Click on this link for a short summary of the Green Paper launched yesterday. The full document and supporting papers can be downloaded here. A full transcript of Yvette Cooper’s speech and the responses from the opposition parties and individual MPs can be downloaded here. Jack Dromey of union Unite said: “Gordon Brown has listened
The Royal Institution of Surveyors (RICS) reported that the number of UK surveyors recording house price falls grew for the sixth consecutive month in January, while the stock of unsold property on surveyors’ books increased by more than 10 per cent. The RICS says this trend has not been seen since the housing recession of
And finally, house sellers are resorting to house swapping in order to move home, as a result of the financial crisis. A number of estate agents have been forced into launching a property exchange – matching the homes of people who want to trade up or down but who are unable to sell as the
LAST YEAR saw yet another boom in buy to let, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Loans to landlords rose 48% by volume and 57% by value over 2005. Buy-to-let now makes up 11% of the entire mortgage market – not bad for an idea that has existed for only ten years. After a
AT THE SAME TIME as the government was relaunching its flagship scheme to help key workers on to the housing ladder (see yesterday), a leading specialist lender was releasing research that shows a major reason why they need it. Paragon Mortgages told the Daily Mail that booming house prices had created thousands of buy-to-let millionaires.
Homeowners are not willing to make changes to live in ’zero carbon’ new eco-friendly homes, according to a report. People are too worried that their cost of living would be higher and the maintenance would be more demanding; as well as having to cut back on certain appliances. The National Housebuilding Council Foundation (NHBC) said
From today, all landlords must now give new tenants a certificate showing the rented property’s energy efficiency. The energy performance certificate, providing information similar to the ratings system on home appliances, is intended to allow tenants to check the energy efficiency of a property’s insulation, double glazing, boiler and appliances. For current advice, see further
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has recorded its highest ever level of arrears in sub-prime mortgages. The ratings agency said that arrears have increased by 24 per cent year on year as a result of house price decline, refinancing problems, and a lack of affordability. Mortgages taken out in 2005 and 2006 now have the highest
David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation has provided details of how his organisation plans to meet the prime minister’s target of 3 million new homes to be built by 2020. He believes that housing associations will need to deliver about one million homes, delivering after 2012 an annual number of 45,000 homes
Nationwide building society has joined Abbey National in raising the price of its fixed-price mortgages. Increasing two- and three-year fixed rate deals by 0.3 per cent, while demanding a minimum of at least a 10 per cent deposit, Nationwide blamed the rising cost of inter-bank lending for the rises. However, Halifax announced that it would