Breaking News
London Mayor’s scheme for private landlords
A scheme which was originally launched by Boris Johnson in late May of last year has not progressed as expected, in fact Labour’s London Assembly Housing Spokesperson is quoted as saying it will take 103 years to complete. The London Mayor’s plan was to get 100,000 private landlords to sign up to a minimum standards…
Allen Walkey
First pre-election “debate”
Last night we saw the first pre-election TV “debate” which strictly speaking was not exactly a debate, both Cameron and Milliband were both seperately interviewed by Jeremy Paxman and again they seperately took questions from a studio audience. There was no clear “winner” as such, they were pretty well evenly matched, polls carried out by…
Allen Walkey
Boost for buy-to-let option for retirees.
New figures confirm that retired homeowners are typically earning more than £7,000 each from their homes over the past six months, this is excellent news for retirees considering to use the Buy-to-Let option when choosing where to invest their savings that would otherwise have to have gone into an annuity. This news is well timed…
Allen Walkey
Ex-Footballer joins the Team at Homes under the Hammer
Dion Dublin will be joining the other presenters Martin Roberts and Lucy Alexander at BBC’s Homes under the Hammer for their 19th series. Dion who has a long held interest in property started his football career with Norwich City, then onto Cambridge United, he was signed in a £1million deal with Manchester United, following on at…
Allen Walkey
Rents increases ahead of General Election
According to the Association of Residential Letting Agents around 31% of letting agents said the cost of renting a home had increased during the month of february, this has been attributed to higher numbers searching in the sector, with agents having an average of 40 prospective tenants on their books per branch, up from 38…
Allen Walkey
Energy improvement concerns for Landlords
Energy and landlord organisations had called upon the Chancellor to extend the Landlord’s Energy Savings Allowance and were hoping for it to be addressed in the budget, as it turned out there was nothing in the budget that dealt with the allowance. The allowance will therefore now come to an end in April, the allowance…
Allen Walkey
“Property Partner” new crowd funding property platform
Property Partner only fully lauched this January and it is just days ago the Crowd Funding property business attracted a further £5.2m of Investment, Founder and CEO Daniel Gandesha says it will be a “stock exchange” for property assets, Gandesha also goes on to say, it will give smaller backers the chance to invest sums…
Allen Walkey
Right to buy to be included in manifesto
Is this a sensible policy or just another vote catcher?….The Conservatives are expected to include in their manifesto the Right to Buy which would be extended to up to 2.5million housing-association tenants. This reform, backed by senior Conservatives including Iain Duncan Smith, Boris Johnson and David Davis, is expected to be included in array of…
Allen Walkey
Interest rates still at 0.5% after 6 years
The Bank of England Base Rate has now been at a record low of 0.5% for six years, and there is no real indication that this will change much short term. it expects inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, to head back up to the Government target of 2% by the first quarter…
Allen Walkey
Pre election debates.
Most probably the three most important issues that are in peoples mind as we run up to the election are Housing, Immigration and the National Health Service, anyone reading my article today will more than likely just have housing on their mind. Over the last few weeks as we run up to the actual election…
Allen Walkey
Low value of the Euro offers opportunities
Last week saw an 8 year low of the euro against sterling, people had the opportunity to buy in excess of 1.4 euros for £1 sterling, this not only offers Brits cheaper holidays in Europe but offers some amazing bargains in the European property market. The big question is…. have we seen the Euro reach…
Allen Walkey
Houses near to crossrail stations see values surge
Property values around some Crossrail stations have surged since the east-west London line got the green light in 2008, with the fastest-rising jumping 82%, according to a new report. Stretching the length of the entire line from Maidenhead to Shenfield prices within a short walk of stations have risen only 5% more than the local…
Allen Walkey
More help for first time buyers announced in budget
New measures announced in the budget will help first-time buyers who save in a help-to-buy Isa to have their savings boosted with a payment from the government when they decide to buy a property. The bonus will be equal to 25% of their savings, so for every £200 they save, the government will give them…
Allen Walkey
“Scaremongering” accusation by Labour
It would appear that Sadiq Khan from the Labour party has attacked Knight Frank, a firm of estate agents, for apparently sending out printed material to homeowners, highlighting the “threat” of a mansion tax before the election, the shadow London minister and shadow justice secretary accused the firm of “scaremongering”, arguing that it was an…
Allen Walkey
TAX changes in Budget
Some tax changes that will affect your business in Budget Corporation tax to be reduced to 20% Abolish NI for employing under 21’s Abolish class 2 NI contribution to the self employed. Abolish annual tax return. Personal tax free allowance to be raised. Married couple allowance to be raised. 5m pensioners to be given right…
Allen Walkey