More than 30,000 estate agents have lost their jobs since the start of the credit crisis, nearly half the number who were in work 18 months ago. Approximately 4,000 estate agency offices, nearly one in four, have closed, resulting in 32,000 agents losing their jobs. The hardship continues throughout the industry as valuers, negotiators and
The Government announced its £1 billion housing package this morning. It aims to help first-time buyers get on the housing market with a £300 million shared equity scheme, support vulnerable homeowners at risk of repossession with a £100 million mortgage rescue scheme, and support the housebuilding industry with a £400 million boost for social housing
The latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors survey has found that interest from potential buyers is growing as new inquiries jump to a two-year high. However, sales remain at their lowest level since 1978. Agents are blaming the lack of available mortgage finance, particularly amongst first-time buyers, and are calling for the government to intervene
The glut of rental properties on the market has forced lettings agents to adopt supermarket-style selling tactics to win over potential renters. Many agents are offering the first month or fortnight of rent for free or offering incentives such as paying for gas, electricity or council tax. Potential tenants are being advised to make an
The rate of housebuilding in the Thames Gateway needs to double if the government is to meet its target of 160,000 homes by 2016, according to a critical report by the National Audit Office. The NAO says building rates are rising more slowly than in the rest of the South East and that ministers have
All six Labour deputy leadership candidates tell today’s Inside Housing (see here too) that they back the ‘fourth option’ of direct investment in council housing. The three new statutory tenancy deposit schemes have protected the deposits of 66,000 tenants worth £58m in its first two months of operation, according to new figures released yesterday by
House prices fell 11.5 per cent in the year to January 2009, according to figures from Communities and Local Government. The latest monthly figures also show a fall between December 2008 and January 2009 of 10.2 per cent. However, the cost of a detached house actually rose 4.9 per cent between December 2008 and January
Latest figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors show that the pace of house price decline slowed in May, while sales picked up. Around 6 per cent of estate agents said property values had risen in May, while 42 per cent said prices fell. Buyer inquiries rose for the seventh consecutive month, and at
The government’s housebuilding targets are under threat after a shock fall in the number of homes built last year. The official target is to build 240,000 homes a year by 2016, and three million more homes in England by 2020, but the department for Communities and Local Government’s (CLG) own figures show that during the
A surge of new homebuyer enquiries is keeping estate agents busy, but not translating into sales, show new figures from rightmove out today. There has been a 108 per cent annual increase in the number of enquiries from new buyers in 2008, but with access to credit still restricted this has not yet turned to