First-Time Buyers Remain Dominant In Driving Housing Activity

Lloyds Bank has reported that the number of people moving home increased for the first time in three years in the first half of 2019. There were 160,540 homemovers in the first half of 2019, up by 810 (1%) compared with the same period in 2018. Homemovers are still behind first-time buyers however where the numbers increased at a slightly higher rate of 7,460 (5%) to 173,790 in the first half of 2019. Regionally, the North, South East and Scotland are seeing falls (between 0.3% and 1.9%) in the numbers of homemovers in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. Read more on the Best Advice website.

https://bestadvice.co.uk/first-time-buyers-remain-dominant-in-driving-housing-activity/

Buying House In UK City At Least Affordable Level Since 2007

City living is at its least affordable levels for home buyers since 2007, a report suggests. The average house price in a UK city in 2018 equated to 7.2 times average annual earnings – making the cost of buying a home the least affordable since 2007 when buyers had to fork out 7.5 times their income typically, Lloyds Bank found. The average home in a city cost £248,233 while average full-time earnings stood at £34,366. Lloyds found seven cities where the average house price tops 10 times earnings -Oxford, Chichester, Winchester, Truro, London, Bath and Cambridge. Read more on the Belfast Telegraph website.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/buying-house-in-uk-city-at-least-affordable-level-since-2007-study-suggests-37775722.html

Lloyds Unveils 100% Mortgage For First-Time Buyers

Britain’s biggest lender is to offer 100% mortgages to first-time buyers in a return to lending last seen before the financial crash – but only if the buyer has family that can stand behind the loan. Under the new Lloyds Bank “Lend A Hand” deal, a first-time buyer will be able to borrow up to £500,000 for a new home, without putting down a penny of deposit. The Lloyds move marks a major expansion into the first-time buyer market, as most other mainstream lenders demand a minimum deposit worth 5% of the property purchase price, although Barclays has offered a similar “family springboard” deal. Lloyds has priced the mortgages to undercut the Barclays offer. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/28/lloyds-unveils-100-mortgage-for-first-time-buyers

HGP Has Funded The Creation Over 2000 Homes Since Start In 2015

The Housing Growth Partnership (HGP) has funded the creation over 2000 homes since the introduction of the fund in 2015. Formed to provide vital funding to small and medium sized builders with an ambition to grow, HGP is a partnership between Homes England and Lloyds Banking Group and a first of its kind joint venture between a public entity and a privately-owned company. To date, the fund has invested in the development of new homes on more than 40 sites across the UK. In March, the Chancellor announced that the Government was continuing to support Home England’s investment in the Housing Growth Partnership – a further £60m of investment was committed with Lloyds Banking Group matching the amount. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/hgp-has-funded-the-creation-over-2000-homes-since-start-in-2015/

First-Time Buyers 'Driving' Housing Market

The proportion of first-time buyers snapping up homes has overtaken the number of existing home-owners moving house for the first time since 1995, analysis has found. Across the UK there were 170,000 home-movers in the first half of 2018 compared with 175,500 first-time buyers, according to the Lloyds Bank Homemover Review, which only looked at properties bought with a mortgage. It was the first six-month period when the proportion of first-time buyers had been higher than home-movers since the first half of 1995. Moving costs, a lack of suitable properties and potential interest rate rises may be weighing on home-owners' minds when deciding whether or not to move, the report suggested. Read more on the AOL website.

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2018/07/19/first-time-buyers-driving-housing-market-as-they-overtake-home/?guccounter=2

Lloyds Bank Launches New £500m Fund For Social Housing Sector

Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking has launched a £500m fund for housing associations as part of its wider commitment to the housing sector. The fund will provide financing to housing associations including longer-dated debt with terms of up to 10 years. It will be available to the bank’s existing group of almost 200 social housing clients in its Mid-Markets segment, each of which own and manage over 1,000 units. This commitment is in addition to Lloyds Bank’s £750m support for the UK’s social housing sector this year, part of a wider pledge to provide £2.25bn of funding between 2018 and 2020. Read more on 24housing.

http://www.24housing.co.uk/news/lloyds-bank-launches-new-500m-fund-for-social-housing-sector/

Number Of Homemovers Falls For First Time In Five Years

The number of people moving home has fallen for the first time in five years, according to Lloyds Bank research. The number of homemovers is estimated to have reached 354,000 in 2016 – down 4% from 2015 when homemover numbers totalled 367,300. This is the first annual decline since 2011, following four successive years of growth. Overall, the current number of homemovers has grown by 12% since the lowest point of the recent housing downturn in 2009 when the number of people moving home was 315,000, the second lowest since records began. However, the current figure remains 50% below the level of 712,000 a decade ago. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

Cost Of Moving House Reaches £11,000

Rising house prices have pushed up estate agency fees, conveyancing costs and stamp duty too - putting the typical cost of moving at £10,996, up nine per cent on this time last year. The report, by Lloyds bank, also found that buyers in the south-east have been hardest-hit, with moving costs in London now standing at more than £31,000. The increase reflects how moving costs have risen faster than wages have over the past 10 years, shooting up by 25 per cent compared to a 17 per cent rise in full-time earnings. It means the total cost of moving now eats up 41.5 per cent of the UK's average salary of £26,500. Read more on the ITV website.

First-Time Buyers Hit As Lloyds Cuts Help To Buy Lending

Britain's biggest mortgage lender has slashed the amount customers can borrow under the Government’s Help to Buy scheme in a move branded ‘bad news for first-time buyers’. Lloyds Banking Group cut the amount it is prepared to lend by 70 per cent – from £500,000 to £150,000. The state-backed bank, which owns the Halifax, currently offers around half of all the mortgages taken out under Chancellor George Osborne’s scheme to help young people who cannot rely on wealthy parents for a downpayment on their own home. Read more on the Daily Mail website.

Reluctant Lenders Refuse To Commit To Help To Buy

Only the two government–backed banks, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, have committed to offering the scheme. Sources at other lenders said they are not able to decide whether they will join the scheme until the Government says how much it will charge lenders to take part and what administration and IT systems will be required. Lenders also want to know what level of relief they will receive on their capital requirements – the amount they must hold in capital reserves – in exchange for taking part. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.