Paragon brands social housing changes as "dangerous"

The Paragon Group has called the government’s changes to social housing as “dangerous”.

George Osborne, chancellor of the exchequer, revealed a £4.4bn reduction to the social housing budget in his speech to the House of Commons on the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Nigel Terrington, chief executive of The Paragon Group of Companies, says the decision to move social housing rents in line with private sector will strain the private sector.

He says: “The trend in housing tenures over the past 10 years has been away from social housing and towards the private rented sector, and these measures will inevitably accelerate this shift.

“The number of properties in the social housing sector has fallen by one million since 1991, and the private rented sector has largely picked up the slack, increasing by 1.3 million properties.

He adds that the private rented sector stock is under strain as more people look to rent than buy, and this surge in tenant demand is causing rental inflation.

He adds: “Whilst we recognise the positive regulatory changes already made by the government, it has to be careful not to shift the role of housing people on low incomes onto the private rented sector without ensuring it has appropriate levels of support at both an economic and regulatory level.

“Failure to do so could be dangerous because it could lead to a shortage of rental property at a time of unprecedented levels of tenant demand.”

Precise Mortgages approved by FSA

It was announced this week that Precise Mortgages, the specialist mortgage lender, has today confirmed that its application to enter into regulated mortgage contracts as lender has been approved.

Ian Lonergan, CEO of Precise Mortgages, says it's been a very thorough process focusing extensively on the quality of the lender's proposition, including its compliance with the FSA's requirements in relation to responsible lending and its ability to bring secure funding to the UK mortgage market.

He says:”‘We are committed to bringing new funding to the UK mortgage market and it’s fantastic to get the green light from the regulator. Our dedication to the intermediary market remains as we continue with our strategy of distributing exclusively through mortgage brokers.”

Ben Thompson, director of mortgages for Legal & General, says: “I am delighted that Precise Mortgages has got the approval it needs from the FSA in order to start residential lending.

“This is great news for mortgage brokers and borrowers. Precise Mortgages has an excellent infrastructure and business model and I am sure it will bring much needed products to sectors of the market that have been starved of credit.”

Alan Cleary, managing director of Precise Mortgages says it will shortly be launching a new range of products for owner occupiers to complement its current buy-to-let range. It also has plans to launch into new segments of the mortgage market early next year and it has identified good quality borrowers who have been starved of credit.

Property Ombudsman appeals to Shapps to 'fix' regulation in the lettings sector

The Property Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, is renewing his call for letting agents to be brought under the umbrella of redress legislation.

Mr Hamer has always spoken out on the fact that lettings should be covered just as robustly as sales, saying in March that whichever party won the General Election in May it should make some form of protection for tenants and landlords a priority.

Since the coalition government in May, Grant Shapps the housing minister, made it clear that any form of legislation to regulate the lettings sector would not be a priority.

“More and more people will be looking to the private rented sector for their housing needs whether because they cannot get financing to buy a property or because government cuts will possibly impact on the availability of public sector housing. It is now more than ever imperative that consumers in the private rented sector gained some protection,” said Mr. Hamer as he launched his latest Interim Report for 2010.

“If the Coalition was to review its stance, it could easily gain a quick win by expanding the scope of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007.

“That Act required all residential sales agents to join an approved redress scheme to settle disputes between consumers and agents. Encompassing a similar obligation for letting agents would be an obvious consistency and could result in the entire sector (not just those firms who have voluntarily agreed to follow its standards) operating in accordance with the TPO Code of Practice.

Our Code is not a heavy-handed regulatory regime. But taking this simple step would mean that the whole industry has parity and no firm would be outside the standards. It would make competition fairer while offering consumers greater protection. I recognise that full coverage of the market place through a formal regulatory structure can only come about through significant legislation but if the government was to take a positive view of my proposals and encourage the industry itself to establish a relevant regime I am enthusiastic about contributing to that concept.”

Mr Hamer is hopeful that he will be able to secure a meeting with Mr. Shapps to press the case for a change in legislation.

“More than 7,000 lettings offices in the UK are already signed up to the TPO Lettings Code of Practice voluntarily so clearly a large proportion of the industry itself sees this move as necessary,” adds Mr. Hamer.

“My report shows there is still a large number of complaints regarding lettings agents, numerically on a par with sales agents for whom TPO membership is almost double the size.

“Visiting estate agents and talking to them about industry issues is a large part of my job and with the backing of legislation to force all lettings agents to join an approved redress scheme it would be much easier to know who is operating in the market and to observe their standards.”

Figures in the interim report show that sales agents and lettings agents ended the quarter with the same number of cases (150) being opened for both industry sectors. But lettings agents generated far more enquiries than sales agents in the same period – virtually 70 per cent higher at 1,975. This is vastly different from the variance in earlier quarters of 2010 although a lightly less dramatic rate of climb than for the same period last year.

“What concerns me more is that the when you survey the membership figures, there are 46 per cent more sales agents in the scheme than there are lettings agents,” said Mr. Hamer. “The ratio of enquiries to membership numbers is one for every 9.7 sales offices compared with one for every 3.9 lettings offices. Clearly there is work to do in the lettings sector to improve standards and bringing lettings agents into the scope of CEARA would be a realistic and easily achieved first step.”

TPO had 7,908 member firms at the end of September, 2010, operating 11,310 residential sales and 7,756 residential lettings offices.

Good news for Landlords as rental market hits record high

UK rents exceeded their pre-downturn peak in September to hit a record high, according to the latest buy-to-let index from LSL Property Services.

In September, UK rents rose to £689, surpassing those seen in August 2008, the previous market peak.

The average UK rent is now 3.1% higher than the same time last year, following eight consecutive months of rises. The average yield remained stable at 4.9% in September, as rising rents were matched by modest house price growth in the past three mo

David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services, says: “Landlords have seen tenant demand continue to hit new heights. The mortgage market remains tight and many buyers simply cannot get the finance to get a foot on the property ladder.

And with potential spending cuts on the horizon, and uncertainty over the direction of the economy, many buyers are choosing to remain in rented accommodation for longer – perhaps to wait for house prices to fall."

“As a result, demand for rental accommodation is increasing, and supply is not rising fast enough to match it. This has turned the buy-to-let market into a landlord’s market, and many renters face increasing rental costs while they delay their house purchase.”

The resurgence in rents has been driven by a strong performance from London and the South East in 2010. In September, London rents hit their highest on record. Landlords increased their rents by 1.1% to £972 per month in September. They have risen by 6.8% since January.

Rents in the South East rose by 0.9% in September, while those in the East of England and the West Midlands rose by 1%. The South West and North West reported modest falls.

Brown adds: “The supply and demand imbalance is particularly severe in the capital and London is emerging as a different market entirely from the rest of the UK. There is an acute lack of affordable housing in London, and would-be buyers cannot meet higher house prices – or get big enough mortgages.

“Traditionally, London is seen as a low-yield market. But this isn’t the case. Despite the strong performance of house prices in the capital in the past year, yields haven’t fallen sharply. With rental properties so sought after in the city, landlords have been able to continually hike rents since January and are seeing a yield just 0.1% shy of the UK average.

“In the last twelve months, the average London landlord would have made an annual total return of nearly £34,000 on a typical rental property.”

The rise in rents means that an investor buying property could now expect a total annual return of 9.2%, the equivalent of £15,592 on a typical rental property . Over the past year, the average UK landlord has made a total annual return of 10.4%, £16,567.

Interest rates will stay on hold until late 2012, says Cebr

This week Cebr has forcasted that UK interest rates will stay on hold for at least two years, with an extra £100bn of quantitative easing being pumped into the economy.

It believes the UK economy will show growth of 1.6% in 2010 and 1.3% in 2011, 1.4% in 2012, 1.8% in 2013 and 2.4% in 2014.

It says given the normal margin of forecasting error, these forecasts imply a one in ten chance of negative growth for the UK economy in 2011, though Cebr sticks to its view that a world double dip is unlikely because of the strength of the emerging economies.

However, partly because of the effect of the VAT hike in January 2011, Cebr’s central forecast for growth in Q1 2011 is only 0.1%, which implies that there is nearly a 50% chance of negative growth for that quarter.

The new forecasts incorporate Cebr’s predictions for the effects of the Comprehensive Spending Review to be announced this week.

The report says: “‘We expect the authorities to push the monetary policy levers hard in the opposite direction to the fiscal policy levers.

“Our forecasts include an additional £100 billion in quantitative easing; base rates remaining at 0.5% till late 2012 at least and 10 year gilt yields at in the 2.5 to 2.75% range till end 2013.

“The relationship between monetary policy and economic growth is less predictable than that for fiscal policy and growth in the short term, particularly at times when the flame of economic growth is weak.

“Had a decision not already been made which is administratively difficult to reverse at short notice we would have been tempted to call for the VAT rise to 20% in January 2011 to be postponed.”

Charles Davis, managing economist and main author of the report, says: “All the business survey evidence suggests that despite the consumer starting to run down savings again, confidence remains weak. With the end of the recovery from restocking growth will be slow in the coming months, even without fiscal retrenchment.

“So the levers of monetary policy will be aggressively moved to fast forward again to offset the impact of the CSR in the coming years.”

However these are just predictions, we will have to wait and see what happens over the coming year.

Housing benefit landlords "rip off the system'

Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform has accused "unscrupulous" landlords of ripping off the housing benefit system and exploiting low-income families.

According to Work and Pensions figures private landlords will pocket almost £8.5bn from the taxpayer this year through housing benefit – more than a third of the total £21.5bn bill.

In the past decade the cost of providing housing benefit through the private rented sector has soared by 36pc above the rate of inflation to £5,720 a year. Where as other providers of social accommodation have raised their charges by just 19pc over inflation to £3,991.

Council rents set to rise

Radical changes going to be set out in the housing budget, could mean that council house tenants having to pay more rent.

The reforms could lead to tenants being forced to give up council homes that they can't afford to buy privately.

No longer will tenants be able to feel as though they have "won the jackpot" when they qualify for a house and pay only percentage of the market as rent.

Instead new rules, means tested will mean that they will have to pay up to 90 per cent of the going rent.

This will also give power to local authorities and housing associations to reassess whether tenants still need a council house after five or ten years.

The policy will not apply to existing council house tenants. Instead those waiting for homes will be subject to a new "affordable flexible tenancy."

This move was driven by the need for large cuts in the 6 billion social housing budget.

Barclays latest lender to defy FSA on PPI

Barclays has become the latest lender to defy the Financial Services Authority and put on hold any complaints regarding Payment Protection Insurance that might be impacted by the forthcoming judicial review.

Yesterday, Lloyds Banking Group announced that customers can continue to log their complaint with the bank but no decisions will be made concerning sales related PPI complaints whilst the judicial review is ongoing.

Today, Barclays, owner of secured loan lender First Plus, has revealed that it is putting a portion of its complaints on hold as well.

A spokeswoman for Barclays, says: “All PPI-related complaints will be reviewed as we receive them - if they are impacted by the issues covered by the judicial review and therefore cannot be resolved at this point then we will write to the customer to inform them of that.

“Complaints on matters not affected by the judicial review will be assessed in the normal way.”

The British Bankers Association has applied to the courts for a judicial review of the FSA’s complaint handling approach.

The BBA says the FSA’s procedure for PPI complaints risks setting a precedent which will allow the regulator to apply new rules to previous sales for any financial product.

The FSA recently published a policy statement and open letter to the industry advising they should consider complaints about PPI not just by reference to the detailed conduct of business rules which applied at the time but also to standards that are based on the FSA’s guiding principles for doing business.

This could result in more than 2.5 million people being refunded as much as £2.7bn in total.

Santander however says it will continue to deal with all PPI complaints.

The BBA says: “We believe the FSA is effectively creating a precedent which permits it to apply new rules to previous sales – even where those sales were regulated by other FSA rules.

“Therefore this ruling might not only affect customers who have bought PPI, but might also set a precedent that could affect all products regulated by the FSA.”

The BBA says it has been necessary to take action because there is insufficient legal clarity about what the FSA and FOS is proposing in this area.

The FSA says it will contest the British Bankers’ Association’s judicial review of new PPI complaints handling measures.

The FSA says in the last five years there have been more than a million complaints made to firms about PPI. In 2009/2010 alone, customers referred 49,196 complaints to the Ombudsman which then upheld nine out of ten in the complainant’s favour.

UK Rents hit record high

UK rents exceeded their pre-downturn peak in September to hit a record high, according to the latest buy-to-let index from LSL Property Services.

In September, UK rents rose to £689, surpassing those seen in August 2008, the previous market peak.

The average UK rent is now 3.1% higher than the same time last year, following eight consecutive months of rises. The average yield remained stable at 4.9% in September, as rising rents were matched by modest house price growth in the past three months.

David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services, says: “Landlords have seen tenant demand continue to hit new heights. The mortgage market remains tight and many buyers simply cannot get the finance to get a foot on the property ladder.

’And with potential spending cuts on the horizon, and uncertainty over the direction of the economy, many buyers are choosing to remain in rented accommodation for longer – perhaps to wait for house prices to fall.

“As a result, demand for rental accommodation is increasing, and supply is not rising fast enough to match it. This has turned the buy-to-let market into a landlord’s market, and many renters face increasing rental costs while they delay their house purchase.”

The resurgence in rents has been driven by a strong performance from London and the South East in 2010. In September, London rents hit their highest on record. Landlords increased their rents by 1.1% to £972 per month in September. They have risen by 6.8% since January.

Rents in the South East rose by 0.9% in September, while those in the East of England and the West Midlands rose by 1%. The South West and North West reported modest falls.

Brown adds: “The supply and demand imbalance is particularly severe in the capital and London is emerging as a different market entirely from the rest of the UK. There is an acute lack of affordable housing in London, and would-be buyers cannot meet higher house prices – or get big enough mortgages.

“Traditionally, London is seen as a low-yield market. But this isn’t the case. Despite the strong performance of house prices in the capital in the past year, yields haven’t fallen sharply. With rental properties so sought after in the city, landlords have been able to continually hike rents since January and are seeing a yield just 0.1% shy of the UK average.

“In the last twelve months, the average London landlord would have made an annual total return of nearly £34,000 on a typical rental property.”

The rise in rents means that an investor buying property could now expect a total annual return of 9.2%, the equivalent of £15,592 on a typical rental property . Over the past year, the average UK landlord has made a total annual return of 10.4%, £16,567.

Interest only loans on the up

A spokesperson for Your Mortgage has claimed that interest-only home finance products do serve a purpose.

Editor-in-chief of the website Paula John accepted it is important that regulations are put in place to avoid people taking on such deals if they cannot afford them.

However, she pointed out that lenders are extremely cautious at the moment anyway and interest-only mortgages are useful for certain people.

Her comments were made in response to a statement by the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), which declared that such products would be made obsolete if the Financial Services Authority (FSA) goes through with a set of new proposals.

Ms John said: "I think [the IMLA] is right in sounding a warning bell that we could throw the baby out with the bath water and see the end of interest-only mortgages altogether."

In her opinion, the FSA is right to want to get involved, but it may be that the market has regulated itself with tightened lending conditions.

Remortgages at lowest proportion of market for a decade

Remortgaging accounted for only 25% of loans in August, the lowest proportion in over 10 years, the latest survey data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows.

August saw 25,000 remortgage loans, worth £3bn, advanced by lenders with numbers down 13% and the value down 14% from July and 19% lower than a year ago.

With interest rates expected to remain low for some time yet, there is little incentive for borrowers to move from low rates and tight credit conditions mean some find it difficult to find another deal.

There were 51,600 house purchase loans, worth £7.7bn, advanced in August, a fall of 8%, by volume and value, compared to July.

The CML says that while this is in line with the usual summer lull in market activity, a rise of 3% by volume and 12% by value from August 2009 shows that 2010 house purchase lending is still proving slightly more robust than the low levels last year.

The 18,300 loans, worth £2.3bn, advanced to first-time buyers in August represented a decline of 5% by volume and 4% by value from July.

First-time buyer loans were also down 3% by number, but up 5% by value, compared with August last year.

First-time buyers in August put down on average a 21% deposit, compared to 24% in July.

Home movers suffered more than first-time buyers from the summer lull in August with the 33,200 loans, worth £5.4bn, advanced down 10% by volume and value on July and average deposits up from 33% in July to 34%.

This saw movers in August borrowing at the lowest LTVs for six years.

But lending levels have improved on last year with home-mover loans 7% up by volume and 13% up by value from August 2009.

Fixed-rate products are enjoying a slow shift back to popularity with 52% of new borrowers opting for one in August, up from 51% in July.

This is still far below 2009, when in July the proportion of new fixed-rate mortgages hit 80% but started to wane in popularity straight after.

Michael Coogan, director-general of the CML, says August is a traditionally a slow month and with a quiet market expected for some time to come.

He says: “While we do not know what the impact of the comprehensive spending review will be on our sector, it will clearly contain austerity measures that will likely further dampen consumers’ appetite to borrow.

“We would expect lending to slow more significantly, year on year, as we head towards the end of the year, and it is unlikely that the uncertain environment will encourage a tick up of mortgage activity in 2011.

Price increase up by 9.3% England, 0.4% Scotland and down 18.8% in Northern Ireland

Average prices increased 9.3% in England, 0.4% in Scotland and 9% in Wales but fell drastically by 18.8% in Northern Ireland.

The average price paid by a first time buyer increased by 8.2% over the year to August while prices paid by former owner occupiers jumped 8.3%.

Alison Beech, business relationship director, Spicerhaart and Valunation, says: “With the latest positive figure from CLG added to the pile, the house price indices for August have reported a fairly even spread of upward and downward movement, confirming that we should take a step back from one-off statistics that only capture a small and distinct snapshot of the market.

“The outlook for property prices over the remainder of the year is far from clear, although confidence remains subdued and talk of a double dip continues to rumble on. With market activity patterns becoming increasingly localised, it is vital that lenders and surveyors operate on a micro level in order to determine the most realistic property values.”

House prices rose 0.7% in August

There have been so many varying reports over the past couple of weeks, confusing information from many organization announcing increases in the housing market and a decreases by others.

However the Department of Communities and Local government House Price Index shows that prices rose by 0.7% in August, which although is a small percentage, it shows that the underline market is still strong.

The findings revealed that house prices were 8.3% higher than August 2009 and 0.7% up on July 2010.

We have had a very busy month so far at Intercounty compared to August.

Shapps calls for house price stability

One of the biggest debates this week is about the way in which we treat our homes, through the 90’s and much of this decade we have looked at our houses as a way to increase our property portfolio, especially if we have entered into the property developer market or buy to rent.

More than ever before we have had easy access to mortgages which enabled people who might never have considered by a second home, or leaving their well paid jobs to follow a new career in developing.

At a Housing Market Intelligence conference this week in London, Shapps argues that buying a property should not be seen as an investment, but as a home to live in.

He said: “With a house now liable to cost perhaps seven times someone’s earnings, it is no surprise that the average unsupported first time buyer is 37 years old. This country is in danger of letting down the aspirations of a generation of homes do not become more affordable in the long term.

“So what is required now is a period of house price stability. A home should first and foremost be thought of as a place to live and bring up a family.”

The minister also pledged government support for house builders, in support of making it easier to cut through the red tape in applications, and is asking for industry leaders to work as a team to achieve this.

This work will complement the ongoing review of building regulations launched by communities minister Andrew Stunell earlier this year.

Shapps says: “Last year, house building hit its lowest level for any peacetime years since 1924 as developers have been hampered by regional targets that put them in direct conflict with local communities and an alphabet soup of regulations and red tape they have to navigate.”

He says he is determined to make it easier to build the homes with appropriate building standards.

Visit our website to see our selection of land to buy, and to view the stunning new homes we currently have on offer this week.

Downwards turn for property prices?

There has been much talk in the media in recent times about a possible housing crash, caused by a reduction in mortgages, re-mortgages and the restrictions on first time buyers.

However at Intercounty we are pleased to announce that our sales are up by 20% so far this month compared to last month. In September we were finding that buyers were very cautious, we had a higher amount of viewings in relation to sales, this month we are experiencing the reverse, less viewings and more sales.

Why? In my opinion it is because sellers have realigned their house prices to the market, sellers in recent times have been too optimistic about how much their houses are worth, but are now bringing them more inline with regional house market prices.

Houses that are presented well and are in sought after areas are still selling quickly.

Mortgage controls ‘too onerous’ says CML

The proposed controls on mortgage lending in Britain are too restrictive and would lock out many would-be buyers from the housing market, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said today.

If the FSA’s Mortgage Market Review proposals had been in place between the second quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2009, around 3.8m “good” loans would have potentially not been granted, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. It says this equates to around 51 per cent of total loans in the period.

"The current proposals sacrifice far too many borrowers and do not chime with our recent research on the levels of consumer aspiration to become homeowners in the future," the CML said.

The Financial Services Authority said in July it wants banks to check prospective borrowers' income and spending before approving loans, and also proposed an outright ban on self-certification mortgages; dubbed "liar loans" where no proof of income is required.

The CML found on the basis of affordability alone, 16 per cent of loans between the second quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2009 would not have been granted a mortgage.

The restrictions are aimed at preventing reckless mortgage lending, after a build-up of bad loans contributed to the banking sector's problems during the financial crisis.

"Our proposals are designed to address the major failures that have occurred in the mortgage market and we are actively consulting with all stakeholders to ensure we get the right solution," the FSA said in a statement, responding to the CML.

News for Landlords, Agents and Housing Benefit

A new 83 page report, Private Landlords and the Local Housing Allowance system of Housing Benefit, by David Rhodes and Mark Bevan was published on Friday. The authors, both from the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York, researched the views of private landlords and letting agents on letting to Housing Benefit (HB) claimants under the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rules. The research was part of a two year review of the LHA system of HB by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The research involved 60 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with private landlords and letting agents. Six local authorities were selected; Bradford, Cornwall, Coventry, Edinburgh, London borough of Newham, and Sunderland.Some features of claiming HB under the LHA rules were positive, including greater transparency and simplicity, as well as the removal of pre-tenancy determinations, but, say the authors, there was considerable strength of feeling against direct payments from a majority of respondents.

You can download the full document at:

http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/report_abstracts/rr_abstracts/rra_689.asp

Flower power wilts housing market

Signs show that more and more HIPpies are having to consider down sizing or releasing equity from property, as inadequate pensions and returns on savings are there only chance of a decent retirement in modern financial conditions.

A report out from self-styled retirement specialist LV says that approximately 1.2 million future retirees may cash in their property to help fund retirement.

LV calls these people HIPpies (‘Home Is Pension’), an appropriate description when you consider this is the very generation that flirted with flower power in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Of course, most of these hippies are not planning to sell their home, but rather will look to top up their mortgage. We may well see a rise in equity release schemes. But LV may well have underestimated the resistance that some have to equity release, and one assumes others will sell their homes and downsize instead.

Around 6.8 million homes in the UK are bigger than their occupiers require, meaning they have more than one spare bedroom. It was suggested that the owners of these homes lived in properties that were bigger than they required simply because they saw their home as an investment. So, one assumes that if you are approaching retirement, if your pension is inadequate and your home is bigger than you need, the most logical course of action is to downsize.

The second supporting indicator of this market change comes in a report from the Bank of England which suggested lending criteria for mortgages are set to get even tougher. The credit conditions survey from the bank said that fears over impending public sector job losses are going to make banks even more cautious with their lending. And so the trend we have seen recently of falling demand while supply picks up seems likely to become even more exaggerated over the next few years.

Two estate agents murdered, another robbed...

I was shocked to read in the news that two estate agents in northeast Ohio, Vivian Martin, 67 and 51 year old Andrew Von Stein had been found dead, and another robbed whilst carrying out viewings.

ABC local news reported that Youngstown Municipal Court had said that Robert Brooks, 25, of Youngstown, and Grant Cooper, 21, of Hubbard, were charged last Thursday with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated arson and kidnapping.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains said that, based on the initial information he had, the grand jury would be asked to consider death penalty specifications against the suspects.

The violence has prompted frightened agents in northeast Ohio to cancel open houses and avoid meeting prospective buyers alone. Heather Smith-Lapoint has been selling homes for Danberry Realty for twenty years. When she heard about killings she said, “The first thing I thought is, oh, that could be me.”

One safeguard is checking if they’ve been pre-approved for a loan. “Usually within less than two minutes I know where they work, their e-mail address, two phone numbers, where they’ve gone to the bank. Then I feel a lot more comfortable,” says Lapoint.

A reminder to all of us in the industry to make sure that we take proper precautions when showing properties to clients.

Cuts, cuts and more cuts how will this affect the rental market

Mr Osborne speaking at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham yesterday announced that they have set a cap on how much they feel a family should receive in benefits. The cap, which will affect around 50,000 workless families, will be set at £500 per week, £26,000 per year tax free, which is actually the equivalent to someone working for £30,000 per year before tax, which exceeds the average wage limit of £26,000 calculated by the present government.

The treasury estimates that families will lose an average of £93 a week.

Mr Osborne told the conference that the government now spends more on housing benefit than it does on policing. He said: ‘If this welfare state is going to gain the trust of the British people, it needs to reflect the British sense of fair play.

‘No more open-ended cheque book. A maximum limit on benefits for those out of work. set at the level that the average working family earns. Money to families who need it – but not more money than families who go out to work.’

Tenants on benefits in expensive areas of London might find that they are forced out into the suburbs, for example if you rent a four bedroom home your benefits will be capped at £400 per week, £1,600 per month, not enough to cover the average four bed rental home in the City.

With a shortage of rental property in certain areas of the UK it’s difficult to predict what, if any effect this will have on the rental market. But according to Shelter it will definitely have a negative effect on the most vulnerable in our society.

Top tips on how to prepare your house for sale

In this competitive market it has never been so important to make sure that your home stands out from the rest, here are a few practical ways in which you can do so.

Get your property ready before you invite an estate agent to value it. If you are using Intercounty services we will recommend that you definitely complete any work to enhance your home before we take photographs.

In general if there are any half finished DIY jobs around the house, then finish them. If the lino has holes in the bathroom then replace it. Try and de-personalise your home, put away any personal items that might not be appealing to your buyers, they need to imagine themselves in your house.

Ensure that any interior decoration is neutral and clean. If you painted a bedroom a bright colour that might have been appealing to you five years ago, then ask yourself does it enhance the room to a potential buyers, or does it just limit your market?

It's a simple fact of life that presentation is everything, - most of my tips can be achieved without major expenditure or work. All that's really required is that you look at your new home as a visitor would - impartially.

The Exterior of your property:

Make sure that your house has 'curb appeal' if the windows or facia are looking a bit shabby compared to the rest of the street then give them a quick coat of paint. Make sure the garden looks neat - the grass is cut, hedges trimmed, plant some new flowers in tired planters.

The Kitchen:

This room is one of the most important rooms potentially for house buyers. It needs to be neat, get rid of any clutter, otherwise it will give the buyer the impression that it is too small/out dated for their needs. If your kitchen cupboards need updating then try replacing the handles, this is an inexpensive way of bringing it up-to-date, make sure that all the built in appliances are clean.

Living area:

This needs to be clean and clutter free, if you have pets then try and make sure that they go outside half an hour before a viewing (especially dogs), so that you can air the house and make sure that it is hair free, there is nothing as much as a turn off to potential buyers, than a house that smells of dog. You could also freshen up with room sprays or fragrances.

Draw back curtains to make the living areas seem as bright as possible, make sure the carpets/wooden floors look clean and the decoration looks fresh.

Bathrooms:

If the floor is looking shabby and old then replace it with a cheap lino, replace any old grout with new and make sure that it looks clean and uncluttered. Hide away any potions and lotions.

Bedrooms:

Make sure that each room has an identity, if it's an office then make sure it's an office, if it's a bedroom then make sure there isn't an office in it. But generally bedrooms are needed more than offices.

Carpets will need to be clean and fluffy, and unwanted clutter such as last weeks ironing will need to be hidden, ensure that bedding looks clean and matching.

By taking into consideration the above and making sure everything is just right, you can give yourself an instant advantage over other sellers and increase your chances of a quick, profitable sale.

Speculation over the possible fall of houses as Nationwide announce an increase of 0.1% last month

With speculation over the possible fall of house prices in the media in recent times, Nationwide have announced that property market prices edged up by 0.1% in September, taking the average value of a home to £166.757.00

The average price crept up by a not so significant £250 from the previous month, temporarily haltering fears of a dip in the market.

Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's chief economist has said that the future direction of house prices would depend on whether the strong flow of new properties being put up for sale continued into the autumn, and on the extent to which sellers were prepared to compromise on asking prices to make a quicker sale.

However this week the Bank of England have also announced fresh signs of a slowdown in the UK economy with news that a drop in mortgage approvals, weak consumer credit and a decline in the output from the service sector.

So it looks as though we will have to wait and see what effect this has on the property market over the coming months and into 2011.