Tag Archives: london
Survey confirms UK Help to Buy is popular with first time buyers
The UK Government’s Help to Buy scheme is now the most popular way for first time buyers to get on to the housing ladder, new research suggests. As well as helping first time buyers who can afford to pay a mortgage but are struggling to save a deposit it eases the pressure on families to plug gaps in savings, says the study from mortgage and loans provider Ocean Finance. It found that half of first time buyers would use the Help to Buy equity loan or mortgage guarantee schemes to overcome the barrier of having a small deposit at a time when deposits are the biggest barrier to getting on the housing ladder. The Government started the Help to Buy scheme in 2013 in an attempt to kick start the housing market following the financial crisis which saw lenders tighten their mortgage lending rules and most 95% mortgages disappear. This meant borrowers needed to fund deposits of at least 10% and often, up to 25%, which took home ownership out of the hands of many first time buyers. Almost 40% of first time buyers questioned said being able to save a big enough deposit is the main barrier to owning their own home. This is following by rising house prices, which makes it harder to fulfil tough affordability checks and at the same time, pushes the amount needed for a deposit even higher. Alongside its equity loan and mortgage guarantee schemes, the Government is set to launch a Help to Buy ISA this autumn. The ISA is designed to boost the savings of first time buyers with a top up from the Government of 25%, up to a maximum of £3,000 on savings of £12,000. Almost a quarter of those questioned by Ocean said they planned to open a Help to Buy ISA. That compares with 14% who expect to rely on help from their families to fund their deposit. ‘The Help to Buy scheme is doing its job and helping to remove the deposit barrier that many first-time buyers face. Too many first time buyers have been frozen out of the housing market because they couldn’t save the 25% needed to get the best deals and make their mortgage affordable,’ said Gareth Shilton, Ocean’s spokesperson. ‘It’s interesting to see appetite for the new Help to Buy ISA also, and we’re looking forward to seeing take up levels of this scheme once it’s launched. The big question, of course, is what will happen when the Government steps back from supporting schemes to get the housing market moving. House builders and lenders need to be having conversations to see how they can work together to ensure the momentum isn’t lost,’ he added. Continue reading
Warning over too much mortgage regulation in the UK
Regulators’ determination to reform the UK mortgage market has resulted in a layering effect which threatens to stifle consumer access to credit if it goes unchecked, according to a new report. The cumulative impact of new MMR financial regulations introduced last year and the implementation of the European Union Mortgage Credit Directive, is affecting the lending recovery, says the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA). The report acknowledges and accepts the need and ‘inevitable’ cost of improving the safety of the banking sector and preventing a repeat of the financial crisis but it warns that the common objective of building a ‘sustainable’ market with enough room to deliver positive outcomes for consumers is threatened by the sheer volume of new rules. It also points out that the overlapping effect may unwittingly tip the balance too far away from consumer choice and it is calling on the Bank of England to establish a in industry panel to guard against too many rules. The report raises concerns over regulators’ potential ‘bias to action’ where they perceive a high cost to their reputation if they are seen to be too permissive, compared with a low risk of being too restrictive. IMLA cites the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) decision in June 2014 to impose interest rate stress tests and limit high loan to income (LTI) mortgage lending as an example of this bias. The actions came at a time when the effect of the MMR on the market was still unclear, and saw the fledgling recovery of 2014 followed by a subsequent downturn in mortgage activity that brought eight successive months of approvals falling year on year. Despite the slowdown, the FPC was given further powers in February 2015 to cap loan to value and debt to income levels for mortgages. These powers are as-yet unused but the IMLA suggests these actions support the view that regulators perceive a ‘normal’ mortgage market to be significantly smaller than that which existed before 2007, which has implications for access to home ownership as the UK population grows. To prevent regulatory layering from choking off the recovery, IMLA calls on the Bank of England to maintain an ongoing review of the new regulatory framework to identify unnecessary overlap and costs. One solution it proposes is a joint Bank of England industry panel that specifically focuses on identifying areas where regulations are unnecessarily complex or duplicative. ‘No-one is questioning the need for continued caution or the regulators’ responsibilities to put boundaries in place to ensure the mortgage market is sustainable in the long term,’ said Peter Williams, executive director for IMLA. ‘You could also argue that regulators and industry will naturally have differing views about what constitutes normal or healthy activity and this is exactly why it’s in consumers’ interests to put a permanent forum in place where the two can put the vast tomes of new regulation under the microscope,’ he pointed out. ‘We must ensure that future regulatory… Continue reading
UK retired home owners sitting on property wealth of £874 billion
Retired home owners in the UK have seen their property wealth grow by more than £12.5 billion in the past three months as house prices continue to climb, new research claims. It means that owning a property has earned the average pensioner nearly £900 a month, according to the retirement pensioner property index from over 55s financial specialist Key Retirement. Pensioners who own their homes outright have gained an average of £2,680 each from their houses in the past three months taking their property wealth to a new record high. In the five years since the firm started monitoring the housing wealth of the over 65s, in January 2010, total pensioner property wealth has increased by 12% or £93.85 billion which equates to £20,000 on average for every home owner. The index shows over 65 home owners now own property wealth of £873.77 billion outright with pensioners across almost all of the UK benefiting. The analysis from the report also suggests that the growth in property prices will drive expansion of the equity release market which enables home owners to release wealth from their homes. Retired home owners in London were the biggest winners gaining an average of around £16,260 each in the past three months, while home owners in Scotland are more than £8,650 better off and pensioners in Yorkshire and Humberside are £4,063 better off. However retired home owners in Wales saw a fall in housing wealth with average losses of £2,230 in the three months while the North West and West Midlands also saw house price falls. The figures show nearly a fifth of all pensioner property equity is owned by over 65s in London with total wealth of £173.683 billion. Nearly two thirds of pensioner property wealth is concentrated in London, the South East, the South West and East Anglia. ‘Retired home owners have huge assets in their houses with total property wealth hitting another all-time high of £873 billion highlighting the growing importance of housing for retirement planning,’ said Dean Mirfin, technical director at Key Retirement. ‘No matter what happens in the property market home owners will always have a major asset which should be considered as part of retirement planning. Innovation in the equity release market and the launch of pension freedoms are opening up more ways for homeowners to use their property wealth, he explained. ‘Retired home owners, and those approaching retirement, should take advice on how their property wealth can generate additional capital and/or income. Advisers and lenders need to focus on a holistic approach to retirement planning which ensures that property wealth is considered alongside pension savings and other investments,’ he added. Continue reading
