UK Property

Anna and her husband always knew it was going to be difficult to sell the home in which they had lived happily for 17 years and where they brought up their three children. Little did they know how hard the process of leaving it would turn out to be.“When our youngest child left for university, our thoughts turned to: where next?” says Anna, who is in her mid-fifties and did not want to give her real name. She and her husband put their six-bedroom house in Surrey on the market...

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK house prices myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.UK house prices suffered their first annual decline in more than a decade in September as rental costs rose at a record pace, according to official data. The average price for a property decreased by 0.1 per cent in September compared with the same month last year, down from a 0.8 per cent expansion in August, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Wednesday. This marked the first year-on-year...

Acquisitions have helped solidify Connells’ position at the forefront of the UK’s property market as the country’s largest network of estate agencies, according to chief executive Richard Twigg.With 80 local agencies to its name after a string of takeovers including one of its biggest rivals Countrywide in March 2021, Connells is just one of a number of major property companies eyeing fresh acquisitions in a UK market trending towards consolidation.“We remain acquisitive and seek to buy inherently good businesses,” Twigg told the Financial Times, adding that the downturn in sales...

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK house prices myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.UK house prices rose unexpectedly last month, supported by a lack of properties for sale, according to the mortgage provider Nationwide.House prices increased 0.9 per cent between September and October, the first monthly rise since April and the largest since March 2022, according to data published on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.4 per cent fall. House prices were still 3.3 per cent down from October last year, but...

Investors in UK property funds have had their ups and downs since the Brexit vote. Now they are losing patience.Last week, fund manager M&G announced plans to close its £565mn property fund and return cash to clients, citing declining interest from retail investors. A day later, St James’s Place suspended trading in its £829.5mn property unit trust after a surge in redemption requests. A third property fund, run by Canada Life Asset Management, at the beginning of the month announced plans to close for the same reason. “Following recent redemption...