Government plan fails FTBsGuardian 6 March 2008 A £100m government scheme for first-time buyers has helped just 451 people afford a home since it was launched in 2006, figures showed today. Read more
Is self-build the way forward?Telegraph 6 March 2008 Can't afford to live in the house of your dreams? Or maybe the one you fancy is in the town of your nightmares? If so, perhaps you should join a growing band of brave souls and build it yourself. Read more
Property prices slow downHome Move 6 March 2008 According to the latest monthly survey by the Halifax, property prices are continuing to slow down. Read more
What happens when there are no FTBs?Guardian 5 March 2008 Life just got that little bit tougher for the beleaguered first-time buyer. This week, mortgage lenders withdrew their loans of more than 100% of the property value. These were always a risky option, but for some they were the only way to afford an overpriced home. Now that credit on international money markets has dried up, many banks are beating a retreat from mortgages. Nationwide is insisting on a deposit of at least 25% if borrowers want access to its best rates. Read more
Eco-towns are eco-spin say Tories24dash.com 4 March 2008 Conservatives are warning today that the Government’s much trumpeted eco-town policy could turn out to be nothing more than eco-spin, according to new research carried out by Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps. Read more
CML call for holistic policiesAlex Coxall 4 March 2008 The council of mortgage lenders are calling on the Government to take a more "holistic" approach to housing policy as homeownership behaviour has changed dramatically in modern times. Read more
Move to protect rural communitiesAlex Coxall 4 March 2008 In a measure to reverse the deterioration of rural communities the Government are looking at ways to deter second home owners from buying properties that will be left vacant for most of the year. Read more
Affordable homes a necessityTimes 3 March 2008 Estate agents have been counting the minutes until Gordon Brown unleashes his kindlier capital gains tax regime. The abrupt deflation of confidence in the property market last year was marked first by the retreat of buy-to-let investors, just as the advantageous changes were announced. Such buyers had accounted for about one in ten purchases in the recent boom years. Read more
House prices will drop 6 per centGuardian 3 March 2008 House prices will decline by 6 per cent in 2008, and continue falling next year, as anxious homeowners rush to cash in their gains from the decade-long property boom, analysts at JP Morgan warned this weekend. Just three months after predicting that prices would remain stagnant for at least a year, Malcolm Barr, JP Morgan's chief UK economist, said the evidence now looked 'pretty bleak'. Read more
Your own private islandTime Magazine 2 March 2008 When A.J. Longmaid spent his boyhood summers on Spectacle Island, a private 4.5-acre (1.8 hectare) refuge off the coast of Bar Harbor, Maine, his family had no electricity or pressurized water. He read by kerosene lamp and showered by pouring a bucket of freezing water over his head. Read more
