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Buying a home instead of renting can potentially have huge cost savings in the long run. Analysis by mortgage broker Private Finance compared the average cost of buying and renting a £350,000 property on the same street in Brent Cross. Assuming rent rises of 2.5%, the renter will have paid £911,285 over a 40-year period. By contrast a buyer would have spent £574,300, assuming their mortgage rate stayed the same. However mortgage borrowers are likely to see their costs reduce over time, meaning the true figure would be even lower. Homeowners will also benefit from house price rises; assuming an annual growth rate of 1.7% over the 40 years, the buyer will be over £100,000 in profit.
The Daily Telegraph (19/04/2019)
Homeowners are increasingly choosing to release cash from their properties to carry out improvements rather than move house, according to UK Finance. The trade body revealed that the number of borrowers releasing equity is at its highest level in more than a decade, with more than 220,000 households having remortgaged last year. Meanwhile, the number of borrowers taking loans to move home remained flat year-on-year. Mortgage expert Ray Boulger, of John Charcol, said: “Stamp duty rates have increased to such a level the tax is depressing the numbers who want to move to a bigger home.” He added that “interest rates are so low, borrowers can increase their mortgage by releasing cash from their homes, without increasing their payment.”
Daily Mail (22/04/2019)
The Isle of Dogs has been named as the most desirable place to live in London, in a list published in the Sunday Times. In its eulogy for the peninsula, the paper describes it as “a hidden, tranquil riverside retreat that feels worlds apart from the capital”, and notes that an average property in the area costs more than £100,000 less than the London average - £526,160, compared with £636,215 for the capital as a whole. Best address, it says, is Burrells Wharf Square, a series of converted Victorian dock buildings which have been converted into riverfront flats, some freehold, that sell for £325,000-£600,000. The Isle of Dogs was followed by Battersea and Belgravia, with Bermondsey and Blackheath filling out the top five.
The Sunday Times (14/04/2019)
London endured a 3.8% decline in property prices for the year to February, according to the latest data from HM Land Registry and the Office for National Statistics, the largest drop for almost a decade. The capital still remains the most expensive place to buy in the UK, with an average price of £460,000. The average house price in Britain was £226,000, £1,000 higher than the same period a year earlier.
The Daily Telegraph (17/04/2019)
Research has found that half of buyers would consider a 40-year mortgage to help them get on the property ladder. Analysis from Santander finds that buyers could save £178,500 over 40 years if they bought rather than rented for the duration. The lender reckons a 40-year mortgage could help 3.25m more first-time buyers by lowering their repayments. The cost of an average monthly repayment for a 25-year mortgage falls by £263 when spread over a 40-year period, it said. And Moneyfacts found more than half of all mortgages available can have a 40-year term, up from a third five years ago.
The Sun (16/04/2019) The I (16/04/2019) Daily Mirror (16/04/2019)
Home buyers can now expect to spend almost £4,000 on top of the cost of their new property - for legal fees, surveying costs and other removal bills. A study carried out among 2,000 adults who have moved in the last 10 years found the average bill for unexpected costs is £3,823.88. And more than 40% of those who took part in the survey by online lender MYJAR said the cost exceeded their expectations. The research also revealed one-third had to borrow money to cover the costs.
Daily Star (12/04/2019)