Independent Chartered Surveyors:
Bank Lending Rate
It has been confirmed that the Bank of England Monetary Committee have decided that the Bank Base Rate is to remain at 0.5% for a further month. It has been at this very low level for a record period of over three years.
Source: Bank of England
We are an independent chartered surveyors practice covering Widnes, Warrington, St Helens, Runcorn, Frodsham, Helsby and the surrounding area helping clients with both residential survey and commercial property issues.
According to recent research, House prices in the UK inched up by one per cent in 2011.
Regional variation in prices has been less significant than that recorded in previous years, with London witnessing the strongest growth for 2011.
Stamp duty and the homebuyer
A stamp duty dodging scheme is reportedly costing up to £1bn in potential Government revenue from house sales. Research indicates that as much as one in three sales over £1m are avoiding the 5% Stamp duty.
The 'Green Deal' intends to reduce carbon emissions cost effectively by revolutionising the energy efficiency of British properties.
The new innovative Green Deal financial mechanism eliminates the need to pay upfront for energy efficiency measures and instead provides reassurances that the cost of the measures should be covered by savings on the electricity bill.
Buying a house is a major investment. One that you really need to make an informed decision about. That's exactly what the Home Condition Survey allows you to do.
You would think that the government would try to assist the owner of the owner of a listed building or scheduled monument. After all, the owner of such a building is helping to preserve the national heritage.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. Although “Alterations” are VAT exempt, repair and maintenance work isn’t.
So, if you want to re-slating a roof, repairing decayed windows or doors or re-pointing a wall. These do not qualify for zero-rating.
10 Dec 2011
A recent RICS Housing Market Survey indicates that both supply and demand for property have stayed low, and prices are still falling in every region of the UK except London. Wales and the West Midlands saw the largest falls in house prices in the month, and yet the West Midlands had the highest level of newly agreed sales. The South West had the lowest level of new buyer enquiries, and the South East had the highest level of new buyer enquiries for the second successive month.
