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Top tips to help you sell your home this Christmas
In this month's edition, we're on hand to offer our top tips if you're looking to sell your home this Christmas.
We also ask if the 100% mortgage should be reintroduced, analyse Homes England new 5-year growth plan and there's news on what this year's Budget means for the property market.
Top tips to help you sell your home this Christmas
There are some things that the British public simply cannot believe at this time of year; how cold it is, how dark it is and, above all, that it’s nearly Christmas. Nevertheless, Christmas is indeed upon us and if you are selling your home, or thinking of selling your home, you may be under the impression that it’s not the optimum time to bag a sale. Our top tips to sell your home at Christmas will show you that not only is it possible to sell your home during the festive season; it is a doddle.
Picture perfect
The average time that a buyer takes to look at a picture on a property advert is three seconds, so having the perfect image is essential in your quest to sell your home – especially at Christmas. When having your home photographed, it is important to think about the staging; ask yourself whether the clutter around your home has been put away, can you remove some of your personal items in order to create more space or give everything one last polish? Once you’ve ticked off those basics, think about the Christmas factor – do not include heavily decorated rooms in your photographs as they will detract from the space and may age your property if your home remains on the market into January.
Keep the pine in line
Of course, at this time of year the Christmas tree has taken its place in our living rooms and other communal spaces, but make sure that the tree isn’t dwarfing the space it is in. We can all get carried away with the festivities, but this may not be the year to get the 7-foot Nordic spruce of your dreams – in the same way that cramming a king-size bed in to a single room will make the room appear cramped, an over-sized tree will also make your room seem smaller than it is. Buyers like to imagine their own furniture in potential new homes, so allow them the space to do so.
Serious offers only
Although some may suggest that Christmas is a difficult time to attract buyers to your home, what the period does provide is serious buyers. You can make the most of the serious buyers in December by ensuring that you see each property viewing as the optimum chance to sell – making sure that your home is in pristine shape and you are welcome and positive about the property and the area. Potential buyers can glean an image of what it may be like to live in the area from their interactions with you as the homeowner, so ensure that you are up-to-date about local schools and solely positive when they ask you any questions. Similarly, being flexible may bag your buyer as an accommodating vendor, who allows for viewings at irregular hours, for example, could help clinch that crucial sale.
Preparation is key
Being organised could be the key to securing your Christmas sale. Make sure that your fixture and fittings list is put together, you have the legally required energy performance certificate and, if you have had work completed on the house, make sure you have the relevant consents. Solicitors can be the make-and-break in a sale scenario, with a slow solicitor frustrating both buyer and seller, so take recommendations from your estate agent and have an efficient solicitor all lined up, ready for a sale.
Being in a new home by the New Year can seem to be an impossible task, however by showing restraint with your festive decorations, and taking the appropriate steps to being prepared and organised you can certainly sell your home this Christmas and start your 2019 with the perfect gift – a new home.
Homes England reveal their 5-year plan for housing growth
The government’s target of 300,000 new homes being built each year is soon to be missed, and with the efforts of current policy failing to increase the capacity at which new homes are being created, Homes England has set out a bold new plan to try to bridge the gap in terms of new properties being built.
During the course of the past 12 months, 222,000 new homes have been built, which is some way from the government target, but nevertheless, it’s a step in the right direction as this represents a significant increase in the delivery of new homes to the UK market. With demand for homes increasing faster than ever, now at 39%, the push for new homes to be delivered has never been more important.
Homes England chairman, Sir Edward Lister, told delegates at a recent ‘Construction News’ conference: “We’ve had a great year, we’ve built 222,000 homes. You could say that the industry is at capacity; it’s not going to leap up to 300,000 at present. We can’t go on with the current model, so we’re moving into modern methods of construction, doing things differently.”
This different tact being taken by Homes England reflects a highly interventionist role which the government agency has taken in recent years. Reflecting Sir Lister’s comments above, Homes England is planning on incentivising modern methods of construction (MMC) in order to accelerate delivery of new homes. The agency will incorporate a requirement to use MMC in leases when working with housebuilders, as well as providing finance to developers that both partner with Homes England and use MMC. Homes England’s plans reflects its move to acting as a partner to the housing industry, rather than a moderator.
Key aspects of the plan, which runs up to 2022/2023, involve; making land available to build upon, ensuring that a range of products are available to support housing and infrastructure (including more affordable housing and homes for rent) and improving productivity of construction and offering expect support for priority locations. These actions have the intention of providing longevity in the delivery of new homes – with the priority being the increased production of homes at a sustainable level.
Should the 100% mortgage be reintroduced?
A recent poll from YouGov suggests that almost half of the United Kingdom think that the re-introduction of the 100% mortgage is a good idea. A total of 9,713 people were included in the government survey and participants were asked whether borrowing the entire cost of a home is either a ‘good idea’, ‘bad idea’ or ‘unsure’. Almost half of those surveyed, 48%, stated that the reintroduction would be a ‘good idea’ and almost a third regarded the borrowing as a ‘bad idea’ – showing that there is some consternation around the subject.
Currently, a total of nine lenders offer a 100% (or ‘loan-to-value’) mortgage. However, there are conditions around the borrowing option in its current format. In order to apply for a 100% mortgage, and depending on the mortgage provider, you must either have a guarantor who has a property to act as collateral against the mortgage or you will have a ringfenced amount of savings which can act as security (essentially making it an offset mortgage).
The suggestion to reintroduce the 100% mortgage would circumvent the necessity for guarantors or separate security accounts and could therefore help those who are struggling to take that first step on to the property ladder. Legal & General Mortgage Club head of lender relationships Danny Belton disputes whether the reintroduction of this type of lending would be beneficial, however, stating “the thinking and rationale behind the return of 100% LTV mortgage is interesting, but this is not the solution to the current issues facing first time buyers.”
Belton continues to critique the 100% mortgage, offering: “At the very least it would mean lenders would have to significantly increase the amount of capital they would be required to hold, which is just not sustainable. What would be more beneficial is for more buyers to utilise schemes such as shared ownership and Help to Buy, or even make use of a guarantor mortgage.”
In terms of age groups, the poll returned some interesting results, with 46% of those aged 18 to 24 responding positively to the proposition, compared to 49% of those aged 65 and over considering it a poor idea. The disparity in the age groups could be linked to the differences in the stages of property ownership; there’s the younger survey participants that are keen to get on the property market and are therefore more responsive, whilst the older participants have a higher likelihood of already owning a property and are thus more circumspect when faced with new propositions, such as the 100% mortgage.
Although the initial prospect of a mortgage for the full value of a property may appeal to potential buyers struggling to get on to the property market, the realities of living with such debt and the inflexibilities around it could dissuade the majority. The YouGov survey clearly demonstrates that younger people are keen to buy property and hence any new prospects which may help them in this endeavour will be well-received.
However, as Danny Belton has stated, there are several alternatives available to help people onto the property market. Those considering the 100% mortgage to be a good prospect should look into shared ownership schemes and Help to Buy before plunging into the loan-to-value option, no matter how attractive the prospect may appear on first glance.
The 2018 Budget and its impact on the property market
The recent Budget has ramifications for all of us – with the Chancellor setting out levels at which we pay income tax, fuel duty prices and the all-important “sin taxes” around cigarettes and alcohol. What, therefore, does the Budget 2018 mean for property?
Stamp Duty
Stamp duty has been abolished for all first-time buyers of shared ownership homes (whereby the buyer purchases a share of a home, with the local council or housing association owning the remainder) up to a value of &500,000. The policy will be retrospectively applied from the 2017 budget meaning those who already bought a shared ownership property within the past year will also benefit from the change. Further to this, first-time buyers do not pay any stamp duty on homes below &300,000.
Stamp duty rates in England and Wales are now as follows:
• First &125,000: 0%
• &125,001 to &250,000: 2%
• &250,001 to &925,000: 5%
• &925,001 to &1.5m: 10%
• &1.5m+ : 12%
Help To Buy Scheme
There are a few changes being made to the Help to Buy scheme, one of the key points being that the term has been extended to 2023. Further to this extension, the new iteration of the scheme from 2021 to 2023 will only be available to first-time buyers rather than to all, as is the case with the current scheme.
Overseas Investors
A new tax will be introduced for overseas investors, the revenue from which will be used to tackle homelessness across the country. Overseas investors will face an extra charge of 1% to 3% when they buy a UK property, in addition to current stamp duty charges. As well as using the revenue to tackle the increasing problem of homelessness, the intended effect is to dissuade some of the rife competition from the London market which is making purchasing increasingly difficult in the capital.
New Homes
Although the Help to Buy scheme is being extended by two years, there are fears that the cessation of the scheme will slow down new-build homes as there will be fewer buyers able to purchase. The government is intending to give an extra &500 million to councils through the Housing Infrastructure Fund in order to promote the building of new homes and avoid any slowdown in the production of new properties.
Transformed High Streets
As part of a billion-pound boost to the UK’s struggling high streets, the Chancellor has announced a &675 million fund to help councils support their retail zones through this difficult period. An unexpected result of this could be the redesigning of empty retail units into homes – with the chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, Brian Berry, estimating that as many as 400,000 new homes could be created by making use of empty space above shops on high streets.
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