Breaking News
1000 new built for rent homes for London
Recent press release from the Department for Communities and Local Government, Homes and Communities Agency and Brandon Lewis MP headlined ‘Boost to London Housing from 1000 homes Built to Rent’. Two multi-million pound deals that will see over 1,000 new homes built in the capital specifically for private rent have been welcomed by Housing Minister…
Allen Walkey
Mortgage lending growth falls back in April
British Bankers Association (BBA) today releases April 2016 figures for the high street banks. Gross mortgage borrowing of £12bn in the month was 12% higher than in April 2015. As expected, this was a slower month, following the inflated lending activity associated with borrowers completing purchases ahead of the stamp duty increase. Net mortgage borrowing is running…
Allen Walkey
London house purchase and remortgage lending up in Q1
Press release yesterday from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) headlined London house purchase and remortgage lending up year-on-year in first quarter (Q1) of 2016. Home buyers in London borrowed £7.1bn for house purchase in the first quarter of 2016, up 6% quarter-on-quarter and 41% on a year ago. They took out 21,400 loans, down 2%…
Allen Walkey
Paragon Group half year results.
The Paragon Group of Companies PLC announced yesterday its half year results for the six months ended 31 March 2016. Commenting on the results, Nigel Terrington, Chief Executive of Paragon, said: “This has been another outstanding performance from Paragon, with strong profit growth complemented by significant progress in our lending activity and further development in…
Allen Walkey
BOE governor defends stance on EU referendum debate
At a parliamentary select committee meeting yesterday The Bank of England governor Mark Carney strongly defended his stance on the EU referendum debate, he made no apologises for his comments on the “dangers of a recession” if Britain leaves the EU, he insisted that the BoE’s views were independent and a collective judgment of the…
Allen Walkey
Nationwide post pre-tax profits of £1.3bn.
Nationwide building society has reported a 23% rise in full-year pre-tax profits to £1.3bn. 2016 Annual Results Financial highlights 9% increase in underlying profit to £1,337 million 23% increase in statutory profit to £1,279 million Net lending of £9.1 billion (2015: £7.1 billion) a market share of 21.4% (2015: 31.2%) Nationwide chairman David Roberts said:…
Allen Walkey
Aston Mead hits back at ‘planning pessimists’
Leading land agent Aston Mead has hit back at those who have doubted the ability of the UK to build a million new homes by 2020. The pledge is at the heart of the government’s landmark Housing & Planning Bill, which received Royal Assent earlier this month. However, a recent survey of owners and directors…
Christopher Walkey
April 2016 Transaction Data
Transaction data April 2016 released by the Land Registry published yesterday. Land Registry completed 1,567,627 applications. The South East topped the table of regional applications with 360,066. Birmingham topped the table of local authority applications by area with 24,189 The Transaction Data shows Land Registry completed more than 1,567,620 applications from its customers in April….
Allen Walkey
Record rent rises across some regions.
According to data released today rents are now rising at the fastest rate for six months, reaching an average of £793 across England & Wales. New all-time records for three separate regions – led by the East Midlands with 8.5% annual rent rises. Landlords see total annual returns (before costs) of 10.7% in year…
Allen Walkey
BATH LANDLORDS OFFERED SPECIALIST ADVICE ON CUTTING COSTS
The National Landlords Association (NLA) invites landlords in Bath and the surrounding areas to a forum on Wednesday afternoon, 1 June, to hear from property experts about the best ways to save on costs. OneE Group will offer advice around tax compliance and provide an important update on the recent changes to taxation of buy-to-let…
Christopher Walkey
ABANDONED PROPERTIES A PROBLEM FOR THIRD OF LANDLORDS
More than a third (36 per cent) of landlords in the UK have had property abandoned by tenants before, according to new figures from the largest landlord association. Abandonment occurs when a tenant moves out of a property before the tenancy has ended, without informing their landlord. The issue can be costly as it often…
Christopher Walkey
NEW TOOL TO HELP LANDLORDS PROTECT TENANTS FROM RISK OF FIRE
The National Landlords Association (NLA) has launched a new version of their Fire Safety Logbook which has been endorsed by the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA). The Fire Safety Logbook aims to help landlords in England and Wales keep a record of their fire safety precautions in one easy-to-use document. The new logbook includes updated…
Christopher Walkey
Zoopla leads in Brand Awareness
According to a recent Zoopla news release, recent research conducted by Harris Interactive revealed that following Zoopla’s latest marketing campaign it has now achieved a record level of national brand awareness. On prompted brand awareness, where consumers are asked if they recognise certain brands, Zoopla has now taken the top spot amongst UK property portals…
Allen Walkey
18% drop in house prices on “Brexit” says George Osborne
The latest prediction by George Osborne that house prices will drop by 18% over 2 years if the UK votes to leave the EU is another attempt to dissuade the “Brexit” supporters, it may have had some credibility if he had not been so precise with the figure, why not 10% or 25%, how does…
Allen Walkey
Positive UK Housing Market
Housebuilding is an industry which at present continues to do well with various housebuilders reporting excellent results, the governments ‘help-to-buy’ scheme is a major contributing factor to this. We have a situation at present where we have strong competion between mortgage lenders and mortgage rates are at all time lows, indications are that this will…
Allen Walkey