Loan-to-income mortgage rules loosened – but lenders want more
Regulators have opted to remove mortgage loan-to-income limits for lenders with a residential loan book of less than £150 million – meaning more smaller lenders don’t have to abide by…
Leaseholders to be handed powers to challenge service charges
Leaseholders will be able to more easily challenge extortionate service charges subject to a consultation on the subject. Matthew Pennycock, housing minister, told Sky News: “The system has some inherent…
House prices remain flat after “pushing affordability to the limit”
Property prices were flat in June after falling by 0.3% in May, Halifax’s house price index has revealed. The long-term trend has still been a price uplift however, as the…
168 lots listed in July auction
A freehold residential investment in Kent, pictured, is among 168 lots listed across southern England in the July auction by Clive Emson Auctioneers. They include 41 Hedley Street, Maidstone, which…
People commonly have claims rejected due to pets
Insurers have rejected £801.8 million worth of home insurance claims for damages caused by pets, as many Brits don’t realise it is often excluded from home cover, research from Go.Compare…
Social homes to be retrofitted via government-backed fund
Lloyds Banking Group and Peabody have signed a £60m loan agreement to fund the sustainable retrofit of thousands of social homes across London and the Southeast. The loan, partially guaranteed…
Developer wins landmark cladding case against designer
A developer has won a case against a high-rise building designer – after opting to carry out remedial works. Following the Grenfell Tower disaster developer BDW Trading investigated a number…
Rooftop solar held back, says expert
The lack of a government-backed guaranteed price for selling back surplus clean power to the UK energy grid is discouraging the installation of solar PV systems, according to energy consultancy…
A third of Central London homes are vacant
Some 32.9% of homes in the City of London are vacant, analysis from Compare My Move found. This effect has been worsened by a 27% increase in people leaving London…
First-time buyers neglecting coastal regions
Few first-time buyers are looking to buy property on the coast, with most instead gravitating to the cities over the past decade, Rightmove analysis shows. The number of future first-time…