Record number of contacts for The Property Ombudsman

• 73,035 consumers contacted The Property Ombudsman in 2024 • 19,495 property businesses registered • £1.49 million awarded to consumers • 7,823 enquiries were related to tenant issues • 4,980 cases resolved by early resolution and formal investigation • 71% of cases resolved by formal investigation were found in favour of the consumer • 2,107…

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Appropriate rental homes disproportionate to growing number of older renters

Disabled and older renters in the UK’s Private Rented Sector face significant challenges finding and accessing suitable accommodation, says the industry body. Propertymark, the leading professional body for estate and letting agents, has highlighted an increasing concern in the private rented sector as the disparity in bungalows available to rent impacts the growing number of…

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Mortgage arrears and possessions Q1 2025

UK Finance today releases its latest mortgage arrears and possessions data for Q1 2025, while highlighting continuing lender support for any customers facing financial difficulty. Key information: The number of homeowner mortgages in arrears fell by two per cent in Q1 2025 compared to the previous quarter. The number of buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages in arrears…

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New Sanction Rules for Letting Agents

Letting agency businesses across the UK need to work to a new sanctions reporting framework from today, 14 May 2025, and Propertymark has stressed that it is vital that every agent understands the rules and adjusts working practices and systems accordingly. Under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, the UK Government introduced a new…

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Slight rise in house prices as market maintains strength

Halifax House Price Index • House prices increased by +0.3% in April vs -0.5% in March • Average property price now £297,781 compared to £296,899 in previous month • Annual rate of growth at +3.2% up from +2.9% in March • House prices remarkably stable over last six months, down by just £48 • Northern…

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Industry Reacts to Bank Rate Cut

bank of england interest rate

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark: “Today’s news will no doubt be extremely welcome for many, especially given current economic uncertainties. International bodies have recently stated they expect interest rates to fall in the UK as the year progresses. Overall, we hope to see interest rates further continue their downward trajectory over the course of 2025. …

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Zoopla crowns Glenrothes the most popular affordable town for families as one in three fear being priced out of their ideal area

New Zoopla research pinpoints Glenrothes in Scotland, with an average three-bedroom home value of £136,900, as the most attractive option for families seeking affordability All of the towns in the top ten are located in Scotland and Wales, apart from Dartford and Swanley in the South East Three-bed homes in the most popular affordable towns…

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UK government admits almost no evidence nature protections block development

Environmental lawyer says it’s deeply frustrating that the Government is pushing major changes to conservation law without supporting data or research Whitehall analysis provides no data or research to support the government argument that environmental legislation holds up building. Ministers say the new bill will speed up housing developments and large infrastructure projects by allowing…

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Bank of England Money and Credit Report – March 2025

These monthly statistics on the amount of, and interest rates on, borrowing and deposits by households and businesses are used by the Bank’s policy committees to understand economic trends and developments in the UK banking system. Key points: Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased sharply by £9.7 billion to £13.0 billion in March,…

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Housing sector ranks second for customer complaints

New research from Ventrica has revealed the revenue benefits for brands that invest in providing emotive customer experiences (CX) that consumers want. The company surveyed over 2,000 UK consumers and found that over the last 12 months, only 4 per cent of positive experiences were delivered by AI and only 18 per cent were a…

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Rightmove’s weekly mortgage tracker – 30/04/25

Rightmove logo

Rightmove’s mortgage expert Matt Smith says: “Average rates have continued to slowly come down over the last week, while the cheapest available fixed mortgage rate is a 2-year fixed rate at 3.79% for those with the largest deposits. I think lenders are now biding their time until the 8th May Bank Rate decision, and will…

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Latest HMRC UK Property Transactions Report

sold purplebricks

Headline statistics from the latest transactions data include: The provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in March 2025 is 177,370, 104% higher than March 2024 and 62% higher than February 2025 The provisional non-seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in March 2025 is 164,650, 89% higher…

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Annual house price growth slows slightly in April

Annual rate of house price growth slowed to 3.4% in April, from 3.9% in March House prices down 0.6% month-on-month   Headlines Apr-25 Mar-25 Monthly Index* 539.3 542.4 Monthly Change* -0.6% 0.0% Annual Change 3.4% 3.9%     Average Price (not seasonally adjusted) £270,752 £271,316 *Seasonally adjusted figure (note that monthly % changes are revised…

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