Author: Antony Antoniou

Chris Loaring, a spokesperson for the CIE, commented: “It is commonly agreed across the industry that Unique Property Reference Numbers will offer the best solution towards creating a unique, non-transferable and universal reference for every property. Our whitepaper offers the first analysis of what practical steps are needed to make the implementation possible to get all stakeholders aligned.

“At the CIE, we collectively have more industry experts in one place who are immersed in property, geospatial and UPRN data. We are therefore very pleased to present to the market a whitepaper that breaks down the role UPRNs will play in providing one true record for each address, which will ultimately help towards reducing transactional delays and improve the overall experience.”

At a later date, the CIE will be hosting an industry roundtable event to discuss the details of the whitepaper. The date and joining details of the event will be announced soon.

The overall purpose of the CIE is to raise data quality and content standards in property searches used within the UK conveyancing process, with a membership that includes Argyll Environmental, Geodesys, Groundsure, Landmark Information, Mining Searches UK, PinPoint Information, SearchFlow, Ambiental, Glenigan, JBA Risk Management and Barbour ABI.

Momentum behind wider use of UPRNs – which are similar to car license plates – has been growing in the last couple of years.

In July last year, trade body Propertymark urged agents to start being trained in the use of software operating the UPRN system, while in January this year Countrywide and Foxtons were among the names backing a new scheme to speed up the conveyancing process.

The agencies, along with Savills and a string of agency trade bodies, threw their weight behind an idea to identify every single UK residential property with a unique number, signing a letter sent to then-Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick outlining the potential advantages of the Unique Property Reference Number concept.

Most recently, in late June 2021, the Unique Property Reference Number concept was backed by the government as well.

Housing minister Chris Pincher said at the time: “We know that the current buying and selling process is besieged by long and arduous and byzantine processes and inefficiencies.

“When a buyer is found, old and dusty deeds, half-forgotten documents lying in solicitors’ safes or basements of town halls – they have got to be located, they’ve got to be shared, they’ve got to be pored over by both parties in great detail.”

With UPRNs, he argued that “the processes can be streamlined. Information like the number of previous owners, boundaries, that can all be shared digitally at the touch of a key helping to speed the whole house buying process along.”

The top ten new supply shortage hotspots are all in South East and East of England, with average asking prices in three of the hotspots – Newmarket, Berkhamsted and Bushey – up by nine per cent since 2019.

The portal says that nationally the average number of available properties on an agent’s books is 16, down from 29 in July 2020.

The stock shortage is being felt across the country, with the average available stock per agent on Rightmove dropping from 29 in July 2020 to just 16 properties now.

Around two third of properties have already found a buyer, and some of the hotter areas like Newmarket are seeing a higher rate of three quarters of homes already sold subject to contract.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data, comments: “If we think back to July last year the market in England had been open again for around six weeks, the stamp duty holiday was announced, and a summer frenzy was just beginning.

“Twelve months on, the combination of fewer sellers coming to market and sustained demand has resulted in a summer seller shortfall, and so the challenge for agents now is to try and replenish the stock to meet the demand from buyers.

“For those considering coming to market this year, now could be the time to find out what your home could be worth from a local agent.”

To give an example of the stock drought in the worst-hit area, Neil Harris – director at Cheffins in Newmarket – says: “There’s a real shortage of houses for sale which means that for every property which does come available, we see huge levels of interest.

“We’ve consistently benefitted from Cambridge’s house price growth, and as Cambridge becomes increasingly expensive, coupled with its fast-growing population and booming economy, buyers have continually looked to move to Newmarket in search of more space for their money. Similarly, as the days of the five day a week commute appear to be coming to an end, we’ve seen a growth in buyers from London coming to the area, seeking out countryside and village homes at lower price tags.”

The same study, of 2,000 UK adults, found that 42 per cent believe that being self-employed is not usually a factor considered by lenders in mortgage applications.

Compared to all age groups in the study, young people aged 18 to 34 are the most likely to under-estimate the impact of furlough on their ability to borrow.

Richard Eagling, senior mortgages expert at comparison website NerdWallet – which commissioned the research – says: “A lender will always determine the risk level that a mortgage applicant presents and whether they can afford the repayments,  and it seems that many lenders are excluding furloughed income when assessing affordability.

“Likewise, some high street banks are declining mortgage applications from those who took the government’s self-employment income support scheme grant, or are asking them for larger deposits. This is another sting in the tail for those that have been financially affected by Covid and presents a challenge to their dreams of homeownership.”

The research also highlights that only 22 per cent of adults aged 18 to 54, and just 15 per cent of those aged 18 to 25, knew that the government-backed mortgage guarantee scheme could apply to them.

Some 78 per cent of working age adults also said that they do not have a good grasp of the support available to help them buy property, while 76 per cent of 18-to-54s feel they lack good knowledge about how to secure a decent mortgage.

In its annual report – which is out today but covers only the 2020 calendar year – TPO says enquiries increased year-on-year with a record 39,285 reported, up 29 per cent on 2019.

Over 34,000 enquiries were resolved at first contact and 5,122 enquiries were accepted as complaints by TPO. Whilst this was a rise of only 0.3 per cent as the bulk of enquiries were in the latter part of the year, this meant an even busier start to 2021.

TPO dealt with 2,737 complaints relating to lettings, 1,656 relating to sales, 1,194 for residential leasehold management and 120 for other property professionals.

The biggest awards were £20,838 (lettings), £24,139 (sales) and £10,642 (RLM), and the average awards were £612, £653 and £339 respectively.

Once again, the top causes of complaints being referred to TPO were management for lettings and communication and record keeping for sales, with complaints handling as the top cause for RLM disputes being referred to TPO.

TPO recorded a 99 per cent compliance rate with awards in 2020, with just 40 referrals made to TPO’s Compliance Committee, 34 per cent fewer than in 2019.  Despite members totalling 40,097, only 19 agents were excluded for non-payment of awards.

In the sales sector, some 65 per cent of complaints were supported by the Ombudsman; 68 per cent of complaints were received from sellers, while 30 per cent came from buyers.

The top causes of complaints were communication & record keeping, instructions/terms of business/commission/termination, marketing and advertising, and complaints handling.

Rebecca Marsh, The Property Ombudsman, comments: “Our customer services team responded to another record volume of consumer enquiries with an ever-increasing number of people opting to contact us via TPO’s complaints portal, launched in February 2020. The pandemic is not over yet, so it will be interesting to see if this trend continues or adjusts as we slowly get back to normal.

“TPO helped over 34,000 enquiries that did not need to go on to become accepted cases by signposting them to organisations that could help, or giving advice and guidance to promote a local resolution between them and the agent. Providing a front-end enquiry service is one of the unique functions of an ombudsman. Its importance in helping consumers in such a complicated sector, whether or not their issues fall within TPO’s remit, should not be understated, as often straightforward guidance and advice can help stop disputes from arising in the first instance.

“Enquiry levels in 2021 are already showing further year-on-year increases and we are expecting this to continue as the impact of the pandemic on peoples’ relationships with their homes continues to play out.”

A Jersey home now costs, on average, 2.5 times more than in the UK and almost £200,000 higher than on the neighbouring Channel Island of Guernsey. During the second quarter of 2021, the UK national average went from £253,000 to £257,000, with London now standing at £504,000.

The average cost of a two-bedroom flat on Jersey is now £494,000 while three- and four-bedroom homes are £806,000 and £1,277,000 respectively.

The Jersey Evening Post newspaper quotes Deputy Graham Truscott – a politician who sits on the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel – saying: “It is concerning and house prices have been historically high in Jersey when compared to other areas of the world. It could have a negative impact, not just on the younger generation, but in attracting people we need to the Island – doctors, for example, as they might now be looking at a house costing over £1 million.

“It’s certainly going to have a knock-on effect across the population. We have got to knuckle down and build more.”

The same report says advertised rental prices in Jersey rose by nine per cent in the last three months, taking them four per cent above the corresponding period of 2020.

Home specifies that the supply rate of new sales listings remains remarkably low across all English regions, Scotland and Wales, despite the fact that properties outside of Greater London are achieving record valuations.

While still below their May 2016 peak, London prices are beginning to rise and look to be entering a new period of growth, supported by a rapidly recovering rental market especially in the more central boroughs. Home says that after an 18-month battering by the pandemic, confidence is returning to the capital’s property market.

The sales stock total in London has been steadily eroded by 16 per cent since the oversupply peak in late 2020; it suggests demand looks set to increase on the back of rapidly rising rents as investors, both private and institutional, spot yield and capital gains opportunities.

Outside London, shrinking sales and rental inventories continue to push up both prices and rents.

Even so, the number of new instructions entering the sales market across the UK continues to be very low compared to pre-Covid levels (down 24% July 2021 vs. July 2019). The number of newly available rental properties entering the market is also down considerably across the UK (down 27 per cent between July 2020 and July 2021).

Sales supply looks set to remain low until mortgage payment deferral schemes end, says Home – no date has been set for these, but they may coincide with the end of the current furlough scheme at the end of September.

The East of England and Wales now lead in terms of regional price growth, with annualised home price inflation of 11.2 and 10.7 per cent respectively, supported by high demand and low supply.

But the firm says it’s likely HMRC is now starting to examine property returns submitted over the past 18 months and may be about to pounce on suspect returns.

Boodle Hatfield says the applicability of SDLT relief can be subjective and HMRC may challenge claims by property owners who are not trying to defraud the taxpayer but are merely uncertain of how the rules apply or legitimately believe they are entitled to relief.

Ways in which some property owners may legitimately reduce their SDLT cost on a property purchase include claiming their property is a mixed-use property to qualify for the lower commercial rate of stamp duty, or claiming multiple dwellings relief if their property has a granny flat or annexe.

SDLT enquiries may also detect fraud, where individuals deliberately make dishonest or inaccurate disclosures in an attempt to underpay or evade stamp duty.

Boodle Hatfield partner Kyra Motley says: “It is an astonishingly sharp drop in SDLT investigations, especially when set against the boom in residential property transactions.

“It seems unlikely that this drop in investigations means there has been a similarly sharp drop in wrongly claimed SDLT reliefs.

“HMRC will be keen to make up for the shortfall in investigations over the past year. We would expect them to scale up activity now that lockdown restrictions have ended and all the HMRC teams return to a more normal working environment.”

Now Trading Standards – in response to a query from Estate Agent Today – says that this policy is permissible for sales and even, under some circumstances, avoids contravening the Tenant Fees Act.

A spokesperson tells EAT: “In principle, it is fine for sales viewings as long as agents and traders are transparent and upfront about any terms and conditions or charges applicable to payments and refunds. The business must not make any misleading statements or omissions as these are criminal offences.”

They continue: “Requiring a person to make a payment to view a property to rent is prohibited … Giving no option but to pay the fee is prohibited, but optional fees, like in this instance, are not prohibited.”

EAT originally approached the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agent Team; however this was passed to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.

The CTSI tells EAT: “If the matter is covered by the Estate Agents Act 1979 or Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, then local trading standards will take responsibility for enforcement. If it is covered by the Tenant Fees Act 2019, then the matter could be enforced by Trading Standards, Housing or Environmental Health.”

What remains unknown, however, is whether agents will actually support the idea – ViewRabbit has declined to say which agencies, if any, have signed up.

There has been substantial scepticism about the idea.

TV property expert Phil Spencer wrote yesterday on EAT: “I’m a keen fan of innovation in the property industry, especially if it modernises and simplifies our way-too-complicated system of buying and selling. But charging £30 to view a home? The potential for bad publicity, and the confusion of agents acting for sellers yet receiving income from buyers for a viewing, smacks of complication and possible pitfalls.”

Polls and surveys on social media suggest a majority of agents will not be charging buyers and tenants for viewing properties.