020 7538 0102
First-time buyers may face challenges as they look to enter the reopened property market, with banks offering fewer mortgages for those with smaller deposits amid fears house prices could collapse. Analysts from Deutsche Bank have warned that house prices could fall by more than a fifth, while Lloyds Bank has predicted that prices could fall 30% in the next three years in a worst case scenario. A report issued by Moneyfacts shows that just 30 different mortgages are available to borrowers with a 5% deposit, down from 393 before the pandemic closed the property market.
The Daily Telegraph (19/05/2020)
The mortgage breaks taken by 1.6m homeowners due to the COVID-19 pandemic could cost them at least £821m in extra interest. Figures calculated by the broker L&C Mortgages, based on data from UK Finance, show that a borrower on the typical deal will save £2,256 in repayments by taking a three-month mortgage payment holiday. However, they will ultimately pay £500 more than they would have done without the break because of the interest accrued on the unpaid sum. Meanwhile, the Telegraph reports that homeowners who want to take up their lender's offer of a "mortgage holiday" during the pandemic are still being asked to pay because banks are struggling to approve the payment holidays quickly enough. And those who miss a mortgage payment because a break has not yet been confirmed could be marked as going into arrears. This could affect their credit score and result in extra interest being charged.
The Times (15/05.2020) The Daily Telegraph (15/05.2020)
Developer Southern Grove plans to build an £80m mixed-use complex in Canada Water, after exchanging on the site this week. The developer will submit a planning application to Southwark Council to create 150 homes and 25,000 sq ft of office space. The Brooklyn reaches up 18 storeys, and has been designed by architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands. Southern Grove chief executive Tom Slingsby said: “Canada Water is going to be put on the map in a bold new way by the extensive regeneration that is going to take hold over the next 15 years, and our own scheme will complement that effort”.
Development Finance Today (14/05/2020)
House moves and viewings have resumed in England, under new coronavirus rules announced by housing secretary Robert Jenrick. The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 now stipulate that people may leave the home "to undertake any of the following activities in connection with the purchase, sale, letting or rental of a residential property". This includes visiting estate or letting agents, developer sales offices or show homes; viewing residential properties to look for a property to buy or rent; and moving home. The change will help more than 450,000 buyers and renters who have been unable to progress their plans since lockdown came into force.
BBC News (12/05/2020) The Daily Telegraph (12/05/2020) Daily Mail (12/05/2020)
Property sales could take nine months to return to levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic, estate agents have suggested. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors polled 360 branches around the country last month and found that new instructions fell to the lowest level recorded since the survey began in 1999 after a wave of deals collapsed while the market was shut. A long, slow recovery is likely before the market returns to normal, RICS said. Four-fifths of agents saw both buyers and sellers pulling out of transactions in April while the housing market was shut. On average, surveyors said they thought that it would take nine months for sales to rebound to the levels seen before the lockdown.
The Daily Telegraph (13/05/2020) The Times (13/05/2020)
The cheapest mortgages on record are currently on offer as rates tumble during the COVID-19 crisis. Although the property market has been frozen by the lockdown, analysis from Moneyfacts shows there has never been a better time to re-mortgage. The average rate on a two-year fixed-rate deal has fallen to 2.09% from 2.43% on March 20. This was the day after the Bank of England slashed official borrowing rates to a record low and just three days before the lockdown was introduced. However, the number of mortgage products on the market has more than halved since lockdown. There were 5,222 in early March and just 2,566 at the start of May. The number available to those with a 5% or 10% deposit has dropped by 770, leaving just 72 deals available.
Daily Mail (11/05/2020) Daily Mirror (11/05/2020)