News Archive

‘Thousands of purchases could be abandoned’ after chancellor’s surprise stamp duty hike

Published on 31st October 2024, 8:57am

Estates agents are being urged to brace themselves for a potential surge in property fall throughs in the coming days, as well as renegotiations on already agreed deals, following the hike in the stamp duty rates this morning for those buying a second home after chancellor Rachel Reeves announced major changes in her Budget yesterday. Second home buyers in England and Northern Ireland have seen the…
View Full Article >
The pipeline of property sales agreed hits a four-year high

Published on 28th October 2024, 8:55am

Sustained growth in new property sales over 2024 has led to the largest sales pipeline the market has seen for four years thanks in part to rising wages and falling mortgage borrowing rates, Zoopla’s latest analysis reveals. The property portal says there are currently 306,000 homes working their way through the buying process to completion – up 26% year-on-year. The total value of these…
View Full Article >
Rents still rising but growth cooling according to Connells data

Published on 22nd October 2024, 5:44am

The average rent for a newly let property in Britain hit a high of £1,384 pcm last month – but the pace of growth is cooling. That’s the verdict from Connells’ high end brand Hamptons. Average rents rose 4.5% year-on-year, down from 5.0% in August and 11.7% in September Last month was the first since March 2021 when no region recorded a double-digit percentage rental…
View Full Article >
London Slowdown – more figures show cooling demand in the capital

Published on 18th October 2024, 7:10am

Foxtons’ September data shows that London applicant demand has slowed, as expected, in line with expectations as the peak lettings season came to an end. Demand decreased 35% in September compared to August. Overall, year-on-year applicant demand was 3% down, however certain regions of London such as Central and North have seen higher demand year to date in 2024 than in 2023. As the lettings…
View Full Article >
Property industry presses Labour to adopt UPRNs after ‘patchy’ take-up

Published on 17th October 2024, 5:12am

Property leaders have mounted a further push to persuade the Government to adopt Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) across the residential market. There was a drive to achieve this three years ago, but take-up of the UPRNs has remained patchy within the housing market. Decisive action Matthew Pennycook MP, Housing Minister Now, a coalition of organisations across the property sector…
View Full Article >
Record rents as lettings sector braces for Budget impact

Published on 16th October 2024, 3:57am

Average advertised rents outside London hit a 19 th consecutive quarterly record of £1,344 per calendar month (pcm), says Rightmove. This was up 5.2% from last year, although this is the slowest rate of growth since 2021. London rents also hit a new record at £2,694 pcm, 2.5% higher than last year (£2,627 pcm) The portal says the balance between supply and demand continues…
View Full Article >
The Renters’ Rights Bill: A legal view on what it means for landlords, agents and tenants

Published on 20th September 2024, 7:01am

The Renters’ Rights Bill has begun its passage through Parliament after receiving its first reading, and is scheduled to become law next year. We take a legal eagle’s look at the bill here with solicitors’ platform Lawhive , who analyse some of the most important measures in the bill. The legal implications of banning Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions…
View Full Article >
Massive long-term slump in available rental stock

Published on 19th August 2024, 6:20am

New figures show the scale of the rental supply slump in recent years. The respected Home website, which produces a monthly lettings and sales market snapshot, says that across Britain in August 2019, 96,000 properties were available for rent: fast forward to August 2024 and the figure is just 66,000, representing a drop of 31%. As a consequence, rents have risen progressively but Home believes…
View Full Article >
No Interest Rate Cut This Summer’ after bad news from government

Published on 12th June 2024, 5:11am

Any lingering hope of a pre-election interest rate cut by the Bank of England has been hurt by the government’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showing wages rising at 6% annually over the last quarter. Economists were expecting a rise because of an increase in the National Living Wage in April. For those aged 21 and over, it rose to £11.44 an hour, up 9.8% from last year.…
View Full Article >
Home owners ‘face mortgage hike before election’

Published on 4th June 2024, 4:54am

Mortgage payments for 100,000 households are set to shoot up before election day on 4 July, the Liberal Democrats claim. A typical mortgage holder will see their payments rise by £240 a month, the party has claimed which, if true, will increase the Tory’s political woes. HOUSEHOLDS HIT The LibDems say their prediction would see an average of 3,330 households a day being hit…
View Full Article >