Property Market
Small builders call time on unsold properties
Non-existent sales and mounting debt are killing off Britain’s small builders who have been building much needed family homes in the country’s suburbs.
The great escape
Whether you're considering early retirement or you've simply had enough of gloomy Britain, now is a fantastic time to consider buying a property abroad. Despite the slump in the UK housing market, property prices overseas are still offering better value to potential buyers.
Everybody loves good neighbours
Whatever happened to the good old British chats over the garden fence? According to a new survey out today, more than six in ten (67%) of us believe that having nice neighbours is the key to a happy home.
Invest with Barratt for an annual return of 7.5%
Barratt Homes is offering some outstanding opportunities to North East investors which guarantee a 7.5 per cent annual return, worth up to £24,000 a year. The housebuilder has introduced a special sale and leaseback scheme on a selection of 12 new showhomes, which it will sell to investors and then rent back for three years.
Surprise bounce to March house prices
The price of a typical house increased for the first time in March since October 2007, rising by 0.9% during the month and reducing the annual rate of fall from -17.6% to -15.7%, according to the Nationwide Building Society. This brings the price of a typical house to £150,946.
Jones homes in on HomeBuy Direct
A scheme to make new homes more affordable to buyers priced out of the housing market is being launched by Jones Homes working in partnership with the Government’s Homes & Communities Agency (HCA).
Primelocation.com adopts Google Maps with Street View
Primelocation.com’s unique integration of Street View – the latest innovation from Google - combined with Microsoft’s Bird’s Eye View aerial imagery, will revolutionise the way Britons search for prime properties.
Make the move into home ownership
Prospective first time buyers priced out of the housing market will find a helping hand towards making that first step at Barratt North Midlands’ Friars Park development where they may be able to take advantage of the First Time Buyer Initiative (FTBI).
Signs of life for the housing market?
Public confidence in the housing market is well and truly off the bottom as propertyfinder.com’s March survey of home buyers and sellers showed confidence in the market back to levels not seen since September 2008, just before Lehmans went spectacularly bust.
Additional 686,000 homes needed in North West
The Government has revised its figures for the number of new homes needed in the region. In a time when housebuilding levels are decreasing, there is a real challenge to the North West.
Budget should suspend residential stamp duty completely
Although the Chancellor has indicated that there will be no further major fiscal stimulus in the budget on April 22, John Charcol, the UK's leading mortgage broker, is calling on Alistair Darling to temporarily take the axe to stamp duty land tax on residential property, a move that would cost relatively little but would provide a lot of ‘bang for buck' in the current environment.
PropetyIndex.com launches new benefits for agents
Estate agents featured on PropertyIndex.com are set to benefit from an additional revenue opportunity, as the UK’s leading pay for results portal launches Legal Index on its site. Legal Index offers agents access to a full range of competitively priced legal services and products, which they can pass onto their customers at a marked up rate.
Early signs indicate end to price falls by autumn
Assetz is predicting an end to house price falls as early as September 2009, having started to see signs of softening reductions in its House Price Watch – an amalgamation of the five major UK house price indices.*
moneysupermarket.com: New HIPs legislation
Commenting on the enforcement of new legislations regarding HIPs, Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com, said: "This is one nuisance the mortgage market could do without. The new legislation will add more hurdles to be cleared before marketing your house.
New home is Bev’s best birthday present ever
Following a relationship breakdown, many former homeowners can find themselves in the same situation as a first time buyer, facing the same difficulties in raising a deposit and securing a mortgage to fund a new home. This is exactly what happened to Bev Lloyd who fell off the property ladder after separating from her partner.