House Price Spy Blog

Further to my other blogs about the Northern Rock:

1. Gordon Brown rules out offering any assitance to The Northern Rock.

2. The media cause panic with investors who proceed to get up early to withdraw funds.

3. Gordon Brown pledges to back The Northern Rock to the tune of several billion pounds.

4. Fickle savers rush to put their money back in.

5. Shares slump in price and the government are again forced to back up the Rock.

6. Sir Richard Branson tables a takeover bid for the ailing financial giant.

So let me get this straight if Alistair Darling says The Northern Rock would have gone failed if were not for his intervention then does that mean any financial institution that invest badly will be bailed out by the UK taxpayer? Or will we get a share of the profits when Sir Richard Branson takes over and turns it’s fortunes around?

Whats the point of making sound investments (on a personal level) if you have to subsidise others poor choices (on a national level)?

The Northern Rock in more detail.

During the next year there are going to be new sister sites from House Price Spy that will be related to insurance, finance, DIY or anything else to do with the property in general.

Hopefully these will turn out to be as popular as the main House Price Spy site. They will have the same quality and functionality with quality free services and links to property related sites.

As usual I have been sworn to secrecy….however I can let you know that the first site will be an insurance related service that will be quite appealing to property owners and eveyone else!

2007 has seen House Price Spy change the way it looks and add a few new functions and bits and bobs to what we offer, hopefully 2008 will see the main site go from strength to strength. If you like House Price Spy then you are sure to love our new sites from House Price Spy!

The BBC - Property has released sales figures for property in the UK have been released (up to mid November). Property figures for 2007 are as follows:

The fastest rising areas are Northern Ireland, East Anglia and the South West of England.

The average price for a property in the UK is just over £230,000.

There have been over 300,000 property sales.

Properties have gone up by 9% in the last year.

Properties have gone up by 6.5% in the last quarter.

The cheapest places to buy are still Scotland and the North West Of England, with an average of under £141,000 per sale.

The winter slowdown in property sales will of course cause a drop in property prices over the festive months to come as usual.

The Scottish parliament looks set to aprove legislation which would see another barrier removed from the foot of the housing ladder. The Single Surveys bill will make it manditory for every property seller to have a survey done prior to placing the property on the market.

Surveys depend on the size, age and value of the property and are usually around £200 to £400. This legislation will be great news for first time buyers but bad news for surveyors who are used to having repeat business on popular properties and sellers who will have another deduction from their sale price.

Single Surveys were piloted up north briefly in 2004.

Read Clarkes previous Blog about Home Information Packs

With legislators apparently keen to tip the balance in favour of buyers rather than sellers (see changes in Stamp Duty) there could be further changes ahead!

When buying a property you will need to remember to include certain Important fees when calculating how much money you have to play with:

Important fees that you will have to pay when buying are as follows:

Stamp duty - 1% to 4% of value of property

Estate agent’s fee - 1% to 4% of value of property

Land registry - around £200

Local Authority search - around £100

Lenders fees -Arrangement fees, lender fees and legal fees.

Surveyor’s fees - Depending on the value of the property.

Conveyancer’s fees - A few hundred pounds

It is Important fees are included when you think of your outlay in buying a property. other considerations include removals charges, storage, DIY, setting up a phone line and TV aerial.