"But the message from the past 40 years – which includes repeated boom-busts in the property market and three deep recessions in manufacturing that have hollowed out the country's industrial base – is that an overvalued exchange rate and an over-heated housing market are the ugly sisters of the UK economy. Only in Britain would it have been possible for a fall in output of almost 5% in 2009 to have been accompanied by a 10% jump in house prices. Only in Britain would it have been seen as a cause for celebration."

Ninety per cent of couples under 40 with children in London cannot afford to get on the housing ladder, it emerged today... The figure of 10 per cent in London compares with 21.4 per cent in the South-West and 23.8 per cent for the South-East. Almost of a third of young working couples without children in the capital were able to afford a home in 2008, the last year figures were available... Typical first-time buyers have seen average deposits soar from 16 per cent of annual income in 2000 to 64 per cent last year.

Posted by mark wadsworth @ 06:47 PM 17 Comments

Two maths teachers became the unlikely pin-ups of the buy-to-let business during the boom years. But the crash exposed the shaky foundations of their empire. John Stepek looks at what their story reveals about the state of today's housing market – and why another house price crash is inevitable.

Posted by damien @ 01:14 PM 19 Comments

The number of people entering into insolvency in England and Wales rose to a record total of 134,142 last year, official figures from the Insolvency Service showed today, and experts say the figure is likely to rise further in 2010. From the data, since about 2004, the numbers of bankruptcies have shot up.

Posted by cat and canary @ 12:50 PM 11 Comments

Britain faces a difficult balancing act in deciding how and when to reduce support for the banking sector, Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday

The goods-trade gap was 8 billion pounds ($12 billion), the most since August 2008, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median of 17 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey was for the deficit to narrow to 7 billion pounds. Imports fell 1.6 percent and exports dropped 6.9 percent.

Posted by mrflibble @ 10:00 AM 12 Comments

The housing market is on hold as home buyers and sellers adopt a “wait and see� approach in the run up to the general election, estate agents have warned. Or should that be... The housing market is on hold as home buyers and sellers adopt a “wait and see� approach in the run up to the general election. Estate agents have waned.

Posted by timmy t @ 09:39 AM 14 Comments

Estate agent chain known for its Minis falls victim to the housing crash as profit slumps 70% and debt reaches nearly £350m

The first chart shows a history of lower highs and lower lows since 1997. The regional breakdown shows the price rises have mainly been in London and the South East, so it's not surprising that the 2009 bounce was so widely reported by the London-based media. In my region of Yorkshire and Humberside the balance of surveyors' reports barely went positive and is now firmly negative again.

"Further rises in house prices may be held back by more properties coming onto the market, surveyors have said. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) says new instructions outpaced enquires from new buyers in February. It was the second month in a row that this had happened. The rise in house prices during the past year has been attributed by many commentators to a shortage of stock for sale."