London, United Kingdom -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/21/2011 -- Experts think that the number of repossessions in the UK in 2011 will be 40,000, but charities predict that numbers will reach more than double that amount once higher interest rates take effect.

Debt charity Consumer Credit Counselling Service said it was contacted by 90,000 struggling home owners last year, each with an average debt of £30,160 on credit cards and personal loans.

It said this figure would break through the 100,000 mark this year as their repayments increase on the back of interest rate rises.

Middle income households are particularly vulnerable, according to separate research released earlier this week, as they would be unable to survive for six months if they lost their main source of income.

Delroy Corinaldi, a director at the CCCS, said: "So many households are just managing to make ends meet, that even a small increase in the cost of their mortgage may push them over the edge. As far as possible, families need to think how they could pay such increases and seek help at the earliest opportunity if they feel that they cannot cope."

It places extra pressure on households after Halifax, Britain, biggest mortgage lender, revealed the typical value of a home dropped more than £6,000 during the past year.

It said average house prices rose marginally by 0.1 per cent in March compared with the previous month but was down 2.9 per cent on the same period a year ago.

Original comment can be found at The Repossession Advisory http://www.theadvisory.co.uk/quick-house-sale-blog/2011/04/house-repossessions-likely-to-rise/

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London, United Kingdom -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/15/2011 -- Compounding the difficulties posed by lenders for people trying to get mortgages, there is new evidence that credit rating agencies are becoming the cause of further misery in the UK.

James Daley at consumers group Which? says that an increasing number of people are victims of 'mistraces', where a debt is attributed to the wrong person. "There is no easy way to get it reversed," he says. "It's a very frustrating system for consumers and you can easily run into a dead end."

The three main credit agencies in the UK, Equifax, Experian and Callcredit, hold details on almost everyone in the country and their information is used every time you apply for a credit card, a bank account a mobile phone or – most importantly – a mortgage.

"They can put a full stop to your financial life," says Marc Gander, one of the founders of Consumer Action Group. "They are hugely powerful. And yet there is no visible, transparent means of appeal. They are unregulated and out of control."

Gander argues that they are unaccountable and shirk their responsibility by simply saying that they cannot check on each item of information individually.

The only real fallback if you believe you have been given an incorrect rating is to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service, which says it receives 'hundreds' of such complaints each year.

Otherwise, it may pay to keep a close eye on your credit rating, so that you can take swift action if anything appears to be wrong.

Original comment can be found at The Mortgage Advisory http://www.theadvisory.co.uk/quick-house-sale-blog/2011/04/the-misery-of-credit-rating-agencies/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/11/2011 -- Instead of being an inoculation against measles mumps and rubella, the MMR this year stands for Mortgage Market Review, where the government (in the form of the Financial Services Authority) is taking a long, hard look at the mortgage system in the UK and deciding how it could be changed to prevent any future crises like the one we suffered in 2008, when the tax payer had to bail out Northern Rock and the Royal Bank of Scotland, among others.

The proposals so far would tighten up the criteria for banks to lend to home buyers, insisting that borrowers not only meet affordability standards at the time when they purchase a property, but that they will be able to afford payments well into the future.

There is a subjectivity to this reasoning: any of us may fall ill, may lose our jobs, or suffer some other financial problem which makes paying the mortgage harder. So the idea is that banks will have the freedom to prognosticate over how our lives will pan out in the future and make decisions as a result.

The proposed move has been attacked by groups such as the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which points out that, if the suggested measures had been in place between 2005 and 2010, 51 per cent of mortgages would not have been granted.

On the other hand, the charity Shelter claims that, if the measures had been in place, 17,000 repossessions could have been avoided, because people who could not afford mortgages would not have been given them.

The proposed changes run counter to the idea that banks 'should lend more', as the government keeps telling them. Here, it is saying that they should lend less to the 'wrong' sort of person. Mainly the sort of person who votes Labour.

Original comment can be found at The Mortgage Advisory

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London, United Kingdom -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/08/2011 -- A shared equity scheme worth £250 million was unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne in his 2011 Budget speech, restricted to first time buyers and newly built properties.

On the face of it, this could assist many British would-be buyers who lack the £30,000 or more deposit needed to get onto the property ladder, and have found banks reluctant to lend to them. It may also provide some support to the house-building industry which is still suffering more than two years after the credit crisis of autumn 2008 caused the property market to slow.

But what are the chances of the measure having any significant or lasting effect? There has been a succession of similar schemes over the past decade, each targeted at roughly similar areas of the market. HomeBuy Direct is the main one, although others have come and gone.

The fact that so many have indeed 'gone' is a clue that these type of incentive schemes may not have much impact. Take up can be patchy, partly because there are worrying downsides to the deal. If you cannot afford a regular mortgage, can you really afford one that is shared equity?

Typically, shared equity buyers get a proportion of their home as a loan from a third party (often the developer), which acts as a deposit for a bank. But they have to repay this loan within ten years or when the property is sold, whichever is the sooner.

Many buyers have found that they are not in a position to repay the loan in ten years and forfeit the property, which has given shared-equity schemes a bad name.

No doubt the government will claim that things are different this time around. But with unemployment rising, interest rates likely to rise later this year and the economy stagnating, it would be an optimistic buyer who could say they'll raise the cash to pay back 25 per cent of the cost of their property within ten years.

Original comment can be found at the mortgage advisory

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/25/2011 -- The government's spending review, along with sliding house prices, has dampened demand for mortgages to its lowest level since the third quarter of 2008 – which was the lowest rating on record.

The Bank of England's analysis of credit conditions for households and businesses placed demand for home loans at -41.5 on a scale of -100 to +100.

But while demand is down, the banks insist that they are prepared to lend, and do not need to be forced to do so, as the government is threatening.

Simon Hayes, economist at Barclays Capital, said that lending conditions may have reached 'the new normal' after the easily available credit that characterised the markets before the 2007 financial crisis. "There are no signs in this survey of further structural tightening in credit supply by lenders: lending flows are weak because uncertainty about the economic outlook is dampening both demand and supply," Hayes added.

If this is the 'new normal', then it may presage an era where house prices have less volatility than in the past 20 years, since there will be fewer speculators hoping to make quick profits and more steady conditions all over.

Reports that lenders are becoming less able to offload risky loans onto other investors are also potentially positive news, since it means that the financial markets are beginning to regulate themselves and steer away from the pyramid selling practices which did so much harm in the mid-2000s.

Indeed, much of the housing bubble has been a form of pyramid selling operation, where vendors would hope to cash out before the crash, leaving the rest of us poor suckers left holding assets worth less than we'd paid for them. It hasn't quite worked like that, because the market has subsided gently rather than crashed, but the thought was there.

Original comment can be found at The Mortgage Advisory

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London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/11/2011 -- Interest rates will rise in 2011 and carry on rising into 2012, according to a new report from the Confederation of British Industry, which predicts that rates will go up by at least two per cent by the end of 2012. This will add almost £200 to an average monthly payment.

"Many households have been benefiting (from the low interest rates) in terms of mortgage payments, but that will start to turn over the next couple of years," said Lai Wah Co, the CBI's head of economic analysis. The reasoning behind the rate rise prediction is that the Bank of England wants to combat inflation, which has risen worryingly in recent months.

The organisation predicts that the Consumer Prices Index, the Government's preferred measure of inflation, will reach 3.8 per cent within the first three months of next year and that it will still be well above the Bank's 2 per cent target two years from now. It currently stands at 3.3 per cent.

The CBI expects interest rates to climb from their record low level of just 0.5 per cent in the second quarter next year.

It forecasts rates will rise 0.25 percentage points each quarter before the pace doubles in the middle of 2012 to 0.5 point increases, taking the bank rate to 2.75 per cent by that year's end. A 2.25 per cent rise in mortgage rates would see the monthly repayments on a typical £150,000 mortgage increase from £909 to £1096.

Although this is just one report, the fact that the CBI has chosen to make the prediction at this time indicates that it may have some information from the Bank of England, which the Bank prefers not to release directly.

So anyone planning to take out a fixed rate mortgage in the expectation of higher rates should compare these potential rates, and the consequent predicted cost of their mortgage, with what they would pay on a floating rate, to work out possible gains or losses.

Original comment can be found at The Best Mortgage Deals Advisory http://www.theadvisory.co.uk

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London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/11/2011 -- After nine months of growth, Britain's construction industry took a cold weather dip, as outdoor work became treacherous in the icy conditions.

Experts expected the sector to slow a little, but things were worse than feared. Jeremy Cook, chief economist at currency exchange broker World First, said: "This isn't really a surprise after the 'snow-apocalypse' which we experienced last month - coupled with the typical Christmas slowdown. However it is still a cause for concern.

"Construction spending has formed a significant part of the strong GDP figures we have seen recently, and it sets the UK up for a slip in the fourth quarter figures."

Even though it only accounts for just over 6pc of GDP, the construction sector helped drive the UK's strong economic growth in recent months. The building industry accounted for 0.4 of a percentage point of the second quarter's 1.1 per cent expansion and another 0.2 percentage point of the overall 0.7 per cent growth seen in the third.

Since that rapid expansion, which came as the sector recovered from the deep contraction experienced during the recession, construction has been slowing down.

The latest PMI showed a small rise in the number of new orders, which was taken as confirmation that the bad weather was to blame for the lower levels of current activity.

However, there were also signs of continued underlying problems. Employment fell sharply as companies kept cutting jobs and confidence about future business prospects has been muted.

Only commercial construction, compared to civil engineering and domestic building, saw activity increase in December, and it was at the slowest rate in the last 10 months.

Civil engineering and house building both shrank, with residential construction falling at the fastest rate since April 2009, indicating the knock-on effects of a stagnant housing market.

Businesses will be hoping they will enjoy a "catch-up" effect when the thaw sets in, as they did following the last harsh winter.

However, conditions look more challenging this time around, as government cutbacks hit spending on public building.

Original comment can be found at The Housing Market Advisory

http://www.theadvisory.co.uk

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/11/2011 -- Property values in Kensington & Chelsea and the City of Westminster rose by 0.7% and 1.5% respectively during November, according to the latest Land Registry results issued in late December. This means that average values over the 12 months to November 2010 are 8.5% and 11.4% higher than the preceding year. Meanwhile, England and Wales showed a drop in average price of 0.6% during November, a fall of £4,000 in the average price of a property since this time last year.

Naomi Heaton, CEO of London Central Portfolio, comments: "This year as demonstrated the resilience of London Central. Growth has been more substantial, more consistent and more sustainable than the rest of the UK. Despite alarmist reports, the run-up to holiday season saw the usual influx of wealthy international investors coming to London to do their Christmas shopping."

Whilst the domestic market languishes with buyers struggling to pull together higher deposits whilst receiving lower multiples of salary for their mortgage, the wealthy international investor, with more ready cash, still recognises value and security in London Central.

Hugh Best, head of investment management at LCP says: "Quite apart from the continuing currency play, the globally high net worth recognise the diversification benefits of London Central residential real estate in their investment portfolio. It is not only a hedge against inflation and political or economic instability in their domestic region; it is also a proven performer during a time when stock market returns continue to fluctuate."

Heaton argues that there is not a 'ripple effect' from the capital. "London Central does not blaze the trail for the rest of the country – it is simply a different market. Where national housing relies on employment rates and the cost and availability of mortgages, London Central stands apart. A playground for the rich and famous, international demand continues unabated and with limited stock levels, this scarce resource will continue to underpin prices."

Original comment can be found at The Property Valuation Advisory

http://www.theadvisory.co.uk

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London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/01/2011 -- In the season of good cheer, let's try to ignore drooping house prices and stingy lenders, and turn instead to all the good things that have happened in the property world this year.

To look on the bright side, the fact that homes have become cheaper is great news for first time buyers and brings us back closer to historic averages, and in line with other similar countries. The fact that the falls have been relatively small and gradual, rather than coming in one big crash, is also a good thing since it has given people time to adjust and has kept the level of repossessions down. Very low interest rates have helped with this.

The UK economy has registered some positive news this year. Manufacturing has made a surprise comeback, with exports of many goods rising, partly due to a weak pound, which encourages export volumes. The feared exodus of financial services companies from the City of London has not materialised (in fact JP Morgan announced that it was bringing hundreds of new jobs to the city).

There has been no shortage of buyers for the UK's most prestigious and expensive addresses, with wealthy overseas customers ever eager to acquire a piece of the UK. The full effect of the austerity package will be felt in 2011, but so far, there has been relatively little impact on property values.

The decision to cut back on housing support may have a significant effect on some neighbourhoods, as lower paid workers have to relocate to cheaper property, but again, this still hasn't happened yet and perhaps many people will find the cash to pay higher rents, in preference to moving.

One pregnant mother at this time of year, who wasn't able to find a suitable property for a short term rental, ended up in a farmyard, where she gave birth. Thank God that most of us have more suitable accommodation.

Merry Christmas and a very happy new year to everyone.

Original comment can be found at The House Prices Advisory http://www.theadvisory.co.uk

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/01/2011 -- According to the latest figures from the Young Group, based on a survey of the group's 500 property investors and landlords, sentiment in the private rented sector remains buoyant and there is a positive outlook for 2011.

In particular, the London market is expected to outperform the UK market in the coming year, with 89 per cent of respondents believing that London residential property prices will be at least at their current levels, or higher, at the end of 2011. On average, respondents expected an increase of 4.5 per cent.

"The market consensus is that prices have been stabilising in recent months and, in some locations, falling back. It is likely that 2011 will present a similar picture, as access to finance remains an issue and the demand from purchasers remains subdues, but it is clear from the latest index results that sentiment among residential property investors is becoming increasingly positive, at least for those with assets in London.

Almost a third of the respondents to the survey are considering purchasing additional investment property in London in the next 12 months, compared with 11 per cent thinking of buying elsewhere in the UK.

In addition, more people than in the past now view property as a long term investment, with the average length of anticipated holding now at 14.5 years, an increase of more than two years from the figure earlier in 2010.

The group stresses that lack of mortgage finance, together with limited new building, means that rental values throughout the UK are likely to rise in 2011.

Original comment can be found at The Buy To Let Advisory http://www.theadvisory.co.uk

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/15/2010 -- The Advisory stares into the crystal ball (or maybe the crystal whiskey glass) to forecast what will transpire in the property world in 2011.

The trend towards tightening mortgage conditions will continue for the first half of the year, with lenders remaining reluctant to extend loans to any but the most reliable and safe borrowers. This will keep up the pressure on the private rented sector, meaning higher rents, less availability and some new areas becoming fashionable with landlords – within an hour's commute of London for example.

In London itself, areas close to good transport links such as Stratford, Kings Cross, Finsbury Park and Paddington will register uplifts in house prices, with the London Olympics now just over a year away. Some companies are already springing up to take advantage of the high demand for accommodation expected in the summer of 2012. One such website,www.accommodationforthegames.com, is already getting bookings for the games, charging thousands of pounds per week for homes within an easy journey of the Olympic sites.

London rents rose by 6.8 per cent during 2010, according to Findaproperty, and are now £1,818 per month on average. Void periods are almost zero, as competing offers for rental properties push up the price and put landlords in a stronger position.

The demand for new build property will become stronger during 2011, as tenants are forced out of local authority homes, but the banks are just as reluctant to lend to developers as to mortgage customers, so the prospect of significant new stock is remote.

Since the government's austerity measures will begin to take hold in 2011, these could have a depressing effect on the economy and on the property market. But the pressure to pull ourselves out of recession will lead to a sharp increase in self-employment, in start-up companies providing innovative products and services, which will spark an economic revival by the end of 2011.

Original content can be found at The Mortgage Advisory http://www.theadvisory.co.uk

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/15/2010 -- After decades in the outer reaches of fashion, property in England's market towns has made a surprising return to popularity, according to Lloyds TSB, which has tracked the price of homes in 111 market towns.

Figures show that homes in these towns include an average £30,000 premium. "In a market town you can have all the advantages of the larger towns or cities without some of the distractions. There is less congestion, less heavy traffic, and lower levels of crime," said the bank's Martin Ellis.

Most sought after of all is the Oxfordshire town of Beaconsfield, half way between London and Oxford, a few minutes' drive from Heathrow, with a cute model village and easy access to the M40.

"Beaconsfield is doing and has always done extremely well," says estate agent Bernard Hodgson. "It's not just one single facet that attracts buyers – there are numerous facets. The schools are second to none, it's very accessible by train or by road and it's only 20 or 25 minutes to Heathrow. There is a model village that still attracts people from far and wide and a market in the old town every Tuesday."

There is certainly something comforting about the look and feel of a market town, with their war memorials, cranky old pubs and boutiquey shops. It seems the rise of the out of town retail centre, the spread of car ownership and the magnetic attraction of large cities was not enough to kill them off. In Beaconsfield you'll pay around £730,000 for an average house, which is very high, even by Oxfordshire standards.

Here are the top six priciest market towns (average home value):
1. Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire (Average house price £736,585)
2. Winchcombe, Gloucestershire (£360,451)
3. Cranbrook, Kent (£353,726)
4. Midhurst, Sussex (£342,975)
5. Ringwood, Hampshire (£341,076)
6. Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire (£333,834)

Original comment can be found at House Price Advisory http://www.theadvisory.co.uk

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/29/2010 -- Home owners and potential buyers have been peering into the tea leaves for months, trying to second-guess movements in interest rates. Will we have another six months of historically low rates, or a year, or two years?

A new survey from The Worldwide Property Group has found that half of its respondents think rates will rise in the next 12 months, while half think they will stay as they are. But the trend is actually towards rates remaining low – in April 2010 the same survey found that 79 per cent of respondents expected a rate rise.

So what are the factors that could prompt a rise?

• Inflation rising sharply. The bank of England doesn't like to see inflation above something like 3.5 per cent, so if it heads towards 5 per cent or more, interest rates are likely to rise.

When people have less money to spend on consumables, because they are spending more on their mortgages, there is downward pressure on prices, helping to bring inflation down.

• The economy takes off. Interest rates can be used to curb excesses of boom and bust (higher at a time of boom and lower in a downturn). Since there are few signs of a booming economy, this factor is unlikely to kick in.

• To spur more bank lending. Banks are currently reluctant to lend to home buyers for various reasons, but very low interest rates are one of them. Their margins when lending at 3 or 4 per cent are so tiny, they feel they might as well not bother. It's a bit like a property developer sitting on some land and waiting for the value to rise before building.

So even though it would be a bit painful for some borrowers, higher rates would encourage more lending, which many prospective buyers would welcome.

Original content can be found at The UK Interest Rates Advisory

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The number of pensioners with mortgages is rising relentlessly, accoriding to new research from the Saga Group. There are already a quarter of a million people over 65 who are still repaying mortgages and that figure could rise to a million within five years.

London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/19/2010 -- The number of pensioners with mortgages is rising relentlessly, accoriding to new research from the Saga Group. There are already a quarter of a million people over 65 who are still repaying mortgages and that figure could rise to a million within five years.

"A lot of pensioners are relying on endowment policies or lump sums from their pensions to pay back their mortgage debt, but these things have just not worked out," says Ros Altmann, director general of Saga.

A generation of SKIers ('spending the kids' inheritance') have kept on living the high life, even when their earning ability has dipped. The so called 'gravers' (grey ravers) have kept on dipping into their equity pot, beyond the stage where they could hope to repay it in their lifetimes.

"Instead, they are continuing with their mortgage well into retirement, using their bricks and mortar to raise cash to live on, and to help their children and gradchildren with their own property purchases," says Melanie Bien of mortgage broker Private Finance.

An estimated 1,071,000 British people between 55 and 64 still have mortgage debts, while a recent study for the Council for Mortgage Lenders estimated that half of all home owners aged over 50 have mortgage terms that stretch beyond the age of 65. Two-third of these said they intended to remain in debt indefinitely.

The prospect of people being forced to sell their homes in order to pay routine bills is an uncomfortable one, but an increasingly likely scenario. Should interest rates rise to any extent, from their current historic lows, it would place many hundreds of thousands of people in financial jeopardy.

It's certainly interesting that banks appear to be more willing to lend to older customers, despite their declining ability to repay. Presumably they calculate that older people are less likely to default, and that people are in any case living longer these days.

How long before we get mortgages that last until we're 100?

Original content can be found at The Mortgage Advisory

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