On wednesday we spoke about the impact of the PM’s Social Housing reform plans and how they have been criticised by some as a move that could leave many vulnerable citizens worse off. Now, we’re no experts on this but we reckon it’s worth finding out more about the scheme if it’s going to effect the lives of people trying to live in or sell a house – if you fancy it, you can read a great article about it in the Independent, check it out…
Posts Tagged ‘quick house sale’
If You’re Selling A House Then You Might Want To Read This…
Friday, July 30th, 2010Sell Your Own Home On The Open Market – If You’re Lucky
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010Following on from last weeks post about the fall in house prices being good news for the economy, more industry analysts are in agreement that the drop will do us all some good. Although there are some commentators who believe that David Cameron’s social housing proposals could increase insecurity felt by the most vulnerable people and destabilise communities.
The truth of the situation will vary depending on income brackets and geographical position with those comfortable and wealthy individuals not feeling the impct as much as those on low to medium incomes. Trying to sell your own home right now is tough and lower prices may help but as long as borrowing requirements are so strict and deposit-dependant, the open market will be a hostile place to do business.
A Fast House Sale May Have To Wait, But If You’re Buying…
Friday, July 23rd, 2010If you’re fretting about the state of the housing market, don’t, because Britain’s largest residential landlord Grainger said on Wednesday it remained bullish about opportunities to buy real estate at great prices. OK, so if you’re selling this aint great news and the open market may not be the best place to get a fast house sale but if you’re buying.
Grainger has around £2.8 billion of property on it’s books and is trading well despite the gloomy market with almost £70 million of purchases planned and £154.8 million of sales in process. Despite the knock in confidence for the market place as a result of the RICS survey, the volume of property coming to market increased at its fastest pace since May 2007.
A Quick House Sale Is Still A Way Off But New Builds Could Be Just Around The Corner
Monday, July 19th, 2010A new Government plan has been launched that will give councils extra cash for each new property built in their area as an incentive to encourage the construction of more homes. It’s being called the New Homes Bonus scheme and will mean that local authorities will receive a lump sum per property equivalent to the council tax raised on each new house for six years.
The scheme has been introduced because of the lack of quick house sale opportunities and due to the low new-build numbers currently being seen. Even at this early stage it does have critics, one such being John Healey, shadow housing minister, who said: “This policy could mean cuts in services in other areas of the country, we could quite literally see government robbing Peterborough to pay Poole.”
In reply the Housig Minister, Grant Shapps said: “Communities that go for growth would reap financial rewards” and the rewards are likely to be substantial, possibly several hundred million pounds.
Trying To Sell Property In This Market? Check Out This Retro Pad
Friday, July 16th, 2010If you’re trying to sell property without much luck, image how the owners of the oldest house in Britain feel when the the best you can say about it is that ‘it’s a fixer upper’. Of course, we’re talking about the remains of the oldest house ever found in Britain which was discovered by archeological experts this week.
Evidence of the 10,500 year old, 12ft wide dwelling was unearthed at Star Carr, North Yorks and is thought to have been lived in by huntergatherers, for more on the fascinating find, check out the full story…
Council Tenants To Be Encouraged To Buy From Those Trying To Sell A House
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010After the PM’s controversial suggestions on council house reform at his Q&A session in Brighton and Hove, Lincoln City Council has come out and warned it could have an impact on local council services. Under the possible reform, new council tenants would sign 5 to 10 year contracts instead of having the property for life, after the contract period they would be forced to move from their homes.
John Bibby, director of housing at the City of Lincoln Council, said:”We understand this suggestion was put forward by the Prime Minister in response to a question from a member of the public, with the intention of opening up a debate on the priorities for affordable housing.”
“At this stage, it’s just a debate. Until we get a detailed consultation paper, it’s difficult to assess the implications.”
The reasoning behind the idea is that over 5 to 10 years a tenant’s situation can change and they may want to look for someone who’s trying to sell a house on the open market and move into their own property. Plus, by putting contracts in place more needy people can get a roof over their head while those that have settled in a council property are more able to but/rent in the private sector.
Rural Property Prices At 12 Times The Average Income
Monday, July 12th, 2010We know the tale of ‘City-folk buying second homes in the countryside and prices rising as a result and youngsters being forced out because they can’t afford to stay’ is an old one. But when you look into this issue, it does reveal some scary numbers, such as the average house price in some rural areas being 12 times the average income and a typical countryside property mortgage requiring the appliant to earn at least £66,000 per annum.
With the average income of people in rural areas at just over £20,000, it’s clear to see why this is a problem. Add to it the surge in property values over the last decade, as mentioned in a HFC post last week, and it becomes even tougher for young wannabe home owners to get a foot on the ladder in their back yard. BBC’s Newsbeat have done a nice little piece on this, if you fancy reading more you can check it out here…
Repossession Provides Thousands Of Empty Homes But New-Builds Keep Coming
Friday, July 9th, 2010Despite there being more empty properties than there has been for a substantial amount of time, mainly as a result of repossession and eviction, some councils are keen to build new properties and shout about it. The lastest development of 450 new homes has just been approved in Northampton after the approval of a £2.3 million scheme was approved by the ConDem government.
Speaking about the scheme, West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) chief executive Peter Mawson said: “The government clearly recognises the importance of Northampton and has backed WNDC to invest around £2m in the transformation of a largely derelict site.”
If You Want To Sell Property Then It’s A Good Time To Do So
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010Have a guess what the total value of privately owned homes in the UK is, go on have a think and pick a figure. Got it? OK, research conducted by Halifax (you’ve skipped this and looked at the number haven’t you), were you close? £3.755 Trillion, which is, a lot and more than double what the housing stock was worth just ten years ago.
Sitting at £1.719trn in 1999, the increase of more than £2trn in property value is equivalent to £33,000 per person in the UK, but as would be expected the value of the nation’s housing stock has fallen by 8% in the last 3 years, reflecting the reduction in those able to sell property and the drop in house prices. The research also revealed that the north-south gap is narrowing with the value of housing in the north increasing by 132% compared to 109% in the south over the decade.
Sale And Rent Back Company Goes Into Administration
Monday, July 5th, 2010A Didsbury based sale and rent back company has gone into administration leaving many tenants with the possibility of losing vast sums of money. Administrators Baker Tilly said that tenants could rent as normal but they did not want to give tenants “false hope” about the likelyhood of them getting their 30% payback.
UK Housing Alliance (North West) Ltd, bought properties off of 375 homeowners who then rented the property back, the deal was 70% of the price up front and the remaining 30% after renting for 10 years. But after only 4 years in business, the firm has gone bust leaving some tenants possibly out of pocket to the tune of £40,000.