House prices across the UK rose by 8.2% in the year to April, bringing the value of an average property to £209,054. On a monthly basis, prices rose by an average 0.6% between March and April. Looking at England alone, there was annual price increase of 9.1%, which takes the average property value to £224,731.
Changes to the shared ownership rules could help an extra 175,000 people on to the housing ladder, according to the government. Shared ownership allows people to ease their way into the property market by purchasing a share in their home rather than having to pay the full amount. They only have to a find a
The changes to stamp duty have saved homebuyers £657m in just over a year, according to the latest government figures. More than 780,000 people have benefited across England and Wales. The changes, which came into effect in December 2014, introduced more gradual increases in stamp duty rates. Under the previous system, the duty was a
The government has announced plans to build 200,000 starter homes for first time buyers under the age of 40. It’s part of an overall plan to build a million homes by 2020. Ministers say the figure will be achieved by ensuring that 1 in 5 homes are starter homes on developments of more than 10
The government has announced funding for a series of housing zones that will provide thousands of new homes across the country. More than £6m is being made available to enable local councils to establish partnerships with private developers and speed up the development of brownfield sites. It’s hoped the project will help to deliver up
More than 150,000 people have got on to the housing ladder through Help to Buy, according to the latest figures from the government. The statistics show that since the launch of the scheme in 2013: more than 150,000 completions have taken place, with 80% having been made by first-time buyers the average house price was
A quarter of a million first time buyers have opened a Help to Buy ISA since they became available last December. More than half of them are aged 30 or under. Some people have already claimed the bonus offered by the ISAs and are using them to help buy their first home. Help to Buy
The government has announced that 600 acres of publicly owned land is being made available to build new homes. It has identified 80 sites that will be put up for sale over the next 18 months. It is estimated these sites will support more than 5,000 homes as well as land for industry and business.
The Right to Buy scheme has now been extended to housing association tenants. It is being piloted in five areas across England and will be rolled out to the rest of the country later this year. It gives tenants the opportunity to buy their home with a discount of £103,900 in London and £77,900 elsewhere.
The government is to commission thousands of new affordable homes on publicly owned land as part of its plan to ease the housing shortage. The sites will be sold with planning permission already in place so that building can begin straightaway. The aim is to open up plots that are not big enough to interest