Looks like the doom and gloom merchants are out in force again. But who to believe?
Consumers now have instant access to their credit reports after an agreement was struck between the Government and the credit reference industry.
As a result of the new agreement, people can now access their statutory credit report online for a nominal fee of only £2 from all three major UK credit reference agencies: Experian, Equifax, and Callcredit. Previously, statutory credit reports for £2 were only available by post, which could take seven days to arrive.
A property developer has won a High Court case against property investors forcing one to pay £133,000 after they backed out of an agreement to purchase flats "off plan".
The High Court, in Bristol, has ordered the person to pay a whopping £133,282 in damages, costs and interest to Plymouth's Prestige Homes South West Ltd, after pulling out of a deal to buy two Zero 4 flats in Plymouth.
Probably does not come as much of a surprise to anyone involved in UK property sales, but worth pointing out:
More than two thirds of UK property disposals last year were sold at prices below their valuations, according to the IPD/RICS Valuation and Sale Price Study 2009.
Through the day we get updates and press releases from property finance publications and various trade bodies.
On Tuesday (18th September) The Building Societies Association (BSA) reported "unwavering consumer confidence" within the housing market.
They went on to explain that their report is the first look at the public's view on residential property purchases. Unsurprisingly the report found that most people (88%) were buying a property because they wanted to own their own home (duh!). The headline from the report was that the housing market is in good shape.
It is a fact of life that one person's misfortune can be another persons opportunity, so any discussion about property finance has to include a quick consideration for what happens when things go wrong.
unregulated been a lot of talk in the press about homeowners applying for mortgages with "[tags[adverse credit[/tags]". The popular press tends to concentrate on the problems this causes for for the applicant, but the issue of adverse credit applications creates problems for brokers and lenders too.
During a recent speech the outgoing chief executive of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) publicly stated that he would like to see secured loans come within the regulatory umbrella of the FSA's control.
The succession of recent interest rate rises is starting to have an impact on the [tag]buy to let[/tag] market. The inevitable consequence of this is that some lenders are tightening their criteria for new borrowers. This means that unless a new entrant to the buy to let market can come up with a large deposit they are going to find problems balancing their rental incomes against higher loan to value mortgages.
