Breaking News
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
Martyn Baum appointed president of NAEA
Martyn Baum has been appointed President of the National Association of Estate Agents, taking over from outgoing president Simon Gerrard, the ceremony took place at London’s Savoy Hotel. Martyn who was born in Loughborough started out his career in property at the age of 16 as a trainee at John German, he then went on…
Allen Walkey
As predicted, Government shines light on buy-to-let to tackle housing crisis.
Prior to the Election in May 2015, Michael Riley, Director of Capital & Coastal, correctly predicted that despite which party came into power, it would only be a matter of time before the new Government “shone a light” on the buy-to-let industry as a way of tackling the lack of stock driving the country’s housing…
Christopher Walkey
Halifax report house price surge in June
According to the Halifax UK house prices picked up in the last quarter after two successive falls, with an unexpected month-on-month surge in June pushing the annual rate to 9.6%, the Halifax house price index showed prices jumped by 1.7% between May and June, the fourth consecutive monthly rise, this is contrary to other ecent…
Allen Walkey
Budget time again
The budget that will be announced today by George Osborne will be the first all-Conservative buget since 1996, it is expected that the Chancellor will take three years instead of two to reach his £12bn target for cuts. In a landmark commons statement the Chancellor will set the agenda for the five year parliament ahead,…
Allen Walkey
ARLA appoints new President
The Association of Residential Lettings Agents has appointed Peter Savage as President for the coming year, the outgoing ARLA president is Valerie Bannister, who is the national property director at Your Move, Savage said that he was overjoyed to take on the role of President. Peter is a long standing member of ARLA, having held…
Allen Walkey
Landlord faces agent who owes her £20,000.
Channel 5’s ‘Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords’ is set to show how one rogue operator gives good letting agents a bad name. Margaret Wilson faces the agent that owes her £20,000 in a perfectly captured showdown on Wednesday 8th July at 9pm. Margaret Wilson owns two rental properties in Oxfordshire. Two years ago she handed them…
Christopher Walkey
Buy-to-Let increases burden on welfare
It is expected that George Osborne will be cutting Housing Benefit in his budget on wednesday, it has been reported through certain media that he is considering forcing all housing benefit recipients to contribute towards their own rent. It has also been reported that he is pushing for the benefit cap to be lowered from…
Allen Walkey
Inheritance tax raised to £1m
David Cameron and George Osborne writing in The Times on saturday confirmed that the threshold at which inheritance tax is levied will rise for couples to one million pounds from £650,000 after April 2017. The policy will be funded by limiting the amount of tax relief on pension contributions given to those earning more than…
Allen Walkey
Response by the NHF
In a press release by the The National Housing Federation they responded to an announcement in The Times over the weekend to housing commitments from Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne. Prime Minister David Cameron outlined plans on Saturday to accelerate house-building over the next five years and raise the inheritance tax threshold…
Allen Walkey
News: @RaterAgent web traffic on upward trend, but still behind @Allagentsuk…
Just 5 months since its creation – and 2 months since its formal launch – raterAgent is already the second most-popular, dedicated estate and letting agent review site in the UK. Using Alexa.com rankings – verified by that site’s owners, Amazon.com – the graph below shows how, in the 5 months since our ‘beta’ launch,…
Christopher Walkey