The Demand For Property In The UK Has Risen By 9%, Why Landlords Should Consider Pets, Plus More

Welcome to the February edition of the Wood & Pilcher newsletter.

In this month's edition, the demand for property in the UK has risen by 9% and we share an introduction to joint mortgages.

Also this month, there has been a 6% rise in the number of properties being built and we settle the debate on whether landlords should consider allowing pets in their properties.

The Demand For Property In The UK Has Risen By 9%

 

 

New reports from Rightmove have shown signs of a busy 2018 for the UK as it looks like many people are looking to move home this year.

The latest figures have shown a huge rise in the number of people looking for a new home. While an increase in activity is expected each January, since the beginning of 2018 the website has seen an even further increase of 9% in comparison to January of 2017.

This has resulted in more than four million visits to the website per day, indicating a huge surge in people looking for their next move.

While the number of online visitors has grown substantially, the number of sales agreed took a fall towards the tail end of 2017, dropping by 5.5% in Q4. This could mean that buyers are becoming slightly pickier when it comes to purchasing a property.

Rightmove Director, Miles Shipside offered his comments on the recent figures, saying: “Considering some of the gales that buffeted the market in the latter part of 2017, these early readings for 2018 show that there is currently a good following wind of search activity. To keep this year’s initial buyer momentum with you rather than against, serious sellers should note that all regions are currently selling at a slower rate than a year ago, indicating choosier buyers.”

The price of homes has also seen a slight jump in 2018, with most homes seeing a 0.7% or &2,067 jump in value last month on average.

As expected the type of home to see that largest rise in value are those suitable for first-time buyers and exempt from stamp duty charges. Homes with two bedrooms or less rose in value by 1.1% in January alone, while homes more suited for second-steppers saw an increase in value of 0.4%

Unfortunately, for buyers, the number of homes available for sale has not changed, as the average number of properties per estate agency branch has hovered at forty-two since the same time last year.

Some property experts have suggested that the lack of supply could create competition between buyers, especially those taking their first step onto the property ladder, meaning the money saved due to the removal of stamp duty land tax (subject to purchase price) could just end up being spent elsewhere.

This is a sentiment shared by the Director of the Mortgage Advice Bureau, Andy Frankish, who commented, “the ongoing lack of stock in popular areas will possibly lead to the potential for prices to galvanise where there isn’t enough stock once the market gets into its full stride within the next few weeks. Whether that will be further fuelled by competition between first-time buyers remains to be seen, and it would be shame if the savings that they were able to make in SDLT were instead eaten up by having to pay an increased price to get on the ladder, which probably wasn’t what the Chancellor had in mind.”

6% Rise In The Number Of New Homes Registered

 

 

Recent reports have detailed the number of new homes that were registered to be built in the UK last year, showing a rise of 6% in 2017 when compared to 2016.

According to the latest statistics from the National House Building Council (NHBC), just over 160,000 were registered during last year, which is the highest number we have seen since 2007 when the figure stood at 198,929 registrations for the year.

75% of the UK saw an increase in registrations across the course of 2017. The region of the East Midlands was top of the table for new registrations, recording 14,481 registrations, a 19% increase in comparison to 2016.

Not far behind was Wales, which also saw a 19% increase in registrations, however, the number of new homes totalled at 5,470. The North West took 3rd place with a substantial rise of registrations by 12% with 16,947 new homes.

The capital has seen its first increase year on year since 2014, with a small increase from the 17,587 seen in 2016, to the 17,850 units recorded in 2017.

There was also growth seen within the private sector, with 118,825 new homes registered, a jump of 3% year on year and the affordable sector saw its highest annual total since the NHBC electronic records began 30 years ago, boasting 41,781 new homes and a 14% rise on the previous year.

Chief Executive of the NHBC, Steve Wood, spoke on the statistics found within their report, stating, “Our figures show the market has delivered strong growth resulting in the highest new home figures for a decade and growth across the majority of the UK, including London for the first time since 2014. Looking ahead, NHBC will continue to work with the industry to help raise the standards of new homes. With a 6% growth in the quantity of new home registrations, the focus on delivering quality for consumers remains critical.”

An Introduction To Joint Mortgages

 

 

A joint mortgage is a common method for groups of buyers who are looking to share the costs of buying a home. Whether you are a couple looking to buy a home, family members, friends or business partners, a joint mortgage can assist you with dividing up the share of the property and spreading out the monthly mortgage repayment.

You don’t even need to be living with the other party. For example, children and parents will often take out a joint mortgage so that the parents can assist with the cost of buying a first home.

How do I go about getting a joint mortgage?
The process is the same as applying for a regular mortgage. Both parties will be required to attend the mortgage interview and you will both need to provide all the same relevant documents should a lender request them.

The only limitation you may face is if you are applying for a mortgage with more than three people.

How much can you borrow with a joint mortgage?
One benefit of taking out a joint mortgage is because it increases the amount that a lender will be prepared to advance.

Lenders will take both parties income and outgoings into account in an affordability assessment, with most lenders offering a calculator on their website for figuring out the cost.

So how is the mortgage split between the parties?

Tenants in common
Tenants in common allows each party to own a different share of the property. Each party is also allowed to decide who they leave their share to when they die. All parties are required to consent to a sale. This type of policy usually suits friends or family buying property.

Joint tenants
Joint tenants is better suited to couples looking to purchase a property. Each person has a 100% stake in the value of the property. Again, both parties must consent before the property can be sold. If one of the parties dies, the share of the property passes to the other owner.

What happens if one of us stops paying?

Whilst both parties are jointly liable for a joint ownership, the lender won’t care whether the repayment is split evenly down the middle. The other party not paying their share won’t be accepted as an excuse for failure to repay.

Mortgage lenders aren’t interested in which of you has contributed more, they will just expect the payment.

A joint mortgage is a perfect solution for those looking to buy with a second party. Your rights as a co-owner are enshrined within the terms of the mortgage, meaning you won’t need to worry about the security of your share, you can get a bigger advance due to your combined income, and you have assistance with the costs of your mortgage.

Should Landlords Consider Allowing Pets?

 

 

Britain is, without doubt, a nation that loves its pets. As the pet population continues to grow, many homeowners bring with them everything from dogs and cats to birds and hamsters.

What is surprising to some is that the stance of most landlords when it comes to pets in rented accommodation seems to have remained unchanged.

This is of course for understandable reasons, even the most well-behaved pets can have their accidents and depending on how responsible the owner is, they can be quite destructive to a property.

A new study from LSL Corporate Client Department surveyed over 3,200 people throughout the UK on pets in rented accommodation and revealed some reasons why it may be time for landlords to make some exceptions.

This survey asked its participants, if and just how much they would be willing to pay to have a furry friend in the place that they are renting.

It was found that 31% of 18-35-year-olds are willing to pay more for their pet and are happy to pay &25.55 extra a month on average for the privilege. With an average &300 extra annual profit, could landlords be persuaded to allow pets, providing that a deal is structured to cover the potential cost of any damages?

There were some differences seen between male and female tenants, with 31% of women prepared to pay more in comparison to the 23% of men willing to pay a premium.

There has already been some movement in this direction from the build to rent sector, with some developers looking to create pet-friendly one bedroom units that come with a garden.

Martyn Alderton is the National Lettings Director at Your Move, a sister company of LSL, and spoke on the results of the survey, he said, “Our research clearly shows that being able to live with a pet is a huge incentive for some tenants. For example, landlords could request a slightly higher deposit, six weeks instead of four, to protect the property; or as this research shows could consider increasing the monthly rent slightly to cover the cost of any pet-related damage”.

Many believe that there is huge potential for landlords to increase their income by structuring a lettings agreement that allows pets but also works for them. This is an opinion shared by CEO of Dog Friendly, Steve Bennet, who commented, “One of the most common questions that we receive from dog owners is: Where can they find private landlords who will allow dogs? I know from personal experience that having a dog, or as in my case dogs, the choice of properties available to my family was severely restricted. Accommodation suppliers who welcome dogs tell us that dog owners usually take more care of their rooms and their properties than non-dog owners – so it really is time for landlords to recognise that one in three households own a dog, which is a massive potential market too many landlords are still ignoring”.

 

The Demand For Property In The UK Has Risen By 9%

 

New reports from Rightmove have shown signs of a busy 2018 for the UK as it looks like many people are looking to move home this year.

The latest figures have shown a huge rise in the number of people looking for a new home. While an increase in activity is expected each January, since the beginning of 2018 the website has seen an even further increase of 9% in comparison to January of 2017.

This has resulted in more than four million visits to the website per day, indicating a huge surge in people looking for their next move.

While the number of online visitors has grown substantially, the number of sales agreed took a fall towards the tail end of 2017, dropping by 5.5% in Q4. This could mean that buyers are becoming slightly pickier when it comes to purchasing a property.

Rightmove Director, Miles Shipside offered his comments on the recent figures, saying: “Considering some of the gales that buffeted the market in the latter part of 2017, these early readings for 2018 show that there is currently a good following wind of search activity. To keep this year’s initial buyer momentum with you rather than against, serious sellers should note that all regions are currently selling at a slower rate than a year ago, indicating choosier buyers.”

The price of homes has also seen a slight jump in 2018, with most homes seeing a 0.7% or &2,067 jump in value last month on average.

As expected the type of home to see that largest rise in value are those suitable for first-time buyers and exempt from stamp duty charges. Homes with two bedrooms or less rose in value by 1.1% in January alone, while homes more suited for second-steppers saw an increase in value of 0.4%

Unfortunately, for buyers, the number of homes available for sale has not changed, as the average number of properties per estate agency branch has hovered at forty-two since the same time last year.

Some property experts have suggested that the lack of supply could create competition between buyers, especially those taking their first step onto the property ladder, meaning the money saved due to the removal of stamp duty land tax (subject to purchase price) could just end up being spent elsewhere.

This is a sentiment shared by the Director of the Mortgage Advice Bureau, Andy Frankish, who commented, “the ongoing lack of stock in popular areas will possibly lead to the potential for prices to galvanise where there isn’t enough stock once the market gets into its full stride within the next few weeks. Whether that will be further fuelled by competition between first-time buyers remains to be seen, and it would be shame if the savings that they were able to make in SDLT were instead eaten up by having to pay an increased price to get on the ladder, which probably wasn’t what the Chancellor had in mind.”

An Introduction To Joint Mortgages

 

A joint mortgage is a common method for groups of buyers who are looking to share the costs of buying a home. Whether you are a couple looking to buy a home, family members, friends or business partners, a joint mortgage can assist you with dividing up the share of the property and spreading out the monthly mortgage repayment.

You don’t even need to be living with the other party. For example, children and parents will often take out a joint mortgage so that the parents can assist with the cost of buying a first home.

How do I go about getting a joint mortgage?
The process is the same as applying for a regular mortgage. Both parties will be required to attend the mortgage interview and you will both need to provide all the same relevant documents should a lender request them.

The only limitation you may face is if you are applying for a mortgage with more than three people.

How much can you borrow with a joint mortgage?
One benefit of taking out a joint mortgage is because it increases the amount that a lender will be prepared to advance.

Lenders will take both parties income and outgoings into account in an affordability assessment, with most lenders offering a calculator on their website for figuring out the cost.

So how is the mortgage split between the parties?

Tenants in common
Tenants in common allows each party to own a different share of the property. Each party is also allowed to decide who they leave their share to when they die. All parties are required to consent to a sale. This type of policy usually suits friends or family buying property.

Joint tenants
Joint tenants is better suited to couples looking to purchase a property. Each person has a 100% stake in the value of the property. Again, both parties must consent before the property can be sold. If one of the parties dies, the share of the property passes to the other owner.

What happens if one of us stops paying?

Whilst both parties are jointly liable for a joint ownership, the lender won’t care whether the repayment is split evenly down the middle. The other party not paying their share won’t be accepted as an excuse for failure to repay.

Mortgage lenders aren’t interested in which of you has contributed more, they will just expect the payment.

A joint mortgage is a perfect solution for those looking to buy with a second party. Your rights as a co-owner are enshrined within the terms of the mortgage, meaning you won’t need to worry about the security of your share, you can get a bigger advance due to your combined income, and you have assistance with the costs of your mortgage.

Should Landlords Consider Allowing Pets?

 

 

Britain is, without doubt, a nation that loves its pets. As the pet population continues to grow, many homeowners bring with them everything from dogs and cats to birds and hamsters.

What is surprising to some is that the stance of most landlords when it comes to pets in rented accommodation seems to have remained unchanged.

This is of course for understandable reasons, even the most well-behaved pets can have their accidents and depending on how responsible the owner is, they can be quite destructive to a property.

A new study from LSL Corporate Client Department surveyed over 3,200 people throughout the UK on pets in rented accommodation and revealed some reasons why it may be time for landlords to make some exceptions.

This survey asked its participants, if and just how much they would be willing to pay to have a furry friend in the place that they are renting.

It was found that 31% of 18-35-year-olds are willing to pay more for their pet and are happy to pay &25.55 extra a month on average for the privilege. With an average &300 extra annual profit, could landlords be persuaded to allow pets, providing that a deal is structured to cover the potential cost of any damages?

There were some differences seen between male and female tenants, with 31% of women prepared to pay more in comparison to the 23% of men willing to pay a premium.

There has already been some movement in this direction from the build to rent sector, with some developers looking to create pet-friendly one bedroom units that come with a garden.

Martyn Alderton is the National Lettings Director at Your Move, a sister company of LSL, and spoke on the results of the survey, he said, “Our research clearly shows that being able to live with a pet is a huge incentive for some tenants. For example, landlords could request a slightly higher deposit, six weeks instead of four, to protect the property; or as this research shows could consider increasing the monthly rent slightly to cover the cost of any pet-related damage”.

Many believe that there is huge potential for landlords to increase their income by structuring a lettings agreement that allows pets but also works for them. This is an opinion shared by CEO of Dog Friendly, Steve Bennet, who commented, “One of the most common questions that we receive from dog owners is: Where can they find private landlords who will allow dogs? I know from personal experience that having a dog, or as in my case dogs, the choice of properties available to my family was severely restricted. Accommodation suppliers who welcome dogs tell us that dog owners usually take more care of their rooms and their properties than non-dog owners – so it really is time for landlords to recognise that one in three households own a dog, which is a massive potential market too many landlords are still ignoring”.