Minimum salary for trainee solicitors scrapped by SRA
From 1st August 2014, firms will no longer be obliged to pay trainee solicitors a minimum salary above the national minimum wage, it has been announced by the SRA Board. The change will mean that trainees could be paid as little as the national minimum wage, which is currently £6.08 an hour. This would […]
Grant Shapps launches £30m fund following surge in self-build market
Housing Minister Grant Shapps has announced that Kevin McCloud has been appointed self-build industry champion by the National Self Build Association. His main roles will be to raise public awareness of the benefits of self-building a home and helping the self-build industry to promote the services available for first time self-builders. Kevin McCloud is […]
Building Societies Association publishes toolkit for self-build market
The BSA has published a toolkit to provide information to encourage more lenders to offer mortgage finance to self-build projects. It claims that one in 10 new homes built in the UK are self-build projects, which generates £3 billion every year for the UK economy. It estimates that self-build properties accounted for two out […]
The Housing Hub launched to promote wider access to home ownership
The BSA has launched a new housing initiative called The Housing Hub, which it sees as an opportunity to bring lenders and housing associations together. It believes that by co-operating more closely it will allow alternative home ownership models into the mainstream, allowing more people to own their own homes without the barrier of finding […]
Surge of activity in mortgage market in March
CML figures released last week showed that there was a surge in activity in March. The largest increase was in lending to first time buyers, as they rushed to beat the stamp duty holiday. First time buyers took out 24,000 loans in March, with a value of £3 billion. The amount of loans taken […]
Report says Government failing to tackle housing crisis
A joint report published by the National Housing Federation, Shelter and the Chartered Institute of Housing suggests that the Government is failing to tackle the housing crisis. The report shows that the Government is failing to deliver on five out of ten key housing indicators. These are: – Housing supply – Overcrowding – Homelessness – […]
CML gross mortgage lending figures show decline in April.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders released the gross mortgage lending figures for April today. Lending fell by 19% from March, as an estimated £10.2 billion was lent. This is a monthly fall of £2.4 billion. However, this still represents an annual increase of 2%. Bob Pannell, CML Chief Economist comments: "Mortgage lending activity has been […]