More people in the UK expect house prices to rise rather than fall in 2012, according to the third Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker that monitors public sentiment towards the housing market.

Over half said that concern over job security is a main obstacle to buying and Londoners are most optimistic about UK house prices, the survey also found. Some 29% of Britons forecast that house prices across the UK will increase over the next twelve months, more than the 22% that predict a price decline over the same period. A large number, some 61%, also believe that house rents will increase over the next 12 months.

However, the outlook for the housing market remains subdued. The majority think that any house price movement over the next twelve months will be relatively small with around two thirds, 65%, expecting any movement to be between plus 5% and minus 5%. Eight of the eleven UK regions tracked recorded a positive headline House Price Outlook balance, indicating that more people expect house prices to rise rather than fall. This contrasts sharply with October's tracker when just three regions had a positive headline balance.

Londoners have the most optimistic outlook for the housing market with an overall net balance of +21, followed by the East Midlands at +18 and Yorkshire and Humber at +14. At the other end of the spectrum, the North East has the most negative outlook for house prices at -3.

Over half of those questioned, 57%, identified difficulties in raising a deposit as the main obstacle to buying a property and 55% had and concerns about job security. Some 33% said household finances was a reason for not buying and 30% cited the general availability of mortgages. Half the respondents thought it a good time to buy currently, five times the proportion thinking that it is a good time to sell. The Halifax said that perceptions of the UK housing market as a better one for buyers than sellers partly reflects the dramatic improvement in home affordability over recent years.

Recent research by Halifax revealed that mortgage payments for a new borrower in the second half of 2011 were at their lowest as a proportion of disposable earnings for 14 years.

More Britons believe that private rents will rise than fall over the next 12 months. Some 61% predict that the cost of renting in the private sector will increase over the next twelve months, compared to just 3% who think that rents will fall.

The cost of moving house in the UK has risen at a faster rate than house prices over the past decade, according to new research by Lloyds TSB.

Since 2001, the average cost associated with moving home for someone who already owns a home has increased by 69%. In 2011 it cost £8,922 compared with £5,290 in 2001. This is greater than the 64% rise in UK house prices over the same period. The expense of moving home is now at its highest level since the peak of the UK housing market in 2007 and is currently equivalent to 27% of average UK gross full time earnings, up from 22% in 2001.

The costs covered in the report include stamp duty, mortgage arrangement fees, estate agency fees, surveyors' fees, conveyancing and removal costs. The costs of decorating and improvement prior to sale, local searches and land registration fees are excluded. It says that the increase in the costs of moving home over the past decade has been driven by rises in the cost of all six of the house moving expenditure categories tracked. In monetary terms, estate agency fees are up £1,318, mortgage fees up £770 and stamp duty up £732. The increases in these three components combined accounted for more than three-quarters of the overall rise in moving costs.

Estate agents' fees remain the largest single component of the cost of moving home, accounting for 38% of total costs, followed by stamp duty at 21%. Mortgage arrangement fees have more than trebled over the past decade, reflecting the changing structure of mortgage products over the period. Despite this increase, mortgage arrangement fees currently account for just 12% of the typical home moving bill.

The cost of moving in for a first time buyer was an average of £3,334 in 2011, some 63% lower than the total for home movers. This is because the typical first time buyer does not pay estate agents' fees and stamp duty. The overwhelming majority of first time buyers did not pay stamp duty in 2011, partly as a consequence of the temporary increase in the starting threshold for them from £125,000 to £250,000. The removal of this concession in March will result in a significant increase in house buying costs for many of them.

The research also shows that cost of moving home in the South East has more than doubled, rising 132% over the past decade, the largest of any UK region. Regarding London property it recorded the second biggest increase at 127%, followed by the North East at 91%. Those living in Northern Ireland saw the smallest rise in home moving costs at 24%.

A new tenancy deposit protection scheme for private sector landlords was launched this week by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) in association with the Residential Landlords Association.

Until now, the TDS, which says it already protects £1bn worth of deposits – more than either of the two other deposit protection schemes – has been available primarily to regulated letting agents. The TDS was originally launched by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), subsequently getting backing from other bodies including the NAEA and RICS.  But now a new scheme is to be marketed by the rapidly expanding RLA as DepositGuard.

Going head to head with mydeposits – the deposit protection scheme launched by RLA competitor the National Landlords Association – it is claimed that DepositGuard will ‘substantially’ undercut it. The scheme, like mydeposits, is available on a pay-as-you-go basis. There will be no annual subscriptions or joining fees.

Steve Harriott, chief executive of the TDS, said: “TDS has been the scheme of choice for regulated letting agents for some time, but we are delighted to be able to offer deposit protection directly to landlords. They can save time and money by keeping hold of the deposit – as well as taking advantage of market-leading rates.”

RLA chairman Alan Ward said: “DepositGuard enables us to offer competitive deposit protection without compromising our position in representing landlords’ interests. The systems and documentation are also ready for changes being introduced by the Government in April and are designed to give better protection to landlords.”

DepositGuard is an insurance-backed scheme. It permits landlords to hold deposits throughout a tenancy and to use the dispute resolution service.

Rising living costs are putting off first time buyers in the UK despite the fact that mortgage cost have fallen below 2003 levels, new research shows.

A new Ability to Buy Index from the Royal Bank of Scotland paints a mixed picture for first time buyers in Britain. While average mortgage payments have fallen to 2003 levels, it is now more difficult for first time buyers to get a foot on the housing ladder than during the 2009 recession. This contrasts with house price to earnings measures which suggest conditions have improved. But the rising cost of essentials during 2011 has outweighed the effect of falling house prices and rising incomes on the ability to buy. Ability to buy has deteriorated most on East of England, East Midlands and London property since 2009.

Low interest rates and squeezed discretionary income also mean that it will take a long time to save for a deposit. It also shows that while house price to income ratios have improved, ability to buy is worse than 2009, largely due to high inflation.

Kevin Hollinrake, the boss of Hunters estate agents – currently the largest independent estate agency franchise operator in the UK – is calling on the Government to delay reintroducing Stamp Duty for properties under £250,000.He said that first-time buyers would become virtually ‘extinct’ if the exemption is scrapped in March.

“First-time buyers are already at an all-time low, accounting for less than 10% of the market, and reintroducing Stamp Duty for properties below £250,000 will further reduce this diminishing market to almost extinction”, he commented.

Housing minister Grant Shapps has said that the Stamp Duty concession has proved “ineffective”.

Hollinrake conceded: “The property sector recognises that the concessions might not have had the desired effect in stimulating additional demand, but it did provide some help to first-time buyers who are already suffering from the reluctance of lenders to finance their first home. The reintroduction of Stamp Duty could force thousands of people to postpone their dream of buying their own home. There needs to be some support for those struggling to get on the property ladder.”