Owning your own home is cheaper than renting, by an average of £200,000, according to a new study by Barclays.  It shows that over 50 years the typical cost of purchasing, maintaining and making mortgage payments on a home amounts to £429,000 compared with £623,000 in rent. Chris Endsor, Chief Executive of Miller Homes, said: [...]

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House prices could fall by 11 per cent, predicts Coutts – Her Majesty the Queen’s bank – as it turns bearish about the property market. Commentators argue that Coutts’ analysis is more methodical than most. The bank considers five factors to assess the prospects for house prices – economic activity, valuation, liquidity, risk and momentum [...]

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Homes in the most beautiful parts of the countryside can ‘do the double’ by providing quality of life and proving the best investments, according to research by Lloyds TSB – which owns Halifax, Britain’s biggest mortgage provider. It found that homeowners in England’s 32 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) have not only enjoyed the [...]

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With recent announcements of: · Double dip recession in the economy. · Inflation not slowing as hoped. · Unemployment on the rise. · Mortgage rates rising despite interest rates not increasing people are starting to really feel a real pinch on their wages and confidence, says Hometrack.  As a result, the current property market, which [...]

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The number of mortgages approved fell by almost a third in April 2012 to just 36,000 as fears over the impact of the euro debt crisis continue to dampen confidence, according to some analysts. This has triggered fears that house prices could fall sharply by the end of the year. The Council of Mortgage data [...]

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According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the number of loans lent on properties costing between £125,000 and £250,000 fell by 70 per cent in April compared to the previous month, due in part to the end of the stamp duty holiday. Economists said that the fall demonstrates just how precarious the property market [...]

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