Tag Archives: css
Research reveals extent of incorrect property listings in UK
When buying a home prospective sellers expect the details to be listed correctly but new research has found that 48% of houses in sale across the UK contain rooms that are listed incorrectly. The analysis of estate agent data also found that 36% of single bedrooms rooms are technically too small to be classed as such for anyone aged over 10 and 17% of double rooms are not big enough to be inhabited by two people. Liverpool has the most errors for single rooms with 69% listed not meeting size requirements as set out by the Housing Act 1985 which says that a child under the age of 10 can occupy a room which is less than 50 square feet because they are classed as ‘half a person’, however a single bedroom should have a floor space of between 50 and 70 square feet. Leeds has the most errors for double bedrooms with 14% listed as such not meeting the requirements that double bedrooms for two people should be at least 110 square feet. One property in the city even listed a 69 square foot room as a double bedroom. The city with the least errors is Edinburgh where just 3% if single rooms did not meet the requirement and 4% of double rooms. Estate agents in Manchester and Glasgow were also pretty accurate. The research also found that a further 6% of rooms across the UK are technically uninhabitable, containing rooms smaller than the 50 square feet legally required to be classified as a single bedroom. Estate agents in Sheffield are guiltiest of this, with 15% of single bedrooms rooms advertised being too small to be habitable. When looking at properties overall, estate agents in Bristol are the most inaccurate, as 66% of properties for sale in the city had at least one incorrectly listed bedroom. This is followed by Sheffield at 60%, Liverpool at 57% and Birmingham also at 57%. Estate agents in Edinburgh are by far the most honest overall with only 17% of properties in the Scottish capital containing incorrect room listings. ‘Anyone who has purchased a property knows the marketing literature can often be misleading, but it is concerning to see so many properties across the UK being marketed by estate agents as having single and double bedrooms which technically aren’t fit for purpose,’ said Nick Brabham, head of SELECT Premier Insurance which carried out the research. ‘We urge buyers to check the measurements of bedrooms before putting in an offer on a house; otherwise they may find their double bedroom barely has enough space for a bed. It’s easy to think a room looks big enough when there is no furniture in it so if in doubt, check against the official standards and let estate agents know that they are marketing it incorrectly,’ he added. Continue reading
Brexit uncertainty created pause in UK home borrowing in July
The UK’s mortgage sector was hit in July as a result of the European Union referendum with both the number and value of house purchase approvals falling month on month and year on year. The BBA figures show that house purchase approval numbers were 19% lower than in July 2015, though in the first seven months of 2016 they were some 2% higher than in the same period of 2015. The data also shows that remortgaging approvals were 6% higher than in July 2015 and in the first seven months of 2016 were 21% higher than in the equivalent period of 2015. Overall gross mortgage borrowing of £12.6 billion in the month was 6% higher than in July 2015 while net mortgage borrowing is 3% higher than a year ago. As the first lending figures since the decision to leave the EU not much can be taken from them, according to Rebecca Harding, BBA chief economist. ‘The data does not currently suggest borrowing patterns have been significantly affected by the Brexit vote, but it is still early days. Many borrowing decisions will also have been taken before the referendum vote,’ she pointed out. Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS, said that the figures suggest home buyers took stock in July. He pointed out that the value of loans for house purchases fell to its lowest level since March 2015 following a buoyant first six months of 2016, ‘What remains to be seen is whether this will become the norm or if August activity will be bounce back following the immediate shock. On the other hand, despite a small fall remortgaging is up as existing home owners capitalise on the record low mortgages available,’ he explained. ‘Following the vote for Brexit, swap rates fell leading to lower mortgage rates across the board. At the same time, intense speculation about a decrease in the Bank of England interest base rate to 0.25% and other monetary policy interventions have also contributed to lower rates, encouraged lending and driven home owners to take advantage of this,’ he said. ‘Anecdotally, there is little to suggest a lull in the demand for house purchase and remortgaging. We therefore expect activity to bounce back in the autumn months once the dust settles and some sense of normality returns,’ he added. According to Tanya Jackson, head of corporate affairs at Yorkshire Building Society, believes that people’s desire to own a property largely outweighed any uncertainty caused by the EU referendum in July. ‘That said, the full effects of the vote are unlikely to be seen until a few months after the outcome of the vote was announced, as those buying a home in July are likely to have begun the house buying process before the EU referendum,’ she said. ‘We do expect the outcome of the EU vote to limit market activity to an extent in the short-term as prospective buyers take a wait and see approach on how it affects their finances…. Continue reading
UK first time buyers deposit saving scheme criticised
Concerns have been raised about the UK’s Help to Buy Isa which is aimed at first time buyers saving towards a deposit for their first home. When the scheme was announced last year by then Chancellor George Osborne it was assumed that young people would receive the extra money put in by the Government towards the purchase of a home as part of their deposit. With the average deposit on a first home around £15,000 the Chancellor announced that if first time buyers saved £12,000 they would get the next £3,000 paid for them. But now it has emerged that the scheme will no pay out before a home is actually purchased, leaving first time buyers needing to save the whole £15,000 before they can actually complete a home purchase. The small print of the Government's flagship Isa states that the bonus will not be paid out until the sale is complete and a spokesman suggested that it was never designed as a deposit saving scheme but to be put towards the cost of a home overall. It is thought around 500,000 would be home owners have already taken out Help to Buy Isas and they now need to discuss with their banks what will happen when they are ready to receive the promised bonus from the government. Mark Hayward, managing director of the National Association of Estate Agents, said that it has changed the goal posts for first time buyers who have saved in a Help to Buy Isa. ‘Consumers have been putting money aside on the basis that they believed it would be applied to their deposit on a new home,’ he pointed out. ‘To now clarify that it is not actually available until completion is the perfect example of a painful lack of transparency and frankly nothing short of deception. First time buyers are already struggling with getting on to the housing ladder and this much hyped initiative was welcomed at the time as a way of helping them, but in fact could have ended up costing buyers if they have gone ahead with a purchase believing that the bonus counted towards the deposit,’ he added. Continue reading
