The Land Registry’s latest quarterly report showed that the annual rate of price inflation in the housing market held steady at 8.2% in May although there was a 0.2% drop in prices during the month. The largest monthly decrease was in the East Midlands, down by 3.6%.

New rules that make mortgage advisers personally accountable are to be introduced by the FSA.

Although the rate of CGT for high earners increased in the emergency budget, there was good news for landlords who let out their second home as a furnished holiday let.

As was widely predicted George Osborne did indeed increase Capital Gains Tax in yesterday’s emergency budget. But the increase was not as bad as many holders of contractor mortgages had expected. Some experts thought CGT could rise to as high as 50% for top earners.

What effect will tomorrow’s emergency budget have on home owners and in particular freelancers with a contractor mortgage?

According to new figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), contractor mortgage lending increased over more than 8 per cent in the last calender month.

There are concerns that the government is about to give the Bank of England significant powers in relation to the mortgage market. If this happens there is a risk that up to 40% of contractor mortgage applications would be rejected.

The Building Societies Association recently carried out a survey that showed that 55% of people think now is not a good time to buy a property. This figure is a rise from 51% in March this year.

Many freelancers might reject the idea of fixing their contractor mortgage for 10 years, but is that necessarily the right way to think?

Freelancers looking for a contractor mortgage will be interested in a new first time buyer mortgage product that has just been launched by Barclays Bank.

There are now more than 3,000 mortgage products available in the UK, the largest amount since July last year. Although this is obviously good news for freelancers looking for a contractor mortgage, the figure is still down a massive 90% from 3 years ago.

IT contractor mortgages could be amongst those to suffer if George Osborne pushes ahead with the Government’s plan to impose a windfall levy on the banks.