Stamp Duty Land Tax has been changed following the recent Autumn Statement by Chancellor George Osborne. Osborne announced that he would be completely reforming what he described as a “badly designed tax on aspiration”. He has jettisoned the old “slab&...
The number of mortgages being granted by Britain's banks has fallen by 16% over the last year - the latest sign of a slowdown in the housing market. According to the banking industry body the BBA, in October home-buyers had 37,076 mortgages approved - the lowest figure...
Amid the toppling grave monuments and festoons of ivy in Abney Park cemetery, at the end of Stoke Newington High Street, stands an empty chapel with a 120ft spire, like something from a traditional American horror film. It is on the Victorian Society’s new Top 10 list...
The number of mortgages made available in the UK fell in the third quarter of the year - the first drop for more than two years. Lenders told the Bank of England that supply and demand for home loans fell in the three months to early September. A bottleneck created by the...
The Bank of England has held UK interest rates at a record low of 0.5% for another month. The size of the Bank's economic stimulus programme - quantitative easing - was also unchanged at £375bn. Rates have been at 0.5% for five years, but as the economy recovers...
Annual house price inflation hit 10.5% in May, the highest rate for four years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). That is up from 9.9% in the previous month. Once again, the market was in large part driven by London, where house prices rose by a record 20.1...
It's a new day, so naturally something has been said about house prices. This time it's the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) finds that rises in house prices are likely to outstrip rises in pay for at least the next five years and possibly for decades to come. Only...
House price increases accelerated in April, rising by 9.9% compared with the same month a year ago, according to official figures. The typical price of £260,000 grew at the fastest rate for nearly four years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said prices...
UK house prices rose by 8% in the year to the end of March, official figures show, as the prime minister says he will consider changes to Help to Buy. The annual increase slowed compared with a 9.2% year-on-year price rise to the end of February. However, the latest data...
Mortgage applicants face tougher questions about their lifestyle, under new rules that take effect on Saturday. The changes are designed to "hardwire common sense" into the mortgage application process, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said. Questions from...
UK house prices in January were up 6.8% compared with a year earlier, official figures show. This was an acceleration compared with the previous month and was driven by a 13.2% increase in London, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Excluding London and the south...
Taxation Point at which people start paying income tax will be raised to £10,500 Bingo duty will be halved to 10% Threshold for 40p income tax to rise from £41,450 to £41,865 next month and by a further 1% to £42,285 next year Inheritance tax...
The sometimes fraught relationship between leaseholders and their freeholders is going to be investigated by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The enquiry will look at the way freeholders charge for the management and maintenance of leasehold homes in England and Wales...
The last two remaining flats within this fantastic conversion of a fine late Victorian villa. Huge 3/4 bedroom garden flat on the raised and lower ground floors with large south facing garden available at £750,000 and a very interesting top floor flat with roof...
Bank of England governor Mark Carney has overhauled the Bank's interest rate policy to reflect falling unemployment and the economic recovery. He said the Bank's forward guidance policy "is working" and had helped to secure growth. The Bank's rate policy will...
UK house prices increased by 0.7% in January, and were up 8.8% from the same month in 2013, according to the Nationwide Building Society. The biggest rise was an 11.2% increase in London, but there was a fall of 0.1% in the north east of England. Robert Gardner, chief...
At a lunch for business leaders in Davos, Mark Carney made some remarks which showed that he does not want interest rates to rise for some time yet, even though unemployment is very close to the level where the Bank of England would in theory start to evaluate whether it is...