When you are going to view a house it's important to go with questions in mind so you get all the information you can. This is a big decision so make sure you get both sides.
The real estate agent may not give you the whole truth about everything, they are trying to sell it after all but asking the questions could still give you details you didn't know before.
Researching the property and the area before or after the viewing is also a huge factor that should go towards your decision.
With buying a home and owning your own property becoming an almost impossible task for first time buyers due to the cost of living and high mortgage rates, many people are forced to continue renting properties instead. This is causing the age for people to own their own home to increase each year.
This has caused the demand for rental properties to double since pre-pandemic levels however, the supply remains at 28% below pre-pandemic level. The race to rent is intense across the country as properties don’t stay on the market for long.
Zoopla report that the average rent prices across the UK is at £1223 which is +7.8% from the last year. Despite the increase this is still the lowest level of rent rises seen in the last two years, could prices be coming down?
With London being the most expensive place to buy property is continues the theme with being the most expensive place to rent too, not surprising to anyone.
If you are looking for cheaper areas to live to help your money go further then this list is for you.
With the cheapest area being the North East of England to rent with average rental property costing £695 per month.
There are some areas of the UK which are popular among young people and professionals to rent and live which have average rental prices below £1000 a month. These include:
You Gov shares decline more than a third after pollings this morning and warnings come that annual profits would fall short of their forecasts.
You Gov do not make the majority of their revenue from the electoral polls and instead they are a company which conducts market research for businesses to generate their income.
They have shared 9 public polls since the announcement of the UK election date.
They conduct opinion polling throughout this period for the upcoming election, they share the consensus of the UK public on the political parties to reveal predictions on which way it could go.
Financial Times shares the updated expected profit for You Gov which has fallen from £48,3million in 2023 to between £41 - £44 million now.
Most would expect You Gov to experience a boost during election time however this is a small factor towards their revenue.
The Financial Times reveal what the company feels are the factors to blame for their plummeting shares…
David Beckham has launched a prize draw to win a £5m luxury home located in East London.
The draw is part of Omaze’s biggest ever helping to raise money for London’s Air Ambulance.
The Air Ambulance Charity spends £15million a year to maintain their services providing life saving car in London. In 2023 they attended to over 2000 patients and are the only service in London able to provide these on scene interventions in the city.
David Beckham has teamed up with Omaze to support a charity he truly believes in and values.
You can enter online at Omaze before July 28 to have a chance of winning. To enter you will have to make a donation which buys you so many entries into the draw. For example, £10 will get you 15 entries and £50 will grant you 85 entries. Alternatively, you can subscribe to Omaze to double your entries.
The winner will also be given £250,000 as a cash prize to help them settle in to the house.
Those who enter before the 14th July could be in for an extra win of a Maserati GranTurismo Trofeo worth over £170,000.
The money raises will go towards the Air Ambulance charity to replace their two helicopters which are needed before September to continue their specialty care.
The house is worth over £5,000,000 and is their biggest prize to date. A four bedroom house in Victoria Park Village, Hackney with a gym and a spa.
With no stamp duty, mortgage or conveyancing fees to pay, furnishing included and a cash prize of £250,000 one lucky winner will be able to move straight in, rent the property out or sell it on.
This luxury property will have you living a brand new life with access to your own jacuzzi and sauna, games room and gym under your own roof. A light and spacious property offering everything you dreamed of.
Would you enter into this draw for the chance of winning?
In the year to May Inflation rates have risen at 2% this is a decline from April’s rate of 2.3%.
The fall in inflation is mainly due to a slowdown in food and drinks prices as well furniture and household goods. Despite this good news petrol prices have shot up.
Inflation is not rising at its slowest level since 2021.
On the 20th June the Bank of England will make their next announcement as to whether they will lower interest rates from their steady rate of 5.25% since last August. This means that borrowing money will become less expensive for companies and peoples. Those looking to take out a mortgage or renew their mortgage this year have been hoping for a interest rate fall and unfortunately reports show the Bank Of England will be holding it at 5.25%.
When inflation rate falls this often signifies that the Bank of England could reduce their rates however, it is looking unlikely this time around.
The pressure of households is still immense and the Bank of England’s high rates helps to reduce the demand and eventually bring prices down further.
Inflation has now reached the target level after sky rocketing prices since the pandemic, this is great news for the UK economy, if it remains at this level or lower.
The Conservative party will now be patting themselves on the back, but will this be enough for voters to really believe they can hold the economy steady from now on?
Today is the last chance to register to vote ready for the July 4th election and below we have the latest manifesto pledges from the Reform party, led by Nigel Farage. The pledges below focus on the financial changes and how they plan to change the economy if they come into parliament this year.
Mortgage rates are not directly set by the government but rather by lenders influenced from factors such as the Bank of England base rate of interest and general Inflation. Events such as elections can impact interest rates due to the uncertainty.
Data from Mojo Mortgages helps us to understand the changes in mortgage rates since the announcement of the election 2024.
Anyone trying to buy a home for the first time, those renewing their mortgage or anyone with a standard rate mortgage will be hoping for a decrease in mortgage rates after the election, but what are the chances of this happening?
The Bank of England have remained consistent with their interest rates at 5.25% since last August due to the high inflation. However, with inflation having fallen to 2.3% recently many have believed there is a high chance for a reduction.
The Bank of England will next announce their new base rate on the 20th June.
They must feel the inflation rate is steady and that uncertain election matter won’t drastically change anything for a reduction to occur on this next announcement.
With wage growth remaining strong and an uncertain outcome for the election the come, the Bank of England could very well hold off on any reductions.
Mortgage rates are one of the top factors which impact voters choices. When political parties include policies to bring mortgage rates down when they have been soaring in the past parliament this could persuade votes.
Since the conservatives have been in parliament since 2010, Mojo Mortgage reveals that house prices have increased 65%.
New sales tend to stall from the announcement of an election as the feeling of uncertainty for the housing market persuades buyers and sellers to press pause and wait for the outcome.
The average age of a first time home buyer has increased over the years with the challenge of getting on the property market increasing with prices. If mortgage rates do go down then buyers could gain confidence boosting the market.
With both Labour and Conservative parties being fairly vague on what will happen to the housing market there has been a smaller impact than in previous election years, Zoopla have found.
We know that the property market is incredibly difficult to get on to with higher mortgage rates and struggling to save enough for high deposits. The age for first time home buyers is increasing and people are having to wait longer and spend longer saving and scraping before they can afford to buy their own house.
Due to the cost of living not only are mortgage rates harder to aim for, utilities, food and other living costs make it hard for first time buyers to save enough to move with 53% of renters citing 'affordability' as the main reason for them not planning to buy a house in the next 5 years.
Is there a lack of hope?
Mojo Mortgages has revealed that the average age does also vary depending on the region but the national average for first time home owners is now 33. The region can make a significant difference with location being a large factor in the price of a home. London will always be the most expensive place to live with high demand and not enough supply.
Since 2011 the average age has increased by 3 years showing just how much the prices for mortgages and deposits has risen.
The political parties have stated their plans to clamp down on taxing the wealth and setting in place extra regulations to stop tax avoidance. But why does this need to happen, how common is tax avoidance in the UK?
There is a £4.6 billion tax gap which is due to tax avoidance meaning that taxes are lower what they should be from people and corporations committing tax fraud and avoidance.
Around £70billion of revenue has been lost to tax evasion overall in the UK.
Income tax is one of the largest revenues for the UK economy so when this is not as high as it should be then the public suffer on sectors such as NHS, transport and others.
HMRC investigation into offshore accounts and tax evasion have more than halved in the last 5 years and The Observer reports that they have not charged a single company under landmark legislation to crack down on the issue.
This lack of investigation undermines the HMRC and their own deterrents to use it’s criminal enforcement powers.
Fraud investigation service has fallen from 1,417 in 2018-19 to 627 in 2022-23.
Is this from a lack of funding, effort or just keeping the wealthy happy and not bothering to investigate.
Labour have pledged to place more funding in the HMRC so they can resume with pre pandemic level of fraud investigation cases and crack down on taxes.
The HMRC have estimated that they collect 95% of all UK owed taxes which is a stable figure. The remaining 5% accounts for around £36billion, a significant amount.
In 2020, Dominic Chappel, the owner of BHS was found guilty and sentenced to 6 years in prison for evading tax by cheating the public revenue. He was found guilty of failing to pay almost £584,000 in tax on income he received after buying the BHS chain for £1m in 2015.
HMRC investigations found sales amounting to 2.3m over a 17 month period which resulted in a VAT payment of £351,944 of which Chappel only paid £8,433. On top of this he had failed to inform HMRC of a £330,000 dividend from Swiss Rock Ltd. He owed £164,063 in corporation tax of which he only paid £10,000.
Jimmy Carr was found in 2012 to have been committing tax avoidance from only paying 1% tax using the K2 scheme which channelled the salaries of beneficiaries in the UK through Jersey-based shell corporations. The scheme is a way to lower your tax threshold and even though it is morally wrong it was legal and Carr stated it was fully disclosed to the HMRC.
Foo Fighters are in full swing of their Everything Or Nothing At All 2024 tour to mark their 11th album and their first show since Taylor Hawkins, their drummer died in 2022. Their tickets sold out in minutes after their release with fans waiting in online queue for hours in hopes of a chance to see the Foo Fighters live.
Tickets prices started out somewhat reasonable but once selling out so quickly, fans began noticing the extortionate prices of resale tickets.
Tickets at Manchester venue were originally priced at £82.50 for pitch standing and £104.50 for reserved seating.
Once sold out resale sites such as Viagogo began posting tickets at sky high prices, pitch standing tickets for £200 and seating for £493, around 4 times the original price.
Fans took to social media with their disgust at the resale and their wish for a third Manchester show from the Foo Fighters. Sadly for the fans, no extra show dates were revealed.
Resale sites posted a statement to assure fans that their sites allow for tickets to be bought and sold between fans with a secure platform and that mostly those at high prices are rarely bought with prices falling closer to the date of the shows.
Today on Viagogo tickets for the show in Birmingham on the 27th June are priced around £79-140 can be found which is much more attainable for fans. So resale prices do come down but is there a risk of being too late?
Buying resale tickets has become very common as concerts and events sell out in minutes and people take to selling their ticket on, often for a higher price.
Buying on resale comes with a risk factor as they are more expensive than you would have originally paid and the risk of scams is much higher. People have experienced not being able to enter the venue with their resale ticket as it was not an official ticket. Additionally, people find that their tickets never actually existed after paying the money, being left a few hundred pounds down without a chance to see their favourite artists.
The risk of buying from someone on social media could be even higher as buying without a secure site can leave you in danger of sending money or collecting from a complete stranger.
The CMA have ordered the largest ticket selling platforms to offer a more transparent process, including, Viagogo, Stubhub, Seatwave and GET ME IN.
Ticket master have often been named as the most secure site to buy tickets and resale tickets through after the original venue.
How much would you be willing to pay to see your favourite artist and are resale prices unreasonable?
Labour are promising to grow the economy and pull the UK out of the crisis they argue the conservative led the country to. They will do this by prioritising funding into areas that need it, education, the NHS and working people.
Political parties make promise to fund and support certain aspects, this year there has been a focus on improvements in the NHS, education, Water companies regulation amongst others. To spend in these areas there must be money to be made and this will come from raising taxes, cutting spending in other areas or borrowing money. So, when a political party promises something there must be a plan to back it up, where is all the money coming from to support their pledges?
Labour are focusing on raising money by taxing the wealthy and large corporations such as oil and gas. Through this there could be a large pot of money to spend on the public sector and in theory we would all be happier with having a shorter wait time at the doctors or with extra pay for our work. However, by taxing the large companies, how will they stop those companies pouring this burden onto the consumer by increasing their prices?
No party so far has mentioned how this will be regulated and very little has been said about how the economy will truly grow through their plans.
