Almost eight out of ten people feel inheritance taxes are unfair, according to research commissioned by Friends Provident. Despite Gordon Brown’s decision to raise the threshold from £263,000 to £275,000, 67 per cent of people still believe it should be set at a higher level. Soaring house prices over the past ten years mean that more people are now caught in the inheritance tax trap. The FTSE 100 financial services group found that 64 per cent feel the tax should simply be scrapped altogether.

“The majority of families will now find themselves drawn into the inheritance tax net because of the housing boom in recent years,” said the head of investment marketing at Friends Provident, Ian Jefferies. “That is why inheritance tax planning should be a key consideration for those families who until recently were not liable for this tax. “At present, the tax is paid at a flat rate of 40 per cent if the house sells for more than £275,000, irrespective of how much wealth the beneficiary has. If the tax has to stay, 76 per cent say they would prefer to see a banded system similar to income tax.

Housing experts are playing down fears for the West Midlands property market following the collapse of MG Rover. Many feel the knock-on effect will not be as bad as predicted. In fact, some house-building firms have seen a recent influx of business. Housing commentators argue that large parts of the region are extremely robust, with Warwickshire in particular thriving due to the growth of high tech, design based industries. These have subsequently produced a cluster of wealth in areas such as Kenilworth and Royal Leamington Spa.

“We have received hundreds of enquiries for our development and more than half from young, affluent professionals looking to relocate here from outside the region,” explained Bill Lloyd, the managing director of Domus Estates. “You only have to look at the designer label shopping boutiques in Leamington Spa to see that there is definitely a huge amount of spending power in this area.” The chief executive of SmartNew, David Bexon has a similar opinion: “Areas such as Leamington Spa are growing in popularity as people are attracted by a combination of factors. “The location is very central and has ease of access to Birmingham and London whilst retaining a rural quality of life feel.”

The property market is set for a shake-up as new research shows prices have continued to drop. The average price of a new home in April was £256,143 - down 8.1 per cent on last year. According to which carried out the research, it is the most significant price decrease since the slowdown began last October.

However, it points out that although it was the largest annual fall to date, prices were down just 0.3 per cent on March’s figures, suggesting that the slowdown is stabilising and prices could start to creep up again in the next few months. Also found that people are now willing to pay 3.8 per cent more for a home than they were this time a year ago. However, migration out of both the East and West Midlands continued last month. London’s popularity has risen as prices decreased slightly during the year, but it still saw more buyers moving out than. Meanwhile, further north, Scotland remained the most popular destination, followed by the South West and Yorkshire & Humberside.

The Department for Productivity, Energy and Industry has closed down a get-rich quick property scam. The deal promised to help investors make a fortune in the property market - up to £1 million in a year by compiling an impressive portfolio of properties. The companies involved, , took thousands of pounds from investors who put money into what they thought was a full-proof scheme. “These companies knew that their clients, who had all invested substantial amounts of money, could not make anything like the returns that were promised,” said DPEI Minister Gerry Sutcliffe. “The schemes were completely misleading and set up with the sole aim of parting people from their money,” he added.

The High Court in London wound up four companies linked to the scam following the confidential investigations. All four ran similar schemes, usually with the common characteristic of offering the opportunity to build a £1 million portfolio of properties. At seminars and sales meetings, clients were told that they would be offered newly built houses or luxury flats at discounts, without the need for deposits. Mr Sutcliffe added that this was a “major success for the DPEI’s Companies Investigation Branch”. He also pointed out that it should serve as a “warning to any other unscrupulous operators that we will not hesitate in tracking them down and bringing them to book”.

Home improvements have helped to add £85.6 billion to the value of Britain’s housing stock, according to Direct Line Loans. Homeowners have helped to add value to the market by spending an estimated £58 billion on improvements last year - yielding a potential profit of £27.6 billion. Properties in the Midlands have experienced the biggest increase in value as a result of home improvements with a predicted growth of £20.1 billion.

Meanwhile, the North East saw the smallest predicted rise in property prices, with £4.1 billion. “Home improvements can be worthwhile if you are planning to sell, since even small changes can make a house or flat more attractive to buyers,” explained commercial director of Direct Line Loans, Anthony Rafferty.”

However we would advise anyone making major changes to do their homework first - it is worth checking with an estate agent or surveyor. “Appetite for home improvement has grown considerably over the last couple of years: three quarters of homeowners (76 per cent) are planning to make changes to their property in the next year - a three-fold increase on 2003’s figures. The majority (53 per cent) say they are doing the work to add value to their property.

The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is calling on housing specialists to tackle the problem of racial equality in housing. It wants them to take part in a consultation on its revised code of practice to help beat the ongoing situation. The three-month public consultation has been launched to gain feedback on the updated code, which sets standards for achieving racial equality in housing and housing-related services. Explaining what he calls “a long history of racial inequality in housing”, CRE’s chair, Trevor Phillips said: “Ethnic minorities are more likely to be homeless, to live in overcrowded conditions, and to express dissatisfaction with their homes.

“Imposed ’segregation’ through housing continues to pose problems for social integration in some parts of the country and for many people racial harassment is a continuing reality.”The code replaces the two existing codes of practice in rented and non-rented housing, published at the beginning of the 1990s. Under the Race Relations Act 1976 it is unlawful to discriminate against anyone on grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins. Mr Phillips continued: “The new code will help those working in the housing sector adopt ways of working that avoid unlawful discrimination, and ensure equal opportunities and fair treatment for everyone.”

Sinn Fein is calling on the abolition of ground rents as they see it as “a hangover from the days of British colonial rule in Ireland. “The party’s housing spokesperson, Arthur Morgan wants to see the “ongoing injustice” of the rents removed from society. Speaking on the Landlord and Tenants (Ground Rents) Bill he said that Sinn Fein has reiterated the call for their abolition on “many occasions” but action has still not been taken. Speaking in the Dail he said: “Ground rents represent an ongoing injustice against the people of this state and are a feudal tax, a hangover from the days of British colonial rule in Ireland, and their abolition must be facilitated.

“He further explained: “Householders whose leases are about to expire are placed in an unacceptable position whereby they are forced to choose between buying a freehold on their house for one eighth of its value or signing a new lease for a drastically increased rent. “Mr Morgan also pointed out: “Ground rent landlords do not need to be compensated in the event of their abolition. “As far as Mr Morgan is concerned ground rents have been unjust from the start, and therefore, to compensate would “legitimise what is manifestly unjust”.

A new cashback mortgage has been launched by Bradford & Bingley, offering borrowers an exclusive three per cent cashback tracker. Coventry Building Society is funding the cashback tracker mortgage offered by Bradford & Bingley, which has an initial rate of 5.74 per cent. This is worked out from the addition of the Bank of England base rate of 4.75 per cent plus 0.99 per cent for the next five years until September 30th 2010.After this time the loan reverts to a variable rate of 6.53 per cent for the remaining term (6.5 per cent APR).

“The three per cent cashback tracker mortgage will appeal to both homemovers and remortgagers,” explained the mortgage development manager at Bradford & Bingley, Duncan Pownall. “The cashback element in particular offers a helping hand for first time movers, who may have benefited from the house price growth of recent years and now enjoy a healthy level of equity within their property, but are now faced with much larger moving costs. “Mr Pownall added: “For those remortgagers who are looking to improve rather than move, the cashback also provides a great option.

New research shows the value of property is closely linked to the ability to pay tax, with high value homes having the income to match. The University of Warwick found that the problem of people on low incomes living in high value properties may also be less common than often assumed. The exception is for pensioners, who generally have lower incomes than other home-owners, but have seen their homes rise in value over the years.

However, while the majority of these pensioners live in band E-H homes they often have savings of at least £20,000 and this means they do not qualify for any benefit. Dr Michael Orton from the university said: “The implication of this new research is that there needs to be debate not only about the small number of people with low incomes living in high value properties, but also the fact that much larger numbers of people in middle and lower value properties are paying more than their fair share of council tax. “Sir Michael Lyons is currently in the process of compiling a report on council tax for the government. He is due to report back by the end of this year on how to make the system fairer and more sustainable.

House prices are on the up in London’s most sought-after areas; according to a report from This is Money. Prices seemed to have reached a standstill over the last sixth months, but February figures reveal a rise of 0.4 per cent in the prime central London market. The majority of completed deals were for flats in Canary Wharf and Mayfair, and houses in St John’s Wood.

Around 50 per cent of the properties sold had been on the market for at least six months. Estate agents at Knight Frank said an increase in sales activity had boosted buyer confidence, generating more transactions and putting an end to the price drop.” The expected rise in demand on the back of strong city bonuses has failed to materialise, but this has been compensated for by the fact that confidence and activity levels among London buyers has risen,” said Noel Flint, of Knight Frank’s Sloane Avenue office.

Knight Frank predicts the rise will continue by a further two per cent this year.