More new housing schemes in Plymouth have been awarded the Gold Building for Life standard than in any other local authority in the country.

Building for Life is the national standard for well-designed homes and neighbourhoods and is assessed on criteria such as closeness to transport links, community facilities and how well they fit in with the character of the area.

A shortage of affordable homes is pricing young farmers out of the Devon countryside, warns a coalition of the National Housing Federation, National Farmers' Union and the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs.

Even with the recent drop in house prices,the last decade has seen house prices in the countryside more than double, with the average home in Devon now costing £245,000, while the average salary for those who work there has risen by much less to only £21,000. Click to see average house prices in Devon here.

Impact of Abolition of HIPS on UK Housing Market

The recent suspension of house information packs by the new coalition government has got to be good news for conveyancing business in the north west. Many professionals in the housing market saw HIPS as putting off house buyers not least because those wanting to sell had to organise and pay for a HIP to be produced before they could put the property up for sale.

Interview With a RICS Property Surveyor (UK)

Please see an interview with Charles Dixon - a RICS surveyor with over 26 years of experience in the industry. Charles provides some in-depth information of much relevance to UK property investors including a definition of what 'value' means today; modern day valuation techniques; due diligence tips; his own thoughts on the property market; regulation of the property industry and much more:

Helping people who think home ownership is a pipe dream onto the property ladder is the aim of a major event due to be held at Plymouth’s Guildhall on Friday 9 April.

The event is designed to provide a gateway to affordable housing for would-be buyers who may feel their income is too low to consider buying their own home.

Rent to own is a great concept for the housing market as it stands now. With few signs of the recent fall in market values being reversed, and availability of new mortgage funds remaining low, it is an answer to the prayers of many. But, as I'll explain, rent to own needs to come of age, to be a really effective force in the marketplace.

In this article, we take a look at what are fixed rate, variable rate and interest only mortgages.

Buying a house can be quite a confusing process especially if you haven't done so before. To help make it easier to understand the process of buying a property we have created a helpful list.

The time may just be right for first time buyers to start winning the competition for property and get themselves on the property ladder

There are just 28,000 properties out of 700,000 for sale in the property websites Mighty Homes database that are described by estate agents as ideal for first time buyers just 4%. Over 70% of these properties are also described as suitable Buy to Let investments!

It is somewhat too simplistic to say that First Time Buyers will be the biggest winners in the drop in property prices. While those people who have been priced out of the property market for their first home should soon be able to find price that are closer to their level of affordability, the contraction of the mortgage market in the UK makes it harder for them to get the necessary funds to make the purchase. In this sense, many First Time Buyers are finding themselves just as far away from being able to buy as they were at the heights of the property boom.