The cost of living crisis is already impacting brokers’ searches with ‘defaults’ and ‘missed payments’ featuring prominently in March, according to the latest data from Knowledge Bank’s criteria tracker. With energy costs increasing significantly in April, Knowledge Bank operations director Matthew Corker says: “The volume of searches for both defaults…...

Rate rise could ‘put brakes’ on housing boom
The Bank of England’s decision to raise the base rate from 0.25% to 0.5% could put the brakes on a runaway housing market, which has seen prices boom over the past 18-months. This is the first back-to-back rate rise since 2004, and industry experts say that higher mortgage costs, coupled…...

Brokers should contact clients over rise in home working: Ceta Insurance
The rise in working from home has forged an opportunity for brokers to contact their clients to ensure they are properly insured, says Ceta Insurance. The firm says that home working over the pandemic increased from 27% in 2019 to 37% in 2020, with 57% of workers saying they prefer…...

New home registrations at a 14 year high
An eye-opening amount of properties were registered under the National House Building Council's warranty scheme in the second quarter of last year, it reached a 14 year high of 46,452 homes. Construction was halted on many sites during the lock down in 2020 which had a significant impact on the…...

Working from home could be here to stay!
The cat is out of the bag, the genie is out of the bottle, the toothpaste has been squeezed out of the tube. Whichever metaphor you may prefer, home working is officially here to stay, 43 out of the top 50 companies in the UK has decided to give their…...

How to ACE a Zoom interview
Get Fully Dressed Do not wear a t-shirt or some casual wear, that will not make a good first impression with the interviewer/s. Make sure you wear a nice, ironed button down shirt with a tie or a formal plain top. It will show that you are prepared, ready and…...

How to increase productivity while working from home
Given the pandemic work from home has become more of a lifestyle and generally accepted in many workplaces. However whilst at home, this new environment could still be strange and easily affect productivity. Here's a few tips on how we can deal with any issues: Taking a walk around…...