Latest News
We at Rainbow Estate Agents make an active effort to update and inform our customers with weekly updates surrounding the housing market and current affairs involving housing. This is in the aims to always provide a wholly transparent conversation to give our customers the best service avaliable.
Stamp Duty Holiday Announced
Rishi Sunak has announced that in order to kick-start the housing market, home-buyers will not pay stamp duty on homes under £500,000/ the first £500,000 of a property sale. This will save buyers as much as £15,000, if they are buying a property of £500,000 or more....
Most Trusted Estate Agency of the Year 2020 – Essex (UK Enterprise Awards)
60% of movers are pushing ahead with property plans
Following the re-opening of the housing market, Zoopla's Cities Index Report reported an 88% spike in housing demand, which was to be expected. This figure is 20% higher than at the start of March. However, there was a slight reduction in the annual growth rate from...
Viewing properties safely
As the property market begins to find its new 'normal', we want to ensure that our clients and staff are taking the necessary steps to stay safe. Please do see our post below on the precautions that you can take, alongside this article for more in-depth information....
Restarting the housing market during the coronavirus outbreak
The government has now announced plans to restart the housing market. We are carefully studying and following the new government guidelines in order to ensure safety for both our colleagues and clients, which is our upmost priority. To see advice for the public, click...
Seven out of ten tenancies renewed in March – The Hamptons International Lettings Index
The Hamptons International Lettings Index found that more tenants are staying put and renewing their tenancies during lockdown. They found that 70% of tenancies due to end in March were renewed, which is the highest number of March renewals since 2008. This increase...
Buyers and sellers are still planning to move – Rightmove
Rightmove reports that most of the properties that were on the market prior to lockdown have stayed on the market, with sales stock down just 2.2%. Additionally, while there was an initial drop in Rightmove website traffic at the start of lockdown, visits are now up...
Working remotely during lockdown
Complying with government social distancing rules are paramount during this time. We, like all businesses, are taking every precaution to ensure the safety of our staff and clients. This means that our high street office is now closed. However, we have have staff from...
Increase in house prices as demand outweighs supply – Rightmove
Rightmove have reported that prices of properties added to market are up 0.8%, or £2589, over the last month. With the average UK asking price now standing at £309,399 in February 2020, current prices are now just £40 short of an all-time high. Following Rightmove's...
Highest proportion of younger buyers in a decade
The proportion of younger buyers has hit the highest rate in a decade, Property Industry Eye reports. The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government’s English Housing Survey for 2018-19 shows owner occupation hit 41.2% last year, up from 37.6% in 2017-18 for...
New electrical safety rules from July 2020
RLA has announced that on all new tenancies from 1st July 2020, five-year safety checks will be mandatory for all landlords. The mandatory five-year safety checks will be rolled out to existing tenancies from April 2021, with failure to comply incurring a fine of up...
Biggest surge in New Year asking prices ever recorded- Rightmove House Price Index
Rightmove has recorded the biggest ever surge in New Year asking prices, with prices rising 2.3% (+£6,785), between 8th December 2019 and 11th January 2020. This surge is accompanied by 1.3 million buyer enquiries since the December election, a 15% increase from 2019,...
UK house prices continue to rise
We are pleased to see that the housing market is looking strong as we move into 2020, According to Halifax data, house prices rose by 1.7% in December, pushing the annual increase to 4%. The Guardian states that this increase can be attributed to a number of factors,...
Housing market to remain stable in 2020
Happy New Year! While the start of a new decade may bring uncertainty, Zoopla has predicted that the housing market will remain stable in 2020. Zoopla's UK Cities House Price Index predicts that UK city house price growth will hold at +3% over 2020. Additionally, the...
GOLD from The British Property Awards 2019-2020
We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded GOLD by the British Property Awards 2019-2020 for Letting Agents in our area. Following our Gold Award at The ESTAS in 2018, this award serves to demonstrate our commitment to continuing to strive for excellence...
Brexit, Brexit and more Brexit!
The Independent reports Brexit as a major drag on the housing market (https://www.independent.co.uk/…/brexit-uk-house-prices-fall…) Rainbow says: “it seems as though all news points to Brexit! Unsurprisingly, Brexit has caused uncertainty which can lead to a hesitant...
GOLD at the ESTAS!
We are thrilled to announce that we have won GOLD for Letting Agents (as voted by tenants) in the South East (Essex and Kent). We are honoured to have received such a prestigious award recognising excellency in our field. # To see the video, follow this link:...
Sales still strong, but prices fall in June for first time since 2009
The number of sales agreed at this time of year is the second highest for ten years, only slightly lower than the high of May 2014 However, spring price momentum stalls as price of property coming to market drops by 0.4% (-£1,172), the first fall in June since 2009 at...