Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy at the BSA, said: "Care is needed to prevent the actions taken today inadvertently causing a distorted housing market in three years time - a market where state intervention has artificially hiked prices."

He's talking about the Help to Buy scheme, the controversial mortgage guarantee element of which hasn't even launched yet. And yet - the BSA is already warning of the need for a clear exit strategy.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Reporting on the BoE's first Systematic Risk survey of the year...

What was more surprising was fully a quarter of respondents cited the risk of a collapse in property prices, particularly residential property prices, as a potential threat to the system. The BOE noted that respondents appear to be worried that prices are “overinflated or about to become overinflated”.

That’s surely somewhat alarming, given the government has just unveiled a new help-to-buy scheme aimed at reviving a moribund housing market.

There's no denying a sense of the jitters at the moment. To get your own copy of the BoE report, click here.

On Osborne's property policies… any extension on "myopic, selfish and inexcusable"? Yes, actually [June 5, 2013]

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Nationally - according to Rightmove - the average asking price has broken through £250,000 for the first time, skewed significantly by a £515,243 average asking price in London. That's (nationally) 1.2% up on May, and is the latest in a series of increases every month so far this year. The figures will fuel concerns about a new property bubble, with vendor confidence fuelled primarily by easier debt rather than actual affordability. 

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

85% of prime London property sold to foreign buyers [London Loves Business]
Adele's bullet-proof investment [Kildare Nationalist]
Agents at war [Estate Agent Today]
How much for a new bathroom? [Victoria Plumb]

The Rat and Mouse - it's about your house 

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Because - according to research - they're more likely to sell your house. An American business school study showed a correlation between agents' physical attractiveness and their performance. At the Rat, we're sceptical about the findings, but still suggest picking the best-looking agent you can, because if you're gonna get screwed, you might as well enjoy it.

These are estate agents [August 10, 2005]

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Go here for a roundup of this year's 43 RIBA award-winners,  including clever "bully-proof" school toilets and - in London - a primary school, nursery, hospice, some Olympics architecture and several residential properties (two of which are private projects…here and here. . More comment here. 

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

This time…Location: Forest Gate. Owner: Pelling. Complainant: Hodgson. Height 22ft. Rat and Mouse summary: spectacular. More here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

According to the Mayor's Vision 2020 report he plans to build 400,000 new homes in London in the next decade. But Knight Frank data showing how many projects actually stand a chance of coming to fruition in that timeframe suggest, at best, 227,240. More here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

The latest London property hotspots [London Loves Business]
The world's property coldspots [This Is Money]
Recovery? [Reuters]
Are estate agents pressuring buyers into taking in-house mortgage advisors? [Daily Telegraph]

The Rat and Mouse - it's about your house

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

He told the Produced By conference, also in LA, that he was not looking forward to uprooting, admitting that the decision to shoot in Britain "really does make me insane". He said, of his children's reaction: "When you're 13 and 14, it's like, fuck that, I don't care what the movie is."

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Japanese knotweed invasion reaches gardens of Hampstead [Observer]
New Cleveland Street plaque reveals Dickens' first London home [Fitzrovia News]
Help to Buy scheme now panned by FT, too [FT]
Five reasons why house prices haven't crashed [Citywire]

The Rat and Mouse - it's about your house 

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

We've covered Foxtons flotation rumours before, but more details are emerging of a £400m share issue, planned - as one might imagine - to take advantage of the current market inflation. More here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Sales were up a little, too, February to April, by 2% compared to November to January. That's despite a 5% fall-off between March and April. Get your own copy of the report here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Go here to see horrified Valerie Rossmore looking suitably horrified at her neighbours' roof terrace, which - she says - is a blight on her Islington home. Actually, it's an odd piece, aspersions cast on the integrity and competence of the local planning department, and the homeowner appearing to use a newspaper as a voice in a personal dispute.  

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

A half a percent, its lowest since the bank began setting rates and unchanged since March 2009.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Oxford, London [Independent]
Investing in a portion of prime residential [This is Money]
Homeless pensioner given vouchers for tent [Planet Property]
NewBuy - not much enthusiasm so far [Estate Agent Today]
Landlords feature in new repo-figures [Property Hawk]

The Rat and Mouse - London's property blog, since 2005

Technorati Tags: property, real estate