March 28, 2008 on 7:57 am | In News | No Comments
Activity in the housing market remains at a low ebb, but business investment was much stronger than thought at the end of last year and retail sales have steadied, a range of data showed -yesterday. Delphine Strauss, FT.com – 28 March 2008 Mixed evidence on the extent to which credit constraints are holding back economic [...]
March 28, 2008 on 7:51 am | In News | No Comments
Thanks to the credit crunch and the general lack of confidence in the property market, it’s an interesting time to sell or buy a house at the moment. PropertyToday.co.uk – 28 March 2008 It’s certainly a buyer’s market. And while it’s only house price growth that’s slowing, rather than prices themselves, it’s not clear whether [...]
March 28, 2008 on 7:47 am | In News | No Comments
Two of the biggest mortgage lenders increased their rates sharply yesterday in an attempt to close the door to all but the most creditworthy customers. Grainne Gilmore, Economics Correspondent, The Times – 28 March 2008 The move could lead to tens of thousands of borrowers struggling to get any mortgage deal at all. Nationwide, Britain’s [...]
March 26, 2008 on 6:22 pm | In News, Press Releases | No Comments
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is set to golive on 7 April 2008, for tenants in the deregulated private sector. Essentially, LHA is a new way of calculating Housing Benefit based on the area in which the customer lives and the household size. It is for people who rent their homes from a private landlord, who [...]
March 25, 2008 on 8:03 pm | In Press Releases | No Comments
New-to-the market sellers raised their average asking prices again last month to £239,655, an increase of 0.8%, in spite of the credit crunch resulting in a more stringent mortgage environment. Average prices being sought by new sellers are less than 1% lower than the record high of £241,642 in October last year. Miles Shipside, commercial [...]
March 25, 2008 on 7:55 pm | In News | No Comments
The property industry has been firmly warned by the government today that any attempt to avoid paying new empty rate bills through deliberate vandalism of properties will be met with a ‘zero tolerance’ retaliation. Jennifer Rigby, Property Week – 25th March 2008 Local government minister John Healey has set out tough measures to combat so-called [...]
March 23, 2008 on 4:45 pm | In News | No Comments
The Bank of England joined the Federal Reserve in doling out serious cash in a bid to unblock the credit markets. And all week economic and financial issues dominated the front pages. Liam Halligan, The Sunday Telegraph – 23 March 2008 Even this Easter weekend, when the markets are closed, Britain’s annual, semi-ritualistic church-versus-state dingdong [...]
March 22, 2008 on 9:48 pm | In News | No Comments
Prospective landlords are planning to take a more hands-on approach to their investments, with a majority saying they would manage their properties themselves, a survey shows. Annova.com - 21 March 2008 Around 54% of people who are aiming to get a buy-to-let property say they would manage it themselves, rather than pay an agent to do [...]
March 22, 2008 on 9:37 pm | In News | No Comments
Homeowners coming to the end of cheap fixed-rate mortgage deals are having the valuation of their properties reduced by surveyors, who fear the housing slowdown could gather pace. Sharlene Goff, FT.com – 21 March 2008 Some borrowers are being denied new and cheaper mortgage deals after finding their properties are worth less than they paid [...]
March 22, 2008 on 9:28 pm | In News | 2 Comments
They face personal ruin after losing the properties they thought would be their pension. As Tony Levene reports, their story is far from unique. Tony Levene, The Guardian, Saturday March 22 2008 Buy-to-let investors are facing their hardest times since amateur landlords first hit the scene in force a decade ago. Property values are falling, [...]
