Archive

Retired homeowners are increasingly using property wealth to clear unsecured debts and mortgages to strengthen their later life finances, a new...

So far in our contribution to the campaign to replace leasehold with commonhold we have outlined the stories of some of...

Data produced by the government showed that some 211,000 homes have been bought using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan. The scheme...

On the same day as one of the most optimistic Rightmove market snapshots of recent months, the latest mortgage monitor from...

Mortgage prisoners - borrowers unable to switch lenders despite being up-to-date with payments - may have an escape route in sight...

The row over whether Help To Buy benefits house builders’ personal wealth more than it assists the housing market is continuing...

There are many misconceptions about the franchising world but, whether we’re talking about estate agency franchises or fast food franchises, it’s...

A review of the housing market at present, particularly when it comes to purchase transactions, might not necessarily feel overly positive.  The...

Former Emoov chief executive Russell Quirk has made his first on-the-record comments about the factors behind the dramatic collapse of his...

There’s been a warm welcome from the property and consumer sectors for a suggestion that the Financial Conduct Authority may be...

As 2018 draws to a close, it is fair to say that stretched affordability and uncertainty over the Brexit negotiations has...

House prices are flatlining with the rate of annual growth having fallen continually since August according to LSL Property Services, which...

Figures released by the government over the weekend show that 14,867 Help To Buy equity loans were taken out in the...

The global chief executive of Purplebricks, Michael Bruce, has warned mortgage lenders against offering so-called ‘super-sized’ home loans to borrowers.  Bruce is...

Newspapers are reporting that Brexit’s impact on house prices - especially if there is No Deal - are likely to take...

1.             Who are you and what do you do? HeyJuno Property is a business dedicated to empowering estate and letting agents throughout...

It’s now almost a month since the government introduced new rules on Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO), as part of its...

Johnston Press, the company which owns the i national newspaper and some 200 local titles - many with property supplements carrying...

Landlords and letting agents might feel they’ve taken a bit of a battering from the government in recent years – and...

The buy-to-let sector, which has been under sustained pressure for a number of years now thanks to tax changes designed to...

When you are starting up a new business, it is unlikely that you will already have enough capital to invest. Taking...

A recent holiday in the US gave me an opportunity to catch up with property news over there - and surprisingly,...

Consumer body Which? is warning that those who used the Help To Buy equity loan to purchase their homes could face...

The latest mortgage snapshot from e.surv has reinforced recent claims from other sources that London’s housing market remains the most difficult...

The proportion of first time buyers in the market is still 11 per cent below the level seen before the 2008...

An estate agent has been jailed for 18 months after he took out £30,000 worth of loans in the name of...

Figures just released assessing February’s mortgage borrowing show that approvals are 1.25 per cent lower than in January, and are down...

New analysis by credit and comparison service Totally Money has revealed the districts where the controversial Help To Buy initiative is...

Two UK online estate agencies have been named in a list of the world’s top 50 real estate start-ups to watch...

Earlier this week, Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered the Autumn Budget with a strong focus on housing.  The decision to cut stamp duty...

Another Budget, another pledge of new house building: it appears from statements made over the weekend by Chancellor Phillip Hammond that...

The Bank of England has raised the base rate from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent. The Bank’s monetary policy committee was...

Last week was MIPIM PropTech Summit 2017 in New York, and it was the most oversubscribed to date - proof of the...

ZPG - which already owns and operates Zoopla, PrimeLocation, Hometrack and the price comparison website uSwitch - has acquired the financial...

New data from UK Finance - previously the Council of Mortgage Lenders - paints a relatively optimistic assessment of the UK-wide...

Almost half of all property purchase valuations last month were conducted on behalf of first-time buyers according to Connells - well...

The stock exchange seems to be on everyone’s lips at the moment. There’s Agents’ Mutual seeking to float on the Alternative Investment...

As the mainstream mortgage market braces itself for yet another clampdown on buy-to-let lending, a growing number of property investors are...

Without wishing to blow our own trumpet at this time, we did say at the start of the year that 2017...

There has been general support from the industry for the government’s apparent intention to ban new homes in England being sold...

Government schemes like Help To Buy, supposedly assisting more people get on the ladder, have little impact on improving social mobility...

The overall mortgage market has grown in the past month according to e.surv - bringing to an end months of decline...

Home buyers borrowed £11.2 billion in March - down on the ‘stamp duty bonanza‘ period at the same time last year...

In recent years the mortgage industry has gone through some testing times. Recession and regulation have led to more stringent lending...

There are more first-time buyers (FTBs) finding a way on to the property ladder than at any time since the Financial...

Buyers with deposits of 15 per cent or less of the purchase price now make up more than a fifth of...

A leading housing market analyst has made a stout defence of the growing trend of young buyers relying on their parents...

The proportion of first time buyers relying on inherited wealth or loans from the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ has reached...

Data from the Council for Mortgage Lenders show that loans taken out by buyers have hit a near two-year low.   Home buyers...

Over the past two decades, investing in buy-to-let has been a relatively easy way to make money, which is why so...

The number of home buyers in London dropped to a four-year low in 2016 while the number of loans taken out...

So, Property Week has announced its Property Awards shortlist for 2017. Looking at the entries for PropTech Company of the Year, I'm surprised...

The rapid growth in popularity of buy-to-let in recent years, fuelled in part by the failings of the pensions industry, has...

First-time buyers borrowed £5.1 billion from mortgage companies in December, far above the same month in 2015, and the highest December...

The managing partner of a property investment firm says London residential property values have fallen by 15 to 25 per cent...

New figures from the Council for Mortgage Lenders add weight to the argument that the housing market is gently slowing.  Home-owners borrowed £10.5...

Moneyfacts, the independent financial products monitoring service, says first time buyer have a lot to thank Help To Buy for -...

There’s good news for London’s troubled market - a report from the CML shows that buyers in the capital took out 12...

It may still be too early to start compiling a Christmas wish list, but it is the right time to provide...

Forecasts are a tricky business. And as I wrote in a recent Industry Views opinion piece, any prediction in the current...

Labour’s long-awaited Redfern Review, set up a year ago after the party’s defeat in the general election, finally reports tomorrow. Although it...

The latest Bank of England data on mortgage approvals - a key barometer for likely transactions for agents - shows Brexit...

It’s all been kicking off in recent weeks, hasn’t it? Marmite wars, the endless Trump v Clinton debate, Samsung phones blowing...

The government has signalled that it is going to publish a housing White Paper later this year with “significant measures” to...

Fears raised over the UK housing market in the wake of the Brexit vote have so far proved to be ‘wide...

Those working within the UK housing market would have felt considerable worry about the immediate impact of the vote to leave...

Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) has announced the launch of a new feature on its website which will help estate agents to...

The huge rush to acquire buy-to-let property in the first quarter of the year ahead of the stamp duty change deadline...

Respected financial comparison website Moneyfacts says the average buyer requiring a mortgage and securing a deal now will be £240 a...

I’m indebted to one of the most enthusiastic estate agents I’ve had the pleasure of meeting for suggesting the subject of...

With a number of agent partner programmes available nationwide, estate agents can often increase business by offering sales by auction, especially...

As I sit and write this piece, even with the FTSE 100 back up and sterling having recovered some of its...

Home-owners borrowed £8.1 billion for house purchases in April, which was four per cent down on the same month a year ago. There...

A firm says it wants to help agents and sellers frustrated by a stagnating housing market to short-let homes using controversial...

Home loans activity has fallen to a 12 month low as market torpor sets in ahead of the EU referendum.  According to...

While buy-to-let lenders brace themselves for further interventions as part of proposals currently being drawn up by the Prudential Regulation Authority...

There has been a 58 per cent rise in the past year for mortgages for house purchase purposes, according to the...

The Council of Mortgage Lenders says the number of repossessions in the first quarter of 2016 was 2,100 - the lowest...

First time buyers with small deposits are among those likely to suffer as a result of new regulations on credit risk...

Home lending in 2016 saw its best opening quarter for nine years according to the figures from chartered surveying firm e.surv.  An...

We talk about the unstoppable rise of buy-to-let and forget that it was only as recently as the early 1970’s that...

A top consultancy firm is warning that the stamp duty surcharge coming into effect at the end of this week may lead...

A group of leading tax experts claims the stamp duty surcharge coming into effect one week from today will hurt the...

Data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows that gross mortgage lending reached £17.6 billion last month - that's the highest...

A centre-right think tank founded by Tory former planning minister Nick Boles is urging a review of stamp duty to link...

As we know, the property market in London is notorious for sitting a long way outside the conventions of the wider UK...

Banks have approved the highest number of mortgages for almost two years as the rush to purchase buy to let properties...

In December 2015 first time buyers borrowed £4.5 billion for house purchases - that’s up seven per cent on November and...

Increased competition amongst mortgage lenders and the rush to buy investment properties before the April 1 stamp duty surcharge deadline have...

In January readers of Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today were given the opportunity to give their views on proposed...

Mortgage lending for home buyers dipped by nine per cent in November according to new data - but it is up...

In many respects 2015 has been a good year. Despite global challenges, we have seen a marked improvement in the UK...

An estate agent is going on trial concerning allegations that he defrauded people of over a quarter of a million pounds. Russell...

Campaigning charity Shelter claims the government's flagship housing incentive, Help To Buy, has added £8,250 to the price of a home...

Despite seeing the word in many industry pieces, using ‘crisis’ to describe anything related to the UK housing market at present...

Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that lending to first time buyers bounced back in the second quarter of...

Here's a thought. The Chancellor may have done the buy-to-let industry a small favour with his emergency Budget in July. What...

eMoov has entered into a partnership with peer-to-peer lender RateSetter in another bid by an online estate agency to find an...

When Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, recently announced that interest rates would have to start to rise sooner...

Connells says its sales figures for June show a 27.5 per cent rise on the same month last year.  The agency has...

Lending for house buying is still down compared to this time last year but there are signs that the market is...

There is more evidence of a boost in mortgage approvals according to data from chartered surveyor company e.surv.  It says there were...

The methodology used by the Nationwide to compile its house price index is to be changed from next month, with more...

The Financial Times says London Mayor and new Conservative MP Boris Johnson is lobbying the government in a bid to persuade...

This month has marked a real change in the way the private lettings sector is perceived - and it’s a perception...

The Aston Mead estate agency says “unnecessarily restrictive mortgage criteria" have caused the number of home loans to drop sharply in...

The number of mortgage loans approved by banks fell year-on-year for the ninth consecutive month in March. Data from the British Bankers’...

With another hung parliament looking increasingly likely, the so-called ‘challenger parties’ look set to have a major say in who forms...