Tag Archives: housing
UK govt and mortgage industry to work to make home lending process more transparent
The UK government and the country’s mortgage industry have pledged to work together to make sure home lending is available for every stage of life from first time buyers to retirees. Following a meeting between the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, other government ministers and mortgage industry representatives, work is to be done to make lending more transparent. The meeting also discussed the measures that have already been taken to boost help for first time buyers such as Help to Buy and ISAs and how they can be taken forward. It comes at a time when advice given by lenders to borrowers has been found to be mixed in the aftermath of changes brought in last year. In particular there has been criticism of the new questionnaire that all applicants have to fill in so that lenders can ascertain that they can afford repayments with instances of people not revealing all their spending plans for fear of being rejected. A lot of older people and self-employed have also found it harder to get a mortgage. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Harriett Baldwin, revealed that since 2010 some 2.8 million mortgages have been advanced, worth a total of £444.5 billion, and by backing the government’s flagship Help to Buy schemes, the industry has helped nearly 100,000 people get onto or move up the housing ladder. ‘The government’s Help to Buy ISA which is due to launch later in the year will get young people on to the housing ladder, while our work on supporting lending to older people will make sure the mortgage market delivers for those who have worked hard all their life,’ she said. We are pleased that the real effect which the mortgage market can have on people’s lives is recognised within government. We take the industry’s responsibilities to borrowers very seriously,’ said Paul Smee, director general of the CML. ‘We hope the improvements we are making to the transparency of fees and charges will help make it easier for people to understand mortgage costs more easily, and will support the many benefits that a wide choice of mortgages brings to consumers,’ he added. Meanwhile, the CML is working with its members, who make up over 90% of lending business for homes in the UK, to improve the advice given to mortgage clients after a review by the financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that there is room for improvement. Smee pointed out that lenders have had a huge workload implementing comprehensive rule changes in April last year as a result of the mortgage market review (MMR). ‘Those changes have been introduced with little disruption for consumers or to the market more generally. But there was more to be done to refine the ways in which firms operate,’ he said. The FCA found that the quality of advice in the mortgage market was mixed. Some firms were engaging customers in focused and relevant discussions, leading to suitable recommendations based on… Continue reading
House price growth confidence hit new high in UK after general election
Confidence in the outlook for house price growth in the UK hit its highest level in four years following the general election in May, but dropped back last month. The dip in confidence in June comes despite continued rise in real wage growth, together with record low numbers of homes available for sale pushing average house prices over £200,000 for the first time ever, according to the Housing Market Confidence Tracker report from the Halifax. House Price Optimism (HPO) hit +68 in May 2015, and although it slipped back slightly in June to +64 it remains substantially higher than at the beginning of the year when it was +52 in the January survey. Nevertheless, while the May high was short lived, the percentage of Britons predicting an increase in the average property price of more than 5% over the next 12 months has still risen from 34% to 38% in the last quarter, comparing the March and June 2015 measures, respectively. This increased optimism also corresponds with a fall in the net figure for buying sentiment from +35 in February 2015 to +25 in June 2015. Some 56% said in June they think it will be a good time to buy property over the next 12 months, compared to 61% who said this in February 2015. At the same time there’s been an increase in the net figure for selling sentiment from +27 in February 2015 to +32 in June 2015. With the Governor of the Bank of England saying improving economic figures means an interest rate rise has moved closer, 48% expect mortgage interest rates to be higher in 12 months’ time compared to 45% in the first quarter of the year. Londoners are less likely than those in any other region to say it is a good time to buy at 38% compared with 56% of Britons overall, making it the only region where the proportion who think the next 12 months will be a bad time to buy exceeds the proportion who think it will be a good time. Those in the South East are more confident than in any other region that house prices will be higher in 12 months’ time at 90% compared to 69% of Britons overall, with those in the North East and the West Midlands the least likely to say this, both at 59%. ‘Economic growth, together with increasing real earnings growth and historic low mortgage rates are all supporting the continued rise in house price optimism. It’s not been a smooth increase though as while there was a noticeable spike in optimism straight after the General Election result, this has now fallen off slightly,’ said Martin Ellis, housing economist at the Halifax. ‘A key factor in maintaining optimism over house price growth has been the fact that the stock of homes available for sale is currently at record low levels. If this growth is to be sustainable then we need to… Continue reading
UK govt announces changes to shake up house planning and get more homes built
A series of planning reforms announced today by the UK government aimed at boosting house building have been widely welcomed by the property and construction industries Under the changes planning permission will be granted automatically for homes on brownfield sites, even over ruling wishes of local authorities in England. But experts warned that councils will not like the move although they have been heavily criticised for not creating local plans and taking too long to make decisions. Ministers will also get powers to seize disused land which is suitable for houses and major housing projects are set to be fast tracked through the planning system. There will be penalties for local authorities that make 50% or fewer planning decisions on time in a bid to inject some speed into the planning process. The rules on extensions in London are to be relaxed in terms of building upwards to match neighbouring levels and the Mayors of London and Manchester are to get power over planning in their cities. The British Property Federation (BPF) said the changes have the potential to be an enormous boon to housing supply but it warned that some of the new measures will only work if the government addresses the severe shortage of funds within local authority planning departments. The BPF also urged the government not to over focus on providing new homes for sale and pointed out that there is also a need for more purpose built rental accommodation in order to combat the housing shortage and deliver a more balanced housing market. Melanie Leech, chief executive of the BPF, British Property Federation, called for a dialogue with both the public and private sectors on how to address the severe shortage of funds which is afflicting local planning departments. ‘The private sector will need to play a part in helping to address this funds shortage, and this needs to be explored fully if we want these new measures to work. We would also have liked to have seen some commitment to growing the purpose built rental sector, which has an important part to play in solving the housing crisis and creating a balanced housing market,’ she said. ‘We warmly welcome the government’s recognition of how a functioning and efficient planning system can contribute to the UK’s growth by creating not just new homes, but also the infrastructure that supports great places,’ she added. Leech explained that a lack of dynamism among local authorities on Local Plans should be addressed by the government being able to intervene. ‘Local Plans are fundamental to growth, and we are firm believers in a plan led system. There are still areas, however, without a Local Plan in place, and so we are pleased to see that government is taking steps to ensure that plans are delivered in a timely fashion,’ she said. ‘A number of recalcitrant local authorities have been dragging their feet and producing bloated local plans that are overly long and simply… Continue reading
