| Goverment Help For the Housing Market |
06-Sep 08 @ 09.39 AM |
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On Tuesday the Government drip fed news on how they were going to try and revive the market.
The mains points stated were:-
1. Mortgage Rescue: for those most affected by the international credit crunch. By comparison with the 1990s, repossessions do remain low, but there has been a recent increase in numbers. The impact on family life can be immense.
The £200 million mortgage rescue scheme being announced tomorrow will go significantly further, helping 6,000 of the most vulnerable families avoid repossession. This will not help those who have acted recklessly or irresponsibly. It is firmly targeted on those families who can no longer afford their repayments, and who would be eligible for homelessness assistance.
Local authorities will have a major role in this scheme assessing applications. Depending on their specific circumstances, eligible home owners will be offered one of three options:
Sale and rent back: a registered social landlord (RSL) clears the secured debt completely and the applicant pays rent to the RSL at a level they can afford.
Shared ownership: a registered social landlord buys a share (enabling the purchaser to pay off some of their mortgage) and coverts the property to shared ownership by issuing a shared ownership lease.
Shared equity: a registered social landlord provides an equity loan enabling the householders mortgage payments to be reduced.
The level of support the RSL will offer depends on the assessment of the individual’s circumstances, which will include a review by a money adviser.
2. HomeBuy Direct, a £300 million scheme which will help up to 10 000 first time buyers into affordable homeownership over the next two years.
HomeBuy Direct will give eligible first time buyers keen to own a place of their own the chance to buy some newly built properties. Buyers will be offered an equity loan of up to thirty per cent of the value, co-funded by the government and the developer, free of charge for five years. As with other HomeBuy schemes, any first-time buyers whose household income is under £60 000 will be able to apply.
Not only will this help first time buyers, but it will also support the industry by identifying buyers for their new homes. This will help the housebuilding industry weather difficult conditions, so that, when the market recovers, they are ready to expand and get back on with building the new homes the country needs for the long term.
3. An immediate £400 million boost in spending power for affordable housing schemes. The Government is committed to a major increase in affordable and social housing to meet demand and cut waiting lists. But with current challenging market conditions, providers are finding it more difficult to deliver their affordable housing schemes. The Government has decided to bring forward £400 million for social housing from existing budgets, delivering up to 5,500 more homes over the next 18 months. For the first time local authorities with existing stock will able to apply for this grant to build social housing, alongside registered social landlords. As well as delivering the social housing so desperately needed in many areas, this will also help to maintain capacity within the housebuilding industry, and help prepare the ground for the recovery in the market.
4. Working with Regional Development Agencies to support the most critical regeneration schemes with the most potential to transform their communities. Market conditions have led to some regeneration schemes slowing down or stalling. This can limit the potential of these schemes to transform lives in deprived areas. We are keen to take action where possible to alleviate these effects. As part of this package we will be working with RDAs and the HCA to look at possible interventions on projects that will deliver the most significant regeneration benefits.
5. New support measures to help vulnerable homeowners meet their mortgage interest payments. The DWP announced it would be reforming Income Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) by shortening the waiting period before SMI is paid from 39 weeks to 13 weeks for new working age claims from April 2009. The capital limit for new working age claims will also be increased to £175,000 from April 2009.
6. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has also today announced a Stamp Duty Holiday and that the tax will not apply to purchases of residential property of £175,000 or less for a period of one year.
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| Home Sale Network’s response to the Carsberg Review |
18-Jun 08 @ 09.33 AM |
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A report published this week, reviewing the estate agency industry, has recommended that estate agents should be qualified for the job. The report, written by Sir Bryan Carsberg a former director general of the Office of Fair Trading, was commissioned by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents.
In the report Sir Bryan states that he wants all estate agents to take an exam before they are allowed to begin work and to take further annual ‘refresher’ courses to ensure that they keep up to date with any new rules and regulations. Only those existing agents who can prove they have sufficient experience would be exempt from having to take the exam.
Sir Bryan recommends in the report, greater regulation of the letting industry stating that “landlords, letting and managing agents should be subjected to appropriate regulatory requirements in order to achieve consumer protection, efficient markets and cost effectiveness.”
Richard Tucker, Home Sale Network’s managing director and member of the National Association of Estate Agents commented: “I welcome the report’s findings. As a representative of the Home Sale Network, a network of more than 750 independent estate agents, I was invited to attend two of the initial meetings that informed the report and met with Sir Bryan along with representatives from Home Sale Network’s Advisory Council. All our members are hand picked to join after thorough checks identify them as, in our opinion, the best agent to represent the Network in their area.”
Michael Marsh, Director at Raine and Co Home Sale Network’s representative in Hatfield, Brookmans Park and Potters Bar said: “Raine and Co are a member of The National Association of Estate Agents and place a great deal of emphasis on training and the continuous development of our staff but there are estate agents out there who are not necessarily as diligent as perhaps they should be. We pride ourselves on providing a top quality service to our customers to make the buying as selling process as simple and stress free as possible.”
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