Direct Property News

House prices in key cities around the UK increased by 4.9% in the year to August 2017 but growth is down from the 6.6% recorded in the same month in 2016. However, the last six months have seen steady growth both year on year and month on month with average monthly growth at 2.5% in August, up from 1.1% in March and annual growth up from 2.7% in May. The data from real estate company Hometrack also shows that Manchester is the fastest growing city with annual price growth of 7.3% while London has the slowest annual growth at 1.9% and in Aberdeen prices are down 1.9%. Other cities showing strong annual growth include Birmingham up […]

The new build housing market in the UK has remained in decent shape over the last three to six months, while the second hand market has remained subdued, according to new research. Sector share prices have largely followed this pattern, with house builders up 5% in the last three months and estates agents down 2%, however, the last month has seen weak performances from both sectors, the analysis from independent stockbrokers Peel Hunt shows. Nervousness about the Brexit negotiations and the outcome of the reviews into Help to Buy (HTB) and leaseholds have weighed heavily on firms, however the report suggests that concerns over HTB and the leasehold issue have been overdone, and that the risk […]

The British Government has announced a support package worth £22.8 million to help communities in England develop plans to build more homes and have more say over growth in their area. The funding, which will be around £5.5 million per year until 2022, will provide communities with specialist support to help develop a Neighbourhood Plan, including where homes, shops, green spaces and offices should be built and how they should look. The announcement comes as more than 400 successful neighbourhood planning referendums have now taken place across England, driving local growth from Cornwall to Northumberland. ‘Neighbourhood planning gives communities a powerful set of tools to shape their area and drive local growth. The Government is committed […]

The U.K’s most and least expensive streets over the course of the last 12 months have been unveiled by the Land Registry, with a house on Britain’s most expensive street going for £14.5 million – 51 times the national average. Egerton Crescent, Kensington, West London has replaced last year’s most expensive street in Mayfair by £200,000, based on the average cost of a house on the street. In fact, eleven of the UK’s most expensive streets are all located within a one-mile radius in West London, including Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Chelsea. While all but one of the top 20 most expensive streets were in west London. By contrast Durham has the road with the lowest average […]

There are no plans to introduce rent controls in England but new legislation in Scotland means they are likely to be introduced in cities, with Glasgow leading the way. Housing Minister Alok Sharma told the Resi conference that the private rented sector is high on the Government’s agenda and a ban on letting agent fees will go ahead but he scorched reports that rent controls could be introduced in England. However, Glasgow City Council has voted in favour of a study to look at creating rent pressure zones in the city which would make it the first place in the UK to introduce these US style type of rent controls. The move is Glasgow is aimed […]

Buy-to-let landlords are rushing in order to remortgage their property, ahead of stricter lending rules coming into force in the near future. Data from UK Finance suggests that remortgaging accounted for over 70% of all buy-to-let lending during July-after reaching an eight-year high in terms of volume. The rest were for new mortgages for purchasing purposes. Lending Buy-to-let lending totalled £3.2bn with a total of 20,500 mortgages – a small rise from last year. In addition, the data shows that remortgaging by homeowners totalled £6.7bn – equating to 36,800 remortgagors, representing an annual increase of 12% and 10% respectively. June Deasy, head of mortgages policy at UK Finance, observed: ‘Remortgaging strengthened in July and reached its […]