Monthly Archives: March 2008

Overseas Property Investment in Portugal

Being Portuguese myself, it’s obvious that my heart still lies there even after living in the UK for almost 10 years. Portugal has a lot offer for property investors, the Algarve may have been the pioneer region which attracted many European property buyers but investors are now looking everywhere, from Lisbon (perhaps the most underrated

Mortgage Lending Rose 11% in January 2008

The overall mortgage lending has increased by 11% in January 2008, from £23.9 billion in December 2007 to £26.5 billion. January’s gross mortgage lending reached similar figures to January 2007 which was £26.6 billion, The Council of Mortgage Lenders reported. This is excellent news given the recent unstable market conditions. Michael Coogan, the CML Director

Buy to Let: The Best Investment

The CML has released figures today demonstrating growing confidence among buy to let investors. In the last quarter of 2007 there were 84,800 loans advanced, which according to the CML was a considerable increase comparing with the last quarter of 2006. Buy to let landlords were in a better position to secure better mortgage deals

Capital Gains Tax Cut Could Affect Rural Housing Costs

The pressure is on for The Chancellor Alistair Darling to act upon preventing significant cuts in CGT (Capital Gains Tax) as it could trigger a second-home boom. The Government’s Rural Advocate, Stuart Burgess appealed to abandon the plans for the reduction in CGT on second homes from 40 per cent to 18 percent. Active campaigners

Civil Construction Slowed Down in February

According to a recent report the growth in Britain’s construction sector slowed down in February to its lowest rate since June 2006, falling to 52.4 from 53.9 in January. The commercial sector as well as the civil engineering sector had seen a positive increase, but in the other hand the residential sector fell to its