Direct Property News

The majority of landlords in the UK believe they will be affected by the new tougher mortgage affordability tests and by income tax changes due to be introduced in April of this year. Some 60% said they believe they will be directly affected by income tax relief changes but 29% said that they would not, according to the latest property investor survey from Mortgages for Business. It is thought that these landlords are predominantly likely to be a mix of basic rate income tax payers and landlords who operate their portfolios through limited company vehicles which are subject to corporation tax. And some 11% said that they still did not know if the changes would affect […]

Last year, a good friend sold her house in central London and moved to the country. I chivvied her all the way. Every time there were hints of backsliding – she worried about schools, about getting the right kind of coffee, about not having close next-door neighbours and the like – I called and nagged. I showed her charts of the ratio between London and non-London house prices, explained that the gap was at a historical high and that if she wanted to make the best possible London-for-not-London trade, 2015 was likely to be the best possible time to do it. Her house didn’t sell as fast as she expected (the turn was already beginning). But […]

The average British property has increased in value by £56.67 a day in 2016, Zoopla has revealed. The overall value of the UK’s 28.9 million homes has risen by more than 7% in 2016 to a total added value of £8.17tn, a new research has revealed. The year’s biggest winner is, according to Zoopla’s study, Diss, a market town in Norfolk with an increase of 16.2%. Zoopla analysed all their price data between 1 January and 7 December 2016 and came to the conclusion that Britain’s housing stock now has got an overall value of £8,165,502,086,907. This is an increase of £559bn since January. When it comes to regions, the report states that England’s East has […]

The condition of a rental property is the most important consideration for new tenants in the UK private rental sector, followed by the quality of the landlords and a value for money rent. Research shows that 52% of tenants believe that the state of the home they are renting is extremely important while 46% say having a good landlords is equally important. Some 45% want value for money when renting a home in the UK and location is extremely important for 38%, according to new research from agents Your Move.

A London square whose wealthy residents have included Margaret Thatcher and Sean Connery has been crowned the most expensive in England and Wales with an average house price of nearly £17m. Eaton Square, in the upmarket Belgravia district of west London, topped a list dominated by addresses in the capital, according to an annual survey by Lloyds Bank.

Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, London and Cardiff are the best locations in the UK for residential rental investment and are cities with strong tenant demand, according to new research. They all score over 45 in a new investor growth assessment tool developed by national lettings and property franchise business Martin & Co. Cambridge also scores highly due to having a significant population of young professionals and growing support for the proposed Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford corridor. Less obvious investor destinations for buy to let landlords include Aylesbury and central Bedfordshire which score the maximum seven for development. Both have witnessed a 5% increase in housing stock since 2011 and both have a substantial development pipeline. The analysis report also […]