With house prices at record highs, thousands of families are unable to find a new home that suits them at a price they can afford. But a growing number are hitting on an unusual solution: giving up part of their garden to build a home for a family member. More than a third of homeowners … Read more
Aspiring buyers are vying for the best family homes in good locations. But many won’t even get the chance to view them as properties are being sold even before they hit the market. More than 37,000 homes were sold ‘off-market’ in the first three months of this year – the highest quarterly number recorded in … Read more
Most economic textbooks I read many moons ago at university talked about an intrinsic link between a country’s economy and house prices. In simple terms, when an economy is in growth mode, house prices rise. Conversely, when an economy goes into shrink mode, they fall. It’s a rule that until last year had stood the … Read more
Homeowners could pay interest of less than 1 per cent if they remortgage, after a new home loan was launched by one of the UK’s leading lenders. TSB is now offering a two-year fixed rate of 0.99 per cent to those with at least a 40 per cent deposit who are refinancing their home loan. … Read more
The number of first-time buyers looking to entirely fund their own deposits has rocketed with lockdown savings lessening their reliance on the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’, new research suggests. More than two in five first-time buyers will put their extra cash to good use by paying their own house deposit in full, compared to … Read more
The number of first-time buyers looking to entirely fund their own deposits has rocketed with lockdown savings lessening their reliance on the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’, new research suggests. More than two in five first-time buyers will put their extra cash to good use by paying their own house deposit in full, compared to … Read more
My neighbour’s tree is blocking the sunlight in my garden. With every year the tree grows taller, the problem worsens. I have made a number of polite requests to my neighbour to either prune or cut down the tree, which he has rebuffed. We now get almost no sunlight in our back garden, but he … Read more
House prices jumped sharply again in April as a slowdown in the number of homes coming up for sale continued to hit the market. Estate agents are lapping up strong sales and a spike in buyer interest, but new listings remain woefully low, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors said. Chris Stonock, an estate agent … Read more
Borrowers with 5 per cent deposits now have more than 100 mortgages to choose from, as the mortgage market bounces back. Over mortgage availability in general is back to 75 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, figures show, with rates as low as 1.27 per cent fixed for five years for those with bigger deposits to put … Read more
House prices hit yet another record high in April to reach £258,000, as buyers continue to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday. According to mortgage lender Halifax, prices were 8.2 per cent higher than they were a year ago, marking the highest annual growth rate in 5 years. This means that the average home … Read more