Scotland votes ‘No’ to independence

Scottish referendum: Scotland votes ‘no’

The votes are in and the United Kingdom are to remain united for another day!

Last night Scotland voted against independence. Voting was close the entire time, with the final numbers tallying at 55.3% of voters opting for a no and 44.7% choosing independence. The BBC reported a turnout of 85% of the total number of people able to vote.  What does this mean for the UK? Currently it means that everything will remain the same.  RBS have issued a statement saying they will not be moving to England, and the GBP will remain as strong as it ever was.  However, with such a close result, things politically will definitely change.  Alex Salmond is now campaigning for more unity and power for unionist parties, with Prime Minister David Cameron, agreeing with the statement “We will ensure that those commitments are honoured in full”.

Follow the link to watch David Cameron’s statement on the future of the UK here

Record average rents 

Rent charges across the UK are rocketing at an all-time high reaching nearly £800 a month, with London hitting rates of £1,160.  According to the Independent, rent charges have gone up as much as 2.5% across the country, with the capital’s increase reaching 3%.  New research highlighted the soaring prices across the UK have affected tenants dramatically, many putting themselves in financial difficulty to keep their home.  The study conducted by LSL property services, found that “8% of rents were paid late or not at all in August”, these figures are very worrying as we are about to head in to the Christmas season, a time when a lot of people struggle with finances.  Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter housing and homeless charity, stressed “our housing market is completely out of control and England’s nine million renters are paying the price”.  The housing marketing has been a reoccurring issue in the past few weeks, especially since the Scottish independence debates.  Q&A’s in the form of debates and live chats, related to home buying and MMR, have been conducted by the FT adviser and the Telegraph, giving both consumers and advisers the opportunity to ask questions about the housing market.  The motif in all debates was ‘planning’.  Whether buying a house or paying rent, planning expenses and realistically looking at financial circumstances is the best way around the rate increase.  Want to start planning?  You can use our planning tools here for a basic breakdown.

Find out more about rent figures here.

To read the most recent live chat click here.

To get more in depth advice, talk to a mortgage adviser here