Posts by EAN Breaking News
The Remediation of Dangerous Cladding report
The Public Accounts Committee has released its report; The Remediation of Dangerous Cladding identifying a range of barriers to successful remediation and presenting recommendations to the UK Government. The scale and impact of the cladding crisis that followed the Grenfell Tower disaster has proved much greater than anyone understood when this Committee first reported on…
Read MoreHousing affordability in England and Wales: 2024
In 2024, the median average home in England, at £290,000, cost 7.7 times the median average earnings of a full-time employee (£37,600); in Wales the average home (£201,000) was 5.9 times annual earnings (£34,300). Affordability in England and Wales in 2024 has returned to its pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic levels after a sharp increase between 2020…
Read MoreNational Federation of Builders response to investment package of £600 million to train 60,000 construction apprentices
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced £600 million in investment to train up 60,000 construction apprentices. Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “The Chancellor has followed up her push for planning reform with considerable new funding to train more construction apprentices, demonstrating her understanding that without business certainty and high-quality…
Read MoreInheritance Tax raises £7 billion in 10 months
Inheritance tax receipts hit £7 billion in the ten months from April 2024 to January 2025, according to figures released by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) this morning. This is £700 million higher than the same ten months last year and continues the upward trajectory over the last two decades. HMRC raised £7.499 billion in…
Read MoreDecline in small house builders continues, warns FMB
New figures for planning applications in 2024, published by the Government today show worrying signs that, despite the push to boost house building rates, permissions granted to small sites of 9 units or fewer are down, demonstrating the smallest house builders are struggling to get homes delivered, warns the FMB. Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the…
Read MoreBank of England decision to maintain interest rates at 4.5% – Thoughts from the Industry
With the Bank of England decision to maintain interest rates at 4.5% here are some thoughts from the Industry Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgage expert: “Now that this expected interest rate hold is out of the way, all eyes are on May’s decision where the current forecast is a second cut of the year. Since the…
Read MoreHalifax House Price Index March 2025
Bigger homes driving house price growth as flats lag behind • UK property prices rose by +3.7% (£10,431) over the last year • Flats saw slowest growth in price (+3.2%) as easing interest rates allowed buyers to target larger properties • Detached properties have increased in value by more than £100,000 over the last five…
Read MoreFirst-time buyer mortgage sales at lowest level since 2013
Fewer first-time buyers in England’s most urban areas While the rate of first-time buyer mortgage sales has been falling in London, they have risen in more rural areas. On average, rural areas in England and Wales saw rates of first-time buyer mortgages rise by 9.7% between 2013 and 2023, while urban areas saw a 3.7%…
Read MoreFirst-time buyer mortgage sales fell across London in decade to 2023
First-time mortgage buyers bought homes further from the capital compared to 10 years earlier, ONS analysis of Financial Conduct Authority data show. Several London boroughs saw some of the largest falls in the rate of first-time buyer mortgage sales in the UK between 2013 and 2023. This is according to ONS analysis of data from…
Read MoreFirst-time buyer purchases up 59% in race to complete ahead of stamp duty deadline
Missing stamp duty deadline to cost homebuyers £6,512 as mortgage demand surges in race for completion Spending on mortgages and rent grew by 7.7.% in February, up 5.7 percentage points from January, according to the latest Barclays Property Insights report. The report has also discovered that homebuyers could be faced with additional costs of £6,512…
Read MoreHalf of Private Renters Reliant on Benefits Face Rent Shortfall
Almost half of all private renters in receipt of housing benefits experience a shortfall between the support they receive from government and their monthly rents. That’s according to a new analysis by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) ahead of a planned freeze of housing benefit rates in April. The most recent official data reveals…
Read MoreNew financial sanctions reporting obligations will apply to all letting agents
From 14 May 2025, financial sanctions reporting obligations will apply to all letting agents working throughout the UK as amended guidance and regulations made by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) come into force. Letting agents need to be aware that in contrast to the Money Laundering Regulations, the reporting obligations will apply to…
Read MoreEconomic certainty needed to bolster builders, says FMB
The 0.2% fall in construction output in January 2025, according to new figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), is another indicator that the economy is struggling despite the Government’s strong commitment to back development, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB said: “Winter is always a…
Read MoreHousing Insight Report – Covering January 2025
As widely expected, January 2025 saw an uplift in activity in the sales market due mainly to the Stamp Duty thresholds changing, requiring many homeowners completing from April onwards to pay more tax in England and Northern Ireland. Residential sales UK average house price dipped The average UK house price stood at £268,000 in December…
Read MoreMortgage Expert predicts interest rates will still remain higher than pre-pandemic levels
Hodge Bank’s 2025 Predictions: Interest Rates and House Prices Outlook James Enos, Hodge Bank, suggests consumers remain mindful that interest rates will likely still remain higher than pre-pandemic levels. The fate of house prices for 2025 are in the hands of consumer confidence and appetite to purchase. Hodge Bank anticipates that the year will see…
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