Tag Archives: cookies
UK govt flagship Help to Buy scheme helps over 70,000 home owners
Help to Buy, the UK government’s flagship scheme, has helped more than 71,000 people across the country buy a new home, the latest official figures show. In total over 66,000 households have been helped by the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee and Equity Loan which was introduced to help those who cannot afford a mortgage to buy a home. Some critics claimed it would not actually help those who needed it and be used by buyers in London to the detriment of others but the figures show this has not happened. The figures reveal that 81% of Help to Buy sales are to first time buyers, helping 54,000 into their first home and the vast majority of sales have been outside of London and at prices well below the national average. Together with the government’s NewBuy scheme which offers 95% mortgages for those buying new build properties, the number of new home owners has reached more than 71,000. The figures also show how Help to Buy is benefiting every region of the country. The North West is the highest region for the mortgage guarantee, while the Equity Loan scheme for new build properties is particularly successful in the East and South East and overall 94% of completions under the scheme remain outside London. Leeds council is the highest performing local authority across the country for the two parts of Help to Buy with almost 1,000 new homes secured by its residents. While Birmingham council has seen a significant increase of over 300 new completions. Help to Buy is also helping to increase housing supply and get Britain building by driving demand for new build homes. Over half of the homes bought through the scheme are new build properties, and private house building is up 20% since the launch of the Equity Loan scheme. The government also says that Help to Buy is supporting responsible lending, with the average house price for the combined schemes at £186,000, or £156,000 for mortgage guarantee and £211,000 under the equity loan scheme, all of which are well below the UK average house price of £273,000. The average house price to income multiple under the mortgage guarantee scheme is just over 3.5 times salary, and capped at a 4.5 times ratio to ensure responsible lending. Figures for the mortgage guarantee scheme also show completions have been least concentrated in regions where house price growth is highest, for instance in London the scheme makes up just 1% of all mortgage lending compared to an average of 3% across the country. ‘Getting the keys to your first home is a moment that no one forgets. It’s about being able to start planning for the future and enjoying the security that you’ve worked hard for,’ said Prime Minister David Cameron. ‘But in the aftermath of the great recession the prospect of buying a first home was nothing more than a pipe dream for many thousands of hardworking people in Britain. Even those with a decent salary who could… Continue reading
Property prices in England and Wales up 0.1% in Oct, says Land Reg index
Property prices in England and Wales increased by 0.1% in October, taking the average price to £177,377, according to the latest index from the Land Registry. The data for October also shows an overall annual price increase of 7.7% but there are considerable regional variations. London has seen the biggest annual price rise at 18.6% and a 0.7% month on month rise, taking the average price to £460,060. The East experienced the greatest monthly rise with a movement of 1.6% and has seen prices rise by 11% year on year to an average of £198,338, while the South East had an 11.4% year on year rise and monthly growth of 1.2% to an average of £240,070 The average price in Yorkshire and Humber is now £120,807 after a 0.6% month on month rise and annual growth of 4.3%, the South West has seen prices rise by 0.2% month and month and 6.4% year on year to £185,615 and the West Midlands also saw prices rise 0.2% month and month and an annual rise of 4.4% to £135,378. Elsewhere prices have fallen month on month but are still some way ahead of a year ago. The North East saw the steepest monthly fall with prices down 2.7% but they are up 2.7% year on year to an average of £97,356. In the North West prices fell 0.3% month on month but are up 4.5% year on year to £112,642. The East Midlands saw a month on month fall of 0.4% but price are up 5.7% compared to a year ago with an average price of £131,274. Wales also saw prices fall month on month, down 0.9% but up 2% year on year to an average of £118,437. The most up to date figures available show that during August 2014 the number of completed house sales in England and Wales increased by 4% to 82,415 compared with 79,587 in August 2013. The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in August 2014 increased by 15% to 1,363 from 1,185 in August 2013. Peter Rollings, chief executive officer of Marsh & Parsons, pointed out that while UK house prices are still edging forward, growth is slowing compared to the first half of the year and although London has considerably outperformed all other regions during the last 12 months, growth has slowed considerably and on a monthly basis only edged up slightly. In addition, prices are slipping in some of the most expensive areas of the capital, with values in Kensington and Chelsea falling 2.5% over the month to October, as growth tails off more sharply at the top end of the market. ‘Activity levels at the top tiers of the UK housing market have shown healthy growth, with sales of properties worth over £1 million rising 15% in the year to August 2014. But fears of a potential mansion tax could contaminate demand for prime property in the run up to the general election,’… Continue reading
Wealthy Chinese and Russian buyers return to top end London homes market
A lowering of asking prices at the top end of the London property market seems to have led to an increase in sales of home in the £10 million plus range. Between January and October this year, the number of such properties sold by international agent Knight Frank increased by a third compared to the same period last year and was 92% higher than in 2012. This comes at a time when there is speculation over the sustainability of price growth in prime central London and the prospect of a mansion tax after next May’s general election, which have both resulted in more subdued demand. However, a large contributing factor is that vendors, who are typically discretionary sellers, have lowered their asking prices by between 5% and 10% in order to achieve a sale, according to the firm. ‘Once buyers re-priced at a more realistic level and the gap between the expectations of the vendor and the buyer closed, it triggered a flurry of activity,’ said Tim Wright of Knight Frank’s Prime Central London team. In June and July this year, Knight Frank sold as many £10 million plus properties as during the previous four months combined. ‘There has been talk of a drop in the number of transactions in the market and a slowing of price growth but this is due to the lack of data in the public domain,’ said Richard Cutt of Knight Frank’s Prime Central London team. ‘In the last quarter there have been a large number of flats bought from plan, off market, which have moved prices up and in some cases quite significantly. These sales only become public on completion and would paint a different picture of the market if they were factored in today. An example of this is the success of British Land’s Clarges Mayfair development,’ he added. The higher number of transactions is also underpinned by strengthening demand in recent months, with Russian buyers re-emerging after a period of uncertainty and Chinese buyers increasingly active in the £10 million plus price bracket. ‘The Russians are back. After a period of uncertainty and instability, they appear to have more clarity on where they stand, which has given them the confidence to get back into the market,’ said Wright. In the six months to October, Russian buyers accounted for 21% of super prime sales compared to 13% over the preceding six month period. However, given the economic backdrop in Russia, there is a marked difference between those that hold assets in roubles and those in US dollars, which is curbing the buying power of some. This year also saw mainland Chinese buyers become active in the super-prime market for the first time, accounting for 3% of sales after negligible demand in previous years. ‘We are beginning to see some serious interest from ultra-high net worth mainland Chinese buyers. Interestingly, it seems to be houses rather than flats or investment properties. These are buyers who clearly intend to spend time living in London… Continue reading
