The government has published a set of measures designed to boost the housing market and increase the number of homes to buy or rent. It’s hoped the proposals will remove some of the obstacles faced by local authorities and developers that prevent housing projects going ahead. The reforms are set out in the Housing White Paper. These are some of the main areas covered: Getting the right homes built in …Read More
Landlord loses appeal over service charges for improvements
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a landlord was wrong to use service charges to recover the cost of improvements to a property. The case involved a tenant who was a long lessee of a flat owned by the local authority. Under the terms of her lease, she was obliged to pay a service charge in respect of the costs of repairs. The authority served a notice of intention …Read More
Starter homes to be sold to first-time buyers at 20% discount
The government has announced plans to build thousands of starter homes on brownfield sites across the country. They will be built exclusively for first-time buyers between 23 and 40 years old and sold at a discount of at least 20% below market value. The scheme will be run by the Homes and Communities agency in a series of partnerships with local authorities. The first wave of 30 partnerships – selected …Read More
More than 220,000 home buyers have used Help to Buy
The latest government figures show that more than 220,000 people have now used the various Help to Buy schemes to purchase a new home. More than 180,000 of them are first time buyers. The average house price across the schemes is £191,000, showing that it is those buying smaller properties who are benefiting most. There are various Help to Buy schemes including Shared Ownership, Equity Loan, and London Help to …Read More
Autumn Statement outlines measures to build more homes
The Autumn Statement by Chancellor Philip Hammond set out a series of measures to boost house building and provide more homes. The government plans to invest more than £7 billion
More than half a million people open Help to Buy ISAs
More than half a million people have opened Help to Buy ISAs in just six months, according to the latest government figures. The ISAs became available last December. They are very attractive to first time buyers because the government has agreed to add a 25% bonus to a person’s savings as long as the money is used to buy a home. The maximum bonus is £3,000, available when your Help …Read More
More public sector land made available to build new homes
The government has announced that 600 acres of publicly owned land is being made available to build new homes. It has identified 80 sites that will be put up for sale over the next 18 months. It is estimated these sites will support more than 5,000 homes as well as land for industry and business. Over 20% of the sites already have outline or detailed planning permission. Housing Minister Brandon …Read More
Cohabitant can keep home she shared with her married partner
A woman has won her legal battle to keep the home she shared with her partner despite opposition from his estranged wife. The court heard that Joy Williams and her partner Norman Martin had owned their home as tenants in common for 18 years. Mr Martin had separated from his wife but they had not divorced. He had not updated his will to leave his share of the property to …Read More
More than 250,000 first time buyers open Help to Buy ISAs
A quarter of a million first time buyers have opened a Help to Buy ISA since they became available last December. More than half of them are aged 30 or under. Some people have already claimed the bonus offered by the ISAs and are using them to help buy their first home. Help to Buy ISAs were launched by Chancellor George Osborne in last year’s Budget. The scheme enables first …Read More
Housing association tenants begin to buy their homes
The Right to Buy scheme has now been extended to housing association tenants. It is being piloted in five areas across England and will be rolled out to the rest of the country later this year. It gives tenants the opportunity to buy their home with a discount of £103,900 in London and £77,900 elsewhere. Right to Buy has been available to council house tenants since 1980 and has enabled …Read More