Breaking News
Council clampdown on renting out unsafe buildings
Landlords who rent out unsafe outbuildings in the Borough of Redbridge are being given a strong message that it will not be tolerated, Redbridge Council has taken action to close 93 outbuildings which have been illegally rented out as accommodation. The authority said many of the outbuildings did not comply with housing safety standards or…
Allen Walkey
Council to buy homes outside of borough
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has created a £10 million fund to buy up homes for temporary accommodation in cheaper parts of the country, it has indicated that the money will be used to purchase a significant number of high quality homes in and around London, M25 area and southern counties of England….
Allen Walkey
Private rent rises cause concern
Official figures show that private rents have risen across England by an average of 2.5% in the last year, this has caused a reaction by Housing campaigners to push the government to act to stem such rises. The Office for National Statistics index of private housing rental prices show the biggest rise was in London…
Allen Walkey
House prices up in July
According to the Nationwide house prices rose on a month on month basis by 0.4% in July, that was in line with with forecasts and followed a fall of 0.2% the previous month of June. Annual growth was also up from 3.3% in June to 3.5% in July. Nationwide economist Robert Gardner reportedly said “After…
Allen Walkey
New Halifax mobile tool for customers on the move.
Halifax has announced today that it has launched a mobile Agreement in Principle (AIP) tool which enables customers to receive an instant lending decision while they are on the move in less than fifteen minutes. This new tool will provide a simpler and more efficient way that customers can get an agreement in principle, they…
Allen Walkey
Interest rate decision time again thursday.
Interest Rate decision time again, this thursday the Bank of England will announce whether interest rates rise or remain the same. New analysis by estate agency Hamptons suggests that a quarter-point jump in rates could add £20 a month to the average UK mortgage; but wide variations in house prices mean that would translate into…
Allen Walkey
Landlords to face jail who rent to illegals.
Illegal immigrants are the focus of a new governemnt crackdown shortly to be included in a forthcoming Immigration Bill, landlords who fail to evict migrants who do not have the right to live in Britain could be jailed for up to five years. Stronger powers will be given to Landlords who will be able to…
Allen Walkey
Branch number 8 for Nock Deighton Estate Agents
It is always a pleasure to highlight good news in the industry especially when it concerns one of the more established independent estate agent groups, Nock Deighton is one of Shropshire’s oldest estate agents, having been formed in 1831, it has just added another branch in Newport, this follows the opening in recent times of branches…
Allen Walkey
Greater transparency to fight fraud.
David Cameron has announced new measures designed to end the use of offshore companies to diguise the purchase of high value UK property with “laundered money,” he was reported as saying that more than 100,000 property titles worth £122 billion are currently registered to offshore companies. His speech followed closely on from the recent report…
Allen Walkey
Countrywide half yearly results
Countrywide PLC interim results posted today: Group income grew to £338.6 million, however, a difficult UK housing market led to £41.0 million of EBITDA versus £45.0 million in the same period last year. Grenville Turner, Chairman at Countrywide plc, commented: “While we remain cautious, we are also optimistic as our broad-based business with diversified revenue…
Allen Walkey
Foxtons half yearly results
Foxtons yesterday: Lower property sales revenue and higher costs saw real estate Foxtons Group post a decline in first half profit. Group revenue of £71.1m down 2.3% vs. H1 2014. However encouraging performance and positive signs for second half of the year. Nic Budden, CEO, commenting on statement: “Despite challenging market conditions, Foxtons has delivered…
Allen Walkey
Future of Housing Associations
The Communities and Local Government (CLG) Committee is to investigate the viability and sustainability of the Housing Associations, the inquiry will have a particular focus on the proposed extension of the right to buy and how this, and a number of other recently announced government measures, may impact on the ability of housing associations to…
Allen Walkey
Taylor Wimpey pre-tax profits up 33%
Along with Rightmove who we had as a “Breaking News” item yesterday another major property industry company posted their half yearly results on wednesday, showing a strong 2015 first half performance with pre-tax profits up 33%. Chief Executive Pete Redfern, commented,”We have used the opportunity of a stable and positive housing market to make significant…
Allen Walkey
Fixflo Webinar Wednesday 5th August 2015! Book your spot ASAP!
Fixflo, leading online repair-report system, will be having their very first webinar on Wednesday 5th August. To book your place, simply visit the following link: http://www.fixflo.com/webinar/home?utm_content=buffer02d25&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Estate / Letting Agents across the country are choosing Fixflo for their online property management needs with now over 1,000 using their highly recommended report system. For a 14 day FREE TRIAL…
Christopher Walkey
Equity release increasingly popular
A rapidly growing elderly population, house prices continuing to soar and shifting attitudes among the next generation of retirees will ensure the popularity of equity release, this is the view of advisors in the industry and some 94 per cent of them expect equity release lending to match or even exceed the record year of…
Allen Walkey