BREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 19/01/2021

FIRST TIME BUYERS MAY BE PAYING 40% TOO MUCH INTEREST ON THEIR MORTGAGES

Despite the Bank of England having the lowest base rate ever at, it was lowered to 0.1% last March, recent figures published show that a huge chunk of First Time Buyers, over 68% of them took out a mortgage loan for a period more than the traditional 25-year period.

This might sound a canny way of tinkering with the payments of your property, but in reality, if a homebuyer taking a mortgage adds 10 years to the old ‘traditional’ 25-years to make it a 35-year period of repayment, they actually increase the interest paid by a whopping 40%.

This in an uptick, as a decade ago, only 45% of first-time buyers took out mortgages over a longer period than twenty-five years.

WILL THE CHANCELLOR LOOK AGAIN AT OTHER TAXES ON PROPERTY?

It might sound a jingoistic soundbite by the Chancellor, ‘we have left the European Union, we have an opportunity to do things differently and this government is committed to making the most of the freedoms that Brexit affords us … making the most of new sectors, new thinking and new ways of working.’

But some pundits are warning that those in property might look to gird their loins as swinging tax proposals might see the light of day during the March budget.

e.surv PUTS SOME FIGURES ON IT

e.surv chartered surveyors part of the LSL brand has just announced that in the past decade property prices have risen by 51%. Which sounds to my analyst ears to be in the right ball park of course there will be regional exceptions and hot spots.

When commenting on how the regions of the country are performing specifically now, they stated, ‘The South East and the East of England have both moved down the growth league table by three places compared to last month – perhaps suggesting that movement away from the capital to nearby suburbs is beginning to run its course, while the South West’s exceptional growth indicates demand for countryside and coastal locations remains strong.’

LAW SOCIETY GAZETTE – STAFF ARE PRESSURED TO GO BACK IN TO THE OFFICE

Even though the pandemic rages, and the numbers of infections is far higher than in Lockdown 1.0, according to recent reporting in the Law Society Gazette some staff are feeling pressured to go back into offices by their employers, even though many are worried by the associated health concerns caused by doing so.

‘One solicitor told us their firm had implemented ‘minimal’ safety measures, telling workers that home working was impossible because phones could not be connected. Colleagues who had Covid scares were told to keep quiet and those with negative tests ordered straight back into the office despite government advice to keep isolating.’

Clearly this shows, if the situation is a true reflection of events, that solicitors need more than ever to invest in technology and maybe replace that Fax with a few more laptop computers, suitable for homework.

TENANTS NOT PAYING THE RENT – THE PRESSURE CONTINUES TO RISE

With recent research showing that almost 60% of Landlords are at least one months typical rent of £1,000 behind where they should be due to Coivid-19, there is ever increasing pressure for the government to do something.

The government showing their caring side seems boxed in, frustrating the normal legal remedies open to Landlords, and giving the bailiffs and courts nuanced messaging to keep the lid on the situation.

But with the long night that is Lockdown 3.0 some new initiative will be required extremely soon to temper the situation.

If you have a view – please let us all know by emailing me at [email protected] – Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward.