Derbyshire is very fortunate to benefit from an enviable selection of period property, Derby particularly boasts some of the best examples of Georgian period property outside of Bath and London. There are some very good examples in the various market and small towns of Ashbourne, Matlock, Bakewell and Melbourne. When restoring a period property it is all about the details, these are the things that the untrained eye will miss but can make or break the overall quality of a period property renovation. There is little point getting the sash windows mouldings and glazing proportions to match perfectly and then fitting the wrongs style or period of window furniture or hardware. Even with the brick work it’s not just the correct type of brick and mortar it’s the bond and pointing. There is no point in laying a perfect row of the correct bricks in stretchers with 15mm weather strike pointing. When it should be brushed 5mm English bond, so ask yourself a question before you hand over your period property or renovation project to a building contractor are they really period property experts? You will only have one chance to get your renovation project right and leave a wonderful legacy for future generations to enjoy. So take the time to make sure you have the right renovation specialists managing your period property renovations.
Buy to let booming as banks back landlords again
February 3, 2012
Although young home owners are struggling to obtain suitable mortgage finance experienced buy to let landlords are enjoying an ever increasing pool of mortgage capital. It’s all about the banks mitigating risk, why lend to young first time buyers with a limited track record when you could lend at a lower gearing to experienced investors with a proven track record and other security in the back ground? There is said to be a hundred more deals on offer than there was a year ago and the increased competition is leading to better deals. In the last year the average buy to let rate has dropped from 5% to less that 4.8% which on typical buy to let margins has a great affect on landlord’s bottom line. This is like a self fulfilling prophecy as first time buyers struggle to get mortgage funding they are forced to rent and that’s another tenant for the buy to let landlords.
Commercial landlord’s dismay at governments “U” turn on pre-packs
February 2, 2012
Many commercial landlords feel that pre-packs are often used as nothing more than an accounting procedure to avoid paying thousands of pounds on lease agreements. The original plan was to give creditors three days to review information from the insolvency practitioners prior to the pre-pack going ahead. Many in the commercial property world had expressed concerns that three days was insufficient and a longer period was required. This proposal for a notification to creditors prior to the pre-pack has now been completely abandoned. It is the “Phoenix pre-packs”, that are seen by many in the property industry to be the sharpest practice, when a company is cut up and the most profitable sections purchased out of administration by a pre-connected party.
House sales halved from 2007
January 30, 2012
Things are improving slightly up from the record lows of 2009 when only 848,000 properties changed hands. The three most restraining factors on transaction volumes and house prices are the usual suspects a lack of suitable mortgage finance, unemployment and consumer confidence. Both new build and normal sales are subdued because there are limited new houses and a lack of confidence that existing home owners will achieve the sale figures they want. The council of mortgage lenders is predicting further falls in lending this year which ultimately will lead to further falls in transaction volumes.
Commercial property set to recover in second half of 2012
January 27, 2012
Commercial property forecasters are predicting a revival in the commercial property sector later this year. They cite the Eurozone crisis as a delay to many companies expansion plans particularly in the London commercial property market. Many boards and directors are positive about signing new leases but are holding off. These decisions cannot be delayed indefinitely and analysts believe that many have held off expansion plans for as long as possible. Companies that are performing well are looking to be well placed for the recovery and will want properties in place to support their business plans. Some London post codes are seeing annual returns for commercial property of over eleven percent.
Commercial property transaction volumes drop by over 6% from 2010 to 2011
January 25, 2012
The values of commercial property transactions have dropped from just short of 36 billion to just less than 33 and a half billion. In 2011 there were just over 1700 sold mainly by banks or the customers of banks under pressure to stay within their facility agreements. University research estimates that a quarter of all commercial property has 100% outstanding property loans. They estimate that a further 35% are at 70% or more, this mean that 60% of all commercial property will not be re-financeable at the end of their facility terms. This has the knock on effect that banks cannot clear property backed loans off their balance sheets. So they have little or no appetite for speculative property development and new commercial property loans.
Buy to let mortgages just got easier
January 23, 2012
Increased competition in the buy to let mortgage arena shows with looser lending criteria. The Yorkshire building society has expanded its range of mortgage products to include properties with a value of less than a £100,000 and for applicants with incomes of £20,000 rather than the £35,000 previous figure. Although house prices have stagnated the growth in rent inflation has encouraged both landlords and banks to place their funds back into the property sector. The Co-operative bank has also pledged to increase funds to the buy to let mortgage sector by another third. All this has lead to triple the number of buy to let mortgage products available to landlords.
£100,000 pounds lost in your garden?
January 22, 2012
Is your garden a potential development site? Could it be worth tens of thousands of pounds? If so how do you know? Well the answer to most people and even novice property developers is that they do not. So how do you liquidate that cash tied up in a side or rear garden the first step is to obtain the “planning gain”. This is the uplift in value of the site or property when planning permission is granted, the next pocket of cash is the developer’s profit. This is the profit obtained by the developer who takes the site to a saleable finished dwelling or other building. The planning gain can vary massively dependant on many variables. The developers profit can also vary greatly but most developers look to take profits between 12-18 percent dependant on the risk of the build and the saleability of the finished product. The profit is the gross development valve (GDV) minus the build costs, land value and soft costs. So how do you find the profit? You need to find a good planning consultant and a joint venture partner, they will take you through planning and offer you a profit share when the development is completed.
Construction industry sees 5,000 firms go to the wall since 2010
January 20, 2012
The construction industry has seen over 5,000 firms go into liquidation since 2010 and Pwc are expecting 2012 to be a similarly tough year. 2011 saw a 6% rise in insolvencies from 2010 with the final quarter seeing 656 construction firms fail. Many firms have been hit by a double whammy of a massively reduced speculative development and new build demand coupled with a huge slow down in public sector building projects. Interestingly as the market stalls and construction firms suffer from a lack of new tenders arriving at their offices. Other fragments of the construction and property market are seeing some increase in activity. With planning consultants and architects seeing a growth in those sat on land and disused buildings looking to maximise their value or prepare site for sale through value engineering.
HSBC pledges 15 billion to UK mortgages market
January 19, 2012
Last year the HSBC lent approximately 6.7billion to home owners so this represents a large increase, which could tempt other lenders to compete. The new money to the mortgage market is thought to be enough to help a further 150,000 home buyers. The new funding promise will defy economists who have remained pessimistic about the future of the UK property funding market. It is thought that at least 3billion of this property funding will be reserved for first time buyers. This come at a time when many mortgage brokers are expecting a sizable increase in interest from first time buyers.
