First-time buyers

Right to Buy information drive kicks off

Housing minister Grant Shapps has announced a marketing drive to tell social tenants about...

Number of first-time buyers increases

The number of first-time buyers in the first six months of 2012 was up...

Countrywide wants decisive government action on housing market

Countrywide has suggested six solutions for the government to help the housing market. In its...

End of Stamp Duty slump?

The slump in activity that followed the end of the first-time buyer stamp duty...

Over 600 NewBuy reservations so far

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has revealed that the recently-launched NewBuy scheme has...

Encouraging signs from wannabe first-time buyers

The proportion of intending home-buyers over the next 12 months who will be purchasing...

First-time buyer transaction levels recover

There was a 28% increase in the number of first-time buyer transactions in May...

Cost of renting continues to rise

Property website Zoopla.co.uk has claimed that the cost of home ownership is cheaper than...

Affordable schemes analysed by Halifax

Halifax has looked at the typical profile of someone buying a home under 'affordable'...

Landlords aren’t to blame for high rental demand

Bob Young, managing director of CHL Mortgages When the housing market was at its...

Lifetime saving from home ownership calculated

Owning your home rather than renting it will save you £194,000 over a 50-year...

Approvals down due to Eurozone crisis

1 Eurozone pressures forced banks to scale back their lending and reduce the number of...

April sees major drop-off in FTBs

April saw a fall in house purchase lending, in particular to first-time buyers, according...

Renters struggling to save to buy a home

Saving to buy a home while renting is looking like a less reliable route...

COMMENT

Harpenden’s expat move could be bigger than the numbers suggest

Harpenden Building Society’s move into expat mortgages this summer has been good news for brokers and borrowers. But I think its importance goes beyond...

We need to wait to get a clearer picture

It's been a week where the political and economic backdrop has moved almost as fast as rates themselves, and it's worth taking stock of...

Leasehold valuation reform: the consultation is asking only half the question

The Government's consultation on leasehold enfranchisement valuation rates is important because it will help determine what leaseholders pay to extend leases or buy freeholds,...

What commonhold will mean for mortgage lenders and brokers

Commonhold is often presented as the straightforward alternative to leasehold. It removes the freeholder, gives flat owners greater control and avoids some familiar problems...

Why you need to know what sits behind the average review score

There’s a funny thing about review scores. The better they are, the less likely we are to question them. If a company is sitting at...

Latest news

Millions of households exposed to financial shocks despite apparent stability

Millions of UK households that appear financially secure could struggle to absorb an unexpected...

The Mortgage Hut adopts Instamo tool to speed up mortgage applications

The Mortgage Hut has introduced Instamo's FastSubmit technology to reduce the amount of manual...

FCA sets out timetable for major expansion of anti-money laundering supervision

The FCA expects to begin taking over anti-money laundering supervision of legal, accountancy and...

MAB revenue rises as refinancing drives mortgage completions

Mortgage Advice Bureau reported an 8.6% increase in first-half revenue to £161.0m as higher...

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