You may have heard snippets of news regarding the recent ‘Leeds Reforms’ but this positive set of changes to the mortgage market have not been widely reported. The reforms, announced in Leeds this July by the Chancellor, are UK wide, meaning it should be easier and simpler for many property buyers to borrow money.

An article recently published by Property Reporter effectively sounded the death knell for big budget home improvements. Instead, it used information from property firm Stacks to claim purchasers were being drawn to good value properties that needed more manageable, achievable – and cheaper – upgrades.

You’ve found a property you love, your offer has been accepted and you’ve appointed a conveyancer to handle the legal transaction. Now there’s a pressing question. Your solicitor asks you to choose between sole ownership, joint tenants or tenants in common – a decision that affects what happens to your property if you die or end the relationship with the person you are buying with. 

If you live in England and Wales and plan to buy a new build flat in the future, there’s a high chance it will be sold as commonhold. If you own an existing leasehold flat or plan to purchase one, it should become easier to switch from leaseholder to commonholder in the next few years.

When Country Life magazine ran an article on the biggest property turn offs, we expected the usual suspects to be detailed – lack of parking, a small kitchen or too few bedrooms - but we were surprised.

Affordability in the property market is usually finely poised when it comes to renting versus homeownership but this spring, the pendulum has swung back in favour of buying a home.

Spring has arrived and the air is once again filled with the sound of birds chirping and lawn mowers buzzing. Or do you prefer hearing the shrill sound of an angle grinder?

A stack of yellowing magazines that you’ll never get round to reading? Boxes overflowing with cables you’ve long forgotten what they connect? A bathroom bursting with half used cleaning products? If this is you, you’re not alone.

If you are using a mortgage to buy your first home, a deposit is essential. This cash sum is usually a percentage of the property price and it’s money the buyer needs before exchange.

What did you resolve to do when the clocks struck midnight on 31st December 2024? Did you vow to move more, eat less and stop looking at social media so much? Or did you make a New Year resolution to move home?

We wish you a Merry Christmas….and a happy New Home. The 2024 festive season presents us with a unique set of circumstances that potential home movers simply can’t ignore.

Despite successive Governments promising to reform the leasehold system in England and Wales (more on that later) – and the abolition of leasehold property status in Scotland – millions of homeowners only own bricks and mortar and not the land on which the property sits.