The UK Chancellor, George Osborne, is ready to announce that capital gains tax will soon be charged on British property sold by foreign buyers. It is also expected that the plan would also apply to British people living abroad who are marked as non-residents despite owning property in the UK. This plan aims to ensure that wealthy foreign buyers who buy and sell British property are taxed on their profits...
September 2013
As Ed Miliband promised this week at his Labour Party Conference, Labour ‘will build 200,000 homes a year by 2020’. Well, as many critics have pondered this week, is this really possible? Mr Miliband proposes to increase building by 20 per cent, a figure scoffed at by developers as being over double the realistic rate of growth. Of course any increase in building is great news, and 10% whilst not...
The UK has seen a massive rise in approval for the construction of new homes in the second quarter of this year. This is largely down to Government assisted mortgage lending and building permits becoming easier to obtain. However, this good news does not come without a warning, that developers believe increasingly arduous planning conditions are stopping building work beginning on many sites. Data...
Mortgage lending increased 12 per cent in July up to £16.7 billion, up from £14.9 billion in June. This is a 29 per cent increase since July – this from the latest figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The growth was largely as a result of an increase in first-time buyers onto the market. In July this year, 25,300 loans were given to first time buyers, totalling at £3.5 billion (this...
The latest retirement trend is quite surprising. It’s not about the latest lawnmower or the fabulous addition to the menu at the local garden centre. No. In fact, the latest retirement trend couldn’t be further from gardening in the suburbs –amazingly, pensioners are moving to the city! Retirees are usually associated with escaping to the sun or pottering away in the garage but not anymore,...
As already reported in the last few weeks, house prices are rising at a rate we haven’t experienced for a few years now (since 2006). This rise and a growing demand have resulted in a rise in the number of homes coming onto the market, according to research from the Royal Institution of Charted Surveyors (RICS). The survey follows on from last week’s Halifax report which suggested that House Prices...
Our latest research on recorded visitor data and buyer / tenant registrations from our web site shows a significant change in visitor demographics. Surprisingly, Russia has fallen from 6th to 22nd in just three years, China has dropped from 3rd to 23rd but Greece has shown steady growth climbing from 28th to 16th as the effects of the Eurozone crisis continue to be felt. The results appear to show that...
The up and coming Elephant and Castle has been selected as the first location for Britain’s innovative new scheme, “build-to-rent” – with a new 44-storey skyscraper designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour & partners set to and set to begin construction next year. This new skyscraper will be the biggest housing complex since the iconic Dolphin Square scheme way back in 1930’s Pimlico. The building has...
Buy-to-let landlords are more likely to find tenants and receive rent on time if they rent their property to University students according to research by the National Landlords Association (NLA). The research shows that students are one of the most reliable groups of tenants in the UK. According to the study, students are least likely of all tenants to not pay their rent, with just 38% of student...
A new government scheme aiming to get over 700,000 empty homes back on the market as rental properties has recently been launched. The National Empty Homes Loan Fund (snappy title) has been funded by a £3 million grant from government. The scheme is available on a full repayment basis for a fixed term of five years and will be provided with a fixed 5% rate to owners. The scheme involves a wide array of...