The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Bank of England has raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to five per cent, three months after rates went up by the same amount.
The rate hike was not a surprise to watchers of the housing market, as economists have said that higher interest rates were needed to bring the rate of inflation more towards its target of two per cent.
The last rise, in August, did little to stem the growth of the housing market. Prices continued to exhibit surprisingly strong rises, a situation which is thought to be detrimental to the economy as a whole.
More interest rate rises are already being talked about by pundits, with many saying February is a likely time.
Repossession orders rise
Mortgage repossession orders made by courts in England and Wales are at a five-year high, indicating that more home owners are under financial strain.
More than 24,000 orders were approved in the past three months, a 22 per cent increase on the same period in 2005. The number of properties actually repossessed also hit a five-year high earlier this year. Nearly half of those repossession orders made in the most recent period were suspended to enable the defendant to comply if they so chose.
Tudor homes greener than 20th-century’s
Tudor architecture surprisingly energy-efficient compared to modern homes, according to test conducted on behalf of British Gas.
Tudor architecture called for buildings to be assembled using a wooden framework of beams; with wattle and daub or stones used to fill the spaces making them air tight, resulting in little carbon emissions. All materials were sourced locally, so its construction made little impact among the environment.
This was substantiated by the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment (PFBE), Prince Charles' architectural foundation. 'Wind turbines, solar panels and other high tech green devices may get the media attention, but the smartest way to save energy may be to live in a Tudor house and insulate the attic and repair the windows,' said Hank Dittmar, chief executive of PFBE.
'In the UK we waste an incredible £5 billion a year through poor energy efficiency, so for every £3 we spend on heating and lighting at home, £1 is immediately wasted. Through this wasted energy each household in the country emits around six tonnes of carbon dioxide a year - that's more CO2 emissions than the average car, with 25 per cent of all carbon emissions coming from the home,' said Alan McLaughlin of British Gas.
Subsidence risk
Almost half of the homes in Great Britain lie within former and current coal mining areas where there is a potential risk of subsidence, says the Council for National Land Information Service (C-NLIS).
The legacy of disused mining shafts and abandoned shallow underground workings can cause subsidence and fractures above and below the surface many years after mining ceased and the impact on the properties can be catastrophic.
Properties throughout Britain are at risk of subsidence from not only man-made causes such as coal mining activity, but also natural causes like clay shrinkage, running sand, compressible and collapsible deposits, landslide activity and soluble rocks.
The insurance loss due to all forms of subsidence reached £340 million this year and is expected to increase year-on-year. C-NLIS urges home buyers to ensure that authoritative searches on coal mining and ground stability are carried out to identify if a property is at risk.