Young Index results for Q3 2009 from Young Group show that buy-to-let investors are no longer reviewing the mortgage market on a regular basis and intend to hold onto their assets for the long term.

The autumn sales market in prime central London is experiencing an extremely busy period with a huge imbalance between the number of sellers versus the number buyers, creating a feeding frenzy for the best properties, whilst competition escalates in the rental market, according to The Buying Solution’s London team.

The only way to stop a housing crisis is to reintroduce something similar to a 1980s style system of tax breaks for institutions or business landlords, according to residential property services company LSL Property Services. 

Demand for Letfirst properties has outstripped supply as Edinburgh residents quickly sign up for the UK’s first assisted private rented scheme.

Tenancies are getting shorter, according to Knight Frank’s London Residential Review (Autumn 2009). The report highlights that today’s average London tenant signs for less than a year – standing at 11.5 months.

An unexpected and continued bounce in the prime central London markets has turned first quarter falls of -4% into growth of +4% in the year to date”, says Yolande Barnes, head of Savills Research department.

National estate agency group haart is predicting a rush to buy in order to beat the increase in VAT and stamp duty that will come into effect in the New Year.

Plans for a major property development next to Canary Wharf, which could provide thousands of new jobs and help fund Crossrail, is to be decided by the Mayor. It follows the decision by Tower Hamlets council to refuse the developer’s planning application on 4th August 2009.

Landlords celebrated a golden scenario of rising rents, rising prices, falling tenant arrears and lower void periods in July according to the latest research from LSL Property Services, which owns the UK's largest lettings agent network, including national chains Your Move and Reeds Rains.

With the new university term about to start and students searching for private accommodation, the Letting Protection Service (LPS) is advising landlords to make sure they carry out electrical surveys and a regular programme of testing on their properties.

Responding to the announcement in the Budget that the Stamp Duty threshold will be frozen until the end of the year, Scott Brown, Estate Agency Partner at Warners, said: “This is a welcome step, but more is still needed to reinvigorate the property market.

Is the sun finally starting to come out for the UK property market we wonder – the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has revealed a consistent rise in the amount of interested buyers for the fifth month in a row and many of these enquiries are now turning into sales.

Rental prices fell further in Q1 2009, the second consecutive quarter of decline, according to the SpareRoom.co.uk Rental Index, which analyses over 45,000 rental listings.

The amount of money people spent on home improvements last year reached a massive £16.6 billion, reflecting a £2.5 billion increase over the past decade.

The slump in the UK property market could have a huge effect on pensioners, as new research is released which reveals that more than a quarter of people in the UK aged between 55 and 64 are relying on property to fund their retirement.

Liam Bailey, head of residential research, Knight Frank, commented: “Prices are still falling across central London – however the evidence is mounting that not only is the rate of decline slowing appreciably, from monthly falls approaching 4% before Christmas to 1.5% and 1.6% in February and March, but also activity in the market has increased noticeably in the last two months.

Edinburgh’s leading solicitor estate agent has doubled the number of weekly property sales it has carried out in the last month.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced that £22million is to be invested in renovating more than 1,300 of London’s abandoned, derelict and blighted buildings and turning them into family homes.

Letting your property fully furnished, unfurnished or part furnished no longer has any implications regarding taxation or the security of tenure for the tenant, now Accord Lets, the premium letting agent in Birmingham city centre, is breaking the misconceptions most commonly related to property ownership.

The Government today set out its proposals for helping rural communities to thrive in the 21st Century by providing more affordable housing and greater freedom to develop strong local economies.

When something starts in America, it usually trickles across the pond to Britain sooner or later.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that two in five homes in England will be occupied by only one person within the next 20 years.

Rents dropped across the residential lettings sector as would-be-sellers continued to flood the rental market with unsellable properties, says the RICS Lettings Survey published today.

The Managing Director of HomeLet John Boyle is lending his support to the call for tighter regulation of the lettings industry following concerns raised by a recent ARLA survey. 

The latest report by Christopher Hamer, the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OAE) shows a massive 200% annual increase in letting-related complaints, highlighting the need for the public to be acutely aware of rapid changes in the property letting industry.