Investment
UK expands shared home ownership scheme
The UK government is to make it easier for young couple to get in the housing ladder by expanding the right to shared ownership. Prime Minister David Cameron said that tens of thousands of young couples will be helped by reforms to existing part buy, part rent schemes. The policy should see 175,000 more aspiring home owners being able to buy a stake in their own home. Current rules that favour so called key workers such as nurses and fire fighters will be scrapped which means any households with an income of less than £80,000, or £90,000 in London, will be able to sign up to the schemes. Also, for the first time, those already in a shared ownership property will be able to move to another, allowing them to use the capital they have gained to move to a bigger property, as their families grow. ‘For years, we’ve had shared ownership, where you part buy, part rent a property. So many people are attracted to this idea, especially those who thought they’d never have a chance of owning a home,’ Cameron said. ‘But, because it’s been heavily restricted, many of those people have missed out. We’ve had local councils dictating who is eligible, based on everything from salary to profession to where the buyer comes from,’ he added. The changes will take effect from April next year and it means some people will be able to buy a house, for example in places like Yorkshire, with a deposit of just £1,400. Mark Hayward, managing director of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) welcomed the news. ‘By relaxing some of the existing restrictions, a potential 175,000 aspiring homeowners will be given the opportunity to own their own home, as well as allowing existing shared ownership homeowners the opportunity to step up the ladder,’ he said. ‘However, as with all housing promises, they can’t come quick, or big enough. There is still a huge issue with supply and available land upon which to build, not to mention the physical bricks, mortar and labour to do so,’ he pointed out. ‘The house building industry is desperately short of human resource and if we are to get Britain building the number of new houses required, we need to address this problem to create actual homes and not aspirational targets,’ he added. Continue reading
Latest index shows slight dip in UK house price growth
House prices in the UK in the last three months were 1.4% higher than the previous three months, the smallest rise since December 2014, according to the latest index figures to be published. Month on month they decreased by 0.2% but are 9% higher in the three months to November than in the same three months than a year ago, taking the average price to £204,552, the data from the Halifax shows. Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, pointed out that the annual rate of price growth eased from 9.7% in October but said solid economic growth, rising real earnings and falls in already very low mortgage rates have combined to stimulate housing demand this year. He explained that the increasingly acute imbalance between supply and demand is causing prices to rise at a robust pace and this is a situation that is unlikely to reverse significantly in the short term. Neal Hudson, associate director at Savills research, pointed out that monthly figures can be quite volatile so it is always best to look at the longer term trends. ‘These show continued annual price growth in excess of underlying incomes, driven primarily by increased mortgage lending into the sector but compounded by relatively low levels of stock available,’ he said. ‘Short term indicators have weakened, with house price growth on a three month basis slowing, but we may well see these seasonally adjusted figures revised in coming months,’ he added. He also pointed out that the figures reflect a regular pattern in house price growth emerging over the last couple of years, with strong price growth in the first six months followed by static prices in the final six months on the year. ‘Savills expects this trend to continue next year with a national house price forecast of 5% and so the seasonally adjusted growth currently reported may well be revised upwards in coming months,’ said Hudson. Mark Posniak, managing director of Dragonfly Property Finance, also expects prices to keep rising in 2016 due to the imbalance between supply and demand. ‘The worry is that there is no concerted long term strategy for tackling supply. The lack of properties being put up for sale remains an enigma given that mortgage rates and the cost of living are so low and consumer confidence, overall, is high,’ he said. ‘Talk of imminent interest rate rises has been going on for a year or two now and it may be that people want more clarity on the speed of rate rises before they commit to a purchase. It's hard to believe that 2016 will see any change in the ongoing narrative of low supply, strong demand and rising prices,’ he explained. According to Jonathan Hopper, managing director of the buying agents Garrington Property Finders, while a halving of the pace of quarter on quarter price rises might appear dramatic given the market’s consistent growth this year, it is the first time in… Continue reading
North/south home repossession gap closes in England and Wales
The gap between home repossessions in the North and South of England and Wales has closed by 80% since the recession, according to new detailed research. On average, there were 1.1 repossessions per 1,000 households in the North in the first half of 2015 compared to 0.7 in the South, according to the analysis by e.surv chartered surveyors of court ordered repossessions, a difference of 0.4. By comparison, in 2008 repossession rates stood at 8.2 per 1,000 households in the North and 5.9 in the South, a difference of 2.3. This means the divide has closed by 80% across this seven year period. On a yearly basis since the first half of 2014 the North-South divide has narrowed 43%. In the first six months of 2014 there were 2.4 repossessions per 1,000 households in the North, in contrast to 1.7 in the South, with a difference of 0.7, meaning the gap closed at a faster pace over the last year than in previous years. In absolute terms, across England and Wales total home repossessions have declined by 45% year on year to reach 10,401 in the first half of 2015 from 23,279 as of the first half of 2014. As a result, the average rate of repossessions stands at 0.9 per 1,000 households, compared to a rate of 2.1 repossessions per 1,000 households in the first half of 2014. However, the report says that despite these improvements, the North is failing to match this average rate across England and Wales, with almost eight out of 10 towns in the regions seeing a higher than average repossession rate. ‘Over the last year, the North/South gap has been narrowing at an accelerated pace. Fewer people are battling unemployment and against this optimistic backdrop, finances are being bolstered across England and Wales by delayed interest rate increases,’ said Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors. ‘Rising wages and negative inflation are making living costs more affordable, giving people room to save. But these economic changes are also having a real impact on those feeling the strain and potentially facing repossession,’ he explained. ‘A healthier lending market is enabling people to search for cheaper mortgage options and regulatory changes, such as the 2014 Mortgage Market Review, are making a real difference in protecting borrowers from committing to potentially unaffordable mortgages in the first place,’ he added. The details of the report reveal that since the first half of 2014, Bolton has featured in the top 10 worst repossession postcodes. Despite the town seeing a reduction in its repossession rate year on year to two per 1,000 households in the first half of 2015 from 2.8 in the first half of 2014, it still has emerged as the town with the highest incidence. Within the bottom five, Oldham at 1.6 per 1,000, Liverpool also at 1.6 per 1,000 and Manchester at 1.5 per 1,000, re all in the North West and are all battling high… Continue reading
