was subdued, while the number of properties coming on to the market was “more of a trickle than a torrent”. UK […]

More than 7,000 UK High Street estate agents are showing signs of financial distress as they face fewer sales and online competition, a study has found. The report – from accountancy firm Moore Stephens – suggests that some 27% of agents are struggling to survive. One of the main reasons is a long-term decline in […]

House price rises in the UK slowed in the year to the end of May – increasing by 1.9%, according to a lender. The Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said that the change reflected “a relatively subdued” housing market. The cost of a typical home was now £224,439, the Halifax calculated from its own […]