HOUSING NEWS

Boris Johnson has outlined strict new measures to tackle the spread of coronavirus, including a ban on public gatherings of more than two people. He said people should leave home only to exercise once a day, travel to and from work where “absolutely necessary”, shop for essential items and to fulfil any medical or care […]

More evidence has emerged of a pick-up in the UK housing market. The number of mortgages being approved to home buyers hit its highest level for nearly four years in January, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England. It said 70,888 home loans were approved, the highest number since February 2016. Recent […]

An investigation into the leasehold property market has found “worrying evidence” that buyers are being treated unfairly and charged unreasonable fees. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said many homeowners found themselves in “serious traps” after being misled by housing developers. It said it would take action against firms, calling for a change in the […]

The North-South divide in house price growth saw property values climb more than three times as much in Yorkshire and Humber as in south-east England. Land Registry figures for December also revealed a post-election boost, with London prices rising 1.6%. The end-of-year surge meant all regions saw a positive annual growth rate for the first […]

Activity in the UK housing market picked up at the start of the year, surveyors say, with cautious expectations of the lift continuing. The number of people looking to buy rose in January, as did the amount of homes for sale, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said. Sales that had been agreed rose […]

Image caption: Janine Jones said her fee this year was around £125 Welsh ministers have promised action over fees homeowners are charged for the maintenance of new-build estates. People on estates with communal areas not adopted by local councils have no control over the management charges. Ministers want those affected, as well as developers and […]

Home sellers could be at risk of losing large sums of money when using quick-sale estate agents to find a buyer, Trading Standards has warned. It has seen dozens of cases of people losing tens of thousands of pounds off the market value of their homes. Some homeowners will accept a lower offer price to […]

Asking prices for properties put up for sale in the UK rose by a record amount between December and January, according to property website Rightmove. It said that new asking prices increased by 2.3% on average between 8 December and 11 January. This was the largest increase for that period seen since the website started […]

The Law Commission this week outlined a variety of potential reforms to the system, but stopped short of suggesting leaseholds be scrapped. Holders of shorter leases were watching out for any potential changes to so-called marriage value. Leaseholders must pay this when extending leases of 80 years or less. For many former council tenants who […]

Image caption: The decade ended with a slowdown in properties being put on the market UK house prices rose slower than the general cost of living in the last decade, bucking the boom of the previous 10 years, research suggests. Property values were down by 1% from the start to the end of the 2010s […]