Shelter’s updated response to the scrapping of council borrowing caps.

Shelter’s updated response to the scrapping of council borrowing caps. This represents a major reform that will allow councils to deliver desperately needed affordable homes  – and allow them onto the playing field as significant housebuilders. Previously there was a prohibitive cap on how much councils could borrow against their assets to fund new housing…

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OnTheMarket announces record traffic to it’s portal in September

OnTheMarket plc, the agent-backed company which operates the OnTheMarket.com property portal, announces today that as of 01 October, it has signed listing agreements with UK estate and letting agents with more than 11,000 offices. This is more than twice the number listing at the time of the Company’s Admission to AIM on 09 February 2018.…

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Annual house price growth stable in September according to Nationwide

Latest Nationwide House Price Index report – September 2018 headlines ‘Annual house price growth steady in September’. The report reveals that UK annual house price growth was steady at 2%, prices increased 0.3% during the month taking into account seasonal factors. The North was the weakest performing region in Q3 according to Nationwide. Commenting on…

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Business confidence bounced back from August’s nine-month low according to Lloyds Bank.

Lloyds Bank’s Business Barometer for September 2018 headlines ‘Business confidence recovers after August blip as economic optimism rises’. Business confidence – an average of business prospects and economic optimism – bounced back from August’s nine-month low, rising six points in September to 29 per cent, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial…

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Remortgaging continued to dominate in August according to UK Finance

UK Finance Household Finance Update – August 2018 published today. The update reveals that gross mortgage lending for the total market in August was £24.1bn, some 1.2 per cent lower than a year earlier. Commenting on the data, Peter Tyler, Director, UK Finance, said: “Remortgaging continued to dominate in August, as homeowners took advantage of…

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Response to Labour plans for Private Rented Housing

In response to the Shadow Housing Secretary, John Healey MP’s proposals to end the use of Section 21 notices in the private rented sector announced at the Labour Party Conference, David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association, said: “Many landlords resort to Section 21 notices because the alternative procedures take too long to…

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Shelter response to Labour plans to tax second homes

Shelter response to Labour announcement that they will tax second homes and earmark the money for councils to help families housed in temporary accomodation – please see our response below. Polly Neate, CEO at Shelter said: “Our housing crisis has reached such depths that tens of thousands of families are being tipped into homelessness and…

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Leading North East agent signs long-term agreement to list at OnTheMarket.com

OnTheMarket plc, the agent-backed company which operates the OnTheMarket.com property portal, has announced that leading full-service North East agent Pattinson has signed up to advertise its UK residential sales and lettings properties at OnTheMarket.com. Under the long-term agreement, Pattinson has also agreed actively to promote the OnTheMarket.com portal brand with digital and branch-based marketing activity.…

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UK Finance response to the Prime Minister’s speech at the NHF Summit

UK Finance response to the Prime Minister’s speech  at the National Housing Federation Summit, where she announced £2bn of additional funding for housing associations. Jackie Bennett, Director of Mortgages at UK Finance, said: “Today’s announcement provides much needed certainty regarding the government’s commitment to the social housing sector, enabling housing associations and their private funders to plan…

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Government should end stamp duty on certain properties according to RICS

New figures show that nearly half of respondents to the RICS Residential Market Survey suggest using tax incentives to encourage downsizing, while making changes to Stamp Duty and Council Tax would help thousands more young people realise their dream of owning their own home. A housing tax overhaul including ending stamp duty on certain properties…

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