Newsletter 6
Introduction
Welcome to the Independent James Quarterly Newsletter. We hope you’ll find it useful and informative.
In this issue we’re having a close look at the recent Budget and how it might affect you; and in our Market Update section, we have Budget 2009 comment from the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. These two groups are as close as any to the current Housing market situation.
The Case Study section has a summary of the main announcements from the Budget and their possible impact. In the second Case Study we look at Home Ownership schemes made available by the Government. Finally, there is the new ‘James Likes’ section….
Housing Market – Budget Comment
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” Winston Churchill
So, it’s no secret we are in difficult times, however, what are we doing about it and will the plans already put in place work? Again, in many instances, there is nothing more we can do than keep our own affairs in order.
In this section, we get the opinions of two of the leading groups in the housing sector, as well as comment from ij’s Principal, James Carter.
Read More
Case Study # 1 – The Budget 2009 – Main Announcements
Last week, Alistair Darling set out his vision for the years and decades ahead. It was certainly followed with great interest by more people than usual. There are some staggering figures being bandied around at the moment. A couple of billion here, a couple of billion there…. Here we look at the main announcements in the budget, covering Mortgages, Pensions, ISAs, Regulation, Employment and Taxation.
Case Study # 2 – Home Ownership Schemes
Whilst not suitable for everybody, Home Ownership Schemes can be of real help to first time buyers looking to move into their first home. I stress the word home here as there is little, in the short term at least, investment element to most people’s buying decisions, as recent house value reductions have reminded people.
number of initiatives launched by the Government to encourage first time buyers onto the first step of the housing market ladder. These include Shared Ownership, Shared Equity and HomeBuy Direct.
Read More
James likes...
This Quarter I would like to introduce to you a few websites new to me that I have found to be extremely helpful in both work and personal life. There is a Tax Calculator, a list of Locals’ hot spots for your City Breaks and on the Health front, an excellent interactive map for plotting your walks to work!
I also like the fact that I comfortably broke 2 hours for the Reading Half Marathon! Congratulations to those of you who completed the full London Marathon at the weekend. Next year maybe…..
Before you ask, no, I’m not getting paid for this – maybe I should be!
Read more
The content of these articles does not contain sufficient information on which to base any personal financial decisions and must not be relied upon as such