Public spending is now funding almost half of new home building, according to figures from the National House Building Council. The public and private sectors provided almost equal numbers of new houses (around 45 per cent each) for the three months to the end of February, compared with justRead More →
According to a report in The Times, the new lending panel announced in Monday’s pre-budget report to be chaired by chancellor Alistair Darling and Peter Mandelson, business secretary, is to insist that banks sign up to a new code of good lending practice. The panel, set up to monitorRead More →
Research by the Legal Action Group (LAG) has accused the government of failing to help the most vulnerable during the economic downturn as the extra legal aid cash made available in July (£10 million) has been spent in the wealthiest areas in England and Wales. LAG found that theRead More →
The Bank of England figures show the number of new mortgages approved for homebuyers fell in July to just 33,000, down 71 per cent on a year ago. This brings further pressure on the government which is expected to release tomorrow a package of financial measures to get theRead More →
The housing market rebound showed no sign of slowing in October, according to the latest figures, with prices rising by 1.2 per cent. Halifax said that the increase was the fourth consecutive rise by its measure. House prices are now 7.1 per cent higher thanRead More →
Some of the country’s biggest housing associations are attempting to revive the housebuilding sector as the credit crunch bites into their funding. Associations forced to cut back on development programmes for rented homes want a new ‘intermediate’ form of tenure introduced, with varying rents for people on a rangeRead More →
The lobbying campaign for reform of stamp duty is gathering pace ahead of the pre-Budget report in November. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) published figures today showing that the proportion of first-time buyers paying stamp duty has risen from 48% to 56% in the last year. The CMLRead More →
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has said that government targets to make all new homes zero carbon by 2016 are not realistic. RICS said the government will struggle to meet its target, as building zero carbon homes is currently too expensive, but a 70 per cent reductionRead More →
The number of mortgages approved for house purchases rose slightly in January, but the level of lending continued to fall, figures from the British Bankers’ Association showed. The number of mortgages approved during January was at the highest level for four months, but in year-on-year figures there was aRead More →
Figures published by the Department of Health revealing the state of the country’s health shows that the proportion of children in poverty (both before and after housing costs) has fallen since 1997/98, although it has risen slightly since 2004/5. Meanwhile the number of homeless households living in temporary accommodationRead More →