Direct Property News

A new £20m funding initiative has been launched with the intention of supporting a generation of first and second-time property investors The initiative from Market Financial Solutions (MFS) is targeted at refurbishment and restoration projects in the £1.4m empty properties across Britain. Funding On-going until June 2018, the £20m funding drive will be made available to nationwide applications through bridging loans in the range from £100,000 to £1m. With Britain gearing up for another General Election on June 8th and against the looming backdrop of Brexit, MFS’s property investment drive offers landlords fast access to monies required to support their short-term investment plans. Over the next year, it is anticipated that traditional asset classes such as…

Property prices across the UK will rise by 6.1% in the next five years, bringing the average property value to almost £300,000, according to new research. It is expected that property hotspots will emerge in the North of England with employment opportunities and business start-up rates helping to close the gap on the current property hubs of London and the South. The research from Barclays Bank also predicts that buy to let investments and high net worth millennial investors are set to lead the way in fuelling the property market going forward and they are likely to look for higher yields outside of London. Overall, despite an uncertain economic and political climate, the report says that…

Residential transaction in the UK reached almost 100,000 in April 2017, some 20.3% higher than the same month last year, the latest official figures show. There were 99,910 residential transactions and 9,980 non-residential sales. However, this was down by 3.2% month on month, according to the data published by HMRC and April 2016 saw sales fall due to tax changes. Indeed, the data report suggests it is best to avoid direct comparisons of residential sales between April 2017 and 2016 due to the unusually low level of transactions in April 2016 due to the introduction of extra stamp duty on additional homes. HMRC also pointed out that non-tax factors may have played a role as well,…

Fresh research from the Legal & General Mortgage Club has revealed that a number of brokers believe that the North of England will become a hotspot for landlords over the course of the next year. Those brokers attending the Legal & General Mortgage Club’s recent buy-to-let forum event were quizzed on the development of the buy-to-let market. This followed the series of legislation changes that came into force in the last twelve months. Streamlining As a consequence of the legislation changes, 69% of brokers feel that landlords will look to streamline their portfolios. Many will look to sell properties with lower yields, while 45% feel that buy-to-let investors will turn their attention to university towns and…

Asking prices in England and Wales have increased for a fifth month in a row, up 1.2% to a new record average high of £317,281 in May, the latest index shows. Despite other indications that the property market in London has been slowing, the data from real estate portal Rightmove also shows that asking prices reached a record in the city too, up 2.1% month on month to £649,864. The price of a property coming onto the market is now 3% higher than a year ago and it is typical family homes that are seeing the biggest asking price rise, up 5.4% year on year. The Rightmove report suggests that it is home owners with younger…

More landlords than previously thought now believe that they could be pushed into a higher tax bracket due to changes to mortgage tax relief which is being phased out in the UK. Some 16% think they will pay more tax, an increase of 7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the latest research from the National Landlords Association (NLA). By the time the changes are fully implemented in 2021 landlords’ mortgage finance costs will count towards their taxable profit. The current average annual mortgage finance costs for a single property landlord is £5,600. The NLA says that this means that those currently earning just below the upper limit of the basic income tax…