| HOUSE
PRICES WARM AS TEMPERATURES SOAR |
 “While
temperatures soared on the streets, house
price growth remained fairly comfortable in
July. After three months of broadly flat growth,
house prices increased by 0.8% in July. Annual
house price growth is now 5.9%, more than
double the rate of growth seen this time last
year. 
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more |
| |
| NATIONWIDE
LAUNCHES NEW HOME INSURANCE PRODUCT |
 Nationwide
Building Society today launched a new home
insurance product with enhanced cover as standard.
Customers purchasing the product could save
more than £100* when they choose Nationwide’s
home insurance and the building society will
also provide a 15% discount on any combined
buildings and contents insurance purchased
together.
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more |
| |
| UK
HOUSEHOLDS OVERPAY £1.7BN PA ON HOME
INSURANCE |
 New
figures released today by Barclays Insurance
show that British homeowners are overpaying
on their home insurance by an average of £1.7
billion a year. This equates to a whopping
£112.95 per household, made worse by
the fact that most people won’t think
about switching until the end of their current
policy.
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more |
| |
| FIRST
TIME BUYERS FACE DEPOSIT SHORTFALL |
 Despite
planning to spend two years saving for their
deposit, first time buyers will face a potential
shortfall of over £5,000 each, according
to a report from Alliance & Leicester
Mortgages. The study looked at how long first
time buyers plan to save for their deposit.
On average they want to save a deposit of
£11,710.
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more |
| |
| SE
ENGLAND OFFICE MARKET BREAKS 1M SQFT BARRIER |
 Take-up
in the M25 South East office market exceeded
the 1 million sq ft barrier in Q2 06, a 20%
increase from the Q1 06 level and the highest
for 5 years, giving the strongest indication
that the South East office market continues
to recover, according to figures released
today by Knight Frank. M25 Q2 06 take-up totalled
1,052,300 sq ft.
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more |
| |
| ALLIANCE
& LEICESTER LAUNCHES SPECIALIST MORTGAGES
|
 Alliance
& Leicester announced today (Monday 17
July 2006) that it will provide a range of
specialist mortgage products, including buy-to-let,
self-certification and near-prime mortgages,
available initially via Premier Mortgage Service
(PMS), the UK’s largest mortgage facilitator.
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more |
| |
| TOWNS
& CITIES SAY 'YES' TO SUSTAINABLE HOUSING |
 There
has been an encouraging response to the Government's
New Growth Points Initiative, with a number
of towns and cities across the country keen
to pursue sustainable growth. Over 20 bids
have been received, representing more than
50 local authorities. If all these bids are
realised we would secure an extra 8-10,000
homes per year, 80,000 in total by 2016, in
addition to existing plans.
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more |
| |
| FIRST
ALL-FEMALE PROPERTY INVESTMENT COMPANY |
 Kiren
Awan, the daughter of Nighat Awan OBE, has
launched the all-female property investment
team Shooba Investments. Kiren and her business
partner Hannah Davies, are pooling their experience
in the property market to help clients across
the UK make shrewd investments in their extensive
catalogue of countries including Dubai, Turkey,
Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary.
read more |
| |
| £3
MILLION TO TACKLE ETHINIC MINORITY HOMELESSNESS |
 £3
million has been awarded to projects to tackle
homelessness among ethnic minority groups.
Ethnic households face a disproportionate
risk of homelessness. They represented 21%
of homeless households in 2004-05, but comprise
only 8% of the UK population.
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more |
| |
| FIRST
ARRIVALS FOR ASIAN HOUSING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT |
 The
first tenants have moved into a newly-finished
£1.7 million development in Bristol
from black and minority ethnic housing provider
Aashyana. The 16-apartment scheme, in Wilson
Street, St Paul's, is the biggest yet from
Aashyana, part of the William Sutton Group
and the first Asian-led housing association
in the South West.
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more |
| |
| ASIAN
LANDLORDS NEED NOT FEAR HMO LICENSING
|
 Asian
landlords and property managing agents letting
reasonable/good quality houses in multiple
occupation (HMOs) have nothing to fear from
HMO licensing says ODPM minister Baroness
Andrews. Licensing is part of a nationwide
drive to improve standards in private rented
accommodation. Landlords with licensable properties
can apply from 6 April 2006.
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more |
| |
| HOUSE
PRICES RISE BY 0.5% IN MARCH 2006 |
| House
prices have risen by 0.5% in March driven
by a resurgent London property market, according
to the latest survey from Hometrack, the housing
research and data company. This is the fourth
consecutive month of house price growth and
the highest monthly rise since the summer
of 2004.
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more |
| |
| MORE
HELP FOR FIRST TIME BUYERS |
 Housing
Minister Yvette Cooper unveiled more help
for first time buyers alongside plans to deliver
more homes, this week. 'Homebuy Agents' are
one stop shops to give first time buyers clear
advice on how they could be helped by the
new scheme.
read
more |
| |
| DETACHED
PROPERTY OWNERS PAY MORE INHERITANCE TAX |
 More
detached property owners are potentially liable
to pay inheritance tax (IHT) than five years
ago with one in three (29%) detached property
sales in the UK above the 2006/07 IHT threshold
of £285,000. The revenue raised through
IHT has risen to £2.9bn in 2004/05.
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more |
| |
| STAMP
DUTY TRAPS 84% OF BUYERS |
 Increasing
numbers of both first time buyers find themselves
caught in a pincer movement between rising
prices and the stamp duty trap. Analysis,
by Rightmove, of 571,000 properties currently
for sale illustrates the decreasing number
of properties priced below the 1% stamp duty
threshold of £120,000.
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more |
| |
| BRITAIN:
A NATION OF HANDY MANDYS |
 New
research from the Halifax reveals 5.3 million
British women believe they are the best at
home improvements in their household. Far
from the stereotype of being afraid of chipping
nails or getting paint in their hair, 2.5
million of these 'Handy Mandys' do the majority
of DIY.
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more |
| |
| COMMERCIAL
DEVELOPMENT HIGHEST FOR 12 MONTHS |
 Latest
data from the Savills Commercial Development
PMI® survey signalled the sharpest expansion
of commercial activity for a year in February.
The rise was principally driven by a marked
increase in private sector projects.
read
more |
| |
| COST
OF OWNING A HOME IN BRITAIN RISES BY 7% |
 The
cost of owning and running a house rose by
7% in the financial year 2004/05, more than
three times the rate of CPI inflation*, according
to new research by Halifax based on the latest
ONS data. This is the fourth Halifax annual
review of the cost of owning and running a
home.
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more |
| |
| BOLTON
IS PROPERTY HOTSPOT FOR 2006 |
 Big
value Bolton is set to outpace even South
Manchester's leafy suburbs in the house price
stakes. Buyers in Bolton can get a brand new
home identical to one in 'Cheshire set' territory,
like Bramhall - but for up to £100,000
less. And, with prices south of Manchester
levelling out, buyers in Bolton look set to
make more money on their purchase.
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more |
| |
| SMALLER
UK CITIES SHOW BEST OFFICE RENTAL YIELDS
|
 Aberdeen
and Sheffield saw the sharpest movement in
yields in 2005, from 7.0% to 6.0% and from
6.75% to 5.75% respectively, according Knight
Frank's research for ROMP, its interactive
tool which provides market comparisons of
key regional UK cities.
read
more |
| |
| SCOTLAND'S
2006 PROPERTY HOTSPOTS |
 UK
Property expert Knight Frank is predicting
the top five Scottish locations for property
sales and highest price rises this year, outside
of Glasgow & Edinburgh's city centres
will be Midlothian, Perthshire, East Lothian,
Fife and South Glasgow.
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more |
| |
| BRITS
WITH PROPERTY ABROAD SET TO DOUBLE |
 The
number of Brits who own property abroad is
set to double to 4.4 million, according to
new research by Barclays. 5% of those surveyed
already own a home abroad and a further 5%
said that they are going to buy a property
overseas in the future.
read
more |
| |
| IPO
FOR ASIAN-OWNED DUBAI PROPERTY COMPANY |
 A
new company, set up by two Asian property
investors, that is seeking to trade in the
Dubai property market has announced plans
for its initial public offering (IPO) prior
to listing on OFEX. It aims to give small
investors the opportunity to benefit from
the real estate boom in the Middle East.
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more |
| |
| DTI
WINDS UP PROPERTY INVESTMENT COMPANIES |
 A
string of companies that offered property
investment opportunities has ceased trading
after the Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry presented petitions in the High Court
to have them wound up in the public interest.
The companies include Sterling Mansion (UK)
and CM2 Services.
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more |
| |
| FAIRER
BUSINESS RATES APPEALS SYSTEM UNVEILED |
 New
arrangements that will make the business rate
appeals system both faster and fairer for
ratepayers were laid before Parliament today.
Under the new system ratepayers will still
have the right of appeal against every valuation.
However they will be given more time to submit
fully evidence-based appeals and any change
will be backdated.
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more |
| |
| PLANNING
FOR DIVERSE COMMUNITIES |
 The
planning system must make better provision
for an increasingly diverse and dynamic population,
planning minister Keith Hill said today. A
new guide, 'Diversity and Equality in Planning',
highlights good practice across the country.
One case study is taken from Leicester where
the Asian community makes up 30% of the population.
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more |
| |
| LABOUR
PLEDGES MORE AFFORDABLE HOMES |
 John
Prescott MP, Labour's Deputy Prime Minister,
said today that only Labour would offer more
people the chance to get onto the housing
ladder. With plans announced for £60,000
homes for first time buyers, John Prescott
MP was speaking at the Sustainable Communities
Summit.
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more |
| |
| INDIA
RIDES HIGH ON GLOBAL OUTSOURCING WAVE |
 India
continues to benefit from the global trend
towards outsourcing according to Knight Frank's
latest report. India's IT industry generated
revenues of $900 million in 2001. If it continues
to grow at this rate it could hit $24 billion
by 2007.
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more |
| |
| UK
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY SECTOR ACTIVITY |
Data from the Savills Commercial Development
PMI survey indicated that levels of development
activity in the UK commercial property sector
re-accelerated, after easing through December,
driven by the sharpest rise in private sector
activity for eight months. Moreover, commercial
property developers signalled a bright outlook
for activity in the months ahead.
read
more |
| |
| INVESTING
IN PROPERTY |
 In
recent years there has been an explosion of
investment activity in UK property, particularly
in the buy-to-let market. The most unlikely
people have invested in bricks and mortar
through the easier availability of mortgage
finance and no business entrepreneur can afford
to have an investment portfolio excluding
property assets.
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more |
| |
| LAND
REGISTRY LAUNCHES INTERNET SERVICE |
 The
UK Land Registry’s first internet service
for the general public, providing easy access
to details of more than 19 million properties
in England and Wales, was launched on 31 January
2005. Users enter the address details of the
property that they wish to view for only £2
per search.
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more |
| |
| IS
YOUR PROPERTY BUSINESS AT RISK? |
 Running
a business is becoming increasingly complex
compounded by extra regulation, new laws and
the growing compensation and blame culture.
This has meant that traditional insurance
recommended to you by your broker is unlikely
to be sufficient to protect you against all
claims that may be made.
read
more |
| |
| FSA
REGULATES UK INSURANCE SALES |
 From
14 January 2005, the Financial Services Authority
takes over responsibility for regulating UK
general insurance sales involving about 40,000
firms in all. This is a major extension of
the FSA's role that will benefit some 35 million
UK consumers.
read more |
| |
| LONDON
REMAINS FAVOURITE HOME FOR MILLIONAIRES |
 According
to the latest Land Registry figures, Greater
London remains the most popular centre for
house-buying millionaires with 93 properties
costing over £2 million sold in the
last quarter of 2004. 765 properties costing
over £1 million were sold across England
and Wales during the quarter (Oct-Dec 2004),
five more than sold in the same period last
year.
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more |
| |
| UK
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MARKET |
 The
significant amounts of negative commentary
on the prospects for the housing market were
over done at the end of last year. There are
already signs of improved market activity
and modest price appreciation over the first
few weeks of 2005. Despite the pick up in
values we expect the year on year rate of
growth to moderate significantly over the
year ahead.
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more |
| |
| NICHE
BUY-TO-LET INVESTMENTS |
 Savills
Residential Research has shown that the rented
sector is still small. There is scope for
further buy-to-let development and, even in
the current market, there are opportunities
for prospective landlords if they research
where demand is likely to be high and look
for ‘gaps’ in the current marketplace.
read
more |
| |
| NEW
STUDY INTO PROPERTY SEARCH MARKET |
 The
200 million property search sector will be
the focus of a new market study by the OFT.
Property searches covering such areas as land
ownership, environmental information and planning
permission form an essential part of buying
a property. This information, held by a number
of bodies is obtained by conveyancers through
three main routes.
read
more |
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