Facts & FiguresLettings - The number of properties Let Agreed by Orchards has seen an increase of 22% in the last three months, compared to the three months prior to Lockdown. - Applications per marketed property have increased by 150% when compared to the same period last year. - Rental prices have seen an average increase of 12% in the past 12 months. Sales- Offers received have increased by 165% compared to the same three months last year, with an average of 1.4 offers being received everyday. - Orchards average time to sell is 40% quicker than our closest local competitor, with our average sale time across all properties standing at 5 weeks, with the other Ampthill agents achieving an average sales time of 7, 9 and 11 weeks. - Instructions have increased by 100% when compared to same period last year, with Orchards taking an average of two houses on every three days since the start of July. First Time Buyers to get 95% Mortgage Boost?The government is planning to make 95% mortgages more widely available to first-time buyers, but questions remain over how the proposals would work in practice. The Prime Minister says that two million prospective first-time buyers could afford mortgage repayments but are struggling to get approved for a home loan and believes unlocking more low-deposit loans will create ‘the biggest expansion of home ownership since the 1980s’. The government is yet to provide details of how it plans to make mortgages more readily available, but it might require changes to current regulations or direct intervention. Rules brought in after the financial crash of 2008 limit the number of high loan-to-value mortgages lenders can offer to customers. When you apply for a mortgage, you’ll usually be allowed to borrow a maximum of four-and-a-half times your annual income, and the Bank of England’s regulations mean lenders can only offer 15% of their loans at this level or higher. Theoretically, these rules and other affordability measures could be relaxed to enable buyers with smaller deposits to borrow more, but mortgage lenders would be reluctant to take on the additional risk, especially at a time of economic uncertainty. One alternative would be for the government to guarantee the loans, meaning it would be responsible if borrowers default, a process similar to the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme that closed in December 2016. The First Landlords are being fined for not complying with Data Protection Rules. Rules that came into force in May 2018 are amazingly still catching some landlords out, and whilst enforcement of these laws have been relatively lax, recent months have seen an increase in the enforcement and fines of up to £4,350 being issued. If you are a landlord and decide to manage the property yourself, you will need to be in receipt of your tenants most personal details, as such it is a legal requirement for you to have a data protection plan in place and for you to be a paying member of the ICO. If you are unable to provide a copy of your data protection plan or prove your existing membership to the ICO then a fine of £4,350 can be enforced. Considering the number of new laws being brought in surrounding lettings, the continued push towards more energy efficient property, changes in legislation to support tenants through coronavirus, and the proposed mandatory local licensing being trialled in some local areas, more and more landlords are relying on agents to undertake their property management. This year, Orchards have doubled the number of staff employed in our lettings department and as a result we have managed to increase our management portfolio by almost 20%. Call us on 01525 40 22 66 to discuss your lettings needs and how we can help. |
