Despite the credit crisis and recession, house prices have almost doubled in the past 10 years, according to mortgage lender the Halifax.  That’s an annual compound growth rate of over 7%.

A red-faced top cop at Scotland Yard rented out his former home to a gang of drug dealers who set up a cannabis factory. Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Rod Jarman let out his £400,000 luxury four bed home at Abridge, Essex, through an online letting agent.

Empty buy to let properties are increasingly targets for hit-and-run fraudsters cheating firms and benefit agencies. Crooks often set up false accounts for empty homes  with mail order firms and try to claim benefits in the names of former tenants.

Property portal Rightmove is tightening up dominance of the UK online property market as search giant Google flees the market.

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Buy to let specialist Paragon has advanced £8.8 million of loans and has a further £75 million of property investment deals in the pipeline, according to the lender’s interim management statement.

Big student housing developments are still continuing apace despite finance problems squeezing the rest of the residential property investment market.

I’ve read a number of press releases and quoted many of them here in my Blog articles stating that circa 12% of tenants are in arrears.  However, my own experience is less than 5% of my rents were late in any month last year and I had no write offs. 

One of my employees is very worried at the moment as her landlord has severed notice to move back into the property and my employee can’t find another to rent in the part of the city she wants to live.

Bank  mortgage lending slumped to the lowest for more than a decade  during December as the housing market stalled.

Some buy to let landlords are having second thoughts about the reliability of property as a long term investment, according to research.  Is this logical or is their logic flawed?

   A link to the Bank of England’s latest report is here.

Buy to let mortgage brokers are among the most resilient optimists as more than half expect to help property investors purchase more homes to let this year. 

Buy to let investors hiring property firms to refurbish homes should protect their finances by carrying out strict credit controls – especially if they are parting with up-front cash.

Paul Spriggins In this interview Paul explains how he develops brick and tile UK holiday park homes, sells them for £71,000, returns investors 10% + per annum and provides 10 year, fixed rate, non-status, non-recourse financing subject to a minimum £20,000 cash deposit.  This is a long interview so make yourself a coffee before reading it!

Thousands of shared house landlords in Oxford are the first in England to meet strict new selective licensing guidelines as the city council takes on new powers.

Taxpayers often ask why they have to pay more income tax than the amount they owe for the year when filing their self assessment returns. The answer comes down to many taxpayers failing to realise what you owe is strangely not what you pay.

Mortgage lending has slumped to the lowest level for a decade as banks and building societies tighten their grip on the housing market. Mortgages and remortgage advances added up to £136 billion in 2010 – the lowest total since 2000 and almost a fifth (18%) lower than 2009.

Councils protesting about a government U-turn over shared house planning laws have won the right to challenge the ruling in the High Court.

Landlords have  launched an online campaign against a council’s proposals to micromanage shared houses by introducing planning controls and extra licensing.

Poor mortgage market management by governments and greedy lenders is blamed for triggering the global financial crisis and hindering recovery  in a blistering study.