Breaking News
Tory manifesto to extend right to buy
The Conservative manifesto that is being lauched today will be including an extension to the right to buy, they will be announcing that they will be extending the near 35 year old right to buy your council home that was initially introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the early 80’s to include the 1.3 million housing…
Allen Walkey
Lib-Dems “Mansion Tax” proposal
Nick Clegg unveiled his proposals yesterday regarding how the mansion tax bands would be applied, he confirmed the Lib Dems had scaled back the policy and it would now raise only £1 billion – far less than the £1.7 billion initially proposed. It was reported that in the details of the Lib-Dem proposals, properties worth…
Allen Walkey
£1m inheritance tax plan
David Cameron has put forward a pre election plan to make family estates that are worth less than £1million exempt from inheritance tax, that would be done by adding a further £175,000 each for couples to the existing £650,000. This increase in the amount that can be left to the children and grandchildren will affect a much…
Allen Walkey
Halifax House price Index March
According to the Halifax, part of the Lloyds Banking Group, UK house prices rose by 0.4% in March compared with the previous month but the annual rate of property price growth slowed, property prices were 8.1% higher than a year ago. The Halifax which uses data from its own mortgage lending is maintaining the prediction…
Allen Walkey
Charity bike ride
Let’s give a big thumbs up to Richard Greetham and Robin Burne both from Bradleys Estate Agents in Exeter who have both pledged to undertake a 240 mile bike ride from London to Paris. This mammoth challenge will be spread over 2 days, London to Newhaven..cross channel ferry…Dieppe to Paris, the finish line will be…
Allen Walkey
Buyers holding back
Now with just four weeks until the election on 7th May it appears the property market is stalling, can anyone blame buyers with some of the housing policies that Labour are proposing. This is probably a blip until the outcome becomes clear, Labour have voiced strongly their intentions about introducing a mansion tax, industry analysts…
Allen Walkey
Priced out of market
According to a report by the Halifax, high house prices and low incomes are seen as strong barriers to getting on the property ladder, this is supported by a recent report in a Shropshire local paper spotlighting a young couple who are typical among hundreds of thousands of young people who are giving up the…
Allen Walkey
Monitoring of Buy-to-Let mortgages
It appears that buy-to-let lending is on the increase with January approvals up 6 per cent on the previous month and up 12 per cent on the same period in 2014, these figures are not consistent with those for the overall mortgage market with both first time buyer and house mover mortgages having declined. The…
Allen Walkey
Countrywide continues to grow
Countrywide plc has increased further its regional presence by aquiring a further four lettings businesses in the first quarter of 2015, these aquisitions have been completed in the last three months, Property Links a well established business in Plymouth, Anderson Residential a full service lettings agency in Sutton Coldfield, the portfolio of HE Lettings in…
Allen Walkey
Mandatory electrical safety checks excluded.
Mandatory electrical safety checks in the private rented sector have been left out of the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Housing standards review: technical consultation. This comes somewhat as a surprise as the DCLG have taken positive action on Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms, making them mandatory for all properties in this sector. It…
Allen Walkey
New tax year new start
The new tax year heralds a new start for many, no more so than this year when a certain group of people will for the first time have lump sums to invest and who are expected to be a new generation of Buy-to-Let purchasers. From monday 6th April pensioners from all over the country will…
Allen Walkey
Supermarkets influence property prices.
It appears that the proximaty of a supermarket to where people live can increase the value of their property. According to research from Loyds Bank, on average being in easy reach of a supermarket can add around 7% to a property value. Lloyds compared the average house prices in postcodes that have a nationwide supermarket…
Allen Walkey
Car crashed into Estate Agent’s office.
Colchester town center Estate Agent haart had a car smash through it’s front door in Head Street on Easter Sunday afternoon at around 4pm, it was reported that a spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said it assisted a man at the scene but he was not seriously hurt and did not require…
Allen Walkey
No outright winner.
The day after the night before and the seven way debate never really gave us an outright winner, various snap polls following the debate gave us an overall top four who appeared to do well, David Cameron (Cons), David Milliband (Lab), Nigel Farage (UKIP) and Nicola Sturgeon (SNP). The debate was an orderly affair with…
Allen Walkey
Seven way leaders debate
Leaders from Britains 7 major political parties will be battling it out tonight in an historic live television debate, the debate is being held at the ITV Manchester studios and will be for 2 hours commencing at 8pm. The Party Leaders will face a studio audience who will be able to question them on various…
Allen Walkey