New Sales Process Launched for Residential Leasehold Properties in the UK

This article by the Property Wire on October 10th, 2013 discusses the introduction of a new sales process welcomed by the British Property Federation.

The British Property Federation has welcomed the introduction of a new property sales process which will reduce leasehold transaction times by five to 10 days and save UK consumers a combined total of over a million days each year.
 
The new process, based on a standardised questionnaire for the industry has been created by the BPF and all the major trade bodies, including The Law Society and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), facilitated by Move with Us, and will be available to all parties in the process.

The BPF pointed out that buyers and sellers of leasehold properties have experienced added complications and expensive delays because of differing information requirements from both the buyer’s and seller’s conveyancers meaning the landlord or managing agent has to deal with a different set of enquiries every time a leasehold property is sold.

By creating an approved set of enquiries for leasehold properties both landlords and managing agents can introduce systems to collate the information safe in the knowledge that both the buyer’s and seller’s conveyancers will accept it, saving an estimated five to 10 working days on average. Consumers will also save money as the additional requests for information will only be required where an issue is revealed which requires further investigation.

‘It is great to see that the whole residential leasehold sector pulling together and delivering a benefit to its customers,’ said Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the British Property Federation.

‘The commercial leasehold sector has had standard enquiries for 10 years and seen the advantages flowing from a more efficient conveyancing process. The same will be true of these residential enquiries and we will be promoting them amongst our membership as the standard for the sector,’ he added.

The new industry created and approved Leasehold Property Enquiries, Form LPE1 will be available from 10 October and the overall concept has been approved by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and The Building Societies Association (BSA).

Landlords, managing agents and conveyancers interested in accessing the new leasehold enquiries form should contact Beth de Montjoie Rudolf at Move with Us.

Article Source: http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-leaeshold-property-sales-201310108334.html

Adult Children Live with Their Parents at Home as Rents and House Prices Rise

This alarming article by Tanya Powley of Financial Times on September 6th, 2013 reveals grown-up children are still living at home with their parents because getting on to the property ladder is increasingly difficult as rents and house prices rise.

“Empty nest” syndrome has become a problem of the past for millions of parents who have adult children in their twenties and early thirties still living at home.

The trend of young adults returning to live in the parental home – generation boomerang as they have been called – has grown in recent years, as rents and house prices have risen further out of the reach of would-be homeowners.

Three in ten parents have at least one child aged between 21 and 40 living at home, according to a survey published by the National Housing Federation on Friday. Two-thirds of these parents said their child could not afford to move out.

The poll, which surveyed more than 1,100 parents, highlighted the emotional and financial burden parents face and why the returning offspring have been given another nickname: Kippers – kids in parents’ pockets eroding retirement savings.

One in five said having a grown-up child at home had caused them stress, while a further fifth said it had given rise to family arguments.

“Moving out and setting up a family home of your own is a normal rite of passage,” said David Orr, chief executive at the National Housing Federation. “Yet as rents, mortgages and deposits continue to soar out of reach, it is no longer an option for many.”

Official figures show the number of young adults living at home has jumped by 20 per cent since 1997. According to the Office for National Statistics, almost 3m Britons between the age of 20 and 34 now live at home – of which 1.8m are men.

Amanda Lightstone, a 57-year-old dental nurse, has her youngest son, Andrew, 25, living with her in her three-bedroom house in Edgware, northwest London. She has already lent more than £100,000 to her older sons to help them buy their homes and said she will do the same for her youngest.

“How will he save for a deposit if he starts renting? He will live at home for quite a few years – he’ll be more than 30 when he can afford to buy his own place. I will just have to delay my retirement plans, you can’t have everything!” said Ms Lightstone.

Ann Berrington, professor of demography at the University of Southampton, said the percentage of young adults in their twenties living with their parents has increased since the recession.

Her analysis of the 2008 and 2012 UK Labour Force Surveys found the percentage of women aged between 21 and 22 living at the parental home rose from 46.4 per cent to 55.6 in the four years to 2012.

“The lack of affordable housing is clearly a factor as well as having to raise bigger deposits, but there are other factors at play,” said Professor Berrington.

While research published on Friday showed that in July the number of first-time buyers was at its highest since November 2007, according to LSL Property Services, transaction levels are still significantly lower than at the peak of the housing market.

Local government department figures published on Thursday showed that the government’s housing schemes, which aim to make it easier for people to buy a home with just a 5 per cent deposit, have made little headway.

According to the government, 3,749 people have bought a home through its NewBuy scheme launched in March 2012. This equates to less than 5 per cent of its 100,000 target. The second part of the scheme has had a bigger impact, with 3,000 sales and 10,000 reservations since April 2013.

Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance, said: “We haven’t been building enough houses for 30 years and this is a real embedded crisis that’s not going to go away.”

Article Source:  http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/eb71071c-163e-11e3-a57d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2e596ach1

Mortgages Up By Third as Housing Sales Soar

Sarah O'Grady of Express discusses the banks' approved mortgages is third higher compared to last year as the housing market continues to step up according to this article on 24th August, 2013.

The number of mortgages approved by banks is a third higher than a year ago as the housing market revival continues to gather pace.

Some 37,200 approvals for house purchases worth a total of £5.7billion got the green light in July, the British Bankers’ Association reported.

This was only slightly down on a 17-month high of 37,337 the previous month.

The BBA said the “stronger pattern” seen in the mortgage market since the start of the year has continued into the summer.

Mortgage approvals to home buyers are 31 per cent higher than in the same period last year and re-mortgaging approvals are 40 per cent higher.

However, overall mortgage lending remains “subdued” because homeowners are making high repayments on their loans, the BBA said.

Various Government schemes to boost the housing market mean several mortgage lenders have been offering their lowest ever rates.

With poor returns generally on offer on savings, this has made it more attractive for people to use any spare cash to pay down their mortgage debt.

BBA statistics director David Dooks said: ­“Mortgage activity has strengthened during 2013 with the help of Government schemes. But high ­repayments and redemptions mean that we are not seeing increases in net mortgage borrowing for the high street banks.”

Jonathan Harris, director of mortgage broker Anderson Harris, said that despite the uplift in activity, house sales are still far lower than they were at the height of the boom years.

Article Source: http://www.express.co.uk/news/property/424289/Mortgages-up-by-third-as-housing-sales-soar