House prices have increased at their fastest pace in almost three years as market activity intensifies, Halifax reported today. A 4.6% annual rise recorded in July was the strongest uplift seen since August 2010, as greater consumer confidence boosted demand, it said. Prices in the UK lifted by 0.9% month on month to reach £169,624 […]
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Scots buying and selling homes in the future face higher fees and a more tortuous troublesome legal process unless plans by the Law Society of Scotland are withdrawn, experts say. The society next week ends its consultation on the introduction of mandatory separate legal representation for borrowers and lenders. That would mean two sets of […]
HOUSE prices rose by more than £50,000 on average in Scotland during the last ten years as the property boom fuelled an unprecedented surge in the value of people’s homes. Despite the crash in the market brought about by the economic downturn, new figures suggest homeowners are still placed to enjoy a massive return on […]
After an exciting quarter-final (almost too exciting for our liking) Andy Murray saw off Fernando Verdasco securing himself a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals today. C’mon Andy We’re not sure if our good friend Andy is house hunting at the moment or not but we thought we’d help him out just in case and suggest […]
Today deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the Scottish Government’s decision to abolish the right of council tenants to buy the homes they rent at a discounted rate in Scotland. In 2011, the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme which was introduced in 1980 by Margaret Thatcher’s Government, was declared unavailable for new tenants and new social […]
Housebuilder CALA is reporting record profits and an acceleration of planning consent for housing developments. This will be pleasing news to the new owners who are planning for a return to the stock market. The company’s gross margins are up from 16.4% to 19% year on year, private completions are 4% higher at 695, and […]
Bodies representing estate agents and lenders joined forces last night to call for urgent reform of the current Home Report system. Home reports were introduced five years ago replacing the traditional property survey as the property market began to go into decline. The cost of a Scottish Home Report is £480 and the report includes […]
The Scottish Parliament has passed a Bill introducing the new Land and Building Transactions Tax which will replace stamp duty in April 2015. The new tax will be more closely related to the value of the property and is expected to be a vast improvement on the current stamp duty tax in place. So, what […]
Scotland’s biggest property website, s1homes, is celebrating a momentously successful May and start to 2013. In May, visits to s1homes increased by 49.7% when compared to May 2012. Unique visitor figures also increased, the year on year comparison reflected an increase of 35.4% for the month. The success experienced by s1homes during the month of […]
The Scottish Government has announced that their affordable homes scheme has launched a further procurement round following significant demand from local councils and developers. The scheme allows tenants the chance to rent below market rates for five to ten years before being given priority to buy the property at the end of the rental period. […]