A rise in tenant demand was reported by a net balance of +20% of respondents. This is the first month since October last year where contributors cited an increase in lettings demand. In parallel, respondents continue experiencing declines in landlord instructions (net balance -24%). With letting demand increasing and supply diminishing, unsurprisingly a net balance of +31% of survey participants envisage rental prices moving higher over the coming three months.
Source: RICS News
On the 8th of July the government unveiled a new stamp duty holiday that will run until 31st March 2021.
The aim of this being to support people buying homes and to help kickstart the property market. So far in Bristol however, there has been little or no evidence of a slowdown.
But what does this mean for purchasers?
Previously, you would have paid stamp duty on homes sold for at least £125,000, or if you were a first-time buyer, on properties sold for more than £300,000. The Chancellor has now raised this threshold to £500,000.
This means that nine out of 10 people
The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) is planning a change of rules that could lower the housing costs of thousands of so-called “mortgage prisoners”.It is estimated that about 140,000 homeowners are trapped on high interest-rate home loans with unregulated or inactive firms, and are unable to switch to a cheaper deal. The FCA is considering a change to its affordability checks which could therefore allow these home owners to switch to deals that are easier to pay.
Currently, many are stuck on high default rates, as a result of an FCA requirement –
According to Britain’s largest lender, Halifax, house prices across the UK have jumped by an average of 4% in the year to September.
Halifax stated that the average price of a house or flat in the UK had now risen to a new high of £225,109 and that the rise was fuelled by a shortage of properties for sale and growth in full-time employment.
The view of rival lender Nationwide was that prices in the year to September rose by 2%. The difference is possibly attributable to the different way in which the data is gathered and also from where it is obtained.
The
The BCC (British Chamber of Commerce) expects the UK economy to pass its pre recession peak in 2014. It also says that the UK’s GDP is now set to grow by 2.7% in 2014, an upgrade from a previous prediction of 2.2%.
This is all good news for the economy and so to for the housing market. Indeed, households perception of the value of their homes has risen to a five year high according to the house price sentiment index.
Customers Comments
Below is a selection of comments that clients have kindly provided following surveys.
