Page 920 – Property118

Knights Frank Bucks Trend with £158million Worth of Top-End Property

15th August 2011

With house prices dropping everywhere but London, Knight Frank has sold £158million of top end property in North Surrey since April. The mammoth figure has come from each home selling for in excess of £4million each, with nearly half the buyers coming from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (43%). The UK has provided […]

Loan Shark Landlord Fined for Demanding 5,600% APR

15th August 2011

A thug landlord who ruled his tenants with threats and intimidation lent them cash at more than 5,600% APR. Loan shark Derrick Morgan, of Neath, South Wales, was jailed for a year after admitting six charges of illegal money lending and dishonestly claiming benefits in the names of his tenants at Swansea Crown Court. Morgan […]

Property Prices are Still Falling…Except in London

15th August 2011

The latest home price survey reveals a no-holds-barred analysis of the property market. Prices in England and Wales fell for the fourth month running in July – by 0.1% on prices in June, according to the Acadametrics house price index. The average home value is now £217,300 and in the 12 months to July, prices […]

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Sister site for the USA

12th August 2011

Based on the rapid growth and popularity of our Property News (UK Alexa rank 3,407 today) and our Testimonials Based Directory (launched this week) we are looking to develop a sister site for the USA market. The new website will require private investment which we will look to raise via private financing and a stake […]

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Letting Agent Disputes at a 20 year High, say AIIC

11th August 2011

After receiving the highest number of complaints against letting agents for 20 years, the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks have issued advice for landlords, tenants and letting agents to combat problems. The AIIC say letting agents are often stuck in the middle of tenant and landlord disputes, but admit a tenant’s life could be made […]

Landlords Refinance Rather than Buy New Homes

11th August 2011

Buy to let landlords are realigning their property finances rather than purchasing more homes for their portfolios. The latest buy to let mortgage figures show borrowing increased as 32,000 loans worth £3.5 billion were agreed with lenders in the three months ending June 30 – but two thirds of the business was remortgaging.

One in Eight Rely on Property as a Pension

11th August 2011

More retirement savers relying in property rather than pensions, according to new figures. The number of people relying on property to help ease their retirement finances is increasing year-on-year – up to 13% of all non-retired adults.

Buoyant London Market Predicted for Student Landlords

10th August 2011

Student landlords in London can look forward to around thousands of students from the UK and overseas seeking private rented rooms for the next academic year. University housing specialist CB Richard Ellis has reported that the capital has seen no publicly funded student accommodation provided in 20 years – and despite billions of pounds of […]

What’s Your Opinion About Sentiment Surveys?

10th August 2011

Around a quarter of UK landlords are feeling more optimistic about the prospects for their property portfolios, rental income and yields, according to a sentiment survey by a buy-to-let lender. The findings of the Paragon Mortgages research come at the same time as those of another sentiment survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors […]

Benchmark your Buy to Let Business with ARLA Data

9th August 2011

Property investors looking to benchmark their businesses and profile the buy-to-let market can download a comprehensive professional review from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). The research looks at the buy to let market in detail and reveals the investment hotspot of the UK is the North-East, followed by the Midlands and London. Falling […]

Insurers Will Pay Out Landlords after Riots

9th August 2011

Insurers have reassured landlords with rental properties in riot-hit cities that their homes and businesses are protected. Shocking images of burning buildings, cars and buses have lit up the news reports as gangs of rioters smash their way into shops and homes. Key targets for the rampaging thugs are pubs, off licences and electrical goods […]

Landlord stabbed in the head 5 times by drug dealer takes action @LRSreferencing

9th August 2011

Thank you to Vanessa Warwick and Nick Tadd of the Property Tribes forum for sharing this video interview. In this video interview, Paul Routledge talks about his property journey and how he’s managed to build and manage a portfolio of over 100 properties in the south western seaside destination of Weston-Super-Mare. Paul is perhaps more […]

UK Negative Equity Blackspots Revealed

8th August 2011

New research from mortgage lenders reveals negative equity black spots across the UK. Around 827,000 homes were in negative equity during the first three months of 2011, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The worst regions for negative equity, mainly because house prices have suffered more than in other regions, are Yorkshire, Humberside […]

A Room with a View

8th August 2011

Selling a property relies as much on first impressions as it does location and price. Many people when viewing a property can often see past the dated kitchen, avocado bathroom suite and dated wallpaper. But there are always some that can’t. Maximising the appearance of the interior can mean the difference between a sale or no sale.

Rents are Still Rising According to Homelet

8th August 2011

Rents are still trickling up, according to Homelet’s latest Rental Index for July as the average rent rose to £767 up from £750. The whole of the UK saw rents rise, with the exception of Scotland and the North West of England, with the South West seeing a rise of nearly 5% from £734 to […]

Heat is on Improving Cold Buy to Let Homes

8th August 2011

Landlords are under fire for failing to keep buy to let homes warm enough as a tenant’s rights protest coalition claims they should be forced to meet minimum energy standards.

2.4 Million Homeowners Row with Builders Over Shoddy Work

5th August 2011

More than 2,000 householders a day have a row with builders and decorators – with many forced to turn to the courts or trade bodies to help them resolve their problems. According to the latest findings from a Which? survey, 2.4 million people have complained about tradesmen in the past three years.

Private Landlords Wary of Rate Rises

5th August 2011

Official bank rates will stay at 0.5% after the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee voted for no change for a record 29th month in a row. They also agreed to keep quantitive easing at £200 billion. Buy to let landlords are concerned that mortgage interest rate rises could drive them out of business, according […]

Yorkshire Launches Limited Buy to Let Lending

4th August 2011

Yorkshire Building Society is taking a tentative step in to buy to let lending with a limited range of mortgages for landlords. Buy to let borrowing will be available through the building society’s subsidiary Accord Mortgages. The plan is for a ‘suck it and see’ approach for the Yorkshire’s first foray in to the buy […]

Seven Tenants Chasing Each Home for Rent

4th August 2011

Up to seven new tenants are competing to rent each home- and the gap between available properties and the number of tenants who can’t find a home is widening. The number of tenants seeking a home has jumped by 15% during the three months ending June 30 compared with the same period last year, according […]