Asking prices for U.K. homes were unchanged in May as the crisis in Europe and the end of a tax break for first-time buyers damped demand, Rightmove Plc said. It was the first time since the survey began in 2002 that asking prices failed to rise in May, when sellers usually try to take advantage of a spring pickup in house hunting. Spring supply numbers stalled too, with properties coming to market down 10% on April

The total cost: £4,000. "Actually, you could make it for less than that," James says. "I'd cut the wood myself next time instead of going to the sawmill. That would knock off a thousand." He finds the whole concept of mortgages quite amusing. No mention of where he got the land and planning permission from though.

When Hong Kong businessman Mr. He paid a £35,000 deposit on a four-bedroom apartment in Britain, he believed it was a 40-minute walk from central London. In fact it was a 40-minute journey by high-speed train. His experience shows the potential pitfalls facing a growing number of Far Eastern people buying British homes unseen as developers target places such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore because British buyers are struggling to get mortgages. Major developers including Barratt, Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley have stepped up efforts to court cash-rich Far Eastern buyers. The number of Chinese and Pacific Asian buyers of the best quality newly built London homes jumped from 4% in 2009 to 37% in 2010, data from property consultancy Savills showed.