House builder Persimmon has announced its annual pre-tax profit has risen by almost a quarter following an increase in sales, supported by the government's Help to Buy scheme. The 23 per cent increase in pre-tax profits saw the company gain £783m last [...]
The asking price for houses in England and Wales is increasing more slowly, as figures from Rightmove showed the annual rate of growth was 2.3 per cent in February, down from 3.2 per cent in January. This was the lowest rate of [...]
In 2016 the amount of money borrowed by first-time buyers rose 13.5 per cent compared to the previous year, as a total of 338,900 first-time buyer mortgages were taken out for a total value of £53.2bn. These figures come from the Council [...]
Outside of London, one in three new build homes were purchased through the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme, which was created to help first-time buyers get onto the property ladder. However, the government scheme struggled in the capital city as only [...]
The government has set out its new housing strategy for England, which will see councils ordered to build thousands more new houses, focusing on city-centre developments and high-rise blocks. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid revealed the measures to MPs in a White Paper. [...]
The Help to Buy ISA scheme has seen very little take-up in Oxford and Cambridge, while Leeds has proven to be the most popular city for first-time buyers using the government scheme. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produced figures from December [...]
According to Lloyds Bank, the number of home-movers in the UK decreased 4 per cent last year, the first annual decline fall in five years. In 2016, a total of 354,000 people moved home, with rising house prices being partly blamed. Home-movers [...]
There were 335,750 first-time buyers in the UK last year, the most since 2007 and the third consecutive year in which numbers have grown, according to the Halifax's First-Time Buyer Review. Back in 2008 first-time buyer numbers fell to an all-time low, [...]
In the year to the end of December 2016, house prices rose 6.5 per cent to leave the average UK house price at £222,484, according to the Halifax. From November to December the Halifax recorded a climb of 1.7 per cent, the [...]
The government has said that thousands of new homes for first-time buyers will be built before the end of the year, although critics claim the timescale is too ambitious. The Starter Homes Land Fund - which was first announced in 2014 - [...]