Following the May Monetary Policy Committee meeting the Bank of England announced that there would be no change to the base rate.

For many industry experts and economists the news did not come as any great surprise, and this is due to growth figures that were recently released.

These figures showed that there had been a slowdown in growth at the beginning of this year for the manufacturing, construction, and service sectors. Many believed that given this data it would be too risky for the base rate to be increased at this stage.

The rate of inflation is now at twice the 2 percent target set by the government, which would ordinarily justify an interest rate increase in order to try and keep a lid on soaring inflation.

However, the fragile economy means that the MPC has the challenging task of deciding whether to increase rates to decrease inflation or keep rates on hold to stabilise the economy.

One official said that it would have been extremely difficult for the MPC to have justified a rate increase given the recent growth figures, which is why they had decided to keep the rate on hold.

Some even think that it will now be towards the end of this year and possible even next year before the base rate is increased – good news for many homeowners but not so good for savers.

One official stated: ‘In recent weeks, relatively soft UK activity data had removed any realistic expectations of a rate hike today. For now we still view an August hike to be the most likely outturn.

However we will be tempted to push this back to November or beyond, should the run of activity data continue to disappoint, or indeed if the tone of next week’s Inflation Report is more dovish than we expect.’

Andrew Goodwin, senior economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club, said: ‘We think it unlikely that the Bank will move before November and it could quite easily be 2012 before we see the first increase in interest rates.’

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The Council of Mortgage Lenders has recently released a report showing how the number of cash buyers has soared to the highest level since records began in 2005.

According to the report the level of cash based property purchases for January was around 40 percent, and this is where buyers were using cash to pay for the property without the need to take out a mortgage loan.

The figures show that the number of cash buyers has actually doubled since 2005, with one estate agent stating that they were historically high and in some areas the number of cash buyers was much higher than the figure given in the report.

He said that in some parts of the South West the number of cash buyers had soared to 50-55 percent and in some areas of London the figure was much higher at around 80 percent. He stated: “In certain regions, the proportion of cash buyers will be even higher than these figures suggest. For example, in south-west England, I would say it is probably more like 50 to 55%. In some areas of London, it can be up to 80%,”

Another industry official pointed out that many people that had cash to invest were not happy about putting it into savings accounts in the current climate, as with the base rate still at just 0.5 percent they were likely to get little to no return on their cash.

Other investments such as stocks and shares are also viewed as risk by cash investors at present. This has left many deciding that the way to go is to plough their cash into property where they can benefit from a long term investment that will enable them to enjoy healthy returns.

He said: “Putting the money in a bank account may be safe, but you will get a woeful return on it, while stocks and shares look like the two ugly sisters – leaving property as the Cinderella of the investment world,”

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The past few years have been extremely turbulent for house builders, with the financial crisis and the recession having taken their toll on the property market.

However, a number of different groups and reports have indicated that there are a range of encouraging signs that suggest that the property market is improving.

Taylor Wimpey, one of the UK’s house building giants, has stated recently that there have been a number of signs that there is improvement in the property market, which should hopefully continue over the course of this year.

The company, like other house builders, has experienced a lot of turbulence over the past couple of years but hope to see continued signs of improvement this year.

The company is the third largest UK house builder based on market capitalization. Officials from the firm said that there had been positive trends in sales rates and prices since the start of this year. It said that this was a further sign of improvement in the domestic housing market.

The house builder said visitor levels since the beginning of this year had been positive. Officials also said that cancellation rates had been low so far. A spokesperson from the company said that so far the order book had increased by 21 percent to 5681 homes.

Last year saw Taylor Wimpey, along with other house builders, feel the impact of measures such as the government’s austerity drive as well as factors such as the terrible weather seen at the end of last year. All of this has taken its toll on the market. However, builder are hoping and expecting to see marked signs of improvement this year.

Improvements in the new property sector will be further boosted by government measures to cut stamp duty on properties that are purchased in bulk, which is likely to attract property investors that are keen to purchase new build homes that are all together on one housing scheme.

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The vast majority of people would imagine a huge, luxurious property with all the mod cons when thinking about a celebrity home, and in many cases they would be right.

However, some celebrities do manage to keep their feet firmly on the ground, and even with huge sums of money and worldwide fame they still crave the comfort and homeliness that they have been used to all their lives.

One shining example of this is globally famous singer Susan Boyle, or SuBo as she has become known.

Susan shot to fame in 2009 after she auditioned for the hit show Britain’s Got Talent.

When she walked on stage neither the judges nor the audience were expecting much. However, she surprised everyone on the panel and everyone watching the show when she delivered an astonishing rendition of I Dreamed a Dream, which also turned her into a global internet sensation overnight.

Since that time Susan has enjoyed global fame, sold huge numbers of albums, and become a multi-millionaire. However, despite all of this she still can stay away from her humble roots.

Just a year ago SuBo moved into a luxury five bedroom home. However, she has already become fed up of living the luxury lifestyle and would prefer to be getting the bus to do her shopping and living back in her humble home in West Lothian – which is exactly what she has decided to do.

SuBo has decided to return to her old semi-detached home that she shared with Pebbles her cat before she became famous, where she can enjoy being around friends and neighbours again.

An old neighbour of the star’s said: “Susan wants to return because she is part of the community which she has missed. Susan is a people person and does not like being on her own. She misses the day-to-day contact that she used to enjoy with neighbours and friends. Her new home is very luxurious and I know that she loves it to bits but it’s not the same. She is still the same old Susan who will stop to speak to you in the street and thinks nothing of jumping on a bus to go shopping.”

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Several experts have responded to the UK government changes to stamp duty with their views on how this will affect residential properties investment in the UK and they believe that this tax change will boost investment in residential properties.

The changes that were announced involved the stamp duty for those that were purchasing multiple homes being reduced.

This would happen through stamp duty being worked out based on the average value of combined properties rather than on the actual value of each individual property, which could save purchasers a small fortune.

The Treasury has already said that part of the reason for doing this is to try and boost residential property investment in the UK, and many industry experts believe that this will work.

Experts believe that the new tax system for multiple property purchases will encourage new residential property investment in the UK and that this will be further encouraged by the rocketing demand for rental homes amongst those that are currently unable to or do not wish to purchase their own home.

Nick Jopling, property director at Grainger Plc (GRI), which is the largest publicly traded residential landlord in Britain, said: “The changes could make residential property in the U.K. an international asset class, as it is in northern Europe and the U.S.”

Another industry official, Chris Lacey, director of residential development planning at CBRE, stated: “That would add more fat to the bone and allow investors to take property off developers’ hands more easily and get the returns they require.”

House builders are also set to reap the benefits of the changes, as many investors that are buying in multiples will opt for new build homes where they can buy a number of properties on the same scheme.

A spokesperson for Barratt Developments said: “We would expect the percentage that we sell to the investor market to increase. Institutional investors would buy housing schemes and then rent them out on a very professional basis.”

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This is because, according to the latest figures, the number of properties that has entered the market for sale as by far outstripped the number of potential buyers, leaving sellers in a situation where, if they are really keen to sell their homes, they would need to consider dropping the asking price in order to secure a quicker sale.

Figures were recently released by the property website Right Move, and showed that in April there was a weekly average of 28,930 properties coming onto the market, which was an increase of 9 percent compared to 2009.

The number of properties coming onto the market has resulted in the biggest number of unsold properties on estate agency books since May 2007.

For potential investors this comes as good news, as they are now far more likely to get a property at a discounted price from those that are eager to sell their properties as quickly as possible rather than having them left stagnating on the market and then having to drop the price anyway.

Most sellers are aware of the situation in the property where groups such as first time buyers are struggling to get a mortgage and are therefore aware that there may be some issues with selling their properties unless they are prepared to compromise.

Most investors are always on the lookout for bargain property, and taking advantage of the current situation means that this is exactly what savvy investors could get.

One spokesperson from Right Move stated: “This is a clear indication that the number of properties available to buy is not being matched by the number of buyers able to proceed. With buyers still struggling to raise the necessary finance, the net result has been the biggest jump in unsold stock on agents’ books that we have recorded in nearly four years.”

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One buyer has put a Hyde Park flat on the map after it was recently revealed that it had been purchased for a staggering £136 million. Despite the fact that the buyer paid such a huge amount for the flat at the prestigious One Hyde Park development it was actually only sold as a shell and has no amenities.

The buyer is therefore said to be looking to spend a further £60 million on doing the place up!

The price of the flat has made it into the most expensive flat in the UK. It is a three storey penthouse apartment on the development. The identity of the buyer has not yet been revealed but many believe that it is an overseas tycoon who purchased the flat because the legalities were dealt with by a lawyer in Ukraine.

The sale is said to have been agreed back in 2007 but the sale has only just been registered with the Land Registry.

As there is no mortgage linked to the flat it is also thought to have been a cash deal. The buyer will now have to shell out millions more to kit out the 25,000 square foot space.

Property developers, Nick and Christian Candy, have enjoy great success with the One Hyde Park development, which has given them cause for celebration despite the problems in the property market that have been seen elsewhere.

In the development around forty five apartments have been sold for a total of £960 million.

For those that have tens of millions of pounds at their disposal there are some flats still available to buy at the development, with around thirty five still available. However, even some of these are now under offer according to reports.

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Whilst the level of family accommodation in the area is limited many people are now flocking to buy homes in the area according to a specialist West End estate agency.

Many people who want to buy property in London have opted for surrounding areas in the past because they are cheaper than the heart of the city, so the figures have come as something of a surprise.

Some people believe that the increase in property sales on homes valued at £1 million or more in this area, which has increased from 30 percent a year ago to 71 percent now, is down to changes in stamp duty.

However, an official from LDG, which specialises in property in the West End, disagreed.

He said: ‘We did not experience a surge in completions from people trying to avoid the stamp duty increase. Instead, I believe the higher number of sales of property in excess of £1 million is because we saw an increase of nearly 20% of people buying their main UK residence in the West End last year and as confidence has returned to the property market here, vendors have been more willing to put their homes on the market, in turn encouraging buyers.’

He also stated: ‘The West End has a very short supply of family properties so those looking to buy their main home here are often willing to pay a premium to secure a property that is right for them. A mixture of people are choosing to have their main UK residence in the West End from families with young children, to professional couples to overseas buyers.’

He said that confidence levels had increased, leading to the rise in property sales in this area amongst UK buyers rather than foreign investors.

However, he added that the area was also very attractive to investors because properties had held their prices in this part of London and were in greater demand amongst people wanting to live in the area.

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These measures range from simply making the home more neutral through redecorating it to making costly improvements such as new kitchens, bathrooms, or conservatories.

However, there is something that is far simpler and far less expensive than any of this that could help to achieve your goal of a speedy sale at the right price.

According to the results of recent research simply giving your home a name instead of a number could help to boost its saleability and increase the amount that you get for your property.

The research was carried out by property specialists Globrix and the results showed that around one in fourteen people would be happy to pay more money in order to buy a home that had its own name rather than one that had just a number.

The survey results also showed that 40 percent of people would have a better perception of a home with its own name.

For homeowners this could mean being able to improve their chances of securing a sale, speeding up how long it takes to sell their home, and getting more money for their property just by giving it a cute name such as Orchard House or Courtenay Cottage according to the report.

Land Registry figures show that around 5.4 percent of homes in the UK currently have a name instead of a number. The average amount extra that people said that they were prepared to pay for a named property was £2000.

Jennifer Warner from Globrix stated: ‘It may sound ridiculous but it’s part of human psychology that small changes in perception can affect what we’re prepared to pay for something and that includes homes.

A property with a name has connotations that people are prepared to shell out extra for, so perhaps canny sellers should re-christen their abodes as soon as they can.’

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In fact, it is suggested that the housing shortage could actually prove to be good news for investors because of the changes that the government is making in recognition of the shortage.

Officials from one industry group, Asset Land Inc, said that the government is now looking at different means of encouraging new property investment, which is something that will provide many benefits.

Successful encouragement of new developments will help first time and existing investors, the jobs sector, and the economy as a whole, as well as helping to address the property shortage.

The government is said to be treating reforms in the planning system as a priority in order to address this property shortage, and this forms part of a project called the Big Society.

The government is said to be looking at shifting control with regards to house building from central government authorities to communities and local authorities, which will give councils and residents more control over the way in which their areas are developed rather than them having new housing imposed on them.

It is thought that this will help to encourage more building projects as it will take a lot of the complexity and red tape out of the process. It also means that fairer decisions can be reached with regards to new housing developments, and that councils can work alongside local communities to reach these decisions.

This is all part of the Community Right to Build under the Localism Bill, which was published at the end of last year.

One industry official stated: “This new right removes barriers that have previously prevented local people taking forward development, for the benefit of the community. The housing market has been left standing over recent decades and not kept up with the needs of the UK’s growing population so something radical needed to be done to tackle the problem.

There is an apparent shortage of new homes being built so it’s good news, not only for the construction industry and our investors but also for economic growth as a whole now that the Government has committed to meet Britain’s housing needs.”

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