Breaking News

BBA Mortgage approvals for May

 

According to the British Bankers Association (BBA) Gross mortgage borrowing of £12bn in the month was 10% higher than in May 2015. Borrowing in the first 5 months of 2016 was £67.5bn compared with £51.7 in the same period of 2015. Net mortgage borrowing is 3% higher than a year ago. House purchase approval numbers…

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Allen Walkey

New Chairman for Homes and Communities Agency

 

This week the Homes and Communities Agency issued a press release informing that  Sir Edward Lister has been appointed as their new Chairman. Sir Edward joins with years of experience of the housing sector. For the last 5 years he has been London’s Deputy Mayor for policy and planning and chief of staff at the…

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Allen Walkey

Council successfull in prosecuting re subletting fraud.

 

Westminster City Council have successfully prosecuted Raymond Whittard, a tenant, and Sharon Smith, a subtenant, for conspiracy to defraud through unlawful subletting. The case is believed to be the first time  a council has successfully prosecuted a council tenant and their subtenant, Whittard and Smith admitted conspiracy to defraud in June 2015 at Southwark Crown…

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Allen Walkey

Households at Risk of Eviction in England

 

A recent report from the Charity Shelter used various data and analysis exploring the number of rented households put at risk of eviction in England over the past year at a local, regional and national level. Their analysis shows that there are ‘hotspots’ of eviction, where as many as one in every 23 renting households…

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Allen Walkey

Scotland homes sales boosted by Property Tax change

 

According to the recent Your Move / Acadata Scotland House Price Index.   Home sales jump 11% annually in the first year of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), compared to the twelve months before the tax. Average house prices are down 7.8% year-on-year, due to a lack of higher value home sales. House…

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Allen Walkey

Just 1 day to go

 

Just 1 day to go, tomorrow the UK has its chance to decide Leave or Remain in the EU. Every vote will be important so make sure you find time to get to the polling station if you haven’t already voted by post. Many people are still not  sure how they will vote tomorrow,  the…

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Allen Walkey

Transaction data May 2016

 

A press release published yesterday from the Land Registry re Transaction Data for May 2016. Land Registry completed 1,491,651 applications The South East topped the table of regional applications with 342,612 Birmingham topped the table of applications by local authority area with 21,981 The Transaction Data shows Land Registry completed more than 1,491,650 applications from…

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Allen Walkey

FAMILIES NOW MOST COMMON HOUSEHOLD IN PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR

 

Families are the most common household type in the private rented sector (PRS) for the first time, according to the latest research from the National Landlords Association (NLA).* The findings show that more landlords now let to families with children (48 per cent) than any other household type, overtaking young couples (47 per cent). This…

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Christopher Walkey

2 days to go

 

Just  2 days to go. YouGov poll puts the Brexit campaign two points ahead: Remain: 42% (-2) Leave: 44% (+1) (17 – 19 Jun) Last night Jeremy Corbyn faced a live Sky News audience of young people aged 18-35. Mr Corbyn said: “It’s a big decision. If we stay in Europe there are implications, if…

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Allen Walkey

One Third of Property Purchases Fall Through

 

According to a recent survey by consumer organisation Which? it revealed that nearly a third of homebuyers saw their purchase collapse after their offer was accepted. The survey carried out was on 2000 homebuyers in February 2016, 28% said that following an offer being accepted the purchase fell through, 27% giving the reason as a…

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Allen Walkey

Rightmove logo

Rightmove (HPI) report June 2016

 

Rightmove released their House Price Index (HPI) report earlier today with the headlines “Asking prices hit record high despite looming EU vote” In the report they highlight: Housing market momentum pushes price of property coming to market up by 0.8% (+£2,320) to new high of £310,471 Desire to buy and lack of supply lead to…

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Allen Walkey

3 Days To Go

 

Just 3 days to go before the UK’s referendum on whether or not to continue within the European Union, Thursday 23rd June the day to cast the vote, Friday 24th June the result will be known. This is a time of real concern for many individuals whether they intend to vote Remain or Leave, the…

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Allen Walkey

Purple Bricks Logo

Purplebricks group final results

 

Last Thursday 16th June Purplebricks Group released their final results for the 12 months ended 30 April 2016. Commenting on the results, Michael Bruce, Chief Executive, said:  “In just our second full year of operation we are leading change in an industry that has long been stagnant and is only now waking up to the…

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Allen Walkey

NUMBER OF RETIRED RENTERS SOARS BY OVER 200,000 IN 4 YEARS

 

The number of people living in private rented accommodation in retirement has soared by more than 200,000 in the last four years, according to a poll of private renters*. Overall, the poll shows that the proportion of retired private renters has grown by 13 per cent since 2012 – approximately 220,000** – as more and…

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Christopher Walkey

Big Drop in Lending to Landlords

 

In its recent press release by the  Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) they headlined that Home-owner house purchase lending was down in April. They mentioned that Home-owners borrowed £8.1bn for house purchase, down 40% month-on-month and 4% year-on-year. First-time buyers borrowed £3.9bn, down 11% on March but up 15% on April last year. Landlords borrowed £2.5bn, down…

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Allen Walkey