Connecting you to Verified Independent Chartered Surveyors
In this month’s Property Surveying Newsletter … we look at the CMA’s investigation into leaseholds, discuss the building of new homes on flood plains and look at why money launderers are so attracted to the property market
The Property Market Monthly Fact File
The property market fact file is a collection of data compiled each month by our Chartered Surveyors and the propertysurveying.co.uk team, reflecting survey data, statistics, trends and information from the property market. This provides a single place where anyone with an interest in UK property can find the information they need.
Legal: Is the leasehold system fair and transparent?
The Competition and Markets Authority has opened an investigation into the potentially unfair practices of the leasehold property market. It is essential that home buyers are fully aware of the consequences of entering into a leasehold contract before they sign what is likely to be a complex legal agreement. Conveyancers have a responsibility to their clients to ensure they fully comprehend their actions in terms they understand.
Planning permission laws relaxed
Over 110,000 extensions have been completed since 2014 after rules were temporarily changed to allow homeowners in England to extend their properties without full planning permisson. The relaxation has been made permanent, but the Local Government Association has warned that the planning process is in existence for a reason and has called for an independent review on the impacts of changes that don’t go through the full planning process.
Why are we still building on flood plains? Just say “NO”!
A Welsh village that is home to 850 people could soon need to be relocated due to the threat of climate change. Local planning authorities have a need to build homes, and flood plain land is typically level and uncomplicated. Britain has a substantial housing shortage but why don’t council planning authorities have sufficient power to just say NO BUILDING ON ANY FLOOD PLAINS WITHOUT EXCEPTION and if they already have those powers, why don’t they use them?
Home and job mobility hampered by high city rents
Young people are less likely to move to the UK’s larger cities where they can get higher paying jobs, according to a new report. The prospect of paying a large proportion of their income on high city rents meant that, despite the prospect of higher wages, younger people were unwilling to make use of any financial incentives for a move into the city.
Auf wiedersehen to pensions invested in German property group?
UK pensioners have once again been warned to take care before investing their hard-earned life and pension savings in property, after an investigation discovered an estimated £600 million had been ‘invested’ in a German building firm.
Money laundering through property
Laundering money through property is an international problem that has driven up property prices and enabled investors to ‘flip’ properties as criminals scramble to buy them. We aren’t talking just high price property here; criminals can invest in property by paying for construction in cash, loaning themselves a mortgage through a shell corporation, renting out rooms for cash or even declaring higher rental profits.
Would you head north for a 3-bed house under £100,000?
We all know that buying a property is one of the biggest and most important purchases you will ever make, but property in some areas of the UK is disproportionately more expensive than others. The north/south divide means there are cheaper properties to be found in the north of England and there are towns and cities where you can buy a 3-bedroom family house for less than £100,000 .
Millennials misguided about money
Every new generation may understandably feel jealous of the last, perhaps never more so as now, as younger people struggle to get on the housing ladder while older generations pay off the mortgage on their home and enjoy the benefits of early retirement. But are millennials over-estimating what they might inherit?
Meet the frugal family, who live in an off-grid home
A family living completely off-grid in Cumbria claims that their only outgoing is council tax. Their home is just outside the small village of Gamblesby, where a couple share gypsy wagons and cabin with their two children.
Homelessness Reduction Act increases homelessness
A survey by the Local Government Association has revealed that the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act has led to more people being placed in temporary and emergency accommodation, and councils are struggling to cope with the demand for homes.
Your greener and more energy efficient home
No-one can have missed the media reports and stark messages about global warming. There is a general consensus that we must sit up and take notice that the effects of global warming are much more imminent than previously thought. We look at how we can adapt our homes and lifestyle to reduce our impact on global warming.
And finally …
Stranger breaks into clean home!
(With thanks to ‘Eats Shoots & Leaves‘) – home owner suspects break-in as he returns home to the smell of cleaning fluids, while his son notices a normally open door has been closed.
Written by Independent Chartered Surveyors
of the UK wide network of Property Professionals
The Property Surveying Newsletter is a free service by PropertySurveying.co.uk for those with an interest in the UK Property Market. As well as being posted online here, it is emailed direct to our subscribers all across the country.
Subscribe to receive the Property Surveying Newsletter by email every month (we promise never to share your details with a third party). The next newsletter will be published in July 2019.
Email us at:Â office@propertysurveying.co.uk
© PropertySurveying.co.uk