FIAT DEALERS GARAGES

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) seasonally adjusted house price balance fell to -22 from a downwardly revised -17. That was far below economists' forecasts for it to hold steady at May's original reading of -16.

London was the only region to see an increase in prices, RICS said, but even there the pace has weakened considerably since the start of the year.

"The housing market didn't manage to turn a corner last month and activity remained in the doldrums," said Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS.

"Fewer vendors looked to test the market and levels of buyer interest seem to have fallen back since the expiry of the stamp duty deadline earlier in the year."

An exemption for first-time buyers from stamp duty, a transaction tax on homes worth less than 250,000 pounds, had buoyed markets at the start of the year but the immunity expired in March.

The number of both new buyer enquiries and new vendor instructions declined last month, recording their lowest net balances in over 18 months, the survey found.

Consumers are facing a tough time - government austerity measures are biting, wage growth is below inflation and the cost of credit from banks is relatively high - spurring the Bank of England to say last week it was injecting further stimulus into the economy.

Britain slipped back into recession at the start of the year and with a raft of gloomy data producing little optimism, the 12-month outlook deteriorated, RICS said, with price expectations falling further into negative territory and sales expectations broadly flat after rising the previous month.

The outlook for the next three months remained broadly unchanged.

(Reporting by Jonathan Cable; Editing by John Stonestreet)

* Pensioenfonds Vervoer seeks up to 240 mln euros damages

* Files two claims

* Alleges negligence leading to losses

By Anjuli Davies and Chris Vellacott

LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - Dutch pension fund Pensioenfonds Vervoer has filed two claims totalling up to 240 million euros ($300 million) against a unit of Goldman Sachs Group, alleging negligence leading to losses, lawyers for the fund told Reuters.

The transport workers' pension fund alleged that Goldman Sachs Asset Management International, in its capacity as fiduciary manager, made inappropriate investments at the height of the financial crisis, lawyers Brown Rudnick said.

The claims, filed at the High Court in London on Monday, relate to the period 2006-2010.

One of the claims, of up to 81 million euros, relates to investments in subprime debt made in 2007. The other claim, of up to 159 million euros, alleges the asset manager took too long to implement a mandate to invest in global high yield bonds during 2009, which resulted in substantial losses, Brown Rudnick said.

A spokeswoman for the Goldman Sachs unit said: "We acted prudently and complied with our mandate, fulfilling our obligations to our client. We believe the claim is without merit based on the facts of the situation, and we will certainly contest it."

Vervoer, which according to its website manages nearly 11 billion euros in assets for employers and employees in the transport sector, replaced Goldman Sachs as asset manager in 2010 following poor performance, albeit at a particularly turbulent time in markets globally.

At the time it said the change followed a "comprehensive evaluation" of its four-year relationship with Goldman Sachs.

The 2008 financial crisis wiped 112 billion euros off Dutch pension funds' portfolios, putting many funds below the 100 percent solvency level and the minimum funding requirement of 105 percent set by the central bank to ensure that funds are in good health and capable of meeting liabilities.

That led to calls for an overhaul of the 800 billion euro industry and to talks between employers and unions -- who are both involved in the management of pension funds in the Netherlands -- about who should bear investment risks and to what extent pensions should be guaranteed. ($1 = 0.8130 euros) (Reporting By Anjuli Davies; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)