Housing market
Three things clients may call you about this week...
Our pick of the big stories
Conservatives to promise £1bn housing fund and right-to-buy extension
The Conservative Party will promise a £1bn fund for building 400,000 new properties on brownfield sites as part of two big housing announcements in its manifesto unveiled later today.
Stamp duty revenues 'soar to £8bn record high'
The housing market recovery helped stamp duty revenues soar by a fifth in 2014-2015 to a record high of £8bn, according to research.
Financial services firms team with property surveyors
Two financial services firms have teamed up with property surveyors to fuel their growth strategies and benefit from new revenue streams in the UK housing market.
Mortgage approvals down 20% on 2013, as ISA savings rise 38%
High street bank mortgage approvals were down 20% in November compared with the year before, new figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) have shown.
Advisers welcome 'ingenious' stamp duty overhaul
Advisers have welcomed the Chancellor's overhaul of the taxation system around buying property, saying it is an "ingenious" idea that will benefit the majority of clients.
AS14: Osborne bins 'single slab' stamp duty; unveils marginal tiers
The government is to do away with the existing 'single slab' approach to stamp duty on residential property purchases, introducing a new tiered charge from 4 December.
Bean: Interest rates may be 'only game in town' to dampen housing market
The Bank of England may find monetary policy such as raising interest rates "the only game in town" to combat financial stability risks such as the housing market, the deputy governor has warned.
Lloyds caps affordability to 4x income to rein in raging market risk
Lloyds, the UK's biggest lender, has put an immediate cap on income multiples on mortgages over £500,000 to primarily target the London market in a bid to combat the capital's swiftly rising property price inflation.
Economists heap pressure on Osborne over Help to Buy
Prominent economists have added to calls for the government to pull back from the mortgage guarantee element of its Help to Buy initiative, arguing it is no longer needed.
UK house prices up by 0.6% in February - Nationwide
UK house prices rose by 0.6% in February, a 9.4% increase on the same month in 2013, according to Nationwide Building Society.
Investors wise to prepare for rate hike, says MPC's Miles
It is "not unreasonable" for investors to anticipate a 2% base rate as early as 2016, but increasing rates is still considered a last resort to tame the housing market, according to Bank of England policymaker David Miles.
Are you ready? Evaluating the Mortgage Market Review
Assessing firms' readiness for the Mortgage Market Review
Quick Quiz of the week's news
QUICK QUIZ
Mutuals mortgage lending doubles in 2013 while arrears fall
Mutuals and building societies have doubled their net mortgage lending over the last year, figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA) show.
Housing bubble: Economist warns 77% chance UK houses are over-valued
There is a 77% chance UK houses are over-valued, an economist has warned, as the threat of a bubble looms.
CML: No evidence of housing boom
The mortgage market is experiencing "strong upwards momentum" and gross lending may top £200bn for the first time in seven years in 2015, but there is little evidence of a housing boom developing, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
BoE to turn off Funding for Lending tap for mortgages
The mortgage aspect of the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) is to be discontinued in light of improved market conditions.
Welsh Help to Buy scheme set for January launch
The Welsh government has announced it will launch its £170m Help to Buy equity loan scheme in January.
BoE's Dale: Recovery has 'number of years to go'
The UK economy is heading in the right direction but there are a "number of years to go" before a full-blown recovery can be called, Bank of England (BoE) chief economist Spencer Dale has said.
Stamp duty threatens to pervert Help to Buy effect - CML
The government is undermining its own Help to Buy scheme by imposing a large tax burden on first-time buyers, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has argued.
UK house prices 5.8% higher than a year ago - Nationwide
UK house prices are now 5.8% higher than this time a year ago, according to Nationwide, but are still 7% off their 2007 peak.
BoE has 'room to raise interest rates' without hitting borrowers
The Bank of England (BoE) could increase interest rates a "fair amount" without hurting homeowners taking advantage of the government's Help to Buy scheme, according to one of its policymakers.
Most read
