News Archive - Mar 2008 - Buildstore

People living in Buckinghamshire enjoy the highest quality of life among all the counties in Great Britain, it has been suggested. Householders'' pro...

House prices are likely to come down by around a fifth over the next two years, according to the predictions of one expert. Firstrung operations dire...

A best practice guide on environmentally-friendly urban planning has been launched by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) in collaboratio...

Nationwide Building Society has revealed that house prices have fallen for the fifth month in a row, dipping 0.6 per cent in March. The lender said t...

Home renovation is a great way for householders to make a home look more attractive when they are looking to sell it, an estate agent has said. Pau...

Mortgage costs are being pushed up as the credit crunch continues to bite, an expert on the industry has said. Louise Cuming, head of mortgage ...

Two of Britain''s biggest lenders have raised the rates on their tracker mortgages for new borrowers by more than half of one per cent today. Halifax...

A former member of the Bank of England''s monetary policy committee (MPC) has suggested the Bank has not acted decisively enough to reduce the base ra...

The level of mortgage lending in the UK is not about to recover, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has forecast. New figures from...

Independent mortgage firm Charcol has said that there needs to be a further cut in interest rates and believes this may in fact take place. Spokesp...

The arguments over the possible positive or negative effects of the introduction of home information packs (Hips) last year has continued, with expert...

A self build centre in Northern Ireland is said to be gearing up for a busy summer after it reported a successful visit to the Self Build Belfast ...

The government has come under criticism for leaving homes idle while the Ministry of Defence (MOD) pays £3 million in rent on them. Liberal Demo...

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has welcomed the news that the government is to review the planning system in a bid to cut red tape...

Bank of England chief economist Charlie Bean has said there will be no special intervention by the Bank to protect homeowners. Mr Bean said most peop...

The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has said it welcomes the new review of the planning system announced by the government. In its study, the governme...

A building industry trade body has made a new call for the rate of VAT on the renovation of buildings to be reduced. Responding to a statement...

Those looking to sell homes are making unrealistic price demands, property portal Rightmove has warned. In the month to mid-March the average askin...

Construction trade union Ucatt has expressed concern at the shortage of skilled labour in the industry , stating that not enough new recruits wer...

The green targets which were set out by Alistair Darling in his inaugural Budget will require a "robust approach" from the building industr...

Buying a new-build property is more energy efficient and cheaper to run than older homes, it has been claimed by one homebuilder. Redrow has said t...

House prices will be supported by buyers'' demand in 2008, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has predicted. The March Market Commentary report ...

A loft conversion can help homeowners and investors add value to their properties, it has been claimed. Around 15 per cent could be added to a house'...

The Federation of Master Builders'' (FMB) Building a Greener Britain campaign has been backed by David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party. Acc...

Homeowners keen on DIY have been urged to get professional help when undertaking major projects. Improving a property can add thousands of pounds...

Minutes published by the Bank of England today have revealed that the vote not to cut interest rates was passed by seven votes to two. Deputy governo...

The UK is not very likely to slip into recession, comments from property experts at a recent debate suggest. Wriglesworth Consultancy organised the...

A regeneration plan for a derelict former factory site has been devised by Glasgow North Regeneration Agency (GNRA) according to the Evening Times. ...

Inflation has been on the up in the month of February, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics, in news which could affect...

Housing minister Caroline Flint has announced a crackdown on illegal construction that she says will benefit the building industry as well as homeow...

Seaford Head Community College is one of 100 schools in the UK that has received funding from a government eco-friendly renovation scheme. Pupils a...

Experts continue to mull the likelihood of the Bank of England''s monetary policy committee (MPC) cutting interest rates this year, with another exper...

The Ecology Building Society, based in West Yorkshire, has announced record-high yearly results which it attributes to an increase in environmentally ...

Newer boilers are more energy-efficient than those of the past and can help homebuilders achieve green targets, it has been suggested. Julian Mears, ...

The demands of the construction industry and current levels of building activity are leading to the need for more workers, according to a trade ...

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has warned that the UK lacks adequate numbers of skilled people in the construction industry . Furthermore, ...

The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) has said that homes become much more attractive and environmentally sensitive when they have gardens....

Good progress is being made in cleaning up brownfield land for housing use, the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) has said. Speaking abo...

A new poll has shown an increase in the expected rate of consumer prices index inflation (CPI) in 2008. The median forecast for the level CPI will re...

Householders whose renovations include installing microrenewable devices such as solar panels and ground source heat pumps will soon be able to do so ...

The practice of using straw bale as a building material is growing rapidly, construction training firm amazonails has said. Business support manager...

Anyone hoping that the UK will see the kind of radical, rapid rate-slashing policy that has taken place in the US being repeated here by the Bank of E...

Chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling has announced he is setting up a working party to seek ways in which lenders can make long-term fixed-rat...

Chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling has been criticised for not making major changes to stamp duty to help first-time buyers. In his budget ...

The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) has said that chancellor Alistair Darling has missed an opportunity to help new homes contribute to i...

The City of Birmingham has announced a competition to design the ideal home that will become the archetype for future housing development there. Sp...

Housing bodies have urged chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling to use his first budget this afternoon to double the threshold of stamp duty. ...

House prices rose in January, new government figures have revealed. Figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government showed that the ...

A plan to develop new homes in a village in rural Northamptonshire has been turned down by councillors after protests by locals opposed to the plan. ...

Mortgage lending for housebuying has fallen by nearly a fifth, new figures have revealed. Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) figures for January i...

Two out of three Britons believe the government will fail to achieve its aim of building three million new homes by 2020, a new survey has found. A p...

A new survey has shown that house prices are on the up again. The Financial Times House Price Index for February showed that the average home in Engl...

Evidence that self build is more cost effective than buying a home has been provided in the case of a house in Scotland which has been assembled fro...

Home builder Bovis has said house sales will fall by up to 20 per cent in 2008 unless there is a major cut in interest rates. Chief executive offic...

Those living in the south if England have been hit hardest by stamp duty costs due to thresholds not keeping in line with increases in the prices of h...

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, has backed a bid to encourage greener building. The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) announced that Mr Cl...

The Liberal Democrats have criticised a government scheme to help first-time buyers to get on the housing ladder, arguing it has been a major failure....

A third of householders have indicated they intend to carry out renovations to their homes as a response to the recommendations contained in the gover...

A new survey has shown that the renovation of existing properties which are currently unoccupied is a measure most of the British public would suppo...

Home renovation should be on the top of the housing agenda in the south-east, a housing conference has been told. Empty Homes Agency policy advi...

The Bank of England''s monetary policy committee (MPC) has voted to hold the base rate at 5.25 per cent, it was announced at lunchtime today. In a ve...

New figures from Halifax have revealed a new fall in house prices. The lender revealed that last month the average UK house price dropped to £19...

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has issued a statement reminding those hoping for lower standard variable mortgage rates that such eventuali...

The Welsh assembly has received recommendations on carbon emissions that may have an effect on housebuilding in Wales in a new report. In its list of...

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott, whose job role included planning decisions, has spoken out in favour of the government''s plans to create ...

First-time buyers in the UK are becoming an endangered species, it has been claimed. A poll by the New Homes Marketing Board (NHMB) showed that over ...

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has forecast that there will only be one more reduction in interest rates by the Bank of England monetary policy comm...

With chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling due to deliver his budget speech in just over a week''s time, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML...

Those looking to make major renovations to their homes will be able to benefit from the major changes in building regulations that are on the way, the...

A new survey has indicated that the majority of would-be first-time buyers are holding back from trying to get on the housing ladder amid uncertainty ...

The National Society for Allotments and Leisure Gardeners has warned that there is a danger that garden space in inner cities will dwindle due to its ...

High house prices have prompted an increase in home renovation as householders seek to improve their existing homes rather than buying new ones, the...

The government''s plans to build more homes in the smallest rural communities are good, but not enough, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Engla...

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has urged the Bank of England''s monetary policy committee (MPC) to trim the base rate again in March, a move w...

The budget on March 12th will see a new incentive created for householders to fit home energy generation technology to their homes, it has been report...