Figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have given hope to some that the house market may be improving. RICS found that 41 per cent more chartered surveyors reported new buyer enquiries rising rather than falling in April, up from 32 per cent in March, and the highest reading since August 1999. The
A test case is being heard in the High Court to decide the legality of renewal fees charged to landlords when tenants stay on after their assured shorthold tenancy comes to an end. The challenge by the Office of Fair Trading against Foxtons will affect how future letting agency agreements are drawn up and whether
The Office of Fair Trading said it would review the buying and selling of homes next year. The review will look into internet property sites, price competition between agents and consumer protection, four years on from the last review. The study may also cover the relationship between estate agents, and mortgage brokers, surveyors, solicitors and
The Building Societies Association (BSA) chairman has said that mortgage markets will take two years to recover from the credit squeeze. Iain Cornish added that once recovered, the market will be very different to the early years of this decade, and that a more ‘sensible’ market should return in the long run. The credit crisis
The Bank of England (BoE) mortgage approval figures for December show that the numbers fell for the seventh consecutive month. Only 73,000 mortgages were approved last month, down from 81,000 in November. House price inflation in England and Wales also fell sharply in December, according to Land Registry figures. The average price fell 0.4 per
The ombudsman for estate agents has reported a ‘surprising’ workload, even though activity in the house market has slumped 60 per cent. The number of disputes over house sales was down just 3 per cent in 2008, but the overall rise in new cases was 20 per cent. The ombudsman said he expects the majority
An independent affordability review in Northern Ireland has called for an extra 10,000 social rented homes to be built and 9,500 empty homes to be brought back into use over the next five years. The Semple report [downloads PDF] also called for fast-tracking of planning applications for new homes. For current advice in Northern Ireland,
According to research by the Times more than one in five homes have been put on the market because their owners cannot afford the mortgage repayments. A survey by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) for the Times said that at least 5,000 properties a week are being put up for sale by ‘forced