Breaking News
Chief Executive of FCA resigns
The head of the Financial Conduct Authority Martin Wheatley has resigned as chief executive with effect from September 12, this comes on the back of him reportedly learning that his appointment to the FCA Board would not be renewed by the Treasury, it is a requirement to be a member of the board to hold…
Allen Walkey
Interest rate warning from Mark Carney
The Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney has put out a warning that interest rates may rise soon, saying that they could rise within the next couple of months. Interest rates have remained at a record low of 0.5% since March 2009. Has the period of ultra low mortgages come to an end?…
Allen Walkey
Rents rise higher faster
According to a recent buy-to-let index rents in the private sector in England and Wales have hit an all time high of £789 a month on average. Adrian Gill, Director of Your Move and Reed Rains reportedly says, “The pedal is pressed to the metal in the rental market. Not only have rents hit an…
Allen Walkey
“Money Laundering” concerns
Money laundering through the London Property Market is now such a concern that an early day motion has been sponsered through Parliament to deal with the matter. Primary sponsor is Mark Durkan, Social Democratic and Labour Party for the constituency of Foyle, in all 23 sponsors have signed up to this motion. The motion stated:…
Allen Walkey
Housing Market “picks up”
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) says the UK housing market is picking up, following on from a quiet Spring, homeowners took out 49,000 loans in May that is up from the previous month and the highest number since December last year. Paul Smee, Director General of the CML said “House lending in May was…
Allen Walkey
Wealthy Chinese look to UK property market
In recent weeks the Chinese stock market has seen quite alot of turbulence with a drop of 20% recorded since mid June, this has had the effect of causing wealthy Chinese to start moving their money out away from stocks and shares in their own market to other investments, UK property is reportedly an alternative…
Allen Walkey
Strong demand for Canary Wharf development
Canary Wharf has to be one of the most desired places to live in the capital, in close proximity to central London, an array of pubs and restaurants and close to main underground station and what will be crossrail, no wonder when a new development of appartments came up for sale a couple of weeks…
Allen Walkey
How tax changes may affect landlords
Landlords may see a drop in their profits as changes that will limit the amount of tax relief they can claim on mortgage costs were announced in last weeks budget, relief will be restricted to the basic rate of income tax at 20%, to be phased in over 4 years from April 2017. Tax experts…
Allen Walkey
“Property Millionaires”
Zoopla the property company revealed through their research that the number of British homeowners with a property worth £1 million or more now stands at 524,306, an increase of 8.3% in the last year as property prices rise. In Britain there are now 10,958 streets where the average house price exceeds £1 million, 43% of…
Allen Walkey
MT Properties Central Limited Expelled from The Property Ombudsman for 2 years.
MT Properties Central Limited (MTPC), a sales and letting agent which operates in Birmingham, has been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) for a minimum of two years after failing to comply with parts of the TPO Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents. MTPC also failed to co-operate with the Ombudsman’s investigation…
Christopher Walkey
Changes to planning system in Britain,
Changes to the planning system in Britain will be part of a 90 page blueprint called Fixing the Foundations, Creating a more prosperous Nation, which will be unveiled today in Birmingham by George Osborne and business secretary Sajid Javid. These changes to Britains planning laws will be the centrepiece of what Treasury officials say are…
Allen Walkey
Shelter report on rent caps
The idea of capping rents would make life harder for tenants is a warning coming from the Housing Charity Shelter, this follows on from a report commissioned by them, researchers from the University of Cambridge said in that report that hard rent controls would remove landlords incentive to invest in their properties leading to poorer…
Allen Walkey
“Buy-to-let Tax cuts won’t put landlords off” says Waterfords.
Following the Chancellor’s summer Budget, in which he announced a substantial crackdown on mortgage interest tax relief, Brendan Cox of Waterfords says he does not think this will put people off investing in buy-to-let. The amount landlords can claim as relief will, from 2017, be set at the basic rate of tax – currently 20…
Christopher Walkey
What will the budget changes mean for the capital’s property market?
As George Osborne increases the inheritance tax threshold to £1m for married couples by 2017 and cuts mortgage interest relief on buy-to-let homes, Andrew Ellinas, Director of Central and North West London agency Sandfords, comments on what these changes will be mean for the Capital’s property market. “Changes to inheritance tax, allowing married couples and…
Christopher Walkey
Trading update from Barratt Developments
SHARES in housebuilders and estate agents dropped yesterday as the Chancellor announced plans to curb the booming buy-to-let sector by cutting tax relief. George Osborne announced in his summer budget that the amount landlords can claim on mortgage interest payments will now be set at the basic rate of income tax, currently at 20 per…
Allen Walkey