CLG housing completions and starts

The Department of Local Communities and Local Government (CLG) have today released House Building  Statistics for June quarter 2015 in England. Seasonally adjusted house building starts in England are estimated at 33,280 in the June quarter 2015, a 14 per cent decrease compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted level of starts in the…

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Landlords need to take notice.

In an effort to emphasise the importance of Landlords providing safe and comfortable accomodation for their tenants we are highlighting what can be the end result for a Landlord who does not conform. An article in the Newham Recorder explains how council officers visited a 3 bedroomed maisonette in Forest Gate in July2012 after receiving…

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Housing fraud.

Fraud that is connected anyway with housing such as benefits fraud, or obtaining housing by deception appears to be high on the agenda of councils, housing associations and social security, they appear to be going to great lengths to investegate  people who are abusing the system in such a way. The punishment however appears to…

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Rise in the average house price in UK

what is happening to house prices

UK average house prices rose by 5.7% in the year to June to hit £277,000, up from a rise of 5.6% in the year to May, that according to the Office of National statistics. These figures were reflected by rises in England , Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland however saw a drop for the first…

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Persimmon reports increase in pre-tax profits

Housebuilder Persimmon reports  pre-tax profit has surged by almost a third on the back of solid revenue growth, continued improvement in operating profitability and a strengthening of the company’s financial position. Pre-tax profit for the six months ended 30 June were £272.8m from £208.9m in the first half of last year, on revenue of £1.33bn,…

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Record house sales for Bovis

Bovis homes the Kent based house builder reported that it had completed 1,525 homes in the six months to the end of June, a 3% rise on a year ago, which saw pre-tax profits lift 9% to £53.8 million, selling prices jumped 10% in the same period to £264,200. Bovis stated that the market experienced…

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Raids on overcrowded properties

Dagenham has again found its way into the news, this time it is all about “Rogue Landlords”. Raids were carried out last thursday on properties in the borough by council officers, they discovered that a total of 55 people were living in 3 houses. The Government has only just recently made it very clear that…

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Housing becomes a complex challenge

what is happening to house prices

The housing crisis in Britain is a massively complex challenge for the government who quite honestly appear to be finding it difficult to cope with, none of the proposals put forward so far offer any hope of improvement in the near future. Government plans to extend  the right-to-buy to housing association tenants is hitting an…

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Strong demand to live in Barking and Dagenham

It was not that long ago that we saw a report out from RightMove in a nationwide happiness survey naming Barking and Dagenham as the worst place to live in the UK , that report followed on from a previous report from a different source  earlier in the year highlighting Dagenham as a burglary hotspot.…

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Not easy for FTB’s still

new build home fronts

Recent research carried out by Aviva showed that the average first time buyer takes about  four years of saving to be able to buy their own home, it is not only  the deposit that has to be found  but also all the added expenses that go with purchasing a property. Most first-time buyers are £6,481 under…

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Figures for mortgage repo’s and arrears

Social Housing 2019

Data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows that repossessions are at their lowest rate since records began, there has been a continued fall in repossessions in the second quarter of 2015, mortgage arrears also continue to fall. Figures showed that 2,500 properties were taken into possession in the second quarter of 2015, that…

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Rise in house prices according to RICS

what is happening to house prices

House prices rose at their fastest rate in a year in July, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported that their house price balance rose from +40 in June up to +44 last month. The shortage of property for sale is a real headache to those looking to buy at the moment, the shortage comes…

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Zoopla Property Group trading update

ZOOPLA PROPERTY GROUP PLC release trading update.  UK Agency membership returns to growth, with a net increase of 213 branches Listings inventory continues to grow, up 7% from 828,000 to 882,000 properties Comparison Services business (uSwitch) is trading well, following acquisition Management remains confident of delivering Group full year results in line with expectations Alex…

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Tougher mortgage rules for BTL landlords

new build homes essex uk

It is getting tougher for Landlords who need a mortgage to fund their buy-to-let, tighter checks combined with  higher interest rates could  see less landlords applying to borrow from now on, this comes at a time when landlords are being hit with new regulations across the board, government announcements over the past week made it…

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Shortage of properties for sale across UK

A severe shortage of properties available to buy across the UK is one of the main reasons for House prices remaining strong and continuing to rise, last month we saw house prices hit a new record average high of £195,621, that was according to the Nationwide. Homeowners just do not appear to want to move,…

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