Tag Archives: finance
First time buyers underestimate cost of moving into their home, survey finds
Almost three quarter of first time buyers in the UK underestimate the costs needed to buy a new home, with most only saving for a deposit, new research shows. They also spend £1,680 more than expected on essential repairs to a first home and under budget by over £6,000, according to a survey by home insurer Aviva. As a result, more than half were forced to wait an extra two years and eight months before finally having the cash to get on the property ladder and almost half confessed to coming close to giving up plans to buy their first home altogether. First time buyers typically take nearly four years saving for a first home, banking an average £12,143 during that time. In reality though, the average total amount actually needed is closer to £18,624. ‘Scraping together the cash for the deposit alone can be a mammoth task, but that’s just the first hurdle. It’s the other essential costs such as solicitors’ fees and Stamp Duty which can be the sting in the tail, not forgetting any essential repairs which might be needed once the keys have been handed over,’ said Heather Smith, marketing director at Aviva. Home owners spend an average £3,727 on essential repairs to their newly purchased home – typically forking out around £1,680 more than expected. One in five looking to buy their first home now would consider buying a house which needed significant DIY or repairs, just to get on the property ladder, the research also shows. ‘First time buyers face walking into a money pit if a first dream home turns out to be a nightmare. If the cash outlay needed to buy the house isn’t expensive enough, a hefty bill for unforeseen essential repairs is the last thing needed,’ explained Smith. ‘Anyone looking to buy a home should investigate every nook and cranny of the property before putting in an offer and must not be afraid of asking for several viewings,’ she added. With three quarters admitting to not doing enough research into the total cost of buying a home, Aviva has launched a First Home section to its website which includes a step-by-step guide to buying a first home and a mortgage jargon buster. Continue reading
Construction up across the UK, led by homes and office developments
Construction workloads rose across all sectors and in each part of the UK in the second quarter of 2015 according to the latest market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Some 44% more surveyors reported higher activity levels, up from 37% on the previous quarter, driven by office development and private house building. The pace of growth in Northern Ireland was slowest and at a headline level, 74% more respondents expect to see their workloads rise and respondents forecast growth of 3.8%. Over half, 51% net balance, of respondents reported higher workloads in private housing and 58% in the private commercial sector, following a 22% rise in new orders in the first quarter of the year. Activity in London and the South East appears stronger than elsewhere in the UK, so profit margins and employment expectations are higher in these parts of the UK than anywhere else with 62% more respondents expecting to take on more people over the next 12 months and 58% expecting higher profits. Financial constraints and issues with planning and regulation remain the key restraints on growth in the sector with 58% more surveyors reporting difficulties in the second quarter. In addition, 40% of respondents reported shortages of materials, but this is an improvement on the 60% who were having such difficulties through most of 2014. ‘The upturn in workloads has led to a less competitive tendering environment, particularly across public sector projects, but a lack of accessible finance is now affecting a net balance of 58% of our members and while concern over labour shortages dipped slightly, the demand for cost and project management skills rose,’ said RICS director of the built environment, Alan Muse. ‘Also typical as workloads recover is the emergence of other impediments to growth, outside of labour and finance constraints, such as planning and regulatory barriers, which could be exacerbated if cuts are made to local authority planning departments as backlogs in planning applications will have a knock-on effect to work pipelines,’ he added. Meanwhile, the latest state of the trade survey from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) says that in the second quarter of the year it is skills shortages that are undermining activity in the small to medium construction sector despite the fact that the building industry has been booming for more than two years. ‘There can be no doubt that the building industry is booming but the skills shortage continues to loom large over our industry. Almost half of construction SMEs are struggling to recruit adequate numbers of bricklayers, with others finding it increasingly hard to hire carpenters and joiners, site managers and supervisors,’ said Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB. ‘Looking ahead, our members are reporting that their workloads are likely to rise over the coming three months which means the shortage of skilled workers will only become more acute. It also begs the question, how much stronger would the pace of growth in… Continue reading
UK dream home is detached with three bedrooms and two bathrooms
A three bed, two bathroom detached period property is the dream home for people living across the UK, according to new research. Most are looking for a detached home with this type of property topping a new survey by Leeds Building Society which found that 48.5% want this kind of place to live. Some 52.4% would like a home with three bedrooms and indeed 74.3% said this was a minimum requirement while 76.2% said that one bathroom is not enough and 56.2% saying that two bathrooms is a priority. When it comes to choosing a property the top feature was location, mentioned by 72.9%, followed by 68.5% saying that size mattered and 61.7% giving priority to a garden and outside space. Property layout was important for 56.2% and off street parking for 53.1%. The top feature that buyers were most prepared to compromise on was good interior decoration with 28.7% prepared to overlook this, followed by 23.6% on period features. Some 21.5% could compromise on a new kitchen, new bathroom and a fireplace while 21.2% were unconcerned about the property layout. No garden was the biggest turn off, cited by 35.3%, followed by no drive at 14%, an old heating system at 10.9%, a need for modernisation at 10% and stairs in the living room at 9.4%. ‘When home ownership appears to be a national obsession and there’s a mind boggling choice in types of properties to purchase, it’s perhaps surprising that our survey discovered so many people share the same view of what makes their dream home,’ said Martin Richardson, Leeds Building Society’s general manager for business development. According to Richard Sexton, director of business development for e.surv, it should not be a surprise that the key selling points of a property are those that can’t fundamentally be changed. ‘After all it’s relatively easy to redecorate, but impossible to move a building from one location to another. The findings reflect the fact that house hunters are generally aware of the difference between these categories and take a long term view on changeable factors to ensure they get their preference on the fundamentals,’ he added. Continue reading
