mortgages

Shares in HBOS, the group formed by the merger of Bank of Scotland and Halifax, have dropped 2% today after the company announced it would miss profitability targets as it cuts back on mortgage lending.

Homeowners should not put off selling in hopes of higher prices because their properties are likely to cost the same in three years' time, warns the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

The failure of the government and the industry to implement the recommendations set out in the Miles Report is costing UK consumers around £1bn a year, according to Nationwide.

Mortgage lending in the UK slowed down sharply in May as lack of affordability and rising interest rates put a brake on the market, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

One of the government's chief economic advisers Ed Balls has restated Labour's pitch that coming housing policy will reduce the highs and lows of the UK property market.

House prices slowed slightly for the first time in six months, signaling the property market is cooling figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggest.

April saw the UK housing market look stronger than ever as the annualised rate of house price inflation hit its highest level so far this year, government figures suggest.

Britain's housing boom is still going strong as house prices continued to rise last month, the latest survey by Halifax reveals.

HSBC says research suggests 10 out of 33 London Boroughs as well as Windsor, Surrey and Buckinghamshire now have average house prices high enough to automatically tip owners into the IHT bracket.

Around 800 houses worth more than £1m each were sold in the UK during the first three months of 2004, says a government report.