House Price Inflation In April At Six-Month High

Almost £3,500 was added to the value of the average house during April after the property market enjoyed a spring boost.  Data, which shows that annual house price inflation has risen to its highest level since last October, runs counter to reports from mortgage lenders and others that the market was slowing down. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average house price in the UK increased by 5.6% in the year to April – up on the 4.5% rate recorded the previous month – to reach £220,094. This was £3,491 higher than March’s figure. Read more on the ONS website. 

Help Councils Unlock Massive Potential Of Community-Led Builders

The Government could unlock the supply of tens of thousands of new homes a year from small, self, custom and community builders, an inquiry has heard. The New Sources of Supply inquiry, part of the National Housing Taskforce, met at Parliament to hear about:

* Releasing more public land

* How more private land could be released by thousands of owners

* The need for seed-corn finance to take new providers through to the point where commercial lenders will be willing to lend to them, including de-risking projects.

* The role that enabling organisations can play, both in helping local authorities to put in place the right policies and procedures, and to support new providers to start up and grow.

Read more on the 24housing website.

UK Lenders Approve Fewest Mortgages In Nearly Two Years

British lenders approved the fewest mortgages in nearly two years last month as the housing market continued to slow after the Brexit vote, raising the chance of an outright fall in prices next year. House purchases have been falling since the start of the year, buffeted by higher taxation on investment properties as well as the EU vote. However, other figures suggest that for now consumers are continuing to spend and to borrow heavily, placing the Bank of England in a quandary as it considers whether it will need to cut rates for a second time this year. The number of mortgage approvals last month dropped to its lowest since November 2014 at 60,058. Read more on the Reuters website.

Buy-To-Let Lenders Face Longer-Term Pain

Limits on tax relief for landlords could be a serious blow to specialist buy-to-let lenders, analysts at Barclays warned, as the changes in the Budget undermine some investors' income. Some banks will also end up being hit by the new 8pc additional tax on profits that George Osborne has decided to levy on the sector.  Mr Osborne's tax changes limit the tax relief landlords can gain from the interest payments on their buy-to-let mortgages. Previously they could set the cost off against their entire income tax bill. Now that relief will be reduced to the basic income tax rate of 20pc, so higher earners who pay 40pc or more will pay more tax on their rental income.  Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

Council of Mortgage Lenders Adopt Statement of Practice on Buy-To-Let Mortgage Lending

Buy-to-let lenders who are members of the Council of Mortgage Lenders are adopting a new statement of practice, designed to provide clarity about how responsible buy-to-let lenders operate. The statement reflects existing good practice and aims to ensure that there is a clear explanation of the obligations of buy-to-let borrowers on their mortgages. It signposts additional information from other organisations about the responsibilities of being a landlord. 31 lenders representing an estimated 90% of the buy-to-let market have already adopted the statement of practice. All CML members who offer buy-to-let mortgages are expected to adopt it over the course of 2015. Read more on the CML website.

Social Housing Sector Remains Attractive To Lenders

The social housing sector remains attractive to lenders with 92% of registered providers having debt facilities in place for the next 12 months or more, according to the latest quarterly survey (2014 to 2015 quarter 2) published by the HCA. This report is based on a survey of all private registered providers owning and/or managing more than 1,000 homes for the quarter ending 31 December 2013. The report concludes that new finance continues to be raised with 51% of the £1.7 billion new facilities in the quarter coming from the capital markets; while a significant amount of cash is available to the sector to cover operating and development costs. Read more on the HCA website. 

HCA Opens Discussion on Fees for Regulation

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has published a discussion paper seeking views from providers, tenants, lenders and others on introducing a fee charging scheme for regulation. The move would bring social housing providers into line with organisations in other sectors where fee charging is common.  The Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 gave the Regulator the power to raise fees to cover the costs of its work. The Regulator is seeking views from the sector about switching from the current grant-in-aid arrangement, to a system where the Regulator recovers part or all of the cost of regulation through fees charged to Registered Providers. Read more on the HCA website.