Posts by Allen Walkey
New national marketing campaign launched by Zoopla
It is just two weeks since Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) announced the launch of a new service Find a Pro which provides its users with access to thousands of professionals and local tradesmen for home-related projects and services. The new service was launched as an exclusive partnership with Plentific.com. Following on soon after from that…
Read MoreFirst time buyers priority for starter homes
The Government will make available £36m to go towards the creation of thousands more starter homes for first time buyers, £26m of this will go towards indentifying and purchasing brownfield sites and the balance for local authorities to prepare more brownfield land for development. Housing minister Brandon Lewis reportedly said: “Helping young people achieve their…
Read MoreRight-to-Rent pilot scheme
A report out yesterday from the Express and Star, publication covering towns throughout the “Black Country” highlights how the scheme to prosecute landlords for letting to illegal immigrants is working or maybe “not working that well”. The scheme was introduced in the towns of Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Birmingham by the government as a…
Read MoreCity Hall responds re 25% cap
Last friday Property Week Magazine claimed that the London Mayor, Boris Johnson is planning to set a new cap of 25% for affordable homes in key housing zones and opportunity areas, this if introduced would effectively block local authorities from negotiating up from that threshold. A response from City Hall has played down such reports…
Read MoreInterest Rate held at 0.5%
UK interest rates have been held at 0.5% again by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Yesterday saw for the first time the release of inflation report, policy decision and minutes on the same day. In its latest inflation report, the Bank said the outlook for inflation was “muted”, leading some economists to…
Read MoreRepairs and Maintenance for rented properties.
The Fixflo report for 2015 out at the end of July makes very good reading and confirms how essential it is for Letting agencies to have a repair and maintenance management system in place. Research into the first 70,000 reports through Fixflo in 2015 showed: Busiest times for repairs being reported are between 9am-10am weekdays,…
Read MoreOnTheMarket.com achieves record breaking month in July
OnTheMarket.com is pleased to announce another record breaking month of traffic for July with more than 5.2million visits – an increase of 18% on the previous month of June.* It also attracted more than 2.4million unique visitors which was an increase of 17% on June’s figure of more than 2million. Ian Springett, Chief Executive of…
Read MoreCouncil clampdown on renting out unsafe buildings
Landlords who rent out unsafe outbuildings in the Borough of Redbridge are being given a strong message that it will not be tolerated, Redbridge Council has taken action to close 93 outbuildings which have been illegally rented out as accommodation. The authority said many of the outbuildings did not comply with housing safety standards or…
Read MoreCouncil to buy homes outside of borough
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has created a £10 million fund to buy up homes for temporary accommodation in cheaper parts of the country, it has indicated that the money will be used to purchase a significant number of high quality homes in and around London, M25 area and southern counties of England.…
Read MorePrivate rent rises cause concern
Official figures show that private rents have risen across England by an average of 2.5% in the last year, this has caused a reaction by Housing campaigners to push the government to act to stem such rises. The Office for National Statistics index of private housing rental prices show the biggest rise was in London…
Read MoreHouse prices up in July
According to the Nationwide house prices rose on a month on month basis by 0.4% in July, that was in line with with forecasts and followed a fall of 0.2% the previous month of June. Annual growth was also up from 3.3% in June to 3.5% in July. Nationwide economist Robert Gardner reportedly said “After…
Read MoreNew Halifax mobile tool for customers on the move.
Halifax has announced today that it has launched a mobile Agreement in Principle (AIP) tool which enables customers to receive an instant lending decision while they are on the move in less than fifteen minutes. This new tool will provide a simpler and more efficient way that customers can get an agreement in principle, they…
Read MoreInterest rate decision time again thursday.
Interest Rate decision time again, this thursday the Bank of England will announce whether interest rates rise or remain the same. New analysis by estate agency Hamptons suggests that a quarter-point jump in rates could add £20 a month to the average UK mortgage; but wide variations in house prices mean that would translate into…
Read MoreLandlords to face jail who rent to illegals.
Illegal immigrants are the focus of a new governemnt crackdown shortly to be included in a forthcoming Immigration Bill, landlords who fail to evict migrants who do not have the right to live in Britain could be jailed for up to five years. Stronger powers will be given to Landlords who will be able to…
Read MoreBranch number 8 for Nock Deighton Estate Agents
It is always a pleasure to highlight good news in the industry especially when it concerns one of the more established independent estate agent groups, Nock Deighton is one of Shropshire’s oldest estate agents, having been formed in 1831, it has just added another branch in Newport, this follows the opening in recent times of branches…
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