Tag: Property

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How to keep your buy-to-let afloat AND help tenants in the lockdown: From rent cuts to mortgage holidays?

“A Long Time Ago … In a Galaxy Far, Far Away…”
Landlords are eligible for three-month mortgage payment holidays
But should you offer tenants who are working from home a payment holiday?
Does offering a rent holiday place you in breach of your mortgage contract?
What legal documents do you need if you agree a rent holiday?
 
The coronavirus lockdown has caused severe financial strain for millions of people across Britain, prompting unprecedented financial aid packages from the Government for businesses and individuals alike.
 
While mortgage payment holidays of up to three months are being offered to both homeowners and landlords, who may struggle to keep up with repayments during the lockdown, renters have been told they will be able to stay in their homes during lockdown even if they fall behind with payments.
 
Meanwhile, the Government has officially asked landlords ‘to show compassion and to allow tenants who are affected by this to remain in their homes wherever possible’.
 
What does this mean for landlords in practice though? Should you be proactive with tenants and offer them a temporary rent holiday, knowing that they may be suffering?
 
From speaking to landlords and letting agents, This is Money knows that many are actively trying to help their tenants through tough times and willing to do what they can for those whose finances have been sideswiped by coronavirus.
 
On the flipside, how should you react to tenants asking for a rent reduction when you know full well they’re still working full-time from home and your checks when they moved in showed they had a big salary and lots of cash?
 
What should I do if my tenants want a rent reduction?
There’s no right answer to this but everyone agrees that the most important thing to do is talk to tenants to understand why they need a reduction.
 
Steve Harriott, chief executive of the TDS tenancy deposit protection scheme, says: ‘Under the new guidelines tenants are still liable for their rent, however, if they are facing financial hardship there is support out there.
 
‘It’s really important during this unprecedented situation that the lines of communication between renter and landlord are kept open.
 
‘Now is the time to be having an honest and frank conversation about rents and financial concerns, working together to put a rent payment scheme in place.’
 
Angus Stewart of online buy-to-let adviser Property Master argues that in most cases, it will make sense to agree to a rent reduction temporarily.
 
‘If they ask for a rent reduction it would be logical to look favourably on it if they have been a good tenant in the past,’ he advises.
 
‘If you can still afford to cover that loss for a couple of months it is a sensible thing to do as the last thing you want at the moment is an empty property.’
 
Jeni Browne, sales director at buy-to-let specialist adviser Mortgages for Business, says they have been talking to many landlords over the past fortnight and the most frequent approach is to defer rent payment rather than offer tenants a waiver.
 
The view from lenders is along the same lines. Bob Young, chief executive of specialist buy-to-let lender Fleet Mortgages, says many landlords, where possible, are already helping.
 
‘Providing temporary help, especially if they’re good tenants, is likely to be the sensible option for most landlords,’ he adds.
 
Will I be in breach of my mortgage contract?
In ordinary circumstances, it’s possible that allowing your tenants to pay less rent than agreed in their tenancy agreement would breach your contract with your lender. But these are not ordinary circumstances.
 
Young’s view, as a lender, is that you should be fine to agree a temporary rate reduction with your tenant if they require it.
 
Stewart agrees: ‘This is an exceptional situation and it is likely your lender would rather have some revenue from you than none. In these difficult times it is hard to see a lender wanting to enforce any breach of contract against you if you have explained the situation and are seeking to make some sort of payment.’
 
David Cox, chief executive of ARLA Propertymark, suggests where a rent reduction is essential, landlords, tenants and letting agents should again undertake the affordability check on the tenants’ finances that happens during the initial referencing stage.
 
‘It’s important to understand what tenants could afford on any reduced or furloughed income,’ he explains.
 
‘It would also need to be made clear whether this is a temporary rent reduction or a deferral.
 
‘If it’s a deferral, a payment plan will need to be set up to ensure the tenant clears the rent arrears that are accrued during this period.
 
‘Additionally, landlords and agents will need to be clear about whether they will implement the interest clauses that exist for rent arrears on most tenancy agreements.’
 
Should I offer my tenants a rent reduction, even if they haven’t asked for one?
 
This is Money has heard several examples of landlords generously offering tenants a temporary rent reduction during the coronavirus lockdown – even where tenants don’t request it.
 
Whether you should offer is really down to you and whether you can afford to.
 
Voluntarily getting into mortgage arrears on your buy-to-let is not sensible and will be costly.
 
Chris Sykes, a broker at Private Finance, warns: ‘Some tenants may have interpreted the government mortgage holiday announcement as a way for their landlord to simply pocket three months of rent, when, in fact, those mortgage payments will still need to be paid in the long run.
 
‘Clarifying this offers landlords a way to communicate with their tenants, understand their current position and potentially offer a reduction.’
 
He adds: ‘Every landlord will take their own approach to managing their tenants’ payments.
 
‘It often depends on a landlord’s long-term plan – and how much they value a tenant as part of this.’
 
Stewart also points out that many people won’t need a payment holiday: ‘There are still many people in secure employment and not in need of a rent reduction.
 
‘If your tenants come to you because they have for example lost their job or suffering a serious reduction in income, then you should certainly consider helping them.’
 
Will I need a legal contract in place?
It should be sufficient to have a letter confirming in writing what you have agreed with the tenant, the amount of rent they will pay and the dates the reduction applies, according to Stewart.
 
‘It is very important to have certainty on both sides and a written and signed agreement will help in this regard,’ says Stewart, who advises that landlords also think about agreeing a repayment schedule to make up any rent reductions or rent holidays.
 
‘For the tenant it may well be better off asking for a reduction in rent as less will build up in arrears,’ he says.
 
Young adds: ‘Obviously if you give a rent holiday you are not protecting your income, and you would certainly need something between you and the tenant confirming the arrangement in writing.
 
‘They may need this as evidence to support a claim for state assistance, for example.’
 
How do I apply for a buy-to-let mortgage payment holiday?
As is also the case for homeowners applying for a payment holiday, the sooner you contact your buy-to-let lender the better.
 
Nearly all lenders are reporting a huge surge in customer enquiries and we’re hearing lots of complaints about the time it’s taking to get through on the phone.
 
Depending on your lender, there may be an option to fill in a request online as a first step.
 
Many landlords have portfolios of properties and may need to make multiple applications for leeway from a number of different lenders.
 
It’s possible that your mortgage adviser will be able to assist you with this, though you should expect to pay something for this service.
 
‘It is absolutely essential to agree in advance any repayment holiday with your lender,’ warns Stewart.
 
‘To simply miss payments without that agreement will adversely affect your credit record.’
 
David Hollingworth, of mortgage broker London & Country, adds: ‘Make sure you understand the knock-on effect of a payment holiday.
 
‘Just because there are no payments made doesn’t mean that interest doesn’t continue to accrue.
 
‘At the end of the payment holiday the outstanding balance will be rescheduled over the remaining term, so payments will most likely be higher and more interest payable over the life of the loan.’
 
Will insurance pay out for rent shortfalls related to coronavirus?
There have been reports that insurers aren’t paying out where rent shortfalls due to coronavirus are given as the reason for the claim.
 
Indeed, both Young and Stewart agree that although different insurers and policies will offer different levels of cover, it’s unlikely that your rent arrears will be covered.
 
Check the small print in your policy document carefully.
 
Keep calm and carry on
While the lockdown continues, all the experts agree that finances will need to be flexible but the message to landlords is not to panic.
 
‘Landlords need to be sensible and use their common sense,’ counsels Young. ‘Some tenants will ask for relief and you’ll need to respond accordingly, weighing up both their and your situation.
 
‘This is likely to be a temporary issue and hopefully both landlord and tenant will be able to work through these issues with that in mind.
 
‘From a landlord’s perspective, investing in property has its highs and lows and you need to look at this with a long-term perspective. Indeed, investments of all kinds have their ups and downs, as those heavily invested in the equities market through their pension schemes have also discovered.
 
‘Property still remains a good long-term asset to invest in, despite what is happening in the market right now.’
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Planning for post-lockdown – how to hit the ground running

Planning for post-lockdown - how to hit the ground running

Over the last two weeks we’ve seen the country come to a standstill and the property market effectively put on ice until we are out of lockdown.

The next few months are going to be incredibly difficult for everyone, but it is vital that agents take this time to start planning for the future. Taking the right steps over the next few weeks will be key to ensuring that you’re ready to hit the ground running as soon as some of the current restrictions are lifted.

Unlike after the last recession, current predictions are that the market could recover relatively quickly, but what evidence do we have to support that theory?

Following the General Election in December, pent up demand from people who had been holding back due to Brexit uncertainty, flowed into the marketplace. Could that stand us in good stead for a quick recovery?

Let’s look at the figures…

The data – exchanges

Looking at the change in volumes of Exchanged triggers, we can see that the largest increase in exchanged properties came from the £1 million+ price bracket, with property prices from £400,000 to £1 million not far behind.

Planning for post-lockdown - how to hit the ground running

Both top brackets were experiencing unprecedented double digit growth year-on-year.

In addition, the £200,000 to £400,000 price bracket was also seeing a very healthy growth in exchanges year-on-year.

You could, however, make a strong argument to suggest that a large portion of this effect was not as a result of electoral stability, because it takes so long to complete a property purchase.

Looking at the volume of changes in sales agreed (or SSTC) would perhaps provide an even better view of what happened in the first few weeks of 2020 compared with the prior year.

The data – sales agreed

This chart adds the Sales Agreed (or SSTC) trigger changes to the Exchanged triggers and it certainly makes interesting reading.

Planning for post-lockdown - how to hit the ground running

Firstly, we can clearly see that the changes to SSTC volumes were far more dramatic in all price brackets – roughly double the growth in exchanged triggers.

In properties above £400,000, we were seeing north of 23% growth and the £200,000 to £400,000 bracket, a more than healthy 15% growth in sales agreed.

The only slight downside is that the sales agreed growth rate in properties under £200,000 was comparatively very low.

The high street agent effect

Now let’s look at the market share of high street agents versus hybrids (those without a traditional branch network).

Planning for post-lockdown - how to hit the ground running

The market share of new instructions by price bracket for hybrid agents is shown in this chart.

What we see here is that a hybrid agent’s market share was highest in the poorest price bracket where sales agreed volumes were growing much slower year-on-year than they were in the other three price brackets.

This means that the benefit of the increase in sales seen since the election of 2019 will have been disproportionately felt by the more traditional high street estate agent.

Of the growth in sales that has been experienced to date in the £200,000 to £400,000 selling price bracket, nearly 93% of this will have gone to high street agents.

As we move onto the £400,000 to £1 million selling price bracket, just under 95% of the benefit will have gone to high street agents.

And finally, in the specialised £1 million plus selling price bracket, nearly 99% of the benefit will have flowed through to high street agents!

So what does this mean for the future?

Unfortunately, no-one knows how long lockdown will continue or indeed, exactly what the future of the property market looks like. However, looking at the performance of the market up until mid-March 2020 tells us a few things;

– A high volume of people actively wanted to move
– This was most prevalent for properties in the £200k+ price bracket and even more so at £400k+
– The majority of this activity was taking place with high street agents

Although unfortunately some of these agreed sales will recently have fallen through and many properties will now have been withdrawn from the market, the likelihood is that most of these people will still want to move once they are allowed to.

This should create increased demand on available stock, thereby encouraging more new instructions. The best news is that once these vendors do return to the market, sales should continue to be high value and skewed towards high street agents.

What can you do in the meantime?

It is essential that you maintain contact with those vendors either already on the market, or who have recently withdrawn – both your own and those of your competitors.

Now, more than ever, you must look after your pipeline so that you’re not starting from scratch when the market inevitably picks back up.

This is an opportunity to establish a ‘trusted advisor’ relationship with these vendors, offering them help and guidance when their future move now seems uncertain.

At times like these how you treat your customers and potential customers is paramount. They will need far more hand-holding and direct communication. Some agents are not going to do this and, as such, we are likely to see even more agent switching once we are out of lockdown as vendors become frustrated with a lack of support from their existing agent.

It is vital, though, that what you’re sending is sensitive to the current situation and you don’t just continue to send the same message as you would have done a few weeks or even days ago.

Now that you’re not spending your time on the usual day-to-day tasks use it as an opportunity to really work on the content of your communications and make sure the messages you send highlight the changing requirements of the current marketplace.

Talk about the services you offer that can help vendors restart their property sale as quickly as possible once we’re out of lockdown; share your plans on;

– Virtual tours
– Accompanied remote viewings
– Floor plans
– Live streaming of ‘virtual open houses’
– Online auctions
– ‘Little Black Books’ promoting ‘the best kept secrets’ or houses not openly marketed and see if sellers want to be on it

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Automated Valuation leads to agents staying strong, says supplier

Automated Valuation leads to agents staying strong, says supplier

One of the industry’s leading automated valuation services says it’s running at approaching 1,000 leads a day for agents even during the lockdown.

The ValPal Network – which has some 800 brands and 4,000 agency offices amongst its members – says it recorded over 49,000 leads in March despite the social distancing, self-isolation and lockdown measures which deterred transactions for around half of the month.

Daily figures now, 10 days into the lockdown, are running at just under 1,000 leads for agents: in two days in the second half of March, despite the virus crisis, leads topped 2,250 daily.

“Our figures show that despite much of society coming to a halt, thousands of people continue to request instant online valuations of their homes from estate agents” explains Craig Vile, director of The ValPal Network.

“Although they may not be able to get deals done at the moment, agents need to keep on marketing to capture the contact details of prospective clients” he adds.

“People are at home with not much to do – so the chances of them thinking about moving and wanting to know how much their home could be worth are increased.

“Effectively filling sales funnels over the coming weeks will be absolutely crucial to the prospects of long-term survival for many agencies. Those that continue to engage with consumers now can build up a massive bank of leads to nurture ahead of the market resuming in the future.”

* The ValPal Network is a product of Angels Media, publisher of Estate Agent Today and the other Today industry titles. And a reminder that The  ValPal Network has started daily tips on what furloughing is, how firms are doing it, and what it means when the virus crisis finally ends

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Poorly-treated agents will change firms after the virus – forecast

Poorly-treated agents will change firms after the virus - forecast

A leading human resources expert predicts that agents who are poorly treated by their employers now will wreak revenge and move elsewhere when the virus subsides.

Recruitment guru Anthony Hesse, managing director of Property Personnel, says that when some form of normality returns “Those who have been treated poorly by their current employers won’t forget the experience in a hurry, and will start to look for other jobs – either within the industry or elsewhere.

“I expect to see a seismic shift in people moving around from job to job, and from profession to profession, with some of them making the move to becoming self-employed. Inevitably, a number of experienced and talented staff will leave, who we will be sad to see go and will be hard to replace.”

He says that one of the lasting legacies of this outbreak will be an increased understanding of why a good work/life balance is so important – and he forecasts that those agencies that recognise this will retain and attract the best staff.

“Over the past week or so of lockdown, I’ve been speaking to a number of senior directors in the big estate agency firms … the perspective I’ve been getting is that we are inevitably going to see some massive restructuring taking place in the estate agencies of the future.

“Most obviously, a new awareness of just what technology can do is going to drive decision making going forward. The ease and speed with which people have taken to communication platforms such as Zoom, Skype, and Messenger – and some of these individuals doing so for the first time – mean that virtual viewings and even virtual valuations could become the norm.

“Directors will ask why their agency doesn’t do more of what worked so successfully during time under lockdown. This means that operations are likely to be streamlined, and people previously brought in as temporary staff – such as those carrying out viewings at weekends, for example – might find that their workloads have melted away.

“Similarly, agencies with several branches across a relatively small geographic area will decide that a single office can do the job of three, with significant cost savings as a result.”

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Corona Latest: New tenant checks, Virtual staging, Global agency impact

coronavirus Archives - So Cheshire

Hello and welcome to our latest update… we’re probably not yet getting used to these unusual times but we hope this daily service helps provide some guidance.

First off today, Right To Rent’s new Coronavirus changes.

Letting Agent Today ran a story earlier this week on how Right To Rent is being relaxed during the current crisis, and now the Association of Residential Letting Agents has published a short guide on how to conduct a check on a prospective tenant.

– Ask the tenant to submit a scanned copy or a photo of their original documents via email or using a mobile app;

– Arrange a video call with the tenant – ask them to hold up the original documents to the camera and check them against the digital copy of the documents;

– Record the date you made the check and mark it as “an adjusted check has been undertaken on [insert date] due to COVID-19”.

If the tenant does not have the right documents you must contact the Landlord’s Checking Service if the tenant cannot provide documents from the prescribed lists.

These measures remain in place until the point when government announce a return to previous arrangements. After that, agents must revert to existing processes.

Within eight weeks of the temporary measures being lifted, agents will also need to carry out full retrospective checks on tenants who:

– Started their tenancy during this period;

– Required a follow-up check during this period.

ARLA says that in these cases, it is essential to keep records of both checks and if the retrospective checks reveal a tenant who should not have entered/continued a tenancy, follow the processes to end the tenancy.

And the association adds: “Please note that because of COVID-19 some individuals may be unable to evidence their Right to Rent and therefore it is vital that agents remember the processes within the code that are in place in order to avoid discrimination.”

Something unusual next – virtual staging.

Many agents, especially in London, ‘stage’ empty properties to enhance their appeal. Expert advice is difficult to get in person during the lockdown but Elaine Penhaul, owner of Lemon and Lime Interiors, is offering two services tailored for the current situation.

The two – virtual home staging and remote staging – will allow vendors and agents to get properties in the right position for a quick sale once the market recovers later in the year.

Elaine, who started staging in 2012 and set up the company in 2015, says: “As an agent you want to help those vendors who have a property they need to sell, to be the first to secure good offers when the market picks up later in the year. This new service allows us to help agents offer vendors the perfect solution whilst we are not able to be out and about.”

The virtual home staging service allows vendors and agents to take a high-resolution picture of an empty room and send it to Lemon and Lime Interiors. The team then virtually fill the room with an interior design scheme and luxury furnishings to make the property looked lived in, which in turn, will help people to visualise themselves living in the property.

All the furniture used is available to purchase so the whole scheme can be bought by whoever buys the house should they wish.

The remote home staging service offers homeowners the chance to have a video call with the Lemon and Lime team of experienced home stagers to learn how to present their home to attract the most interest.

Once any decluttering or rearranging has been done, the homeowner can take photos which can be professionally edited through Lemon and Lime ready to be uploaded to the property portals. Properties already on the market can improve their presentation and appeal in this way and it allows new properties to come to the market with the benefit of professional staging.

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Auction success shows property sector can still thrive – claim

Auction success shows property sector can still thrive - claim

Two auctions held behind closed doors have been deemed a success, and evidence that the property market can still function despite the lockdown.

Savills has held its first ever remote-bidding-only auction, run by a single auctioneer supported by almost 30 staff working remotely connected using technology.

Over the course of the day it raised over £18m and successfully sold 67 per cent of the lots – taking 3,000 remote bids.

The company – which has its next auction on Wednesday May 6 – will supply an increased number of photographs alongside a virtual tour and floorplan for all lots.

Meanwhile SDL Graham Penny’s 100th Derby auction, and the first in its history to be held behind closed doors, was a success according to auctioneer Andrew Parker.

The firm says that for the 500 viewers watching on the internet, very little looked different – and the bids came in as thick and fast.

With over 120 pre-registered remote bidders, buyers placed their bids on the telephone, by proxy and over the internet, and more than £2.6m was raised for sellers.

“It was not the 100th auction celebration we had planned but we were delighted to have such great support from our remote bidders. I missed seeing everyone at the auction but it was wonderful to know they were out there, watching from the safety of their own homes” says Parker.

“We have proved that, despite the current social distancing rules, it is possible to keep the property industry moving – and that buyers are showing just as much interest in our properties as before.”

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Big surge in distress sales even before virus – top agent

Big surge in distress sales even before virus - top agent

One of London’s most experienced estate agents says there has been a very significant surge in foreclosure sales in part of the capital’s housing market – even before the Coronavirus outbreak began.

Marc Schneiderman is the director of Arlington Residential, an independent agency that offers sales and lettings at the middle to top end of the market in central and north west London.

He says that clearly during the lockdown period that will be almost no new business, although he notes that predatory buyers are already on the prowl for casualties of the crisis – forced to sell at significant discounts.

However, Schneiderman believes there have been significant weaknesses in the market even before the Covid-19 calamity.

“Notwithstanding this current crisis, never before in my 35 years as an agent can I recall so many sales on behalf of banks and mortgagees in possession” he says.

“The property market has always been a barometer of the business world and reflected how well industry and retail is performing. For some time now bank foreclosures and mortgagee possession sales have been prevalent at the top end of the market.

“At the end of 2019 my firm acted on behalf of receivers on the sale of one of London’s largest flats. This penthouse apartment had an impressive 8,342 square feet of space and a further 4,125 square feet of terraces. It overlooked Regent’s Park, had underground parking for seven cars and an asking price of circa £10m.

“This is one of many receivership sales that have taken place in recent months at the top end of the London property market and it is no longer unusual for us to be contacted by a bank who are foreclosing on a £10m, £20m or even £30m property.

“Sadly it is just indicative of the wider depressed economic environment in which we find ourselves as a country”.

Separately, Savills has issued its routine quarterly figures for Prime London – unusually ending them not at the end of the quarter, but at mid-March to reflect the situation before the Coronavirus outbreak.

Nonetheless, in an introduction to the figures, the agency admits that the virus has impacted the market and Lucian Cook – the agency’s head of residential research – says: “It seems inevitable that there will be a period of low transactional activity over the spring and summer months, so it will probably be autumn before we can understand what this will mean for future price growth.”

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House price gap between sellers and buyers reduces

Unmanaged vacant properties may invalidate insurance - claim

Leading lettings and sales agent, Benham and Reeves, has released the latest of its very own quarterly house price index based on data from the top four existing indices, looking at where the average house price sits and how the gap between buyer and seller expectation and actual sales has changed.

The Benham and Reeves House Price Index combines data from the four leading industry indices to give a singular figure of how the UK market is moving based on both buyer and seller sentiment, as well as looking at the difference in these indices and what they reveal about the state of the current market.

Current property values

The latest index from Benham and Reeves for Q4 2019 shows that the current overall average UK house price is sitting at £251,912 having dropped marginally by -0.2% on the previous quarter, although prices were up by 1.4% on an annual basis.

In London, the average property value also dropped marginally to £511,166, down -0.4% on the previous quarter, down -0.7% on an annual basis.

Seller and buyer expectations show signs of alignment 

The latest quarterly data from Nationwide and Halifax shows that the amount UK buyers are committing to borrowing has increased slightly by 0.31% to £225,188. At the same time, the average asking price has fallen by -1.02%, while sold prices are up 0.4% to £234,167.

Despite a market bounce following the election, it’s clear that months of Brexit uncertainty have seen the expectation gap between buyers and sellers close. The gap between buyer expectation and asking prices dropped -1% in Q4 to 35%, while there was also a -1% decrease between asking price and sold price, down to -23%.

However, in London, this gap remained consistent with a 33% increase between the price at which buyers were being approved for a mortgage and the asking price expectations of UK sellers, while there was a -22% drop between this asking price and the average sold price.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented: 

“It’s only natural that asking prices will remain at a higher level than the average mortgage approval or sold price, but it’s interesting to see that months of Brexit uncertainty had started to bring this difference in buyer and seller expectations closer together.

As buyers committed to slightly more in the way of a mortgage approval price to take advantage of lower market values and lower interest rates, sellers realised they had to lower asking expectations to secure a deal in tough market conditions. This also translated to a smaller gap between asking price and the sold price accepted.

However, with a huge spike in activity following December’s election, we will no doubt see asking prices start to lift once again, as UK sellers look to take advantage of returning buyer demand.

While this asking price expectation will always be higher than the reality of the average sold price, an optimistic increase in a stronger market places sellers in a better position to negotiate a stronger sale price before accepting an offer.”

Benham and Reeves House Price Index
UK
Year
Quarter
Average House Price
Quarterly Change
Annual Change
2018
Q1
£245,074
–
Q2
£248,245
1.3%
Q3
£250,244
0.8%
Q4
£248,513
-0.7%
2019
Q1
£247,463
-0.4%
1.0%
Q2
£251,682
1.7%
1.4%
Q3
£252,487
0.3%
0.9%
Q4
£251,912
-0.2%
1.4%
London
Year
Quarter
Average House Price
Quarterly Change
Annual Change
2018
Q1
£519,238
–
Q2
£520,412
0.2%
Q3
£517,059
-0.6%
Q4
£514,976
-0.4%
2019
Q1
£504,731
-2.0%
-2.8%
Q2
£512,193
1.5%
-1.6%
Q3
£513,180
0.2%
-0.8%
Q4
£511,166
-0.4%
-0.7%
UK
Year
Quarter
Mortgage Approvals Price
< Difference >
Asking Price
< Difference >
Sold Price
2018
Q1
£218,231
37.8%
£300,684
-25.4%
£224,319
2018
Q2
£219,116
40.4%
£307,745
-26.3%
£226,869
2018
Q3
£221,959
37.4%
£305,060
-24.1%
£231,438
2018
Q4
£220,522
37.1%
£302,239
-23.8%
£230,274
2019
Q1
£221,578
35.6%
£300,481
-24.3%
£227,608
2019
Q2
£225,987
36.2%
£307,691
-25.5%
£229,276
2019
Q3
£224,490
36.5%
£306,321
-23.6%
£234,074
2019
Q4
£225,188
34.6%
£303,182
-22.8%
£234,167
London
Year
Quarter
Mortgage Approvals Price
< Difference >
Asking Price
< Difference >
Sold Price
2018
Q1
£473,776
30.8%
£619,905
-23.1%
£476,653
2018
Q2
£468,845
34.0%
£628,174
-23.8%
£478,555
2018
Q3
£468,544
31.2%
£614,537
-21.9%
£480,090
2018
Q4
£466,988
31.5%
£614,044
-22.4%
£476,273
2019
Q1
£455,594
32.8%
£605,178
-22.9%
£466,356
2019
Q2
£465,722
32.7%
£618,232
-24.5%
£466,683
2019
Q3
£460,686
33.1%
£612,967
-21.9%
£478,594
2019
Q4
£458,363
32.9%
£609,315
-21.5%
£478,227
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Say No To Rightmove – the fight goes on says campaign leader

Say No To Rightmove - the fight goes on says campaign leader

The key figure behind the Say No To Rightmove campaign says the fight for more realistic fees goes on – and agents are still joining the campaign hour by hour.

The portal caved in to pressure from agents a week ago and agreed a short-term 75 per cent fees reduction to help the industry through the Coronavirus crisis.

However Robert Sargent, chief executive of the Acorn Group, has today told industry analyst Chris Watkin in a video interview that the campaign now has 900 business owners with more still joining “on an hourly basis.”

Sargent’s company has 36 branches across London and the south east and spends close to £500,000 on fees to the portal.

He says the short term fees reduction was a sign that Rightmove realised the importance of agents who provided its content, but it was simply the portal realising what it had to do for an industry going into lockdown – it was not a solution to a longer term problem.

The core of the issue, says Sargent, is that independent agents pay top dollar – up to £3,000 per branch per month – whereas corporates can negotiate substantial economies of scale and thus smaller fees.

The interview is just under 10 minutes long and provides a fascinating insight into the campaign which has caught the imagination of much of the industry, and what it plans next.

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Housing market could be ‘frozen’ to avoid Coronavirus crash

Housing market could be ‘frozen’ to avoid Coronavirus crash

It’s been reported that the government is talking with banks and building societies about putting the housing market ‘on ice’ during the virus crisis to avoid a crash and to allow financial institutions to offer mortgages.

Today’s Financial Times says UK Finance – the trade body representing mortgage lenders – has told members: “UK Finance has been seeking urgent clarification from the government about whether home purchases should continue at the current time, particularly as physical property valuations are no longer possible.”

One suggestion is that offers of mortgages in principle could extend to six months rather than three.

The FT story follows growing concern yesterday that many mortgage lenders were withdrawing their products or severely restricting access to them; this was thought to be because valuations were not possible ‘in person’, and because of uncertainty that homes would retain their value over the coming months.

Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays, two of the UK’s biggest lenders, are temporarily pulling many of their mortgages. Lloyds has stopped offering mortgages or remortgages through brokers unless the customer has a deposit of at least 40 per cent of the value of the property.

Barclays told brokers it would no longer offer mortgages for customers that did not have a deposit of at least 40 per cent, but it will continue to offer remortgaging deals.

Last evening the Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, took to Twitter to say: “I know that many people across the country are due to move house tomorrow. Whilst emergency measures are in place, all parties should do all they can to agree a new move date. If you’re socially isolating or being shielded, it’s especially important to try and delay.”

And this was followed up by tweets from the MHCLG saying: “People should delay moving where possible … Estate agents must work remotely to support their clients … If your home is on the market, you shouldn’t let buyers visit your home.”

Earlier this week the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government had advised buyers and renters to, if at all possible, delay moving home until the Coronavirus crisis has subsided.

The same guidance also allows tradespeople to continue repairs and maintenance work, “provided that the tradesperson is well and has no symptoms.”

“No work should be carried out in any household which is isolating or where an individual is being shielded, unless it is to remedy a direct risk to the safety of the household, such as emergency plumbing or repairs, and where the tradesperson is willing to do so.”