Although the majority of landlords will not accept tenants on Housing Benefit there are many landlords who will. This situation has the potential to change when the new rules affecting housing benefit take effect from April 2008.
The mandatory licensing of some Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO’s) came in to force 18 months ago, however there is still some confusion over the different definitions of a HMO.
The maximum fine for non-compliance with the law is a fine of up to £20,000, which means that it is imperative that landlords are made aware of the regulations. It is also very important that brokers and lenders are also aware of the rules so as to avoid giving their clients bad advice.
Bridging finance is a way of quickly raising short-term finance secured against residential or commercial property. Typically bridging finance is arranged within days, although it can take longer.
Most bridging lenders will claim that they are the quickest, offer the best service, or most flexible terms. In practise there is a huge variety of standards within the bridging finance sector. Although bridging lenders have improved their product offering and pricing it still pays to shop around, selecting the wrong lender or broker could prove very costly.
Mezzanine finance is the funding that makes up the difference between the level of bank funding and the actual project cost. Mezzanine deals can sometimes enable a property developer to take on a project which they might otherwise not be able to finance.
In the short-term there are going to be some rocky times ahead in the Commercial Mortgage arena. However, looking further ahead the picture looks quite interesting with competition likely to drive rates down and force lenders to be innovative in their commercial mortgage pricing.
Despite a few recent hiccups the UK economy is strong and in particular the UK property market generating excellent returns for investors. The UK property market is not only attractive to overseas institutional investors like banks, but also to individuals.
Property Development can be defined as different things, from light refurbishment of a house, flat, office, factory etc. to large scale new builds of any type of property. So lets take a look at some of the different types of property development finance available.
The commercial property market in the UK is estimated to be worth around £600 billion, and with rates rising it is inevitable that some business are going to start feeling the effect.
The roe that solicitors place in the mortgage market has become increasingly high profile over recent years, but perhaps more so in the commercial arena. Conveyancing is a vital part of the property purchasing process and solicitors who embrace the latest advances can help drive the process forward.
Some confusion exists as to what a buy to let commercial mortgage actually is. Some brokers and lenders used to regard residential buy to let mortgages as commercial propositions, leading to a mindset that all buy to let mortgages were commercial in their nature.