2025 housing market "boom" incoming, new "stealth tax" hits landlords & mortgage rates "tumble"
BloomSmith VAT Funding
100% of the VAT on commercial property purchases in 48 hours.
It's been a big week for the UK's property sector - here are some of the key stories.
UK interest rates: Bank boss says cuts 'on the way'
The Bank of England's governor, Andrew Bailey, indicated that interest rate cuts are forthcoming, despite rates being maintained at 5.25%, a 16-year peak.
Bailey stated the necessity for further inflation reduction but described last month's decline to 3.4% as "very encouraging and good news."
UK house prices rise by 1.5% in biggest increase for 10 months
The average UK home's asking price rose by ￡5,279 to nearly ￡370,000 in March, fuelled by increased buyer demand and stronger house sales, marking the largest monthly increase in 10 months.
Rightmove reports that this 1.5% price growth exceeds the historical March average of 1%.
?
‘Pent-up demand’ will drive 2025 housing market boom, Mortgage Advice Bureau says
The Mortgage Advice Bureau, the nation's largest broker, believes that the mortgage market is beginning to recover, with "pent-up demand" potentially causing a surge in homebuying by 2025.
This comes after the firm reported a 21% drop in new lending to ￡19 billion last year, a consequence of Liz Truss's problematic mini-Budget and the Bank of England's frequent interest rate increases, which particularly affected the buy-to-let sector by halving new lending to landlords.
?
Ground rent not legally or commercially necessary, says UK watchdog
Britain's competition watchdog has declared ground rent unnecessary and suggested government intervention may be required to shield consumers from escalating charges.
领英推荐
Many leaseholders are in contracts with ground rents that can double or rise with inflation, complicating property sales or refinancing, and putting their property rights in jeopardy if they default on payments.
Hunt hits landlords with stealth capital gains tax raid
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt reduced the higher capital gains tax (CGT) rate from 28% to 24% in the latest Budget, yet for many landlords, this advantage is negated by a decrease in tax-free allowances established in the Autumn Statement of 2022.
The annual CGT personal allowance was reduced from ￡12,300 to ￡6,000 this financial year, and will further decrease to ￡3,000 in 2024-25.
Mortgage rates tumble after surprise inflation fall
Mortgage lenders, including NatWest, are reducing their rates in response to falling inflation and the anticipation of a quicker decrease in the Bank Rate, with reductions up to 0.24 percentage points for remortgages and 0.40 for tracker mortgages.
UK rent prices up 9% in record yearly rise, says ONS
UK rent prices surged by 9% in the year to February, marking the most significant annual increase since records started in 2015.
London experienced the steepest rise in England at 10.6%, bringing the average monthly rent in the capital to ￡2,035.
Curated by BloomSmith