Research by the Alliance & Leicester reveals that nearly half of all parents fork out around £18,000 to help their children buy their first homes. As prices continue to rise, it is no wonder first-time buyers are looking for extra funding from their parents to get on the housing ladder. That crucial first rung of the property ladder is slipping further and further out of reach for many first-time buyers. Read More...
The Government could force mortgage lenders to fund green home loans as part of plans to tackle climate change. Speaking about the introduction of home information packs (HIPs), Yvette Cooper, the housing minister, has suggested that lenders should offer extra money to homeowners to put towards improving the energy efficiency of their properties. Read More...
The Government has decided to kill off the most controversial part of its planned home seller's packs by withdrawing the home condition report (HCR) element from the proposed Home Information Packs (HIPs). But what will it mean for buyers and sellers - assuming the Government sticks to its plan to introduce compulsory home information packs in England and Wales next June Read More...
Existing landlords are expanding their property portfolios as house prices rise and demand from tenants continues to increase. Landlords have been steadily increasing the number of properties on their books, with 130,000 buy-to-let loans advanced in the second half of 2005, an increase of 40 per cent on the previous six months. Read More... 
Record numbers of leaseholders are taking ownership of their blocks of flats as they lose patience with inattentive landlords and realise that purchasing the freehold can add thousands of pounds to their property’s value. The Leasehold Advisory Service estimates that tens of thousands of flat dwellers could this year force the owners of their buildings to sell them the freehold by the legal process known as “enfranchisement”. Read More... 
With yearly house price inflation increasing, lenders are creating a new breed of products to help the first-time buyer get that all-important first mortgage. For years, many prospective purchasers have been biding their time, in the hope that the rising market would run out of steam. But their patience has not been rewarded; recently the Department for the Communities and Local Government said that the cost of the average home in England has doubled to £202,000 in the past four years. Read More... 
You may think flats above shops sound like a dismal proposition, but investing in the rooms above your local kebab shop could be one of the most tax-efficient ways to get on to the buy-to-let bandwagon. Despite the Chancellor closing the door on tax relief of up to 40 per cent for people wanting to buy bricks and mortar through pensions last year, similar relief on residential property investment is still available for converting unused space above shops into flats. Read More...
Being in debt for ever has become a real possibility for homeowners with the launch of the UK’s first never-ending mortgage. But for many people, a mortgage remains a huge psychological barrier standing firmly in the way of ultimate freedom. Read More...
Offset mortgages now account for approximately £10 out of £100 borrowed to finance the purchase of bricks and mortar in the UK. New lower rates for this type of lending have boosted the popularity of offsetting. Read More... 
Recent research by financial information provider, Moneyfacts, has found that five of the top 10 mortgage lenders now use ability to repay in preference to income multiples in determining the amount they are prepared to lend. Read More...
The key to buy-to-let as a performing investment is that rental income should exceed mortgage costs and maintenance. It used to be that mortgage lenders required rental income to equate to at least 130% of the interest payment on the mortgage. Over the past year lenders have relaxed this stipulation, reducing the percentage to 125%, and in some cases to as low as 100%. Read More... 
When you remortgage you move your mortgage from your existing home loan to another loan, paying off the old debt with the new one. You may not even change lender. There are two basic reasons to remortgage: you remortgage to save money with a better rate of interest or you remortgage to borrow more money against the value of your property. Read More... 
Buying a property is one of the biggest financial decisions you will probably ever make. So it is really important to understand the property purchase process, from deciding where to live, how to get a mortgage, whether to take out mortgage insurance, and what questions you should ask the seller. Read More... 
Whether you are buying or selling a property you will need to understand the conveyancing process, which means the legal transfer of ownership of property. Conveyancing also allows sellers to stipulate exactly what is and is not included in the sale. Read More...
In recent years we have seen the arrival of new types of mortgages which give a few more options about how you can pay back the money you owe. These new mortgages can be grouped under three headings, flexible, current account and offset. Read More...
Interest rates are probably the most important part about buying a house. After all, your aim is borrow the money you need for the least possible cost, so you need to r particular circumstances. Read More...
You pay Stamp Duty Land Tax on properties if the purchase price is £125,000 or less (effective 23 March 2006), you don't pay any Stamp Duty Land Tax at all. If it's more than £125,000, you pay between one and four per cent of the whole purchase price, on a sliding scale. Read More...
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