Breaking News
Has letting property become a legal minefield
Today is an important day for both landlords and tenants, new pieces of legislation come into force for the protection of both, getting the message out to them is a task in itself, especially if we are talking about private landlords who run their business part time or live abroad and have no management agency…
Allen Walkey
The Property Ombudsman issues revised Codes of Practice.
The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme has today (1st October) issued amended and updated versions of all its Codes of Practice for UK and Scotland in order to support the introduction of new legislation that has come into force within the last 12 months. Christopher Hamer, the Property Ombudsman, says: “The decision was taken to carry…
Christopher Walkey
Tenants now better protected.
As from today 1st October tenants in England will have better protection against landlords who make their lives a misery or put their lives in danger. Where tenants make a legitimate complaint to their landlord about the property they live in will now be protected from any retaliatory action like being served an eviction notice…
Allen Walkey
FTB sales increase in August compared to May
The number of first-time buyer sales in August leapt by over a quarter compared to May, according to the latest First-Time Buyer Tracker from Your Move and Reeds Rains. August experienced 30,200 completed first-time buyer transactions, compared to 23,700 in May–the month of the General Election. This represents an increase of 27.4% on a three-month…
Allen Walkey
Housing Associations until Friday to vote
Housing association tenants will be able to buy their homes under the Right to Buy scheme if a government deal is approved this Friday. Just last week at the National Housing Federation’s Annual Conference, David Orr, the chief executive sought the consent of members to put forward a voluntary offer to the government on Right…
Allen Walkey
Market trend data for August
Land Registry’s monthly Market Trend Data for residential property prices in England and Wales released today. The August data shows an annual price increase of 4.2 per cent which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £184,682. Monthly house prices up 0.5 per cent since July 2015. The regional data indicates that:…
Allen Walkey
Landlords leaving the industry
A landlord study carried out by Access Legal earlier this month revealed that 1 in 5 landlords will have left the industry in the next two years, the tax break cuts announced by the government appear to be the main reason for this. The weight of the media news on buy-to-let has for some time…
Allen Walkey
Staff help raise over £15,000 for Shooting Star Chase.
On Saturday 19th September, brave volunteers from Townends Estate Agents, part of Badger Holdings Limited, took part in the ultimate challenge, a tandem skydive with GoSkydive, the UK’s premier tandem skydive specialist, to help raise vital funds for Shooting Star Chase. After an hour’s briefing and being fully kitted out, members of staff jumped from…
Christopher Walkey
RICS Residential Property Paper
Last week the RICS released its Residential Property Paper. RICS is calling on Government to expand the nation’s housing supply across all sectors – from owner occupied, social housing and private rented sectors – through their new Residential Policy Paper. Expanding supply is not just limited to new builds but optimising how we use existing…
Allen Walkey
Lack of housing supply
The lack of housing supply is a story that just will not go away, numbers of properties currently available per estate agent have fallen again from 55 in July to 38 in August, we are actually at an 11 year low for properties available. Where we look to find the reason for the imbalance at…
Allen Walkey
Possible cap on loans to BTL landlords
At present owner-occupiers are treated differently to would be landlords applying for loans, the Bank of England at present has powers to cap borrowing by owner-occupiers where it does not for landlords. Officials are watching closely for lenders who are being too accommodating for would be landlords when it comes to satisfying criteria when applying…
Allen Walkey
NHF comes up with new plan for RTB
A follow on to yesterday’s “Breaking News” Item where we mentioned Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron telling his party faithfulls at their conference that he is totally opposed to the right to buy scheme being extended, and that he would do everthing he can to stop the government from implementing it, well it may not…
Allen Walkey
London house gap at 20yr high
According to Hometrack Cities House Price Index, the gap between house prices in London and other major cities across the UK is at its widest for 20 years, this is despite reports of a reduction in the gap between regional house prices, city level figures confirm that the slowdown in London is not happening. Hometrack…
Allen Walkey
Property supply dwindles according to NAEA
According to the National Association of Estate Agents UK housing market report for August 2014 , the number of properties available to buy per estate agent fell to an eleven year low in the month. Supply of available housing fell by a third in the last month, with 38 houses available per branch in August,…
Allen Walkey
Lib Dems against social housing RTB
Tim Farron the recently elected leader of the Liberal Democrats made it clear in his speech at their conference this week, that his party were against the government plans for right to buy for tenants of housing association homes. He made it clear he would not allow the government to ‘destroy’ social housing by extending…
Allen Walkey