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HMRC data shows that 87,010 homes were sold in August, with this 1% more than July’s total but 16% lower than the total recorded in August 2022. On the month-on-month increase, Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals, said: “Another uplift in property sales is a positive sign that the industry is recovering after a slow first half to the year.“ He said that while year-on-year there was a “significant” drop off in sales, it is “nothing different to what we were forecasting at the start of the year.” He added: “If anything, our predictions of an overall fall of 20% for 2023 may even be revised thanks to the consecutive months of increases we have seen.” |
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City AM (30/09/2023) Daily Mail (30/09/2023) Evening Standard (30/09/2023) The Guardian (30/09/2023) |
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The average price of a house in the UK was unchanged last month, according to Nationwide, despite expectations of a 0.4% fall. The average price of a house in the UK is now £257,808. However, house prices are 5.3% lower than they were last year, the same annual figure that was recorded in August. Economists had predicted that the year-on-year rate of decline would worsen to 5.7%. “The downturn in house prices probably has only a few months left to run,” said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. The market is “close to bottoming out,” he said. The price slump eased in London with values down 3.8% in the third quarter compared to a year ago, an improvement from the 4.3% fall the previous quarter. |
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Evening Standard (02/10/2023) Financial Times (02/10/2023) The Guardian (02/10/2023) The Times (02/10/2023) |
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A new report by UK 2040 Options and The Resolution Foundation reveals a decline in homeownership for those born in the 1980s, with only 36% owning their own homes by age 30 compared to over 60% for those born in the 1950s and 1960s. The wealth of the richest 10% has grown 25 times faster than the poorest 30% since 2006. The report suggests changes to tax laws, such as capital gains tax reform, as a step towards reducing the wealth gap. Craig Brown, CEO of Legal & General Home Finance, notes how house price rises have outpaced wage growth, making it harder than ever for first-time buyers to step onto the property ladder without help. L&G Bank of Family research suggests that, over time, less people will have the opportunity to become home owners unless there is property wealth in their family. |
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Daily Express (02/10/2023) The Mirror (02/10/2023) |
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Leaside Lock delivers ‘luxury living without the hefty price tag’ |
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Bdaily (26/09/2023) |
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Brokers believe that lenders are likely to drop mortgage rates further after the Bank of England opted not to increase interest rates. Nick Mendes, mortgage technical manager at John Charcol, said: “I would not be surprised to see rates of 4.5% for five-year fixes in October,” while David Hollingworth of L&C added: “We’ve already seen improvements in fixed rates and that looks set to continue or even accelerate in light of improved inflation figures and a hold in interest rates.” Aaron Strutt from Trinity Financial expects more lenders to lower their fixed mortgage deals in the coming weeks, commenting: "Mortgage rates need to be closer to 4% to bring more confidence back to the market.” The UK's biggest building society, Nationwide, has reduced rates by up to 0.31 percentage points, with TSB and NatWest also nudging down the cost of their new fixed rate mortgages. |
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BBC News (23/09/2023) The I (23/09/2023) |
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Halving stamp duty on property purchases, both residential and commercial, has been suggested by a think-tank as a way to promote economic change and remove barriers to job moves. The Resolution Foundation's Ready for Change report highlights low productivity as the main economic problem in Britain and recommends reducing transaction taxes, reforming VAT thresholds, and supporting job mobility. The report argues that stamp duty slows down the rate at which people move houses, discouraging job moves and geographic reallocation. |
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The I (25/09/2023) |