Zoomf Blog - UK Property Blog.

• Rightmove put up prices by 30%. The price increase will only affect letting agents, so Rightmove are clearly taking advantage of those in the property market who are actually doing all right at the moment. They say they don’t ‘have their customers over a barrel’ but I don’t think any letting agents will be jumping for joy after the news. Read more at PropertyOwl. Oh, and if you didn’t already know, we’re running free month trials of Zoomf Boost, so if you think Rightmove are taking the p*ss, contact us!
• One couple are so desperate to move they’ll PAY you to buy their house. Not only will the retired couple give you £2000 if you take their house off their hands, they’ll help you pay your mortgage too. An interesting story, with some very interesting comments. Read more at The Daily Mail.
• Home ownership is ‘out of reach’ for average earners. According to new RICS figures, couples who have a combined take-home pay of £27,500 or less would have to save more than a year’s salaries to pay for a deposit, stamp duty and solicitors’ fees on the average first-time home. It doesn’t look to be getting any easier during 2008 either. Read more at The Times.
• Amy Winehouse has unhappy neighbours. They want rid of the troubled songstress, pronto. Read more at TheRatandMouse.

• Net lending by building societies dropped 90% in May. In May 2007, building societies furnished borrowers with £1.26 billion pounds, lending by building societies this May was just £125 million. Read more at The Times.
• How renters now have the upper-hand. A must-read for any tenant or landlord, Penny Anderson shows renters how to get the upper hand in negotiations and advises landlords to make the whole rental process easier if they want their tenants to stick around. Read more at The Guardian.
• 50 fabulous DIY tips and tricks. I fixed the washing machine all by myself this weekend and I have been enjoying an aura of smugness ever since, especially as the ‘better half’ had already given up and was ready to call a plumber. This list of DIY fixes is worth printing and keeping in a drawer so you can show up your loved ones next time there’s a need for a toolkit. Find them at The Telegraph.
• Matt knows somewhere cheap if you’re looking to move. Over at The Telegraph.
• Hungry? Bearing in mind that Zoomf is fueled by Krispy Kreme power, how’s this for a lunch time treat? It’s good enough for Google…

Yes, they are Kripsy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburgers. No, even we wouldn’t stoop that far.

• Barratt culls 1,000 jobs. Diving demand for new homes has left Barratt Developments having to close six offices and lay off 1,000 members of staff, 15% of it’s workforce. Taylor Wimpey, the UK’s largest housebuilder in terms of volume, laid off 900 members of staff earlier in the week. Read more at The Guardian.
• Did your MP vote to keep their pockets full? Thanks to theRatandMouse for pointing out this article in the Daily Mail which lists every MP who voted to keep their generous expenses. Mine didn’t, did yours?
• Nine questions to ask an estate agent. If you’re in the process of choosing an estate agent to list your house with, then there are some key questions you should be asking. This post details nine key questions to get you started and suggests you shouldn’t work with an agent until they can answer these questions to your liking. Read more at Rain City Guide.
• To our American friends… We wish you a very happy 4th of July! I think some of us are even starting to want independence from Great Britain too.

• House prices fell 0.9% in June. That’s according to the latest stats from Nationwide. It’s not as bad as the record 2.5% fall seen in May, but it’s not really a barrel of laughs either. Read the full story at the BBC.
• Estate agency jobs under threat. Almost three quarters of commercial property agents are expected to cut or freeze their staffing over the next year according to recruitment services specialist cvmail. Last month, The Centre for Economics and Business Research warned that as many as 15,000 estate agency jobs could be lost this year. Read more at the FT.
• Charcol axe 25% of its workforce. Mortgage broker, John Charcol, has had to close three offices and make staff redundant following a review of its ownership and structure. Read more at The Guardian.
• Why renting beats buying. The renting vs buying debate doesn’t seem to be quieting down any time soon. In this piece, Sathnam Sanghera argues the case for renting and points out that paying money to a landlord is no more ‘dead money’ than paying off years worth of interest on a mortgage. Read more at The Times.