General news

Increased uptake of million pound properties

Last year saw a significant increase in the purchase of properties worth £1 million and over, new figures have revealed. According to the latest Halifax Estate Agents Million Pound Property Report, published on Saturday (May 10th) the number of million pound property sales in the UK rose by 36 per cent in 2007. The greatest number of these sales occurred in the London ...

12th May 2008

Homeowners 'need to protect themselves against garden theft'

With summer just around the corner, it is advisable for homeowners to take extra care to safeguard their garden possessions. That is the message from esure Home Insurance, which has recently conducted research revealing that, as a regular habit, 93 per cent of property owners leave items such as garden tools unsecured in their backyard overnight. With 11 per cent of ...

9th May 2008

Base rate decision 'is disappointing news for property market'

The Bank of England's latest decision on interest rates, announced yesterday (Thursday, May 8th), failed to address the current slowdown in the UK property market. That is according to Duncan Samuel, managing director of online property conveyancers Convex, who said that the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to hold the base rate at five per cent is ...

9th May 2008

Many homeowners 'do not consider contents cover a necessity'

A large number of British property owners are putting themselves at risk by not taking out home contents cover. That is according to new research from Sainsbury's Home Insurance, which revealed that as many as 22 per cent of homeowners in London have failed to protect their possessions with contents cover. It was discovered that in total, approximately 4.7 million people ...

8th May 2008

Equity release still possible despite tumbling prices

Homeowners will still be able to release cash from their homes in spite of the drop in property value, it has been claimed. According to the Safe Home Income Plans (Ship), property owners can still ease financial difficulty by accessing the equity in their homes as long as they act quickly. Andrea Rozario, director general of Ship, revealed that homes were becoming an ...

7th May 2008

First-time buyers told to wait for market stability before purchase

First-time buyers should wait for the market to become more stable before trying to purchase a property, it has been claimed. According to I Am Moving, new property buyers should not be tempted by the current decline in house prices and should wait for the market to settle before buying. Peter Beckett, business development director of the company, claimed that first-time ...

6th May 2008

BoE 'may cut base rate further this month'

It is possible that the Bank of England will announce a further cut to interest rates in its May decision, due to be announced next week. That is according to Howard Archer, Chief European and UK economist at Global Insight, who predicted that the base rate could be reduced in order to address the economic turmoil currently being experienced by Britons. He noted that the ...

2nd May 2008

Lack of property demand 'discouraging homebuilding'

Lack of demand in the UK's housing market, which has been brought about by the impact of the credit crunch, is a contributing factor to the decline in home building. That is according to Brian Berry, director of external affairs at the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), who said that the credit crunch is having a "serious effect" on the property market. He went ...

2nd May 2008

Migrant labour 'has had positive impact' on construction industry

The influx of migrant labourers coming from the European Union (EU) has had a "largely positive" impact on the UK's construction industry. That is according to John Slaughter, director of external affairs at the Home Builders Federation (HBF), who said that the migrant workforce, predominantly from Eastern Europe, has "been beneficial in terms of effective ...

1st May 2008

Gazundering 'may become more commonplace'

The practice of gazundering, which involves a last minute drop in a house buyer's offer, may become more commonplace due to the current state of the UK property market. That is according to Lucian Cook, director of residential research for Savills, who asserted that gazundering is "a fairly destabilising practice for the market". He explained that the current ...

30th Apr 2008

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