The Chancellor is expected to confirm a £1 billion emergency package to kick start the housing market. The deal would see the Treasury offering to take a share in housing projects where work has stalled either due to falling house prices or a lack of finance, along with providingRead More →
A Communities and Local Government select committee has reported that if the government is to meet its house building targets it must bring in new measures to support the mortgage market. The committee warned that the Treasury’s asset-backed guarantee scheme was not enough to kick start the housing market,Read More →
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) released figures showing that December became the fifth consecutive month of falling house prices. The survey also showed that new instructions to sell property actually rose for the first time in six months, indicating perhaps that homeowners are keen to sell beforeRead More →
More than 40 per cent of social tenants or their families have been hit by antisocial behaviour during the past two years, according to a YouGov poll. Council and housing association tenants are much more likely than private homeowners to suffer from antisocial behaviour, and more social tenants thanRead More →
Banks were today accused of profiteering from homeowners during the recession, as it emerged that the average interest charged on variable-rate mortgages is 4.2 per cent higher than the Bank of England’s base rate. The average Standard Variable Rate mortgage now charges interest rates of 4.7 perRead More →
A tenant who campaigned against rent increases by his housing association has been found hanged in his flat. Neil Hill sent a suicide letter to Treasury lawyers two days after losing his case against City West Housing Trust and after being served with the legal bill of £3,000. MrRead More →
The planning system must not become a ‘tool for promoting economic development’, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said, setting out its vision for the future of the English countryside. The CPRE describes the countryside it wants to see by 2026, its centenary year, as where urban regenerationRead More →
The House of Lords economic affairs committee has criticised the way banks were supervised by the Treasury, Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority and has called for reforms. The committee said it was unclear who was in charge, and criticised the FSA particularly for concentrating on itsRead More →
Listen again to the end of this morning’s Today programme for a row between housing minsiter Yvette Cooper and her Conservative shadow Michael Gove over who are the biggest nimbies. Cooper’s boss Ruth Kelly or Tory councillors in the South East? The interview was prompted by a storyRead More →
Housing minister Margaret Beckett announced the government has promised an extra £100 million to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder. Mrs Beckett, determined to provide ‘real help’ for families in the current difficult economic climate, increased the amount available by £100 million, to give households with incomesRead More →