The Help to Buy schemes, launched by the government last year, have enabled nearly 40,000 people to buy their first home, according to official statistics. Help to Buy consists of two schemes which enable people to buy a property even if they only have 5% of the purchase cost. More than 48,000 people in total
The government is to introduce new measures that will make it easier for people to build their own home. Under the Right to Build scheme, people who want to build their own home will be able to get help from their local council to find a suitable plot of land. The scheme will be trialled
The government has sent information to social housing tenants reminding them of the Right to Buy scheme. The leaflets offer advice to tenants on how to exercise their Right to Buy and become first-time homeowners. The scheme allows social tenants in London a maximum discount of up to £102,700. The maximum discount in other parts
Many of the regulations relating to new house builds could be scrapped as the government tries to encourage the continuing growth of the housing market. Currently, builders of new houses must meet numerous specifications on how new homes should be built and what facilities they must include. Each local council is able to select the
The Law Society has launched a media campaign to highlight the importance of using a professional solicitor when seeking legal advice. ‘Use a Professional. Use a Solicitor’ is the tagline, and adverts will be appearing on numerous media outlets including television, railway stations and public buses. In recent years, various unregulated advisers and do-it-yourself legal
Council house tenants can now receive higher Right to Buy discounts following a government move to improve the scheme. Tenants in London can qualify for discounts of up to £102,700 off the value of their home. In other parts of the country the discount can be as high as £77,000. The discount caps will now
House prices rose by 10.2% in the year to June 2014, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. Prices in England rose by 10.7%. The figure was 6% in Scotland, 4.9% in Northern Ireland and 3.5% in Wales. The survey showed that house prices rose strongly in most parts of the UK, but
House prices in Britain have fallen for the first time this year, according to figures from the online estate agency, Rightmove. The average asking price for a home in June was £272,275. This dropped to £270,159 in July – a 0.8% reduction. Houses in Greater London were the most durable in holding their value, suffering
The government has announced a change to the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme amid concerns over rising house prices. New loans granted under the scheme must now be less than 4.5 times the borrower’s income. In a separate move, the Bank of England has told mortgage lenders that only 15% of loans they grant
A new strand of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme has been launched, with the aim of helping members of the armed forces to buy their own home. They can now apply to the Forces to Buy scheme for a loan of up to 50% of their salary to use towards buying a home. It