Breaking News
New Estate Agent ranking website
Following closely on the heels of rateragent.co.uk comes the latest Estate Agent ranking website www.Estateagent4me.co.uk launched by USL Technology. Established in 2003, ULS develops and operates web based comparison platforms for mortgage brokers, solicitors, estate agents, lenders, network associations and customers. These solutions can help consumers source legal, financial and property services whilst assisting intermediaries…
Allen Walkey
Fall in conveyancing transactions
A Conveyancing Market Tracker survey by Search Acumen which is based on data from the Land Registry, found that a continuing decline in conveyancing firm numbers was based on a “long-term trend of firms disappearing at the lower end of the market”. It revealed that of the 153 firms which ceased to be active, 129…
Allen Walkey
Better month for first time buyers
The National Association of Estate Agents stated in its April Housing Report that first time buyers represented approximately a quarter of house sales during that month, that is an increase on March when the figure for first time buyers was 22% compared to the 26% in April. Over half of member agents expect house prices…
Allen Walkey
NHBC reports rise…
NHBC reports that news housing registrations continue to rise outperforming 2014 levels across the UK. For the rolling quarter (February – April), registrations increased by 20% compared to the same period last year (41,307 in 2015; 34,451 in 2014). The private sector increased by 24% during this period (31,083 in 2015; 24,993 in 2014), with…
Allen Walkey
Interest rates and Halifax report
UK interest rates have been held at 0.5% again by the Bank of England. The Bank also kept the size of its bond-buying stimulus programme unchanged at £375bn. The decision by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) comes more than six years after the record low was introduced. The number of properties on the market…
Allen Walkey
Sandfords offer students support at London Business School Fresher’s Fair.
It’s nearly that time again when universities welcome a new batch of students for the upcoming year, many choosing to hold a fresher’s fair in order for prospective students to find out about the school itself, as well as all other fundamental elements that they need to consider, including their new living arrangements. On Sunday…
Christopher Walkey
TPO undergoes staff exchange in new initiative to deliver best practice.
Two members of staff, one from The Property Ombudsman the other from Northwood UK, switched roles for a week in order to gain greater experience and knowledge of each other’s positions within the industry. The exchange was instigated by Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer as part of TPO’s ongoing application to raise standards within the…
Christopher Walkey
Agents warned over adverts
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will warn estate agents that they are at risk of breaking the law if they make anti-competitive advertising deals with newspapers that barr the display of all fees and discounts in the industry. The CMA said such an agreement limited the ability of estate agents to compete with each…
Allen Walkey
Nationwide House price index
According to the Nationwide House Price Index annual house price growth slowed in May. The building society said that prices were up 4.6pc in May compared with the same month a year earlier, however moderated from last month which was at 5.2%. Robert Gardner Nationwide’s Chief Economist reportedly says: “The annual pace of house price…
Allen Walkey
Shared ownership pilot scheme
Southern Housing Group has partnered with the Greater London Authority to establish ‘Second Steps’, a service which offers current shared owners who can’t afford to buy outright the chance to purchase a home on the open market on a shared ownership basis. According to a report recently posted online Sandy Macmillan, head of sales and…
Allen Walkey
Property versus Pints
Foxtons the Estate Agents represented by Agents Montague Evans notified Southwark Planners in April that they intended to open a Branch of their Estate Agency in the pub known as the Elephant and Castle. The current Elephant & Castle pub is on the corner of New Kent Road and Newington Causeway, it took the place…
Allen Walkey
Good time to buy?
Confidence has certainly increased since the election, the number of people expecting to make a good home purchase in the next year increased in April compared to the previous month according to the latest Halifax data. The factors that contribute to such improving optimism are the record low mortgage rates along with various government introduced…
Allen Walkey
Land Registry Market Trend Data
April 2015 market trend data. Land Registry’s Market Trend Data for England and Wales. The April data shows an annual price increase of 5.1 per cent which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £179,817 compared with the peak of £181,014 in November 2007. House prices are up 0.9 per cent since…
Allen Walkey
Older generation trapped
A report out today in one of the main stream newspapers highlights the difficulty being experience by the over 55’s to find an appropriate property to downsize to due to limited availability. In fact millions of older people are actually trapped in properties too large for their needs due to a shortgae of suitable sized…
Allen Walkey
Government minister for tenants
According to research from Your Move and Reed Rains tenants would like to see a government minister specifically to deal with their issues within the housing sector, actually it revealed 60.2% of respondents were in favour of having one. The survey also revealed that renting is becoming a longer-term option for increasing numbers of people….
Allen Walkey