Following Phillip Hammond’s recent announcement in the budget of a tax break for first-time buyers which could see savings of up to £5,000 for buyers in England it would appear that the Scottish system is being considered ahead of the new budget proposals to be announced in the coming weeks.
In just a few short weeks, the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 is set to come into force across Scotland, bringing with it the new “Private Residential Tenancy”. From the 1st of December, the new Private Residential Tenancy will be the only tenancy open for private landlords and tenants in Scotland. Following enforcement of the new Act, the common Short Assured Tenancy, despite its popularity within Scotland's residential letting sector, will no longer be available. It is worth noting that existing Short Assured Tenancies will continue and will not automatically be converted to the new regime.
The start of 2017 has seen ‘broadly stable’ annual house price growth amounting to 4.3%, according to Nationwide’s House Price Index for January. This is only slightly below the annual growth rate of 4.5% recorded in December 2016. On a monthly basis, house prices rose by 0.2% in January, after seasonal factors were taken into account.
