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Higher mortgage rates could see buyers paying hundreds more each month   Aspiring home buyers face paying a premium under the Government’s new 95pc mortgage scheme, experts have warned. Under the plans, they will be able to secure properties worth up to £600,000 with just a 5pc deposit. It was hoped that the Government’s guarantee behind […]

The Chancellor has extended the stamp duty holiday until the end of June. It will then be tapered off for a further three months. Here’s what it could mean for you.   Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced the stamp duty holiday will be extended for a further three months until the end of June. The […]

The Government is expected to announce an extension to the stamp duty holiday as the industry rallies behind a staggered three-month drop-off. The Times newspaper said it has been told that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will use his Budget next week to move the deadline to the end of June. A spokesman for The Treasury said they could not […]

Home buyers face property deals ­collapsing and missing out on stamp duty savings due to long delays at the Land Registry. Complaints about the Government’s record office have more than doubled in the past five years, figures have shown. More than 4,500 people made a formal complaint about it in 2020, up from 2,150 in 2015, according […]

Stormy weather is not unusual in the winter and there has been an increase in severe storms in recent years. Over the past decade, property owners across the UK have seen some of the worst weather damage on record, with many suffering uninsured losses due to torrential rain, gale-force winds and flooding. The UK Environment Agency […]

The pandemic has fuelled a lot of home moves, buoyed by Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday. The number of mortgages given the green light soared to a 13-year high in 2020 despite successive lockdowns. A total of 818,500 mortgages were approved for people buying a home last year, the highest level since 2007. The increase […]

With the stamp duty holiday due to end on 31 March, Parliament has debated an extension. Here’s what it means if you’re planning to buy or sell a home. A petition calling for the stamp duty holiday to be extended has received more than 100,000 signatures, triggering a debate to be held in Parliament. Responding on behalf […]

Tenants in England are being protected from eviction for at least a further six weeks. The government is extending the ban on bailiff evictions for all but the most extreme cases until at least 21 February 2021. The only exception to the ban is for evictions due to anti-social behaviour, illegal occupation, fraud or rent arrears of […]

As England entered another lockdown, the latest official guidance says that you are still able to move home throughout the period, as long as you follow strict safety guidelines.   In this article we answer some of most common questions we’ve been asked by home-movers in England about what the restrictions mean if you’re starting out […]

We explain the government’s rating system and what it means if you’re trying to buy or sell a home this winter. Parts of England have been plunged back into lockdown after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new measures to help combat the coronavirus pandemic. The government is adopting a simplified three-tier system, under which restrictions […]

With months left until the stamp duty holiday ends, our guide explains how you could benefit from the tax cut. The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, unveiled a major stamp duty cut in July in a bid to boost the housing market. He raised the threshold at which buyers have to start paying stamp duty with immediate effect, […]

The grim prognoses of a UK house price crash are now unlikely to materialise, at least not this year. Find out why – and what this means if you’re buying a house this year UK house prices are continuing to rise at a steady pace, defying all industry forecasts. The latest Zoopla house price index […]

The latest figures paint an optimistic longer term picture for London house prices. London house prices could rise 2.5 per cent this year, despite the lockdown and rise in Covid-19 infections. A report by Hamptons International, published today, predicts that the “rapid recovery” after the property market reopened in May means values in the capital will exceed both […]

If you’ve decided that now is the right time to sell, there’s arguably never been a better time to put your home on the market. Our data analysts have been crunching the numbers and they can reveal that more homes are now securing a buyer and having an offer accepted within a week than at […]

The chancellor has announced a temporary holiday on stamp duty on the first £500,000 of all property sales in England and Northern Ireland. The tax threshold has been temporarily raised until next March to boost the property market and help buyers struggling because of the coronavirus crisis. The changes have come in with immediate effect. […]

You’ve made the decision to embark on the journey to home ownership. Here are the steps you’ll need to navigate until you can move in, set up and celebrate   Work out your budget Take your deposit and add it to the total of 4x your salary (or 4x joint salaries if you are buying […]

Some lenders are now offering interest rates of below 1.15% on two-year fixed-rate mortgage loans. We explain why. Borrowing costs for banks and building societies have fallen in response to the coronavirus lockdown. This has resulted in a respective dip in the cost of fixed-rate mortgage deals. Best-buy two-year fixed-rate mortgage deals have tumbled to below 1.15%. […]

The start of the new tax year brings changes to mortgage interest tax relief and capital gains tax for buy-to-let landlords.   Landlords face more taxation changes from April 6 2020, with the phasing out of mortgage interest tax relief reaching its final stage and capital gains tax adjustments. The start of the new tax year […]

People who rent their homes will not be offered a three-month rent break similar to the mortgage holiday available to homeowners.   The government appears to have ruled out offering renters whose finances have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic a rent holiday. Homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage are able to apply to their […]

AS the UK continues to stay in lockdown, many home owners are turning to DIY to pass the time and add value to their homes. We have found the online DIY shops still delivering across the UK during lockdown. If you find yourself getting stuck into DIY while indoors, here’s where you can still get […]