Compliance
Home movers must be wary of ‘Friday afternoon fraud’, says NAPB
Expert Rolande says fraud had been worsened by the Covid pandemic
News
Finance
Buy-to-let mortgage repayments up 76% in the last year
The average buy-to-let mortgage rate is 5.32%, meaning the average buy-to-let investor is paying around £1,312 per full monthly repayment
Lettings
Renters struggling to pay amid widespread rent increases
Some renters who have moved during the past year say they are paying close to £2,500 more in rent on an annual basis
Agency
Belvoir crowns its franchise of the year
A total of 30 awards were presented at the Belvoir Annual Conference and Awards
Agency
Agents Together announces over 800 mentorships
Mentorship foundation has provided over 31,000 hours of support
Politics
New bill introduced to incentivise property improvements
The Bill has been introduced in parliament and will be debated in due course
Acquisitions
Well-established estate agency acquires competitor
The estate agency will be expanding its services following the purchase
Finance
Latest indicators offer mortgage lenders ‘more confidence to start to edge down their rates’
Growing signs that inflation is likely to fall sharply over the year is giving mortgage lenders more confidence to start reducing their borrowing rates
Finance
Property sales hit hard by interest rate rises
Areas worst affected by hikes have been revealed by Moverly analysis
Finance
Analysis shows cost of interest rate hikes for homebuyers
House Buyer Bureau research compared today's mortgage payments with those from December 2021
Finance
Homebuyers adjust to new normal for mortgage rates
House sales have improved in recent weeks
Law
Vendors prepared to pay more to speed up property transactions – claim
The top frustration for consumers when selling a property is the conveyancing process taking too long, study shows
Finance
Revenue from property taxes falls sharply
The government has long regarded the homebuyer and the property investor as a cash cow, says estate agent
Lettings
Propertymark gives thumbs-up to government anti-social action plan
The industry body has welcomed proposals to give landlords more power to evict tenants but is concerned by lack of capacity in the existing court system
Compliance
Construction firms fined almost £60m for breaking competition law
Three company directors are disqualified over illegal construction cartel
Compliance
Outdated processes heighten risk of AML breaches, claims provider
Money-laundering attempts are on the rise, with almost half of regulated firms reporting an increase in activity
Acquisitions
Independent estate agency completes acquisition of rival firm
Well-established estate agency completes takeover deal to increase market share
Agency
Estate agents pull ‘astonishing’ house from market after people see inside
Haart's listing of the terraced house was being advertised on Rightmove as an 'extremely exciting' two-bedroom home
Finance
Investing in buy-to-let has ‘become unsustainable’ as landlords exit the market
Interest rate rises plus more stringent tax and legislative changes has made it a lot harder for many BTL landlords to make a profit on the rent