Property Rescue Blog

The Land Registry confirmed that house prices in England and Wales fell 1.3% last year to an average of £160,000, with little chance of change in 2012.

Official figures show that the UK unemployment rate has reached just shy of 2.7 million.

Retailers have been forced to slash their prices in a bid to attract worried consumers who are staying away following an expensive Christmas.

 Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation in the UK dropped to 4.8% last month, down from 5% in October, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation also fell to 5.2% from 5.4%. It is possible this was caused by a reduction in the rise of food and soft drink costs.

The total deficit of final-salary private sector pension schemes soared to a record high of £222bn last month. The Pension Protection Fund (PPF), which compiled the figures, claimed the deficit rose by £64bn from the end of September. It said that although the value of scheme assets had risen, this had been outweighed by the increasing cost of paying for pensions. 

A YouGov survey has said that around one out of three in the UK will be in debt due to the cost of Christmas. The survey states that 11% of people in the UK spend more money than they have, with 31% getting into debt to pay for Christmas costs. The survey also suggests that this figure includes the use of overdrafts. Intelligent Environments commissioned the survey.

Even though two million people are on housing waiting lists, a staggering one million houses are lying empty. This issue is discussed on Channel 4’s new ‘Great British Property Scandal’ series, which starts tonight.

Members of the public have voiced their opinions as to why property asking prices have been slow at declining. The majority actually do not believe house prices are going down. However, more than one in five does expect house prices to soar.

Nine out of ten potential buyers are now only booking viewings online to see properties they are already interested in, instead of registering with agents beforehand. The unusual claims are based on statistics collected by Expert Agent from its 1,200 member branches.

A BBC investigation has shown that over £600,000 of client’s money being protected by a debt management company had disappeared. Debt Dr, based in Devon held money for over 80 clients, helping them to pay off debts. The company stopped trading in April this year and is now under investigation.