The cost of buying a rental home is set to rise again as banks and building societies tighten their grip on hidden fees New rules culling the number of property professionals that can act for buyers mean choice of lawyers and valuers is limited.

Whether you are wallpapering an entire room or just a feature wall, here are a few pointers. It is quite straightforward to calculate how much wallpaper is required. Measure the height of room, either from ceiling to skirting, or picture rail to skirting for full walls. Add on the pattern repeat. Now measure right round […]

Inexperienced landlords can quickly find themselves out of pocket if they fail to protect their property with specialist buy to let insurance. Rental property must have the right protection as insurers will refuse to settle a claim if standard homes cover is in place. Landlord insurance is like any other cover – the features, benefits […]

Builders who took safety shortcuts in a purpose-built private student hall of residence were ordered to pay more than £14,000 in fines and costs in court. Cost Design Ltd and UK Real Estate Ltd – part of developers MCR Group – admitted breaching building regulations before Manchester Magistrates Court concerning the development in Grafton Street, […]

Over 300,000 people and businesses you want to promote your event to receive our eNewsletters every week. Having organised, promoted and presented several highly successful property events I’ve written this article for all those organisers of property workshops, training courses and networking events that take place throughout the UK every month. I know how much […]

I have purchased some of my best property deals at auctions but it is not for the faint hearted. When buying at an auction these are the major considerations: Why wasn’t the property sold by an estate agent? They are usually marketed by an estate agent before they get to auction! Is there a problem […]

Yesterday (Friday 2nd September 2011) I attended a buy to let investors workshop at the Holiday Inn Kensington, London which was organised by Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action. I had been invited as a special guest of Paul Shamplina, the founder of Landlord Action to review the event and provide constructive feedback. Landlord Action is […]

Twitter may be a toddler in terms of age, but when it comes to purpose the microblogging site has managed to become the most useful utility for keeping up with news and hot topics as they happen. It is huge. And growing incredibly fast. This seemingly frivolous social networking site has become one of the […]

Students rate good internet access as their top priority when looking for a home. A good online experience is better than value-for-money accommodation or a digs in a nice location. Nine out of 10 opted for broadband as the number one concern in a survey of more than 15,000 students at universities and colleges across […]

Three million homeowners are staying put rather than moving home over concerns about jobs, money and mortgages. A lack of confidence in the economy is undermining the housing market, a new survey in advance of the RESI 2011 conference later this month has found. RESI 2011 is a networking event for house builders, social housing […]

Renters are outnumbering home buyers by two to one as buy to let relentlessly moves in to gear as the household of choice, according to a new study. Nine of the top 10 areas for renting are in the south, with Gwent, South Wales, creeping in to the places at eighth position. The most popular […]

The availability of homes to rent is drying up as tenant demand continues to outstrip supply, according to letting agents. Strong demand from frustrated would-be buyers is the key driver behind the rush for lettings, said the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), as many prospective tenants are struggling to find a mortgage or raise […]

There’s not much to report about our Directory this week, safe to say that we are now four weeks into Beta testing and have nearly 500 businesses involved in the tests. The expansion of the Directory is revealing some interesting challenges in terms of search speed and categorization which we are hoping to resolve during […]

This video has been very popular among certain demographics of the population. A must for any one that has a sniffle…… ….. I am hoping I don’t get anything this serious!

Home ownership is set to tumble back to levels last seen 30 years ago as house prices and rents are set to surge upwards, according to a new study. Buy to let is expected to rise to almost one in four homes over the next decade. The drivers of change are strict mortgage lending criteria, […]

Mortgage lenders and the tax man are teaming up to beat fraudsters by checking income claims against tax returns and payroll records. Banks and building societies can now ask HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to verify a borrower’s income by cross-checking loan applications with official income records. The new move is part of a growing […]

The Big Six mortgage lenders account for 81.5% of all buy to let and home buyer mortgages in the UK, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The Big Six advanced £110.8 billion in 2010, while the 27 remaining lenders advanced £23.5 billion – an indication of the gulf between the major and […]

The topsy-turvy housing market has produced another crop of confusing statistics this month. The latest house price data from the Land Registry shows average house prices went up 1.3% from June to July but down 2.1% compared with home values in July 2010. The average house price in England and Wales is now £163,049. London […]

Property investors running small companies could benefit from government plans to cut red-tape. Many property people run their buy to let or buy to sell businesses through limited companies – and some have other business interests with a corporate structure as well. The government plans to slash record keeping costs for around five million firms […]

Landlords are feeling good about the prospects of their letting businesses, according to a new survey. Around two-thirds of landlords rate their likely trading over the next three months as ‘very good’ or ‘good’, according to research by the National Landlords Association (NLA). The sentiment survey asked 600 landlords their opinion about the private rented […]

Parents are willing to pay more money to buy or rent a property in a good school catchment area, according to new research. Around a third of buyers and renters with children aged 10 or less rate moving in to a good catchment area as a priority.