Broadband speeds could swing decisions on home buying

Many people that are looking to buy a home look at a range of different factors in order to help them to decide which home is going to be most suited to their needs. There are many things that people will look for in a property, such as local amenities and facilities, road and transport links, neighbours, etc. However, more and more people are also looking at the broadband access in the area before making their minds up.

This trend has resulted in broadband becoming an important selling point for estate agents, and some are now using the availability of high speed broadband as a valuable selling point for properties. Property website Rightmove and communications giant BT are two companies have teamed up to provide information on broadband for over one million properties that are up for sale on the Rightmove site.

The importance of broadband has increase because nowadays people require higher speed broadband for a range of things such as entertainment and shopping, education, communication, and business use.

An official from Rightmove said: “Broadband is becoming one of the most, if not the most, important considerations for prospective buyers. Many people fall in love with a home only to find out it can only get really slow internet. By listing broadband speed with all the other property details buyers will be able to weed out homes that don’t have high-speed access.”

Another official said: “As a leading UK website services like superfast broadband obviously interest us and we have recently looked into how it can benefit us, although we are not currently in any form of partnership with BT.”

Tags: uk, estate, speed, Estate agent, importance, high-speed access, Technology Internet

90 percent mortgages fall by 97 percent over two and a half years

Most people are well aware that the mortgage market has been experiencing problems over the past couple of years, since the onset of the global credit crunch, and many mortgage products, particularly for groups such as first time buyers, have been disappearing from the shelves making it difficult for many people to get an affordable mortgage loan. Read more

Tags: Loan to value, Business Finance, 90% mortgages, loan, Mortgages, 90% LTV mortgages, importance, worrying

Private health insurance recovering

The number of private health insurance holders has risen for the first time in five years.

Last year, numbers rose by 1.5 per cent, taking the total close to the all-time peak of 2002.

On closer analysis, the figures actually show a drop of 2.2 per cent in the number of people taking out private cover for themselves, however a larger growth of 3.4 per cent in health schemes provided by companies cancelled this out and caused the increase.

The news has surprised many, given that in recent times NHS spending has increased and waiting lists have fallen.

Analyst Philip Blackburn at Laing and Buisson told the FT that the sector “has a sense of optimism” and that it “can look to the future with some confidence”.

Private health giant Bupa welcomed news of the increase today, with managing director Fergus Kee saying that the rise in demand “confirms the continued relevance and importance of private healthcare”.

A total of 7.4 million Britons now hold some form of private health insurance, 12 per cent of the population.

Tags: form, optimism, cent, importance, percentage, cover, health giant bupa