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A lot of people will admit that they are hoarders. It's amazing how many cupboards, wardrobes, cabinets and surfaces contain items collected over the years, things which we haven't laid eyes on since that all important purchase or hand me down. My parents are terrific hoarders, they have rugby programmes stacked up on the shelves, dating back to 1980. When I ask "why?" they don't actually know the reason!

Whatever sentiment these things may carry, there are times when we have to be ruthless, and one of these times is when we are going to be putting our house on the market - we need to make

House prices fell for the fourth month in a row during October as buyers continued to stay away from the market, research has indicated.

Property values in England and Wales fell by 0.9% during the month, the biggest drop since January 2009, to leave the average home costing £156,200, according to property intelligence group Hometrack.

The group said a combination of falling demand and rising supply had continued to put house prices under pressure, with falls recorded in 56% of postcode districts while just 0.1% of areas saw a rise. It warned that further price falls were "inevitable"

Osbourne King have reported that with over £90 million worth of transacted sales during the last three months, the market is poised to capitalise on the return of some institutional investors into Northern Ireland.

While the institutions have focused predominantly on mainland UK, they are also re-investing in Northern Ireland as evidenced by the recent sale of Damolly Retail Park, Newry to London-based Metric Property Investments plc for £34.9 million reflecting a net initial yield of 6.25%. In August, the vendor of Damolly Retail Park, Corbo Properties, also completed the sale of 48-54

23 lots to be auctioned on Friday 29th October at the Danubius Hotel, St John's Wood, London.  The catalogue comprises residential, commercial, investment property.  Auction commences at midday.

Auction House last week launched a Manchester auction at the Mercure Manchester Norton Grange Hotel.

Ryder & Dutton will operate across Greater Manchester, North Derbyshire and West Yorkshire under the Auction House brand.

Ryder & Dutton director Geoff Maybank said: “Since taking on the Auction House licence we have been overwhelmed by the level of interest.

“We cover a large area in the North West and we’re now discovering a whole range of properties within that patch that are absolutely right for auction.”

Click here for further info.

Allsop raised £73m from 155 lots at its autumn auction last week. One hundred and eleven lots sold, representing a success rate of 71.5%.

Savills sold 19 lots out of 31 at its autumn commercial auction, a success rate of 62%.

 

Deep cuts to many government departments and up to half a million public sector jobs in jeopardy. Chancellor George Osborne stressed that "we are all in this together" as he unveiled the government's Comprehensive Spending Review.

So what was annnounced? Here are the key points.

Overview
Overall savings: department cuts will amount to 19% over the next four years, rather than the 25% the chancellor had originally anticipated
National debt: debt interest payments will be lowered by a total of £5 billion over the course of the review
Treasury savings: overall budget will be reduced by

Union Chiefs have threatened strike action if the government attempts to privatise the Land Registry, a public sector organisation that employs hundreds of people. The Land Registry is responsible for recording land titles and keeping an inventory of UK property deals. Ministers have indicated that they want to carry out a feasibility study to see whether it could be privatised, but unions say previous studies have already shown privatisation is not viable, and warn that if ministers try to pursue a sell-off they "won't hesitate" to ballot members for strike action.

House prices fell for the third month in a row during September as properties flooded on to the market, research indicates.

The balance of surveyors reporting a rise in new instructions nearly doubled during the month to 22%, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The group attributed the jump to homeowners testing the water ahead of the Government's spending cut announcement, or trying to sell their property before a further deterioration in the economy.

But the rise in sellers was not matched by an increase in buyers as people continued to sit on their

In June 2010 the FSA announced a requirement for compulsory telephone call recording which will affect all organisations working within mortgage markets. The new legislation has been introduced to improve mortgage arrears handling and must be implemented by all mortgage practitioners by December 2011. The legislation stipulates compulsory recording of all telephone calls made to clients in respect of arrears handling, and all call recordings must be kept for a minimum of three years.

This new legislation will be applicable to all Mortgage Lenders, Mortgage Advisors, Mortgage Arrangers