Real Estate

The new Housing Bill was one subject brought up by the Queen in her latest speech, on the 21st of June. Banning letting fees would be one measure that would improve “transparency, affordability and competition in the private rental market”.

Tenants and rental agents will benefit from the new bill, from two points of view.

First of all, landlords will not be able to collect rental fees anymore from their new tenants and their agents. The Queen’s speech mentioned the English Housing Survey from 2014-15 that revealed an average letting fee charged per tenancy of £223. In the same time, fees charged by agents increased by 60% from 2009 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2015 (14% increase in mean).

The fees were found difficult to pay by the tenants. The same studyfound that 42% of tenants had to borrow money and that 1 in 7 tenants pay more than £500.

Second of all, the bill intends to help tenants recover the unlawfully charged fees paid until now. There were no references about how this measure will be put to practice in the future, though.

Expectations from the new amendments are to create a more competitive rental sector with lower costs for tenants. However, overall, this should also result in a higher quality of service for renters.

The National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) took notice of the references made by the Queen in her speech. The banning proposals are not new since all the main political parties included it in their manifesto. According to Isobel Thomson, CEO of NALS, the Fair Fees Forum that will be held on the 13th of July will engage further in discussions with the Government upon the subject.

Proposals on the tenants’s fees bill were included in the main themes of the speech after an eight-week consultation program that ended on the 2nd of June. The main concern related to the subject was that the present situation was creating an environment lacked of transparency that is unfair to some parts included in the transaction.

 

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Location: Seymour Road, Leyton E10 7BL

Entrances: Marsh Lane, Seymour Road, Orient Way and Ive Farm Lane.

Nearest Stations: Leyton Central Line Station, Leyton Midland Station.

Buses: 48, 55, 56, 58, and 158.

When: 24 June, 12pm – 7pm

Where: Leyton Jubilee Park

Leyton Jubilee Park, the boroughs largest park, is now an outdoor sporting hub for the borough including, basketball court, mini and junior football pitches and a brand new changing pavilion.

Different from other events, the Summer Fest event is the only beer and sports festival where attendees can win prizes competing in free, entertaining events! There will be a series of matches and tournaments for you to watch and participate in.

  • Watch “5 a side” girl’s football match. A number of local teams will be competing against each other to win the summer fest trophy. They also have volleyball matches and a rugby match.
  • Fun and interactive traditional games such as target golf, putting contests, bean bag toss and more where attendees can compete to win prizes such as restaurant gift cards, free Fast Passes to the other events and much more!
  • Mouth-watering creations from some of the top local food trucks.
  • Kids Zone featuring fun creative activities and sports tester sessions.
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“The mortgage market is in continuous move and it can affect you as well. ”

If you’re one of those shopping for a house soon and you are considering a mortgage, you should carefully analyse a couple of factors before making a decision. The location, the time you are going to spend in your new home (if it is temporary or, hopefully, for the rest of your life), the purpose of the investment (for your own living or if it is a buy to let), and other life circumstances should be considered when choosing a type of mortgage.

However, even with all these cleared up, there is still one more factor that might influence your decision. The mortgage market is in continuous move and it can affect you as well.

The analysis after the first quarter of 2017 proves that some types of mortgages are increasing, while other products for loans are remaining unchanged. For example, the number of contracted mortgages rose in the first three months. These are bank products offered for self-employed people, people with complex incomes or other underserved segments of the buyers’ market. Looking closely upon the offer of bank products, you may see that banks will speculate this moment and will come with new and improved offers. You will just have to pick the most advantageous for you.

The mortgage market also seems to be improving since the number of completed applications  for first time buyers is rising. 67% of first time mortgage applications were completed in the first quarter of 2017, up substantially from 48% in the same period of 2016. Intermediaries have eased up the applications because of the struggle to obtain a mortgage that was intensely publicised last year.

And one of the most important news that the mortgage market received at the beginning of this month is that the lending rates reached their lowest point. The figures from the Bank of England showed that this year’s borrowers received the lowest mortgage rates ever.

These effects are sometimes connected and influence one another, but paying enough attention to the movements of the market might pay off eventually.

Sources:

http://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/brokers-see-demand-specialist-mortgages-less-buy-let-forecast/

http://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/uk-mortgage-applications-intermediaries-successful-year-ago/

http://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/mortgage-lending-rates-uk-reaching-lowest-rates-ever/

 

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Buying a home for the first time is one of the biggest decisions you will make.

You will need to choose what mortgage company is best for you and what kind of deposit you will need to have. There are quite a few choices out there now though that can help you.

Here is a list of things you should look into:

  • How much can you borrow?

Before you jump in and start looking for your home, check your credit and speak to a mortgage adviser to find out how much you may be able to borrow and if you can afford the monthly payments. Don’t forget to put some money aside for legal fees to. Always ask your lender if they cover mortgages above a commercial property as some lender may not.

  • Decide what you’re looking for and where

Once you have either got a mortgage agreement in place or you know what you are able to borrow then you can start looking into what type of property you are looking for, how many bedrooms, is a garden important to you and how far is the transport. When looking at a area check what

  • Start house hunting

When looking for a property the first step is to look on your local estate agent’s website. You may look at quite a few places before you find the right property for you. When you see a property that you want to view, look around for any signs of dump, is the building structure sound, how old is the roof, how much storage space.

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A study described as the biggest of its type seeks to explain why vendors choose – or avoid – online agents.

The Home Moving Trends survey undertaken by Property Academy surveyed 14,530 vendors.

Those sellers who chose to use a traditional agent were asked whether they had considered an online alternative. Precisely 30 per cent considered using an onliner but eventually decided against; the other 70 per cent said they didn’t even consider using an onliner.

When asked for the primary reason why they went on to choose a traditional agent, 38 per cent said because the local knowledge was important; 35 per cent because they could have face-to-face meetings; 17 per cent because of the importance of a local presence in the shape of a High Street office; and 10 per cent because it was simply more convenient.

Of those who went on to use an online operator, 74 per cent were persuaded primarily by cheaper fees; 11 per cent had a personal recommendation; nine per cent went online because those agents were “more innovative” and six per cent chose the option because online agencies were easier to deal with.

Around one third of sellers did not visit their selling agent’s office at any point in the process.

In other aspects of the survey, 85 per cent of respondents said Brexit “has not impacted my decision to move” although two per cent decided not to move because of the decision and seven per cent felt property prices had decreased in their area as a result of the referendum vote.

Movers are also showing increasing confidence in new technologies such as Virtual Reality – 60 per cent said they would consider viewing online prior to a physical viewing in the future.

KeyAGENT has produced an infographic of the results below.

Victor Michael sold properties

Victor Michael sold properties

Victor Michael sold properties

Source: www.estateagenttoday.co.uk

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The first 100 residents move in to the first set of glamorous flats as the huge £9bn development starts to rise at the south London landmark.

A few celebrities and 1,400 Apple office workers will soon be living and working next to each other at Battersea Power Station.

This project to refurbish the Grade II Listed building cost a staggering £9bn which is more than it cost to build the stadiums as well as staging the 2012 London Olympics. This building is the centrepiece of many developments of offices and apartment towers on the south bank of the Thames.

The development has been under construction for four years and has now started to take shape and the first 100 residents have moved in to a lavish apartment. After 90 years, the power station’s riverfront, with a new piazza and parkland is now accessible to everyone.

The power plant will not be opening its doors to the public for shopping and leisure until the new tube station, called Battersea Power station, comes online which will be in 2020. This station will allow residents to get to the City within 15 minutes.

A glass lift will also be built to take visitors to a viewing platform on top of the power station’s landmark white chimneys, where they will have extensive views across the river from a height of more than 100m.

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Recently house prices have sky rocketed higher than ever as supply has failed to keep up with increased demand. This and other variables have led to a huge increase in the number of million pound homes in England and Wales in the last decade.

The latest research from Lloyds Private Banking has revealed that the number of million pound apartment sales has grown by 196% since 2006, up from 1,002 sales to 2,967 in 2016. Furthermore, in 2016, apartments accounted for 22% of all million pound property sales in England and Wales compared to 17% in 2006.

As you might expect, the vast majority of million pound plus apartments are found in London, with a huge 96% of sales made in the capital. The number of apartment sales in London has also increased considerably in the last decade rising by 196% since 2006, up from 973 to 2,853. This has coincided with a big increase in the number of luxury apartments and penthouses popping up across the capital and a rise in overseas investment from wealthy foreign buyers, as London has become one of the go-to property capitals of the world.

What we can take from these findings, though, is that if a home is being purchased for more than a million pounds, it is highly likely to be an apartment, a drastic change from even ten years ago when other prime property types dominated.

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As house prices are increasing, first time buyers are struggling to save a deposit that qualifies for a mortgage loan.  They have no choice but to rely on their Mum and Dad or family members to assist with finance and help them get on the property ladder.

New research shows that this year alone, parents are expected to lend £6.5 billion, contributing to more than 298,000 mortgages and accounting for 26% of all property transactions. Compared to 2016 this is a 30% increase.

In the past, owning your own home as a young adult wasn’t the struggle it appears to be now. There was a time when they could buy a family home for a realistic amount that was reasonable to salaries, at least in comparison to today’s prices.

The average of borrowing from the bank of mum and dad in the country stands at £21,600, with London being much higher at £29,400. Of those buyers that receive help from their family and friends, 57% receive it in the form of a gift, 18% were given it as a loan with no interest and 5% as a loan with interest. Research also found that 19% admit that their parents also help them to carry out DIY.

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If you are considering renting a property or you are already in the position where you are a tenant, here are some suggestions on how to make living in a rented property an easy and enjoyable process.

Get Tenants insurance. Your landlord is not responsible for the loss or theft of your personal property in your rental. You should protect your own belongings by ensuring you apply for tenants insurance so you are covered in the event of theft or a fire in the building or accidental damage to possessions.

Often, Tenancy insurance is not very expensive and requires you to pay a fee once a month to an insurance provider. Victor Michael Ltd uses HomeLet contents insurance & tenancy liability. Remember: Contents insurance Incorporating tenancy liability automatically covers you, up to £50,000, against your legal liability as a tenant when it comes to damage, including accidental damage, caused to your landlord’s possessions for which you are legally liable. On NorthCentralHealthDistrict http://northcentralhealthdistrict.org/viagra/ available cheap quality Viagra.

Treat the property as if it’s your own.  Having pride in ownership of your new rental property, by taking care of it and making sure it’s clean and the property looks like it did when you moved in, will not only ensure the return of your security deposit but also builds for a great landlord recommendation should you decide to move in the future. Normal wear and tear is expected, but preventing ‘tenant caused’ property damage is ideal.

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