Growing number of families choosing to rent

Hi

Once again from the Mortgage Solutions Website:
(http://www.mortgagesolutions-online.com/)

Growing number of families choosing to rent

Rents continued to rise in April as tenant demand for private rented properties grew – especially among people in their 30s and 40s and those with families. Paragon’s latest buy-to-let index has reported that rents have risen nearly 14% over the last year to stand at £12,048 in April, having just broken the £1000 a month barrier in March. And according to separate research, Paragon has found the average age of tenants has reached 32.8, from 31.0 at the start of 2007.

John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages, said: “We have known for some time that the tenure of the UK is changing as a growing and more diverse demographic are choosing private rented homes – the percentage of households living in private rented accommodation rose from 10% in 2002, to 12% in 2007. There is no doubt tenant demand is following an upward trend. “But the recent lack of mortgage availability for potential first-time buyers, as well as a fall in confidence in the housing market has caused more people to stay in private rented homes for longer. If the situation does not improve for first-time buyers, we will soon arrive at levels of demand for private rented homes that we previously wouldn’t have expected to see for many years.

The trend is definitely accelerating. Heron said that with rents rising and investment property prices beginning to cool – by 0.5% over April – landlords’ yields look set to rise above their current level of 6.3% if tenant demand continues to grow: “With buying opportunities for landlords presenting themselves as house prices moderate, we expect to see further expansion of the private rented sector over the next couple of years.”

Regards

Wasim

Also on our Blog via http://www.glmsltd.com/

Prices flatlining not declining

Hi

An interesting article taken from the Mortgage Solutions Website:

Prices flatlining not declining

There is currently no evidence of a market crash, according to data collated by research firm Asstez.
It has reported property prices have remained firm since the beginning of the year, with a current average of £211,014 in April – down only £4,015 (1.9%) from the peak experienced six months ago – £215,089 in October 2007.
The average house price in April 2008, taken from the average price provided by all five major indices showed a decrease of just £915, compared with the previous month’s average figure and an increase of £2,279 in the twelve months from April 2007, when the average price of a home was £208,735.
Stuart Law, chief executive of Assetz, said: “While house prices fell by 0.6% in April, prices remain up on the previous year and I am yet to see any firm evidence of a housing market crash. We saw a steep increase in house prices leading up to a peak in October last year.
“This was widely regarded as an unsustainable level of growth and we are currently embedded in a period of stabilisation, throughout which house prices in this country have remained extremely robust in spite of the difficulties in the mortgage market – down only 1.9% in April since the highest recorded average, taken in October last year - a far cry from the property crash that many commentators are misleadingly quoting.
“Over the long term, demand for housing will continue to outstrip supply and with Government targets of three million new homes by 2020 now looking impossible, as a number of housebuilders announce a halt to new starts, this will support future house prices and rental growth.
“The mortgage market problems (and to some extent the uncertainty over the housing market) is at present causing significant pent-up demand from first-time buyers, and once the mortgage market frees up I expect this demand to return strongly. The effect of this release of demand back into the purchase sector will probably surprise many, supporting house prices and even causing them to grow again in due course.
“The risks to house price stability over the coming months are primarily driven by the mortgage market. However, with announcements from some mortgage lenders that they are now reducing their mortgage rates, movement should return to the market and we should soon return to a degree of normality, perhaps as soon as September.”

Regards

Wasim
www.glmsltd.com

Mortgage Express - Sub Sale Policy Amendment

Hi

Had this through from Mortgage Express - Its a policy amendment concerning Sub-Sales:

Reminder - lending criteria 16/05/08
We have developed our product criteria to ensure that we are making sound lending decisions based on true property values. Our basic principle for House Purchases is that we will lend on the lower of purchase price (less any discounts), or valuation. We reserve the right to decline any types of transaction that are found to contravene this principle at any time before release of funds. In particular:

• we reserve the right to refuse business where the seller has owned the property for less than six months.
• we will not accept business involving assignable contracts and sub sale purchases.
• we will refuse business if we believe that connected parties are attempting to sell properties between themselves at inflated purchase prices or at undervalue.
  

Example of an unacceptable transaction involving a third party A property investor wants to purchase a property for £70,000 and a connected third party puts up the cash (for a fee). The property investor then applies for a mortgage on the house at the inflated value of £100,000 with the third party named as the vendor. The lender offers 85% of this, or £85,000. This means that the property investor has borrowed £15,000 more than the purchase price. This is only one example of the types of transaction that are unacceptable to us.

I will be updating this Blog and our website regularly so Bookmark Us and visit regularly.
Also head on over to our website at www.glmsltd.com and register to be kept upto date with the latest Mortgage Products.

Regards
Wasim

Welcome To The Greenlight Mortgage Services Blog

Hi

Welcome to the Greenlight Mortgage Services Ltd Blog.

Our main site is located over at http://www.glmsltd.com/

The site is currently under construction but register and we will keep you posted on when the site changes and becomes active.

If you require advice on:

Mortgages
Remortgages
Secured Loans
Bridging Loans
Life Insurance
Buildings and Contents Insurance
Landlords Insurance

Then why not head on over to http://www.glmsltd.com/ and register or email us and we will give you a call.

Thanks

Wasim
Greenlight Mortgage Services Ltd

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