D_Property

New research from Halifax has revealed that mortgages in the UK have reached their most affordable level in a decade, with typical payments accounting for 29% of disposable income in Q4 2017 compared to 48% Q3 in 2007. According to the research, this means mortgage affordability levels for first-time buyers and homemovers have dropped by 40% since the 2007 peak. The significant improvement in affordability since 2007 has been driven predominantly by historically low mortgage rates, despite the first base rate rise in a decade last November. With average house prices rising by 3% in the past year, mortgage affordability marginally improved in the last quarter of 2017, edging down from 29.6% in 2016.This is comfortably […]

Only one out of a total 348 local authorities across England and Wales has yet to see the average value of homes sold exceed £100,000, a new property analysis report shows. Yet every borough in London has now crossed the £300,000 threshold having exceeded £100,000 in 202, according to the report from property group Savills which lays bare the multi-speed nature of the UK housing market. The Welsh authority of Blaenau Gwent, where the average sale price in 2017 was £97,147, now stands alone, Burnley having finally seen the average price of flat and house sales tip over the £100,000 line last year, according to Savills analysis of Land Registry data. The average values of all […]

The number of home owners in the UK choosing to stay put and invest in their existing property instead of moving has soared in the past five years, according to a new report. In 2013 just 3% of homeowners took the decision to improve instead of move, but this has increased to 15%, rising to 26% amongst those aged 18 to 34, the research from specialist insurer Hiscox shows. It suggests that a subdued and costly property market has been a clear catalyst for this trend. When questioned, some 25% of home owners cited prohibitively high property prices as the reason while 13% said stamp duty, 15% a sluggish property market, 8% potential interest rate rises […]

Average house prices in England and Wales increased by 0.5% in January, the biggest rise in five months, with several places reaching new peak average prices, the latest index shows. The North West has the highest annual price growth at 4.6% and the East Midlands, the South West and Wales also recorded new peak average prices with growth of 2.5%, 4.1% and 3% respectively. However, overall annual price growth continued to slow, slipping to 0.6% from 0.7% in January 2018, the LSL Property Services/Acadata monthly index shows. And the South East and London are weighing on the market. If they are excluded annual price growth reached 2.5%. It means that the average value of a home […]

Mark Hempshell talks with Gareth Bertram at The Landlord’s Pension In this report we talked to Gareth Bertram, director at The Landlord’s Pension, which has helped many individuals to take control of pension pots and grow these funds in both hands-on and hands-off ways, particularly in property based investments. Bertram opens: “Many people are aware of SIPPs (Self-Invested Personal Pensions). SIPPs provide you with a much broader set of investments than a traditional pension. Investors have authority over every aspect of their pension yet receive all the same tax benefits. You can invest directly in high yielding property, for example, something you cannot do with a traditional pension. “Fewer people, perhaps, are aware of SSASs or […]

There were more than 116,700 sales of land and property in England and Wales that were registered in January, ranging in price from almost £38 million to £15,000. The latest data from the Land Registry show that out of 116,795 sales some 87,753 were freehold, a rise of 23.5% compared to January 2017. Of the total some 16,685 sales were for newly built homes, a rise of 15% compared to January 2017. Some 499 were of properties in England and Wales for £1 million and over, 307 were of properties in Greater London for £1 million and over while three were in Birmingham and three in Manchester. The most expensive residential sale taking place in January […]