MORTGAGE & CONVEYANCING news Mortgage update SEARCHES Searches for solutions T INDICES Mortgage lending up! C
hesterton & Humbert’s June Poll of Polls, has calculated that mortgage lending rose in May. House prices,
say Chesterton, have begun to stabilise as gradual improvements in economic conditions and the mortgage market have increased buyer sentiment. The number of mortgage approvals in April was 45,166; quarter-on-quarter a growth of 1.8 per cent – the highest growth since December ’09. The Poll of Polls brings a number of
house price and mortgage lending indices together: Communities and Local Government House Price Index, The Land Registry House Price Index, Halifax House Price Index, Nationwide House Price Index,
Rightmove.co.uk House Price Index,
Home.co.uk Asking Price Index and the Hometrack National Survey. The other
Mortgage approvals clearly on the up.
encouraging aspect of the Poll of Polls was that house prices held firm in May at £173,379 – ending seven consecutive months of price falls.
he High Speed Rail Link has already caused controversy but its not over yet. As every agent knows, for most homebuyers, where they buy is just as important as what
they buy and it’s up to the agent to ensure the buyer understands as much as possible about a property’s location. If not, says David Kempster, buyers can
find themselves burdened with problems they never knew existed. While it may sometimes not be directly in the interests of making a sale, being straight with buyers and making sure they fully understand the means at their disposal to investigate an area is the best way of building a reputation and a brand which brings buyers back. In the Cotswolds, the planned 250mph
High Speed 2 rail link will travel directly through the idyllic countryside. But many buyers are at risk of making purchasing without knowing if their home will be blighted by the line. The current Local Authority search CON 29 only has to identify whether properties are within 200 metres of HS2, placing conveyancers and agents alike at risk of fury from buyers unwittingly purchasing blighted properties. Responsible agents need to ensure buyers are able to take advantage of
David Kempster
searches which go beyond than the minimum and advise them to make sure their solicitors use them. Otherwise buyers expecting unblemished countryside could end up 201 metres from a mainline train.
Even if there isn’t a large civil engineering
operation heading toward the property, it still pays to understand the forces at work in a particular location. SearchFlow’s Know Your Neighbour
search allows buyers access to information about schools, crime, quality of life planning applications and amenities in the local area. It gives buyers complete understanding of the area – not just now, but years into the future too. Making sure buyers understand the
conveyancing process can be a useful process rather than a boring and expensive bit of due diligence means happy buyers and a reputation for honest dealing.
the preserve of the privileged few and as the mortgage market continues its recovery, lenders have ideal opportunity to diversity lending into areas such as this. “With expert knowledge from established intermediaries lenders can make a profit at low risk. I think there are real business opportunities for lenders here - as the market grows - and I call on them to help make this important housing sector more mainstream.” His letter drew a positive response from
lenders. Martin Bell, Head of customer lending at Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, said, “N&P is proud to offer self build mortgages and support those who choose that route. Building your own home could make perfect financial sense for very many people, and we welcome Grants Shapps’ promotion of the self build sector, highlighting the possibilities that are out there. While many may think a self build project is beyond them, it is likely to be much cheaper and the satisfaction of living in a home that you have seen built from scratch is difficult to match. We are more than happy to talk people through the options.”
PROPERTYdrum JULY 2011 17 SPECIALIST LENDING
“Support self build” says Grant Shapps
H
ousing Minister Grant Shapps has called upon mortgage lenders to back a new ‘self build revolution’ by
creating specialist financing products to help people to build their own home. In a letter to the key players in the
mortgage market he said, “Self builders deliver affordable, greener and more innovatively-designed homes; and make a big contribution to the number of new homes built in this country, yet there is scope to significantly increase the number of self built homes in the UK. “I want to create a self build revolution where building your own home is not just
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