New research from Halifax shows that housing affordability has improved greatly for key public sector workers, since house prices peaked in September 2007. According to the lender’s survey, two in five towns (41%) are now affordable, based on the average house prices to earnings ratio for nurses, teachers, fire fighters and the like. The ratio [...]
research
Jump in affordable towns for key workers
New research from Halifax shows that housing affordability has improved greatly for key public sector workers, since house prices peaked in September 2007. According to the lender’s survey, two in five towns (41%) are now affordable, based on the average house prices to earnings ratio for nurses, teachers, fire fighters and the like. The ratio [...]
Gloom over house prices deepens
In a round-up of UK housing market sentiment, research from Knight Frank / Markit indicates that most homeowners believe their properties have fallen in value every month since July 2010. According to the compilers of the House Price Sentiment Index (HPSI), any figure under 50 is on the dark side and October’s reading of 42.1 [...]
Private rented sector running out of space
The UK’s private rented sector is rapidly running out of space, with new tenancies having hit sky-high levels over the past year. According to latest research from the Association of Registered Letting Agents (ARLA), 74% of its 6,000 members have experienced record tenant demand in the past 12 months, with London and the south leading [...]
Landlords keener on family homes
Family-sized homes are gaining in popularity with landlords, as the UK’s private rental sector enters its latest phase. Research from buy-to-let mortgage specialist, Paragon, suggest that landlords looking to expand their portfolios this autumn are more likely to be considering semi-detached and detached properties for investment. Forty-one per cent of landlords with a purchase in [...]
Landlord optimism at four-year high
Landlord optimism is at a four-year high, with 65% of landlords rating prospects for their lettings businesses as “very good” or “good”, over the next three months. According to recent research by the National Landlords’ Association (NLA) respondents are also increasingly optimistic about the overall state of the UK’s private rented sector, with 54% rating [...]
High demand and low interest rates bolster landlord confidence
Today’s high rents have bolstered landlord confidence, with 49% of buy-to-let investors thinking now is a good time to invest (up from 47% a year ago), and 68% of landlords expecting tenant demand to grow in the next 12 months. According to new research from lettings agent network, LSL, average rent has regained its all-time [...]
Homeowners adjust property price expectations
Almost 80% of homeowners are hopeful of house price rises in the next five years, with only 11% predicting declines. However, according to new research from estate agent, Your Move, optimism has waned, with respondents currently expecting prices to increase 6.9% by 2016, down from a predicted rise of 10.6% this time last year. Looking [...]
Housing market “boom and bust” a 40-year trend
The tendency towards “boom and bust” in the UK housing market is distorting housing choices, curtailing housebuilding capacity and increasing inequality, according to the Joseph Rowntee Foundation. In a new report, the social research charity claims that the market has experienced persistent boom and bust cycles for the past 40 years and that urgent action [...]
Brits reveal top ten reasons for not moving abroad
New research from Aviva UK Health indicates that the British sense of humour, favourite TV shows and the nation’s food and drink rank among the top 10 reason for not relocating overseas. The findings come from the insurer’s annual “semi-gration” study, which tracks the UK population’s appetite and motivations for moving abroad. Leaving friends and [...]
House prices falling in all but London & South East
Latest figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) show UK house prices increasing by 1.2% during March, compared with February. However, at £205,565 the value of the typical home was down 0.5% in the first three months of the year, following a fall of 0.4% over the previous quarter. The research also [...]
Housing costs hit three-year high
Despite historically low interest rates, the cost of owning and running a home in the UK has risen to its highest level since 2008. According to research from Halifax, expenditure rose 1.4% over the past year alone, to £9,083, with electricity and gas charges (+£68) and maintenance costs (+£45) the biggest contributors to the overall [...]
Leap in affordable locations for key workers
Since the housing market peak of 2007, the UK has seen a 14-fold increase in towns with affordable homes, Halifax reports. According to the lender’s research, 38% of towns are currently affordable for key workers, compared to just 3% in 2007, although house prices in three out of five towns remain beyond the reach of [...]
South Cambridgeshire offers top rural life
The latest Rural Areas Quality of Life Survey from Halifax names South Cambridgeshire as the top rural spot to live in the UK based on residents’ health, life expectancy, employment and school performance. According to the research, residents see themselves as fit and well, with 95% reporting general good health and average life expectancy in [...]
“Wait and see” mortgage borrowers too rate sensitive
Mortgage holders who are free to leave their deals are more likely to wait for their monthly payments to start to rise before making a switch, according to new research from moneyfacts.co.uk, on behalf of HSBC mortgage arm, first direct. The study defined “free to leave” homeowners as those who have dropped on to lenders’ [...]
North bears brunt of 47% drop in house sales
Property sales have fallen significantly across England and Wales since 2007 amid a widening North / South housing divide, new research by Lloyds TSB suggests. Last year, 649,957 homes changed hands with the total down 47% on 2007, however, sales in South fell 42% compared with a 51% drop in the North. Lloyds’ research also [...]
Insurer wary of brownfield homes
“Over the next decade around half a million homes will be built on redeveloped ex-industrial sites that could pose risks to homeowners and their homes.” The claim is made in a new report from home insurer, LV=, which reveals that brownfield land earmarked for the building of 500,000 homes, is potentially at risk of flooding [...]
Homeowners missing out on mortgage overpayments
Research from Barclays suggests that 84% of homeowners are missing out on shaving years off their mortgages by making overpayments. A survey of over 1,000 borrowers found that only 10% of respondents are currently overpaying their home loans, with a further 6% planning to start this year. However, the study also found that 24% of [...]
Spa towns command 16% house price premium
House prices in spa towns across England and Wales are typically £38,000 (or 16%) above their county average, according to Lloyds TSB research.
Only three spa towns have prices that fall short of their county average: Epsom in Surrey (-5%); Llandrindod Wells in Powys (-7%) and Boston in Lincolnshire (-15%).
However, Epsom is the country’s most [...]
Mortgage borrowers unaware of low interest rates
One in four mortgage holders doesn’t realise that interest rates are at historic lows, research highlighted by Shelter suggests.
According to the homelessness charity, 25% of the 1,500 homeowners surveyed believe current rates are either higher than or the same as they have been in the past, or simply don’t know.
Of this group, 9% believe interest [...]
Tracker rates lowest on record
Rates on tracker mortgages have plummeted, research from Moneyfacts.co.uk claims.
The average rate on a two-year tracker is down to 3.4%, the lowest level since the financial website started monitoring rates in 1988.
According to the data, a number of lenders have reduced rates in the last month, including ING Direct, Nationwide Building Society, Northern Bank, Northern [...]
Which? exposes sale-and-rent-back firms
A new investigation by Which? Money claims to have uncovered “woefully inadequate” advice in the sale-and-rent-back (SRB) market.
Operators in the sector offer to buy homes at a discount, usually from people in financial difficulties, and rent them back to their previous owners.
However, in its research, the consumer group found that only two of the nine [...]
Increase in mortgages offset by affordability issues
The number of mortgages available from UK lenders has more than doubled in the last two years, but other factors continue to keep buyers out of the housing market.
Research by Moneyfacts.co.uk shows choice falling to an all-time low two years ago, when only 1,097 residential mortgage products were available.
Since then, the number of home loans [...]
