Tag Archives: guides
Highest level of house lending in Scotland since 2008, latest CML data shows
Home lending in Scotland remains driven primarily by lending for house purchase, with remortgage activity showing a year on year decline, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. In the third quarter of the year there were 7,500 first time buyer loans in Scotland, 1% down on the previous quarter, but 15% up on the same period in 2013. First time buyers in the period borrowed £810 million, up 1% on the previous quarter and 23% on the third quarter of 2013. This was the highest quarterly total lending value since the middle of 2008. At 8,900 loans, there were 2% more home mover loans in the third quarter than the second, and 7% more than in the same period of 2013. The value of home mover lending was £1.3 billion, up 4% on the second quarter and 12% up on the third quarter 2013. Remortgage lending in the quarter increased in Scotland compared to the previous quarter but declined compared to the same quarter in 2013. House purchase lending to home buyers increased quarter on quarter in Scotland totalling 16,400 loans, up 1% compared to the second quarter and the value of these loans totalled £2.1 billion, a rise of 3% on the second quarter. Compared to the third quarter of 2013, the number of loans increased by 11% and the value of lending by 16%. This was the highest quarterly volume and value of house purchase lending in Scotland since the second quarter of 2008. First time buyers borrowed more in this quarter than in any other since 2007 totalling £810 million, and was second in total number of loans only to the previous quarter with 7,500 loans. The data also shows that first time buyer affordability may have been a factor in this, with first time buyers typically borrowing 2.94 times their gross income, less than the 2.98 income multiple in the second quarter and less than the UK average of 3.41. The typical loan size for first time buyers was £98,307 in the third quarter, up from £95,000 in the previous quarter. The typical gross income of a first time buyer household was £33,516 compared to £32,273 in the second quarter. The relatively low level of interest rates saw first time buyers' payment burden remaining relatively low in the third quarter at 17.3% of gross income being spent to cover capital and interest payments, higher than 16.7% in the second quarter but a smaller proportion of income than the 19.6% UK average. Home movers borrowed more this quarter than any other quarter since the second quarter of 2008 totalling £1.3 billion. Home mover affordability changed fractionally, with home movers typically borrowing 2.62 times their gross income compared 2.69 in the second quarter and to 3.05 for the UK overall. The typical loan size for home movers was £130,000 in third quarter, up from £128,800 in the previous quarter. The typical gross household income of a home… Continue reading
New home sales in Australia on the up again, latest HIA data shows
New home sales in Australia experienced a modest rise in October after remaining flat the month before, according to the latest report from the Housing Industry Association (HIA). Total seasonally adjusted new home sales increased by 3% and growth was driven by a growth in the sale of detached houses in Victoria and Western Australia. HIA chief economist Harley Dale pointed out that after a relatively sharp decline of 5.7% in July, driven by both detached houses and multi-units, total new home sales have mounted a modest recovery ‘Sales are still off their cyclical peak reached back in April this year, but the overall volume of new home sales is still at an elevated level. That augurs well for healthy new home construction activity persisting into 2015,’ he explained. ‘Australia is on track to commence a record number of homes this year. While undesirable lags in the availability of Australian Bureau of Statistics data prevent confirmation of this outcome until well into next year, the fact is that 2014 is drawing to a close,’ he said. ‘We now want to be seeing evidence pointing to a healthy prognosis for new home building activity in 2015. In this regard we have positive signals coming from three key leading indicators. HIA new home sales and ABS building approvals are past their peaks but remain at elevated levels. Lending for new housing is still trending higher and doesn’t appear to have peaked yet,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures show that detached house sales increased by 4.7% in Victoria and by 24.8% in Western Australia but fell by 3% in New South Wales and were down by 7.8% in Queensland and 1.7% in South Australia. Over the three months to October 2014 detached house sales increased by 3.7% in New South Wales, by 1.2% in Queensland and by 1.7% in Western Australia. They fell by 13.4% in Victoria and by 6.3% in South Australia. Continue reading
Investigation claims property redress scheme not working in London
Local authorities in London are failing to do their job stamping out rogue letting agents, according to a new investigation. Since the beginning of October letting agents and property managers have had to sign up to one of three government approved ombudsman or redress schemes. But an investigation by television channel London Live says it has found failings in the legislation which shows in its current state it just isn’t working. It also suggests that Londoners are unaware they now have more powers to hold rogue agents to account if they are ripped off. If a tenant is unhappy with the way they’re treated by an agent they can go to one of these schemes to complain. If an agent refuses to comply with decisions made by these schemes, they face fines and could be banned from trading, giving the ombudsman the legal teeth they previously lacked. It's now illegal for any agent to operate without registering with a government approved ombudsman to avoid tenants paying excess fees, having their deposits withheld, or being in fear of revenge evictions. London Live asked every local authority in London if they are enforcing this, and their response ranged from Havering admitting they're not keeping track and waiting for tenants to report rogue agents, to Merton and Richmond saying it's only when they are made aware that they seek compliance. It found that Kensington and Chelsea think the law is still going through the courts so it's not clear to them which department has to deal with this. Newham is the only local authority actively taking action. They’ve issued £5,000 fines to nine letting agents who have refused to register. London renter Alex Parsons says is long overdue. ‘Just as I was about to move into a property in Waltham Forest my flat mates and I were told to pay £300 on top of the £200 I already had to pay in admin fees,’ he explained. According to Rosie Walker from Renters Rights London the scheme isn’t working at the moment as tenants are worried that if they complain they could end up without a home. ‘The redress scheme is the final tier of the complaint process, what should be happening is that the agent should be dealing with the complaints directly with the tenant and the landlord to resolve it (the problem),’ said Sean Hooker, head of Ombudsman the Property Redress Scheme. All three redress scheme operators revealed that they haven’t received a single complaint from a London tenant or landlord because not enough is being done to let people know about their new legal powers. Continue reading
