Houses For Cash UK Blog

The government is preparing to apply extreme controls on second home ownership that would stop people buying in sought-after rural areas.

An inquiry commissioned by Gordon Brown will recommend local authorities have the ability to prevent outsiders buying property they do not intend to make their main residence. Those seeking to buy country boltholes that deprive local residents of houses would be forced to apply to the council.

They would have to achieve planning permission to change the house from fully occupied to a second home and could be refused by the council. The inquiry is also considering banning outsiders from buying newly built homes in such areas.

This decision is advantageous for local buyers looking to buy a home in such areas, however this is not beneficial for people outside the area looking for a second property.It is also not good news for people who are selling their home and looking for a quick house sale as they will have a limited amount of prospective buyers.

I have been speaking with a man today who told me " I want to sell and rent back my apartment "
He was not in debt, he just wanted to sell his property to release the equity in it to help him with a new business. He chose to sell and rent back as he really liked where he was living and his address was known to a lot of his business contacts as he worked from home.

We made him an offer that was tailored to his needs. It enabled him to release the equity he needed and gave him the option to buy back his property in a few years time. He had not prevoiusly known this option was available so when we explained this to him he was thrilled as he felt he had time to establish his business and when he was more financiallly stable he could buy his property back.

So many home owners I speak to who are attempting to avoid repossession have tried to ignore things, buried their heads in the sand and hoped a solution would emerge for them. Sadly this rarely happens when no action is taken and the problem develops into something that is unmanageable for them to cope with.

The initial and essential action any home owner should take when struggling to keep up with their mortgage re-payments is to contact their mortgage lender. The mortgage lender if given the choice does not want to repossess any home as this is a costly and time consuming process.

When speaking with your mortage lender you should be honest and realistic. They may be able to offer a short payment holiday or more likely offer a deal with a lower interest rate. A remortgage is also another option available to you.

Some other options available are - extending your mortgage term which will increase the total cost, but it will reduce the monthly re-payments or an "interest only" mortgage which means you only pay interest payments and nothing towards the capital repayments.

If no agreement can be made then home owners can consider the sell and rent back option where they are able to avoid repossession and remain in their home.

I spoke to a lady today who was looking to downsize as their mortgage payments had increased drastically. She and her husband were working extra hours and overtime to be able to keep up with the payments. She told me that they had had enough and just wanted a quick house sale so they could downsize to a smaller property and decrease their mortgage payments to something more manageable.

She is dicussing the offer we made her with her husband tonight but said she was sure her husband would be pleased with the offer and want to go ahead as it means they can move on quicker to a more managable mortgage and enjoy more time together instead of working all hours and constantly worrying about their mortgage payments.

Stamp duty for first-time house buyers has almost doubled to an average of £1,751 in just five years, new figures show. One in five first time buyers in the south now pays at a rate of 3% of the property value increasing the minimum of getting on the property ladder to £7,500

London has shown the biggest rate where house prices are highest and the average bill has shot up to £8,675.

People trying to get on the housing ladder in the more expensive areas also have to pay up an average deposit of more than £60,000 which will cause a further hindrance to property owners looking for a quick house sale when selling thier property in these areas.

A new strategy to aid homeowners who fall behind with their mortgages has been urged as UK repossessions reach their highest level for eight years.The amount of people whose homes were repossessed last year in the UK rose by 21%.

Housing charity Shelter wants ministers to look at an arrears "protocol" to encourage communication and examine alternatives to help home owners to avoid repossession.

This protocol would encourage more initial contact between the lender and the borrower in order to try and avoid repossession of homes where possible.

"I am desperate to sell my house" I was told by a man yesterday. His wife was pregnant with their fourth child and they needed to move to a property with more room as they currently lived in a 2 bed house.

His house was currently up for sale with an estate agent. He had previously had 2 offers on his property but both had fell through. They needed a quick house sale to ensure they could move before his wife gave birth so after speaking to him I sent him out the documents outling our offer which he received this morning. He rang me today and told me that he and his wife were happy with everything and to start proceedings straight away. They can now start looking for their future family home.

I was asked today "How long can I sell and rent back for?" from a man who called up looking to sell and rent back his property. He wanted to sell and rent back as he had mounting debts left to him from a past relationship he wanted to clear with the equity in his house. He wanted to remain in his property though as he said it was his home not just his house.

I told him that he could rent back for as long as he required whether that was months, years, decades. I also told him that he has the option to remain there renting or he could rent and have the option in the future to buy back. Either way the choice was his. He told me he liked the option of buying back as this helped him feel more secure and give him something to works towards in the future.

The Citizens Advice Bureau reported a 35% increase in people reporting mortgage arrears this morning.They have also said that the total number of repossessions is almost double the amount it was 2 years ago at an unsettling figure of 27,100

This is an issue not just in a paticular area of the UK but Nationwide and I have seen an increase in the enquiries I have received from people looking to avoid repossession.

Today I had an enquiry from a woman who told me "I need to sell my house fast to avoid repossession" She had taken out a couple of loans to help her through a period when she was unable to work due to ill health. However she was now struggling to keep up with the loan repayments and her increased mortgage payments after the interest rate rose. She had fell behind over the last few months but had hoped a solution would arise for her. She had received a letter today threatening court action and realised she had to take some action. She gave us a call to see if we could help her. After talking to her on the phone today we are going out to see her tomorrow to discuss further the option of selling and renting back and how we can help her to avoid repossession.

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said on Wednesday that the recent rate cuts from the Bank of England will help U.K. mortgage payers, but continued problems in global credit markets will cause lending conditions to tighten further

Mortgages are still available, however banks and building societies are starting to impose stricter lending conditions

This is something that is putting pressure on the U.K.'s property market, which has been slowing down over recent months. With stricter lending conditions and less mortgage offers available for first time buyers who accounted for 45-50% of all property transactions it is bad news for homeowners looking for a quick house sale as it means that fewer buyers are able to enter the market.

Property buyer numbers was reported to be at a record low, figures showed on Tuesday.
According to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).The number of house-buyers on estate agents' books dropped 12% last month - to 243 per agent from 276 in January.
With tighter lending rules and buyers taking the wait and see approach people hoping for a quick house sale are now facing a difficult wait when they place their house on the market.

To add to this the gap between asking prices and what properties actually sold for continued to widen to stand at 4.5% .Rightmove.co.uk - the country's largest property portal said sellers need a "reality check" when pricing their homes for sale, as unsold stock reaches record proportions.

"I have mortgage arrears and need to avoid repossession" I was told by a woman today who phoned up after looking at our website.
Herself and husband had taken out a few secured loans a few years ago to done some renovations to the house. At the time both herself and her husband were in well paying jobs and they had no worries about keeping up with the repayments. Sadly the woman had since then had been diagnosed with a illness where she was no longer able to work so they only had her husbands wage coming in.
"This was the house that we fell in love with and decided that this was where we were going to settle down and bring up our children. We have put so much work into it and it would break my heart to lose it now" she told me. The offer we made her was enough to clear her mortgage balance and secured loans but most importantly enabled her to remain in her house.

I have been speaking to a gentleman today who told me "I want to sell my house fast as it is a second property that I have been renting out but now want to sell it so I can release the equity to enjoy in my retirement"

He no longer wanted to keep it on the market as he had already had 3 sales fall through and did not want the uncertainty of if or when it would sell. We made him an offer over the phone and sent him the details in the post for him to discuss with his wife first although he said he felt a huge sense of relief after speaking to us as he could see a way he could achieve the quick house sale he was looking for.