PROPERTY NEWS
WHERE TO BUY IN 2011
Predictions for the property market may be uncertain, but independent homefinders network County Homesearch has named the areas it expects to be bucking the trend for sliding prices. These include perennial favourites like Alderley Edge in Cheshire, Exeter in Devon and East Hampshire, but it also names places such as Anglesey, Dalston in East London, Dunbar in East Lothian and Northallerton in North Yorkshire in its list of “shrewd investments.” www.county-homesearch.co.uk
£200K CARPARKING SPACE UNDER HARRODS
What would you pay to be able to park the Jag at London’s most famous shop? Harrods Estates reckons £200,000 is about right, which is what anyone will have to pay to own a 284 square foot space in a car park underneath the Knightsbridge department store, on Basil Street. There’s a catch though: you need to live within a 400m radius of the car park to buy it. Given a flat went for £100m in nearby 1 Hyde Park, there’ll hardly be a shortage of deep-pocketed buyers. Call 020 7225 6506 for information.
RENTS TO GO UP THIS YEAR
Tenants hoping for a rent reduction as the cost of living goes up are likely to be sorely disappointed. Research produced by buy-to-let specialist Paragon Group suggests that 41 per cent of landlords plan to increase rents over the next year while 55 per cent will keep rents at 2010 levels. Of those looking to put rents up, one in 10 are aiming for a whopping 4-8 per cent rise, while nearly a third are planning on an increase of up to 4 per cent.
NEW NO FEES MORTGAGE FOR FIRST TIMERS
Halifax has launched a new no fees mortgage for first-time buyers with a fixed rate of 5.79 per cent for two years. Typically, a first-time buyer would have to pay a product fee of £995, £506 on conveyancing costs, £320 on a valuation fee and around £250 on set-up costs. The mortgage is available to those borrowing up to 90 per cent of the purchase price. But it is only available if you hold an Ultimate Reward Current Account or pay £1,000 or more into a Halifax current account.