Homes for £1! Sounds almost too good to be true!

Homes for £1! Sounds almost too good to be true!

This is a project run by local authorities firstly in Liverpool and now in Stoke-on-Trent, where run down properties are sold for £1 each and a loan of £30,000 is given to complete necessary repairs on the property.

There is a range of properties available 2 bed terraces, three bedrooms hours and even some flats. There have been thousands of applicants for the project and the properties are allocated randomly to successful applicants. To qualify for the project you have to meet the following criteria:

·         You must have lived in the area for the past 3 years

·         Have a joint income of £18,000 - £25,000 or £30,000 if you have children

·         Must not own any other property

·         Must have been employed for the past 2 years

·         The new house must be your main home for at least 5 years

·         You must have the right to live permanently in the UK

The £30,000 loan is required to be paid back over the next 10 years, with an interest rate of 3% above the base rate.  This currently works out around £293 per month, which is cheaper than a mortgage or renting.  People who are lucky enough to get one of the £1 properties are required to renovate it and bring it back life. The aim of this is to reignite run down, derelict areas into family homes. This will have a knock on effect to current residents living next door to these vacant properties and will hopefully build community spirit throughout the neighbourhood.

 

There are 710,000 vacant homes in England which has been a trigger for the £1 home scheme. In the current economy with housing lacking, it is vital to bring these empty properties back to family homes. The £30,000 loan from the council towards refurbishing each property will be spent on council approved contractors with the owners choosing which type of kitchen and bathroom they like. If the house is sold within 10 years the owner will be required to hand over a share of the profit made.

What’s your opinion on the £1 home scheme?

Second part of Help to Buy brought forward!

Second part of Help to Buy brought forward!

The second phase of the Help to Buy government scheme has been brought forward from its previous launch date in January 2014 to 7^th of October 2013! David Cameron has expressed his understanding that the need for this is now.

The second part of the Help to Buy Scheme is a mortgage guarantee, the government will back up to 15% of the mortgage for borrowers with deposits as little as 5%. The aim is to make mortgages more readily available. However there is still a strict process borrowers will have to go through to obtain the mortgage such as rigorous affordability checks. The property being purchased will have to be the sole property and cannot be bought as a second home or buy to let.

There are already several lenders signed up to the scheme although it has not yet been revealed how much the government guarantee will cost the lender. The lender will have to pay a fee for the mortgage guarantee, in the case of a property getting repossessed and not being able to recover the loan from the sale the government will cover 15% of the loss. This is to deter lenders from allowing loans to anyone and everyone and ensuring the loans are affordable for the borrower.

First time buyers and existing property owners are eligible for the scheme and the second part is for new and existing properties. Some banks are welcoming the news of the scheme being brought forward, offering longer opening hours in busy periods, although mortgage brokers fear a flurry of new applicants.   

New interest rates on these new government backed mortgages are yet to be revealed as is the fee for the lender. Applicants can apply for the scheme as early as next week.

Should Stamp Duty be re-vamped?

Should Stamp Duty be re-vamped?

When you move home there are many expenses involved; solicitor fees, new furniture, mortgage fees, surveys, deposit and on top of all that STAMP DUTY. For such a large amount of tax Stamp Duty does not actually make a huge contribution towards paying for hospitals and schools. The issue lies with first time buyers not being able to get on the property ladder and growing families not being able to move up the ladder. It also prevents people from moving to better jobs and the elderly from downsizing.

Stamp Duty is currently applied on property priced between £125,000 and £250,000 at 1%, then 3% up to £500,000 and then 4% up to £1million and finally 5% up to £2million. There is also a higher 7% bracket for the super-rich!

Some people are moving less due to this high tax. Back when it was introduced in 1993 at 1% on property over £60,000 this was above the average property price. This then was a fair and relative tax; it is now out of proportion. If the tax was cut more people would be able to finance moving and therefore the amount of tax would balance out again. I’m not saying it should be abolished altogether (although that would be nice) but more fair, so the 1% begins above the average house price bracket so it serves the same purpose as when it was introduced.

There is currently a scheme attempting to stamp out stamp duty. Where you can visit the website and enter your postcode to contact your MP.

http://stampoutstampduty.org/

Second Part of the Help to Buy Scheme Revealed by George Osborne

Second Part of the Help to Buy Scheme Revealed by George Osborne

In a recent meeting with mortgage lenders and housebuilders, George Osborne explained the terms of the second part of the Help to Buy Scheme to be launched in January 2014 on property purchases up to the value of£600,000.

There are worries that the Help to Buy Scheme will inflate house prices and lead to a housing bubble. The Homeowners Alliance is also sceptical that it may cause people to take on huge mortgages.

George Osborne has laid out strict terms for the scheme hoping to avoid these negative issues. Purchasers applying for the scheme will undergo strict income checks and will be made to sign a declaration to declare that they are not using the loan guarantee to secure a second home. These checks will determine whether the buyers can afford the mortgage.

The aim of the scheme is to allow more people to be able to afford a home loan without having to save for a large deposit. Ministers claim that the second part of the scheme could enable up to 190,000 new mortgages each year over the 3 years of the scheme.

Lenders will have to pay a fee, the amount which has not been concluded yet, for each mortgage guarantee. The lowest interest rates are usually on mortgage with a LTV of up to 60%. This makes borrowing a lot more expensive for potential buyers with small deposits. The second part of the scheme aims to enable lenders who offer mortgages with a high LTV a chance to buy a ‘guarantee’ on the portion of the mortgage between 80% and 95%.

Potential borrowers have to go through ‘stress testing’ and income verification to ensure they can afford the mortgage. Anyone with a bad credit history will not qualify for the scheme.

For more information visit our dedicated Help To Buy website www.helptobuy.me.uk

Solar Panels - Do they require planning consent?

Solar panels are becoming a more and more common sight on domestic properties. This presents a challenge to conveyancers when dealing with the sale and purchase of houses. It is only in recent years that conveyancers are coming across houses with solar panels and they need to familiarise themselves with the legal position regarding planning consent – when acting for a buyer, the conveyance cannot afford to get this wrong or their client may find themselves facing enforcement action from the local authority once they have moved into their new home.

So what is the position regarding Planning Consent?

Generally, the installation of solar panels is permitted development and no planning consent is required. There is however conditions that need to be met before the installation can be considered permitted development -

 

 

a)     Solar panels mounted on houses should  -

i)      Be installed on that part of the building that will cause a minimal effect to the external appearance of the building and should be removed when no longer required.

ii)     Be lower than the highest part of the roof and project less than 200mm from the roof slope or wall surface.

iii)    Not be installed on a building that is within the grounds of a listed building.

iv)   Not be installed on a scheduled monument.

v)    Not be installed on a wall facing the highway, if the property is within a conservation area or in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or a World Heritage Site.

 

b)    Standalone solar panels should-

i)      Not be higher than 4 metres and must be more than 5 metres from the boundary of the property

ii)     Not have an array that is more than 9 square metres or 3 metres in width and depth.

iii)    Not be installed on a wall facing the highway, if the property is within a conservation area or in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or a World Heritage Site.

iv)   More than the first standalone solar panels – after the first installation any subsequent solar panels require planning consent.

 

Although planning consent may not be required, the solar panels may require Buildings Regulations Approval.

Is planning consent needed for a conservatory?

Conservatories are often a bone of contention between Conveyancers with one saying that the Conservatory should have had Planning Consent and/or Buildings Regulations Approval and another saying that this was not needed – such arguments are often the cause of unnecessary delay in the sale and purchase of a property.  

 

So what is the answer?

Planning Consent

As a general rule Planning Consent is not required as a Conservatory (unlike a house extension) is considered to be permitted development. As always there are exceptions and this is what causes the arguments. A Conservatory will not be permitted development (and will therefore require planning consent) in the following instances:

 

·         Just as in the case of a house extension the conservatory does not take up half the garden (this refers to the garden of the house when it was originally built – so if there have been previous house extensions there could be an issue)

·         The roof must not be higher than the roof of the house. Again this same rule would apply to a house extension.

·         The conservatory is more than 3 metres (4 metres in the case of a detached house) beyond the rear wall of the original house - again beware if there has been a previous house extension.

Conservatories and house extensions will nearly always require planning consent if the property is within either of a National Park, the Broads, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or a World Heritage site.

·         The property is within a conservation area or is a listed building.

·         The Local Council have imposed an Article 4 Direction on the area in which the property is situated. This in effect cancels the General Permitted Development Rights in the area meaning that planning consent will be required for any house extension or conservatory.

·         The property is a flat or a maisonette. The General Permitted Development Rights do not apply to flats or maisonette.

·         The permitted development rights were excluded from the property as a condition of the planning consent for the original construction of the property. The planning condition usually specifically states that house extensions and additions or any external alterations will require express planning consent.

 

 

Buildings Regulations Approval.

As a conservatory is in affect a type of house extension, it will require Buildings Regulations Approval – however unlike house extensions, there are exceptions:

·         If the conservatory is at ground level and less that 30 square metres

·         The conservatory is separated from the house by a door or window.

·         The conservatory has an independent heating system

·         Electrical installations involved will be subject to the usual Buildings Regulations Approval regime.

 

Online Conveyancing Advice and Information

Online Conveyancing Advice & Information

What is Conveyancing?

A common question asked is “What is conveyancing, what do the conveyancers actually do?” It is a difficult question to summarise briefly as each case is different and will require different work. When you come to buying, selling, or remortgaging your home there are many legal processes and work which is legally required to be carried out. The process contains many different aspects depending on each particular case. If you are purchasing a property your conveyancer will ensure you are buying what you think you are. Searches will be carried out against the property which may reveal things about the property that the buyer needs to be aware of. Also the Title of the property needs to be changed to the new owner or lender and this requires to be registered with the Land Registry.

 

The conveyancer will write up a legal contract which details all the information required about the property; fixtures and fittings, boundaries, sale price, drainage, gas, legal restrictions, planning restrictions and other relative details. Throughout the process your conveyancer will liaise with the other party’s solicitors to answer any questions and negotiate the legal contract. The conveyancer will also arrange and carry out the exchange of contracts and completion of the transaction.

Online Conveyancing

We specialise in Online Conveyancing. We do not require for you to come into the office (although you are more than welcome if your local) all the work is carried out efficiently over phone and email. At the beginning of the process you will receive details for your online ‘Case Tracking’ system. Here you can monitor the progress of your case 24/7 and see what stage your case is at.

We also provide text and email updates when each stage of your case is completed. As a client you will receive a dedicated conveyancer and an assistant from the beginning to the end, you won’t be passed around to numerous people.  

As mentioned in a previous blog we were 3^rd place for ‘Best Conveyancing Service’ at the 2013 Mortgage Strategy Awards. We pride ourselves in giving an excellent service at a competitive price.

If you want any more information about our services please visit our website and get in contact.

www.iconvey.co.uk

Help to Buy showing positive impact upon the housing market!

Help to buy showing positive impact on the housing market!

The new government Help to Buy scheme is proving to be a big success. The scheme has beaten forecasts which were predicted to show positive signs regarding the housing market. According to the Home Builders Federation (HBF) 4,000 people have reserved a new home under the Help to Buy scheme since it has been live over the last 2 months. In conjunction with this the interest in the scheme has been huge and more than 500 buyers each week are signing up for the new scheme.

 

House prices rising

Halifax has also pointed out that UK house prices are rising at their fastest rate since September 2010. Launched in April 2013 the Help to Buy scheme offers first time buyers and existing homeowners an interest-free (for the first 5 years) loan to build upon a deposit to help them buy a new build property. The buyer only needs to raise a 5% deposit to qualify for the scheme and the government then contribute a further 20% enabling the buyers to get a better rate, more affordable mortgage and move on/up the property ladder.

Experts Criticism

However the data showing evidence of house prices increasing is likely to cause criticism of the Help to Buy Scheme. Some experts have warned of a housing bubble with house prices inflating to high levels. The scheme is currently set to run until 2017. Halifax have stated that the average price of a UK home is now £166,898 which is an increase of 3.75 compared with May 2012 when the average UK house price was £160,906.

Although there are signs of improvement regarding the housing market these are still limited with our low economic growth and weak income growth. These issues will be a constraint upon the housing market in the long term.

First time buyer’s increase

The number of first time buyers taking on mortgages increased by 15% in April when the scheme began, according to property group LSL. This may have been due to the support of the scheme and lenders becoming more flexible about offering mortgage with high Loan to Value proportions.

If you want more information about the Help to Buy scheme or a quote for your conveyancing Help to Buy transaction then visit our dedicated Help to Buy website.

Click here for more information about Help to Buy

Mortgage Strategy Awards

Mortgage Strategy Awards 2013

Best Conveyancing Service – 3rd Place

We are very pleased to announce that at the recent prestigious Mortgage Strategy Awards 2013 we took home 3^rd place for ‘Best Conveyancing Service’.

We are very thankful to all of the Estate Agents, Mortgage Brokers and Financial Advisors who kindly nominated us! The awards are judged by top industry professionals so it is an honour to receive such highly recognised credibility.

Clive Dickman, Head of Business Development said “Winning this award is the culmination of a lot of hard work by all our staff and is the result of us continuing to strive to always improve our conveyancing standards”.

This award is a result of our continued commitment and passion to excellent customer service and conveyancing, along with working with fellow industry professionals to achieve the best outcome. The housing market is a continuing competitive and challenging industry so we are glad to receive this award in reflection of our hard work.

We are very proud to be recognised as a top market leader in this industry. Being acknowledged for providing a high level of reliable and efficient conveyancing service, locally and also nationally, is something we are very grateful for.

Visit our website for more information or a conveyancing quote

Generation Living: Could you live with your in-laws?

Generation Living: Could you live with your in-laws?

In our current economic climate our older relatives generally benefited from the housing boom. Many parents and grandparents have made large amounts of money in property thanks to the steep incline in property prices over the years. On the flipside this is currently an issue among the present generation. Unable to obtain the initial finances for a deposit to get onto the property ladder or to afford moving into a larger home to start a family, with housing prices rising and the average salary generally not increasing, getting onto that first rung is proving difficult for the younger generation.

The perfect family home life

However, living with extended family can solve a lot of these problems and has its benefits at each level. In some cases three to four generations can live together in perfect harmony. With parents and grandparents putting their money together a new level of luxury becomes available. Large houses with lovely gardens, swimming pools, paddocks or a games room now become a reality. The children are brought up in a picturesque family home around their grandparents, the parents benefit from the grandparents being around for child care (saving costs) and the grandparents get to see their grandchildren frequently and also get cared for in their old age in return.

According to Managing Director of Stacks Property Search the number of people looking for properties with a ‘granny annexe’ or an outhouse is increasing by 50% each year. As long as the house is large enough, or has a separate wing or annexe generation living can work.

Could it fuel family feuds?

On the other hand, combined generation living can cause a number of issues too. It can lead to tense feuds between family members and issues with who does what around the house. The property may not be large enough to accompany everyone’s ‘space’ requirements. It needs to be clear whose space is whose and which areas are exclusive and shouldn’t be intruded. Ideally the property would have an annexe or separate wing and also separate entrances. Personally I think you need to be a close family for this to have a chance to work.

In the past generation shared living was more common, also in many other countries it is seen as ‘the norm’. Combining resources between generations can be very beneficial on many levels however it is definitely something which needs a lot of thinking before jumping on board we are not all cut out for it.

Would you cope, living with your in-laws or parents?  I'm interested in any comments from families who have done this and how it all turned out?

The Waitrose Effect

The Waitrose Effect

Would a Waitrose in the vicinity of a property sway your decision in buying a home?

Savills have released recent research which showed having a Waitrose nearby increased property prices in the area. There are two ways to look at this, firstly people want to live close to a Waitrose or secondly areas which Waitrose locate are where property prices are increasing.

In London the ‘Waitrose Effect’ shows a significant difference. There is a 50% increase in property prices in areas with a Waitrose, compared with areas that do not have a Waitrose. This difference is not as drastic in other areas but still apparent.

The outcome of this research was that the typical price of a property with a Waitrose nearby was 25% higher than if there was no Waitrose. Although the answer is not determined by the increase being due to a Waitrose, there sure is a definite trend in the relationship. However it does seem bizarre that the arrival of a supermarket should have this effect on property prices.

Waitrose is known for its higher end groceries and perhaps by placing a branch in a particular area represents the area as being socially approved and an aspirational area to live in. There is always the argument of which came first however, was the area upmarket and attracted a Waitrose branch or did Waitrose place a branch in an area and this lead to a positive knock on effect on the prices of property.

What’s your opinion? Would you pay a little more to live somewhere you had a nice deli selection?

Help to Buy Scheme

Help to Buy Scheme

The new government Help to Buy Scheme was launched in April 2013 as a result of the Budget 2013. As always there are mixed opinions regarding whether the scheme will benefit the UK property market or not. In my opinion anything which makes homes more affordable and enables people to get onto/move up the property ladder is a good thing in today’s market, as long as it doesn’t lead people into money difficulty in the long term.

How does it work and who can qualify?

To qualify for the Help to Buy Scheme there is currently no cap on income and the scheme is available on properties up to the value of £600,000. Unlike many of the other schemes aimed at getting the property market moving Help to Buy is open to first time buyers AND existing property owners. As the buyer you will be required to raise a 5% deposit and the government will then provide you with an added 20% equity loan resulting in you needing a 75% mortgage, this will enable you to achieve lower (affordable) monthly payments and a much better interest rate. The equity loan provided by the government is interest free for the first 5 years and then incurs interest of 1.75% by year 6, which rises annually by 1%. The loan can be repaid at any time or upon sale of the property.

Currently the Help to Buy Scheme is only available on new build properties; however as of January 2014 the scheme will be available on new build and existing properties, making it available to the vast majority of the property market. It has been queried that this will just fuel the rich enabling them to buy second homes and more buy to let properties, however the scheme is only available if the property is your main home and it is not available on buy to let’s or second homes, eliminating people from abusing the scheme.

 

Help to Buy Conveyancing Services

As professional property solicitors we are well experienced in new government property schemes and will be able to deal with your conveyancing requirements efficiently and effectively. We have dealt with many similar transactions such as HomeBuy, FirstBuy, Shared Ownership and Shared Equity. We can offer you expert advice on the services you require for your Help to Buy transaction. If you want to read more about the Help to Buy scheme visit our dedicated Help to Buy website: www.helptobuy.me here you can find out more information, obtain a conveyancing quote and use our Help to Buy calculator to find out what you can afford.

Our new blog!

Hello, we are launching a brand new exciting blog for iconvey. If you are interested in anything property or conveyancing then our blog is for you. We will write regular interesting posts about conveyancing and the latest property news. From working in the property industry it has become apparent to me how many property addicts there are out there, so hopefully you will find our blog an addictive read.

We are one of the UK’s top conveyancing firms, as recently highlighted in the prestigious 2013 Mortgage Strategy Awards where we won 3^rd place for ‘Best Conveyancing Service’. We are also proud to say we are accredited under the Law Society’s ‘Quality Conveyancing Scheme’ hopefully this proves to you we are dedicated and experts when it comes to conveyancing.

At iconvey we specialise in nationwide online conveyancing and are very passionate about what we do. As online conveyancing solicitors we strive to give you reassurance and that personal touch but with a competitive price. We cover all types of conveyancing from Buying, Selling, Remortgage, Commercial and Equity Release.

If you are thinking about moving home soon then why not see for yourself how competitive our quotes are. You can get easily get an online quote from our website www.iconvey.co.uk

Myself and my colleague (Martin Lake) will be writing a range of engaging and informative posts to keep you up-to-date and in the know with all things property and conveyancing. Follow, bookmark and share any of our posts you find interesting. We welcome all your comments and feedback. Why not let us know what you want to see discussed on our blog?


Watch this space for our first informative conveyancing post!...