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Mortgage market in Wales looking strong going into 2015, says CML
Mortgage lending in Wales remains driven primarily by lending for house purchase, with first time buyers in particular showing strong year on year growth, according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. In the third quarter, there were 3,300 first time buyer loans in Wales, 18% up on the third quarter of 2013. But in the short term lending to this grow is slowing and was 3% down on the previous quarter. Also, first time buyers in the period borrowed £350 million, unchanged from the previous quarter but 21% up on the third quarter of 2013. There were 3,900 home mover loans in the third quarter, up 11% on the previous quarter and 8% more than in the third quarter of 2013. Total value of these loans was £520 million, up 16% on the second quarter and up 18% on the third quarter 2013. Remortgage lending in the quarter in Wales remained unchanged in volume levels quarter on quarter but down 23% compared to the same quarter in 2013. However, the data also shows that the past two quarters have seen the highest lending volumes by first time buyers since 2007. The CML said that first time buyer affordability has been relatively good in Wales compared to the UK, with first time buyers typically borrowing 3.23 times their gross income, which was unchanged from the second quarter but less than the UK average of 3.41. The typical loan size for first-time buyers breached the £100,000 mark for the first time in Wales since 2007, totalling £100,800, up from £99,000 in the second quarter. The typical gross income of a first time buyer household was £31,868 compared to £30,484 in the second quarter. The relatively low level of interest rates saw first-time buyers' monthly payment burden remain relatively low in the third quarter at 18.2% of gross income being spent to cover capital and interest payments, a smaller proportion of income than the 19.6% UK average and unchanged from 18.2% in the second quarter. Lending to home movers, unlike first time buyers, saw an increase quarter on quarter in Wales. Home mover affordability improved fractionally, with home movers typically borrowing 2.79 times their gross income compared to 3.41 for the UK overall and 2.82 in the second quarter. The typical loan size for home movers was £121,599 in third quarter, up from £117,995 in the previous quarter. The typical gross household income for home movers was £46,001 in third quarter compared to £42,247 in second quarter. Home movers' payment burden remained relatively low in Wales at 17.5% of gross income being spent to cover monthly capital and interest payments, less than the 18.8% UK average and 17.2% seen in the second quarter. Remortgage lending in Wales totalled 3,100 loans advanced in the third period of 2014, unchanged from the second quarter, but down 23% compared to the same quarter in 2013. These loans totalled £340 million in value, an increase of 6% quarter on quarter but down… Continue reading
Faulty boilers are top cause of complaint for UK tenants
The top cause of complaint from tenants in the UK is a faulty boiler, with nearly a third of tenants suffering from lack of hot water and/or heating at some time during their tenancy. A new survey conducted by online letting agent PropertyLetByUs, also found that the second most common complaint was a leaking roof with 22% of respondents experiencing this problem. Mould and condensation accounted for 14% of complaints, as did faulty showers while problematic window locks accounted for 10% and broken windows 8%. Faulty smoke alarms was the cause of 6% of complaints, as was pests and vermin, while noisy neighbours caused 4% of complaints and problems with fire escapes 2%. The research also shows that some tenants are waiting a long time to get problems fixed. Nearly 20% of tenants are having to wait up to two months, while 12% of tenants have experienced landlords that never fix the problem. Just a third of tenants report that their landlord fixes problems quickly, within a couple of days. ‘Landlords have a duty of care for their tenants and leaving problems, such as faulty boilers can be very dangerous and put lives at risk. Some tenants are having to wait long periods of time to get problems fixed, which is unacceptable. It is worrying that only a third of landlords deal with tenant problems quickly,’ said Jane Morris, the firm’s managing director. The firm pointed out that only recently, two Kent landlords were fined £20,000 for leaving a flat so severely riddled with damp it posed a risk to tenants’ health. The landlords had left tenants living in damp conditions and without heating for more than two years. Both properties were also lacking vital fire safety alarms. ‘Whilst this may be an extreme case, the message is clear. Landlords and agents should deal with maintenance issues as quickly as possible. If they delay, issues can deteriorate, resulting in a higher cost to the landlord or tenant. It is also important that landlords or their agent make regular maintenance checks, ideally every three months, so they can identify potential and existing issues and sort them quickly,’ added Morris. The firm also pointed out that landlords and agents have a duty of care to advise tenants on the correct course of action while contractors are organised, such as turning off gas taps, water stop cocks or main electricity supplies, to ensure that any problem does not cause danger to life and property. Any gas or major electrical fault is classed as urgent and should be attended to within 24 hours or less. This also applies when heating or hot water is affected, especially during cold weather. Water leaks should be dealt with within 24 hours, cookers within 48 hours and other broken appliances such washing machines and dish washers should be attended to within 72 hours. Communication is key and the landlord or agent should keep the tenant informed of… 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
