Surging House Prices See £1bn In Property Wealth Released

Older homeowners have taken advantage of the rapid escalation of house prices to release more than £11.3m in property wealth a day during the first three months of the year. The average customer received £103,710 – a 25% increase over the £83,242 released in the first quarter of 2020 – highlighting how over-55s are confidently using their housing equity to support family and ease the pressure on income by managing debt. Total equity released (including drawdown and further advances) in the three months to March 31st increased by 12.8% to £1.07 billion from £950.59 million in the same period last year despite plan sales falling by 9.5% to 10,341 from 11,423. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

Surging house prices see £1bn in property wealth released during Q1 | Property Reporter

Leaseholders ‘Horrified’ After Final Vote On £10bn Fire Safety Costs

Homeowners have reacted with “horror” after parliament finally voted against protecting them from post-Grenfell fire safety costs that could run to £10bn. Campaigners for hundreds of thousands of people trapped with devastating bills to make their homes safe said Wednesday night’s vote in the House of Lords against protecting them “pulls the rug from under a generation of leaseholders”. It comes after weeks of debates in parliament in which the government rejected calls from Labour and about 30 rebel Tory MPs for them to meet the cost and recoup the money from property developers. Read more on the Guardian website.

Leaseholders ‘horrified’ after final vote on £10bn fire safety costs | Grenfell Tower fire | The Guardian

Forced To Sell Their Homes At Any Price

 Homeowners stuck in flats they cannot sell due to a red-tape nightmare are now so desperate they are flogging their properties at enormous discounts of up to 40 per cent on their asking price. Lenders have been refusing to offer mortgages on tens of thousands of homes after new safety rules were introduced in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. But homeowners say they face bankruptcy if they cannot sell their properties, as many expect crippling bills for repair work and rising mortgage payments. The fiasco means growing numbers are now turning to firms that pay cash for unwanted properties at cut prices. Read more on the Thisismoney website.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-8860203/Banks-refuse-mortgage-flats-cladding-fears.html

Home Insulation Scheme Must Guarantee High-Quality Work

The government must ensure homeowners receive high quality improvements under its new energy efficiency scheme, campaigners and MPs have said. Under the plan, the government will pay at least two-thirds of the cost of home improvements that save energy in homes. The Green Homes Grant will be launched in England in September. But the chair of Parliament's business select committee, Darren Jones MP, has expressed concern about how people will be protected from poor quality work. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53492536

Social Renters Most Affected By Coronavirus

The Resolution Foundation says four in five social housing tenants either work in sectors directly hit by the government-imposed lockdown such as hospitality and retail, are unable to work from home, or must care for school-aged children. Only half of homeowners are in similar situations, it added, with the figure 59% for private renters. Staying home to help slow the spread of the virus will also “be particularly challenging” for the UK’s 1.8 million families living in overcrowded conditions – with 13% of social rented households affected compared to 10% of private renters and just 2% of owner-occupiers. Read more on the Resolution Foundation website.

https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/housing-outlook-q2-2020/

Payment Holiday Offer For Help To Buy Homeowners

The government is to give homeowners who used a Help to Buy loan to purchase their property a payment holiday if they run into financial difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak. While no details have been published on how the holiday would work, Homes England said it would offer similar repayment breaks for those who were struggling to pay interest fees on their equity loans.

The news from Homes England follows the chancellor of the exchequer’s announcement on Tuesday that homeowners with standard mortgages would be offered a three-month payment break. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/payment-holiday-offer-for-help-to-buy-homeowners/5105021.article

2 Million Over-55s Live In Dangerous Homes

More than 2 million people aged over 55 live in homes that endanger their health, according to a report, with older homeowners who cannot afford to maintain their home most at risk. Accidents and illnesses caused by dangerous homes cost the NHS £1.4bn a year, according to Home and Dry, a report by the Centre for Ageing Better and Care & Repair England based on analysis of the English Household Survey. The average non-decent home could be brought up to a decent standard for £2,866. A third of homes could be repaired for less than £1,000. But previous funding to address the problem has been withdrawn, the report says. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/05/2-million-over-55s-live-in-dangerous-homes-say-charities

Leaseholders Ready To Take Action

More than half (55%) of older homeowners who own leasehold properties in England and Wales would consider buying the freehold or extending the lease, research from equity release adviser Key has found. Homes owned on a leasehold basis account for around one in four sales a year and once a property has less than 80 years left on the lease, it becomes more expensive to extend the lease and in sometimes buyers can find it difficult to get finance to purchase the property. Key’s study found more than two in five (41%) of over-55s with leasehold properties have terms of less than 80 years to run and nearly one in five (18%) have less than 50 years left on their lease. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/leaseholders-ready-to-take-action/

Fleeced On The Freehold

Up to 1.3 million homeowners could be trapped in freehold contracts that tie them to rising and unregulated fees. Many new-build estate residents who already pay council tax are being charged uncapped 'management fees' if their local authority does not take on the upkeep of the area. Campaigners are calling it 'the new leasehold scandal' and say homeowners are now struggling to sell or remortgage. Read more on Mailonline.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-7601941/Toxic-leaseholds-banned-firms-cashing-freeholds.html

Number Of Homeowners Unable To Pay Winter Bills Up 80%

Over three quarters (76%) of Brits will cut back on their regular outgoings to pay for their heating this winter – an increase of 29% on last year, according to research from MoneySuperMarket. Over a third (38%) of Brits fear being unable to pay their energy bills - up 80% since last year, while 15% of homeowners anticipate there will be days their family will go cold. Sacrifices being made include reducing energy consumption in the home, via basic measures such as turning the lights off in empty rooms and turning appliances off at the wall (33%). Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/household/number-of-homeowners-unable-to-pay-winter-bills-up-80.html

Young People And Renters ‘Shut Out’ Of The Planning System

Planning needs “new forms of decision making”, with the present system often dominated by those less supportive of new homes in their local area, a new report reveals. People Powered Planning, published by Demos and funded by Nationwide Building Society, finds that a minority of homeowners (42%) support new homes, compared to a majority of renters (60%). However, the majority of homeowners (56%) have engaged with the planning system, compared to a minority of renters (29%). Download the report from the Demos website.

https://demos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/People-Powered-Planning.pdf

2 Out Of 5 Opt To Build Rather Than Move

A new report from TSB has revealed that 41% of UK homeowners would prefer to build an extension than move house after changes in planning law. However, the research found that 80% of people thought the change in regulations will make disputes within neighbourhoods more likely, with four in five (79%) saying they thought that people would have their view spoilt by new extensions. In May 2019, thousands of homeowners were given the green light to extend their properties without planning permission. This means that families who are running out of space in their home will be able to extend their house to create space for their family, rather than move. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/2-out-of-5-opt-to-build-rather-than-move.html

Permitted Development For Home Extensions Comes Into Force

The extension of permitted development rights to allow homeowners to extend their properties without a full planning application – as well as high street conversions to offices and homes – has come into permanent effect. The regulations do not include the right to allow upward extensions. Under the rules, homeowners can put a single-storey rear extension on their property of up to six metres for terraced or semi-detached homes – or eight metres for detached homes. Over 110,000 extensions have been completed since 2014 under the previously temporary rules. Read more on the Planning Portal.

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/news/article/638/planning_news_-_30_may_2019?utm_source=PPQ+Newsletter&utm_campaign=cb200b140f-Newsletter_18042019_HTML_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_734e0b63a9-cb200b140f-7266185#one

Older ‘Last Time Buyers’ Now A Growing Part Of The Market

As many as one transaction in three is now undertaken by a so-called Last Time Buyer - twice as many as a decade ago. Data from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association shows nearly 200,000 owner occupier housing transactions in England annually are made by the over-55s as a growing number use their equity reserves to find their last home. IMLA’s research shows that each year only around 2.5 per cent of the estimated 8m older homeowners in England move but it predicts this to grow as the demographic group is increasing faster than any other. Read more on the Estate Agent Today website.

https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/4/older-last-time-buyers-now-a-growing-part-of-the-market-figures-reveal

UK PRS Investment To Reach £75bn By 2025

New figures forecast some £75bn of investment will be committed to the professionally-managed Private Rented Sector (PRS) by 2025. The Multihousing report released by Knight Frank reveals the key trends set to dominate the private rented sector, along with insights from tenants and investors.

Over 10,000 people across the UK responded to the Tenant Survey, conducted for Knight Frank by YouGov. The report reflects the views of 5,000 people living in PRS across the UK. For the first time, the survey also includes 5,000 homeowners, allowing the study to draw conclusions on the differences between homeowners and renters. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/uk-prs-investment-to-reach-75bn-by-2025/

Brokenshire Announces Overhaul Of Broken Housing Complaints System

Dissatisfied homeowners and tenants will have simple and quick access to help when things go wrong, thanks to new plans announced by Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP. From broken boilers to cracks in the wall, the new Housing Complaints Resolution Service will potentially help millions by providing a straight-forward way of getting help when faced with unresolved disputes about problems with their home – such as repairs and maintenance. Establishing a single housing complaints service for all residents – no matter whether they rent or own their home – will prevent people from battling with their landlord or builder to resolve issues on their own and make it easier to claim compensation where it’s owed. Read more on the Gov UK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/james-brokenshire-announces-overhaul-of-broken-housing-complaints-system

Lenders Cut Mortgage Rates To Give A Kick-Start To 2019

First-time buyers and homeowners remortgaging their properties have been given some good news at the start of the year as a number of lenders have cut their rates in an increasingly competitive market. Last week HSBC dropped rates on 31 different mortgages while the market-leading product for a 10-year fixed-rate loan also went down. The cuts come at a time when the outlook for property sales is at the lowest level for two decades. A report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said that the looming threat of Brexit had dragged down the UK property market further, with prices falling at the fastest rate in six years. Read more on the Observer website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/20/brexit-gloom-property-mortgage-rates-cut

UK Homeowners Rush To Remortgage Amid Brexit Uncertainty

Remortgaging activity has surged to a near-decade high as Britain’s homeowners rush to lock into low-rate loans amid uncertainty over Brexit. Homeowners remortgaged loans to the value of £9.2bn in October, the highest monthly total since November 2008, when it hit £9.3bn, according to figures this week from UK Finance, which represents mortgage lenders. The number of loans they remortgaged — at 50,500 — also hit a 10-year peak since November 2008, when 68,500 were remortgaged. The remortgage market has grown sharply in recent years, filling a gap for lenders left by a dwindling appetite for new loans for home purchase in a cooling housing market. Read more on the Financial Times website.

https://www.ft.com/content/323dfa6e-feed-11e8-ac00-57a2a826423e

Home-Owners Get More Government Subsidy Than Social Housing Tenants Or Private Renters

Home-owners get a much bigger slice of government help than renters according to a new report by the Chartered Institute of Housing. Contrary to expectations, an exhaustive analysis of government spending, taxation and regulation of the housing market reaches the conclusion that home-owners are the most subsidised, followed by social housing tenants and then private landlords and renters. It’s the first study to have made such a broad comparison of government intervention in the market, taking account not only of government spending on grants, loans and guarantees, but also tax reliefs, welfare benefits and regulatory mechanisms which aim to stimulate or control the three main routes by which people get access to housing. Read more on the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/news-article/display/vpathDCR/templatedata/cih/news-article/data/Home-owners_get_more_government_subsidy_than_social_housing_tenants_or_private_renters_new_report

£11 Million Is Being Released In Property Wealth Every Day In The UK

Home owners in the UK aged 55 and over are releasing the equivalent of £11 million every day from their homes, according to the latest quarterly lending figures from the Equity Release Council. Total equity released reaches £1.02 billion in the third quarter of 2018, up 24% or £195 million since the same period in 2017. And owners are not splashing out with the figures also showing that average plan sizes are consistent with a modest approach to using property wealth. It means that over £1 billion of property wealth was unlocked for the first time in any quarterly period. Read more on the propertywire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/11-million-is-being-released-in-property-wealth-every-day-in-the-uk/