Finding Positive News For Home Buyers

Admittedly, there are not a lot of positive things to say about the UK property market at the moment, but a glimmer of hope has been provided by one rather outspoken public figure. Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, has called on housebuilders to construct another £1m of housing in the capital in the next 25 years, to meet the expansion in population that is expected in that time.
 
At the moment experts are predicting that the population of London will rise to 9 million by 2020 and on the current numbers there simply won’t be enough housing for everyone. Boris has also put pressure on the Treasury to channel £1.3 billion in stamp duty receipts to his team in order to fund a huge housebuilding project, with a range of affordable homes available to help London try and avoid a housing crisis in the near future.
 
Boris’ comments follow on from the introduction of the NewBuy scheme, which we first wrote about back in October. This mortgage indemnity scheme was launched in March 2012 and assists those who have managed to save a small deposit in finding the remainder of the money for a house purchase at a time when mortgages are scarce.
 
To date, the scheme has seen an impressive take up, with more than 3,000 people now benefitting from the scheme and 60 builders and six lenders signed up to make it happen. New figures from the Home Builders Federation show that the reservation level at the start of February 2013 was at its highest level since the scheme began.
 
The idea behind the scheme is to try and get more first time buyers into homes which, given the continuing rise in house prices, might not otherwise be possible. Deposits alone can be particularly crippling, especially for those without an existing property – in London, for example, young homebuyers typically have to find deposits of upward of £100,000, which is no small feat in a time of recession and job insecurity.
 
In the light of the enormous success of the NewBuy scheme, the government has recently launched a new variation, which is aimed more at those who are existing home owners and who are looking to move or upgrade.
 
The NewBuy Part Exchange scheme was launched at the start of February by the housing minister Mark Prisk. It will allow homeowners to part exchange their existing homes and use the NewBuy scheme to purchase a new one.
 
Stewart Baseley, who is the executive chairman of one of the organisations behind the development of the scheme has said that “Over the coming years NewBuy will make a real difference and help tens of thousands of people realise their ambitions of home ownership.” It will mean that those families who are ‘stuck’ in their homes, without the funds to raise the required deposit for a new one will now be able to move on – and up.

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