In a country where home ownership is a reality for nearly two-thirds of the population – higher than many European countries, including Germany, France, and Switzerland – it’s no wonder that a successful industry has been built around it since the early 1800s. Known as stewards in the beginnings, and estate agents later in the early 20th Century, there are now approximately 16,500 agencies in the UK, all here to assist with buying and selling homes.
The government has announced that as notice periods - previously extended to six months as an emergency measure during the pandemic - will be set at four months from June 1.
An announcement this afternoon says this will offer tenants continued protection throughout Step 3 and into Step 4 of the government’s roadmap out of the pandemic; Step 4 will begin from June 21 at the earliest.
Following our blog post back in February, the Government Debt Respite scheme, or ‘Breathing Space’, has now come into force. This new prescribed Section 8 notice will offer greater legal protection, benefitting an estimated 700,000 individuals in the first year.
The two separate ‘breathing spaces’ are standard, and mental health crisis. Standard is available to give legal protection from creditor action for 60 days to those struggling with debt. Mental health crisis is available for the duration of relevant treatment, plus 30 days.
At any given time, 25% of the adult population are looking to move within the next 12 months. Are you one of these, checking and rechecking the online portals for your dream home, the right upsize or downsize, somewhere nearer to what (or who) is important to you? If you have not yet found what you are looking for, it could just be that it is waiting in the wings for you.
As you may have read from the April issue of The Magazine, there have been numerous changes and updates at Orchards over the last few months. Three of those are our new recruits, Emma, Emily, and Carla. With the increase in demand for moving home, they are welcome additions to our thriving team, continuing our focus on passion for property, and customer service for our clients. Not only have we added to our staff, we have also upsized our physical office space in order to accommodate them.
At Orchards, we offer three levels of service for landlords: Let Only, Rent Collect, and Managed. Although some opt for Let Only or Rent Collect, we always encourage our Managed service. Here we explain why…
Discussing renewals, move outs, and inspections with Let Only landlords – as well as carrying out additional services – is not uncommon, largely due to the great relationships that we maintain.
The lender “Accord” have been the first to announce details of their new 95% loan to value deal.
First-time buyers with just a 5% deposit will receive a boost from tomorrow (Wednesday) as they become the first lender to return to the 95% LTV market. They are launching a five-year fixed rate mortgage - exclusively to first-time buyers. The new product has a fixed rate of 3.99% and comes with a £995 fee and free standard
