Breaking News
0.5% bank rate expected to remain until 2017
According to a Reuters poll The Bank of England (BoE) will leave British interest rates at a record low until early 2017, this is mainly down to stuttering global growth and off target inflation. The 0.5% bank rate has now not changed over the last 7 years and it is now expected according to the…
Allen Walkey
Waterfords opens for business in Farnham
Award winning independent estate agent Waterfords, which already has branches in Camberley, Chobham, Sunningdale, Fleet and Yateley, has opened its sixth branch in the affluent town of Farnham. Celebrating 21 years of estate agency covering parts of Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire, Waterfords has built expertise and knowledge, as well as relationships with local homeowners and…
Christopher Walkey
Settled launches second funding round
The online property platform Settled, which launched last year, is now looking for an additional £1m in investment from funds or venture companies to invest in marketing the business and improving its platform. Settled was launched by brother and sister team Gemma and Paul Young, the aim was to connect buyers and sellers who would take control of…
Allen Walkey
HSBC online video meeting pilot scheme
It was reported in The Express yesterday that the HSBC is set to offer online video meetings with mortgage advisors. A trial is presently being carried out by the bank in 40 branches that do not have advisors based there, it will allow customers to have their mortgage interview in their local branch which means…
Allen Walkey
Turnout will be decider in EU referendum
As we get closer to the EU referendum date of June 23rd peoples perception as to how the outcome will be is starting to change, the Remain and Leave sides are at 35% each with 30% undecided, according to TNS UK. Luke Taylor, head of social and political attitudes at TNS UK, reportedly said, “A…
Allen Walkey
Price of North East home rises by £5,000 in a month.
• Regional house prices rise by 3.1% in March – their fastest rate in eight months • Homes in Killingworth see values rise by 6.2% in just four weeks • Typical North East home cost £4811 more in March than in February and £8496 more than March 2015. • Rents fall by £3 to £552pcm…
Christopher Walkey
Nationwide HPI March
In their House Price Index (HPI) report released today Nationwide states that house price growth accelerted in March. The North – South divide continues to widen UK annual house price growth increased to 5.7% in March up from the month earlier at 4.8%, the monthly change showed an increase of 0.8% up from 0.4%…
Allen Walkey
TENANTS NOW HAVE RIGHT TO REQUEST ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS.
From today (1 April 2016), tenants have the right to request consent from their landlords to make energy-saving improvements for the properties they rent. Landlords will not be able to refuse their consent without good reason, but tenants will need to ensure that they have a way of funding improvements at no cost to the…
Christopher Walkey
Stamp duty changes apply from today
The new rate of stamp duty on buy-to-let property and second homes comes into force today 1st April. There are exemptions however to this change in property tax, buying a property for less than £40,000, caravan or houseboat will not be included. Home movers who buy their next property before selling the one they are…
Allen Walkey
The pound still vunerable to Referendum uncertainty
In the run up to the referendum for the UK to remain a member of the European Union it was expected by many analysts that the pound sterling would weaken due to the uncertainty of the outcome. The pound is very vunerable to comments and did lose some ground recently particularly against the Euro, as…
Allen Walkey
Crossrail adds value to properties.
Properties within easy reach of the capital have seen values soar in the past year. Crossrail is still a year away from opening but is still having an upward effect on prices of properties within easy reach of the stations that will serve London commuters. The Land Registry said in its report yesterday that Slough…
Allen Walkey
Land Registry figures for February
Land Registry has released its latest house price index and revealed that the average price of a home in England and Wales showed a monthly price decrease of 0.2%, annual growth now stands at 6.1%, bringing the average house price in England and Wales to £190,275. The average house price of property in London has…
Allen Walkey
Buy-to-Let mortgages consultation (BoE)
Bank of England publishes consultation on proposals for regulation of buy-to-let mortgages 29th March 2016. Underwriting standards for buy-to-let mortgage contracts – CP11/16 This consultation paper (CP) seeks views on a supervisory statement which sets out the Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA’s) proposals regarding its expectations of minimum standards that firms should meet when underwriting buy-to-let…
Allen Walkey
Smoke alarms in privately rented homes still an issue.
Figures from a recent survey showed that 20% of privately rented homes have no smoke alarms fitted, the report from the English Housing Survey revealed that households with a working smoke alarm increased among owner occupiers and local authority tenants but had not risen in privately rented homes. Fire Chiefs are concerned about the number…
Allen Walkey
Fears of further clampdown on buy-to-let sector
Buy-to-let investment has risen by almost 100% over the last decade, at present it is around 14.5% of new mortgage lending, this represents a very strong group of investors. There are serious concerns coming from the Bank of England’s regulatory department that an increase in UK base rates, whenever this may be, could set off…
Allen Walkey