House prices in Scotland are the lowest in four years

May 27, 2011 Leave a comment

Edinburgh in Scotland where house prices are fallingScottish house prices have returned to the levels of 2007 according to Lloyds TSB Scotland The average price for buying a house in Scotland is now £153,335 and the prices have fallen by 3,6 % since last year.

The decrease in house prices is most likely a reaction of higher inflation, where the increase in earnings is much lower than the increase in prices. Despite the indicators of positive growth for the first months of this year it seems like the property market is recovering from the recession very slowly. The housing market is seeing lower prices and the amount of sales are lower than last year. Also the level of purchase has gone down 3,1% when comparing March this year with the same month 2010.

The lowest house prices in Scotland can now be found in the areas Fife, Perth and Tayside where the average prices stands at £130,293. Edinburgh is on top of the house price list with an average cost of £216,003 for a house.

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More couples share their flat as rents are rising

May 20, 2011 Leave a comment

Couples forced to share flat with more tenantsThe increase in rents has forced more couples to share their property. Almost double as many couples are looking for flatmates compared to one year ago.

A study that was made by the flatsharing website easyroomate claims that 11% of the people looking for a rental object are willing to share a room with a partner to decrease their costs.

This development has been quickly embraced by the landlords, who are offering rooms for couples to meet the demands. The fact is that there are four times more double rooms for rent on the market than last year in May.

The rents have increased to a £692 per month making it a 0.8% increase during April. The renting costs are now £30 higher per month then it was in April 2010. One reason for the higher rental costs is the increased demand on rental property.
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Council housing about to increase rents

May 13, 2011 Leave a comment

Westminister palace symbol for council housing in westministerThe Westminister council has made a request to the government to be in charge of setting the rents for council housing.  Fresh statistics shows that over 2,200 tenants in the Westminister council’s social housing earn more than £50,000 a year and 200 of them have earnings around £ 100,000 per year.

The rents are today set by the central government and do not allow the councils to adjust them. The councils want to change this decision process in order to be able to charge higher rents from tenants that earn more.

The Tories are positive in making changes in the existing one-size fits all system where it’s almost impossible to make any rental changes.  While the Tories are willing to give the council more power in deciding the rents for social housing the Labour council are more skeptical. The Labour argues that an increased freedom for councils to set rents will discourage tenants in council housing to strive for higher wages.

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Filed under Property market economy, Property news, Rents Tagged with ,

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