Paula Higgins, Author At HomeOwners Alliance

Paula Higgins

CEO & Founder

After spending 15 years reforming housing policy in government, Paula set up the HomeOwners Alliance to give homeowners a voice. Paula is the public face of the organisation with regular appearances on TV (BBC News, This Morning, Rip off Britain) and Radio (Radio 4 You & Yours, Moneybox and Radio 5 Live), attending government and industry groups and spearheading our campaigns. Paula is a property expert for The Sun, and has also written for and contributed to a number of publications including The Times, Daily Mail, iNews and House Beautiful.

Ground Rent Explained

What is ground rent? Ground rent is a fee paid by a leaseholder to the freeholder for the right to occupy the land their property is built on. Ground rent is most commonly paid by leasehold flat owners but if you own a leasehold house you may need to pay it too. Your lease will specify […]

Lease extension costs in 2025

KEY INFORMATION Lease extension costs: Summarised How much does it cost to extend a lease? The cost of extending a lease depends on numerous factors including the property value, the length of the lease, the ground rent payable and how often it increases. To get an idea of how much it may cost you to […]

House Price Watch Sept 2024

What’s happening nationally House prices are up on average +0.8% over the past month and +3.6% over the past year. All of the indices report house prices up this month: Halifax (+0.3%), Nationwide (+0.7%), Rightmove reporting asking prices (+0.8%) and Land Registry reporting August figures (+1.5%).. Annual house price growth is reported to be up […]

Budget 2024: what this means for you

Budget 2024: what this means for you The government has been warning for months that this budget will be ‘painful’ as it aims to plug a £22 billion black hole in public finances as well as raising money so the Chancellor Rachel Reeves can fulfil her promise to ‘invest, invest, invest’ in order to ‘fix […]

Budget 2024 predictions

Budget 2024 predictions With the new Labour government warning October’s budget will be ‘painful’ as it aims to plug a £22billion black hole in public finances and Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying those with the ‘broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden’, we look at what’s expected in the budget and how it’s likely to […]

What happens when a leasehold expires?

What is a leasehold? When you buy a property it will be leasehold or freehold. If you are buying a leasehold property, you own the property, not the land, and only for the length of your lease agreement with the freeholder. Leases can be up to 999 years long or short, with 80 years or […]

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Paula Higgins

Latest Articles by Paula

Ground Rent Explained

Lease extension costs in 2025

House Price Watch Sept 2024

Budget 2024: what this means for you

Budget 2024 predictions

What happens when a leasehold expires?

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