Lunchtime news Monday 25 February 2024

House prices fell for a fifth month in succession, according to the latest house price index by Hometrack. In February the average property price was down 0.2 per cent, bringing the annual rate of growth to 1.4 per cent, the lowest level since April 2006. The largest falls were in the East Midlands and South West. Despite this, there was a 7.9 per cent increase in the number of new buyers…

Under plans announced by the government, every new home built in England will have to be designed to suit an ageing population. Ministers want new homes to include 16 features such as stairs wide enough for stairlifts, downstairs bathrooms, and room for wheelchairs to turn. The standards should be adopted from April, and become compulsory by 2013, while the government also wants to work with councils and planners to make entire neighbourhoods suitable for elderly people. Welcomed by Help the Aged, housebuilders warned that the plans were costly.

The Prince of Wales who is set to open an affordable rural housing development today, built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. The affordable rural housing initiative by the Prince was launched in 2003 with the aim of using the private sector in delivery of affordable rural housing, and consist of 12 units – a mixture of flats and houses; eight for rent and four intended to be sold an a shared ownership basis.

In America a new plan has been announced to assist homeowners hit by tumbling prices. Director of the ‘Office of Thrift Supervision’ wants to create certificates whereby borrowers with negative equity would take out new home loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Association, and use these to repay part of their original mortgage. The balance would be converted to ‘negative equity interest’ in the home – similar to a second mortgage, without interest payments. If homes are then sold for more than the market value, the mortgage lender would recoup the balance owed. Approximately 10 per cent of the all US homeowners face negative equity in their homes.

Over this side of the pond, Nationwide will now be telling homebuyers that unless they have a deposit of 25 per cent or more, they will face higher interest rates. Until today, those with a deposit of 10 per cent of more were able to get Nationwide’s best mortgage deals, however after today, the cost will rise by 0.2 per cent, effectively erasing the Bank of England’s recent drop in interest rates. Recently, a growing number of banks and building societies have added to buyers’ woes by scrapping 100 per cent plus mortgages.

Nearly 400,000 households have been overcharged £750 million in council tax, or an average of £1,900, as a result of a blunder by the government dating back at least 10 years. The problem emerged in 2005, after the decision was made to postpone the revaluation of homes in England. It was revealed that many properties were in the wrong council tax band, but the government allegedly did nothing to reassess the charges.