Hotel of Mum and Dad: Property news update
Plus, house prices in 2019, mortgage lending down, estate agent woes, and how often do houses sell?
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Your support makes all the difference.UK parents are saving their stay-at-home children thousands of pounds in rent and living costs, a new report shows.
The figures from thinkmoney.co.uk suggest that the average saving of living at home compared to living alone in a one-bedroom flat is £12,450 a year. Around £528 is saved each month on rent alone with just over 40 per cent of live-at-home young adults aged 18 to 34 admit that they don’t pay rent to their parents.
A third of these live-at-homers say they are simply unable to afford to rent somewhere else, and a similar figure said that the opportunity to save money while still at home was giving them the chance to save for a deposit to buy their own place.
How much will house prices be in 2019?
Average house prices in England and Wales will increase by 30 per cent in the next five years, predicts a new report.
The forecast from Rightmove and Oxford Economics estimates prices in London will go up around a third, the South East by 37 per cent and even the North West, which it says will be the slowest riser, will see a 24 per cent hike in prices.
According to the figures, Southampton will see the fastest growth, up nearly 43 per cent, followed by Luton (41 per cent), Brighton and Swindon (both 40 per cent) and Enfield (39 per cent). The report says the areas which will see the slowest growth are West London, Carlisle, Lancaster, Manchester and Northampton.
Anna Brosnan, Head of Campaigns at the National Housing Federation, said: !These new figures make disturbing but predictable reading. Every part of the country, North and South, is feeling the effects of the housing crisis and if we want the situation to improve for the next generation, action needs to be taken now to build more homes at a price people can afford.
"We have found that eight in 10 people don’t believe any of the main political parties will effectively deal with housing. We desperately need politicians from all sides to commit to ending the housing crisis within a generation."
Mortgage lending down in August
Latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows there were four per cent fewer mortgages to first-time buyers in August compared to July (though still nine per cent higher than August 2013). This was the first drop since January. Lending to all homebuyers fell three per cent in August compared to July.
"The lending climate had a glass half full, glass half empty feel about it in August," said Paul Smee, director general of the CML. "On the one hand it saw a decline in all lending types month-on-month, which would suggest a levelling off of the market, with remortgaging remaining flat. Yet, on the other hand, we saw the highest August house purchase lending levels since 2007, and the recent Bank of England Credit Conditions Survey expects an upward trend in remortgaging in the final months of the year. Overall, these figures give no support to any fears of a developing bubble in housing."
How often do houses sell?
Estate agent woes
Nearly two thirds of people who have bought or sold a property in the last five years say they had a problem with their estate agent, according to research from the National Association of Estate Agents.
The biggest complaint was poor communication, not calling them back, or chasing too much. One in seven felt that their agent simply didn’t care about them and 13 per cent claimed that their estate agent had not told them about known faults in properties they were looking at.
The problem appears to be worst in London where 83 per cent claimed to have had an issue.
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