Breaking News

Landlords Hit With Extra ‘green tax’

 

Buy to let landlords are due to be hit with costs of £5,000 from April 2018 to comply with new government energy efficiency legislation introduced on rental properties. The Green Deal scheme which offered loans for improvements is no longer available and the government now expects landlords to finance the improvements themselves. Policy advisor at…

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Allen Walkey

Response to Rented Homes Report

 

In response to the analysis of housing trends in England from the Resolution Foundation, Alan Ward, Chairman of the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) challenges their findings. He points out that the analysis is wrong to claim the private rented sector is not fit for purpose. Mr Ward, said: “The evidence shows that tenants in the…

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Allen Walkey

latest PMI survey shows a slowdown in the UK construction industry

 

Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI released yesterday tuesday 2nd August headlined ‘UK construction output falls again in July, but new orders decrease at slower pace’ The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dipped to 45.9 in July, down slightly from the figure for June, and well below 50, which indicates market growth. According to the report, the…

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Allen Walkey

Home ownership falls to lowest level for 30 years

 

English home ownership has fallen to levels last seen in 1986 according to analysis by the Resolution Foundation thinktank published today (2/8/2016) The analysis shows that having peaked at 71% in 2003, the proportion of people owning their own home across England has fallen steadily over the last decade by eight percentage points. It shows…

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Allen Walkey

Latest new home Registration Statistics from NHBC

 

According to the National Home Building Council (NHBC)  latest new home registration statistics a total of 41,222 new homes were registered  in Q2 throughout the UK. In the private sector 31,753 new homes were registered, a 6% increase on the 30,086 a year ago. The public and affordable sector was down 13% with 9,469 new…

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Allen Walkey

Housing Groups in Scotland welcome end of right-to-buy

 

Housing associations have welcomed the end of the right to buy policy in Scotland after more than 30 years. The Right-to-Buy scheme which was introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980’s has been blamed for a shortage of housing in the social rental sector. Shelter Scotland reportedly said, more than half a million social homes…

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Allen Walkey

bank of england interest rate

Interest rate cut expected this Thursday

 

This week the Bank of England (BoE)  is expected to cut interest rates for the first time in seven years, a cut was expected just over two weeks ago which failed to materialize. The monetary policy committee decided it was too quick to take such action so soon after the vote for Brexit, however this …

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Allen Walkey

UK Mortgage approvals at lowest for over a year

 

Figures out from the Bank of England (BoE) at the end of last week showed that UK mortgage approvals fell to their lowest level in more than a year in June. This added to the suggestion that the housing market had slowed down prior to the EU referendum, demand had already weakened since the stamp…

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Allen Walkey

Slow residential property markets in London in first half

 

Foxtons Group plc, London’s leading estate agent, announced last friday its financial results for the half year ended 30 June 2016. Revenues are down and expenses are up, profit before tax collapses over the six month period to just £10.5 million, compared with £18.1 million last year. Five new branches opened during the first half…

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Allen Walkey

Private Rental Prices increase most in South East.

 

Released yesterday 28th July by The Office for National Statistics ‘Index of private housing rental prices (IPHRP) in Great Britain. Results: June 2016. An experimental price index tracking the prices paid for renting property from private landlords in Great Britain. Main findings, Private rental prices paid by tenants in Great Britain rose by 2.4% in…

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Allen Walkey

Countrywide PLC Half-Year Results

 

Countrywide plc, the UK’s largest integrated property services group, announced its results yesterday for the six months ended 30 June 2016. Countrywide warned that its 2016 earnings will be lower than the previous year, saying commercial and London residential transactions have stalled after the UK voted to leave the European Union (Brexit). Alison Platt, Chief…

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Allen Walkey

Nationwide HPI July 2016

 

The latest Nationwide House Price Index report July 2016 released today headlines ‘House price growth steady in July’ House prices increased by 0.5% in July compared to 0.2% in June. Annual house price growth slightly up from 5.1% last month to 5.2%. Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: “UK house prices…

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Allen Walkey

A view of a park can add value to the property

 

We have had the school, then the supermarket and now the park…….comments by various commentators have picked up on different surveys on house prices and have reported that living close to any where with significant appeal increases the value of your home. According to the most recent research from Online estate agent HouseSimple.com, it states…

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Allen Walkey

Mortgage lending and approvals fell back in June

 

The British Bankers Association (BBA) news article released 26th July headlined ‘June 2016 figures for the High Street Banks’ Dr Rebecca Harding, BBA Chief Economist, said: “This month’s High Street Banking data reflects the uncertainty that was felt ahead of the EU referendum. “Business borrowing in June dropped for the first time in 2016, signalling…

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Allen Walkey

Rightmove logo

Another strong period of growth for Rightmove

 

Rightmove PLC reports half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2016. Rightmove, the UK’s number one property site, has delivered another strong period of growth in the six months ended 30 June 2016.  Rightmove’s market leading audience continued to grow strongly with customers spending more on Rightmove’s products and services, resulting in…

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Allen Walkey