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Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Housing Minister Grant Shapps have announced that they have suspended the requirement for homeowners to provide a Home Information Pack when selling their homes.

Mr Pickles has laid an Order suspending HIPs in England and Wales, pending primary legislation for a permanent abolition. He believes that HIPs are currently holding back the housing market.

Housing Minister, Grant Shapps is quoted as saying: “The new government is ensuring that home information packs are history.”

“By suspending home information packs, it means that home sellers will be able to get on with marketing their home without having to shell out hundreds of pounds upfront.

“We are committed to greener housing so from now on all that will be required will be a simple energy performance certificate,” he added.

The energy performance certificate, which ranks the energy efficiency of a home with A to G ratings, will be retained and must be produced by the seller within 28 days of putting a home on the market. It costs about £60.

The dramatic end to HIPs could spell a spate of redundancies among home inspectors – some of whom are self-employed. The Association of Home Information Pack Providers estimates that there are between 3,000 and 10,000 that this new legislation is likely to affect.

May 21, 2010

Northern Rock have lowered their mortgage rates again and they are now offering some of the cheapest rates in the market. Their two-year tracker starts at 2.44% and two-year fixes at 3.19%. Both mortgages require a 30% deposit and have an arrangement fee of £995. The maximum loan size is £1 million.  According to Moneyfacts.co.uk, the average two-year fixed rate is at a 15 month low and is now 4.61%. There are a host of mortgages that Trinity can access that are considerably lower than the industry average.

Increased market competition has led to the recent lowering of the cost of five year fixed rate mortgages. A number of lenders have reduced their margins and this has sparked others into action. Nationwide have reduced their five year rates by 0.31% and they now look more attractive. The Woolwich are offering some particularly good mortgages at the moment - but brokers need to be quick to secure funds as they constantly hit their daily lending targets.  Their most popular mortgages are their lifetime base rate trackers and these are as low as 2.69%. For those who want the security of a five year fixed rate there is still a premium to be paid. The rate is 4.44%. Both mortgages are available to those with a 30% deposit.

June 4, 2010

Mortgage brokers accounted for nearly two thirds of all mortgages submitted in the first three months of the year, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Financial Services Authority.

Figures show that 62% of all mortgage lending in quarter one of this year was via a broker, and that this figure is up 2% on quarter four of 2009.

May 21, 2010

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep base rate on hold in May and maintain quantitative easing at £200 billion.

Minutes from the MPC meeting show that the committee was concerned with two issues – the outlook for activity and inflation, and how that outlook would be impacted by the Euro bailout and the uncertainty over the new UK government.

Base rate is still expected to remain low for quite some time. Two weeks ago the governor of the Bank of England reportedly said that he expected base rate to remain low for four years. Figures from the latest Inflation Report, show that the financial markets expect base rate to be around 2% by the end of 2011.

The Bank of England base rate remained at its record low of 0.5% for the 14th consecutive time earlier this month.

May 21, 2010

Grant Shapps has been appointed as the new housing minister in the coalition government.  The MP for Welwyn Hatfield was the shadow minister for housing when the Conservatives were in opposition.

A spokesman for the National Landlords Association, says:  “This latest ministerial appointment shows some consistency as Grant Shapps has had the shadow housing brief for a number of years. We look forward to working with him on the housing challenges before the sector, but it is disappointing that he will not be attending Cabinet.”

Grant Shapps was made the shadow minister for housing in 2007. He replaced Michael Gove as part of the cabinet reshuffle.

May 14, 2010

The average house rent in the UK rose by 0.6% to £663 per month in April -2.25% higher than a year ago - according to a study by the owners of Your Move estate agents, LSL Property Services.  Rents have risen for the third consecutive month and they are now just £25 per month lower than in their peak in August 2008.

May 14, 2010

Abbey have increased the maximum loan size on a number of their mortgages from £500,000 to £1 million. They now offer a two-year tracker at 2.59% for homebuyers with a 30% deposit. The arrangement fee is £1495. Their fixed rate mortgages are some of the cheapest in the market, the lowest two-year fix they have being 3.29% and that has a maximum loan size of £250,000.  For those who want to borrow up to £1 million there is a two-year fixed rate at 3.44%. Both mortgages require a 30% deposit and have £995 arrangement fees. Abbey do not have a cap on the amount they will lend on interest only.

The Post Office launched a range of 90% loan to value mortgages this week and they will specifically allow their mortgages to taken out on an interest only basis. Two-year fixed rates start at 5.45% and five year fixes at 5.99%. Both mortgages have a £999 arrangement fee.

May 14, 2010

This has been the busiest week of the year for mortgage rate and criteria changes, and a number of banks have made a host of rather drastic rules.

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee has kept the base rate on hold at the record low of 0.5%.

The decision was delayed this month due to the election last Thursday, but it was widely expected.  A story in The Sunday Times two weeks ago, said that the governor of the Bank of England suggested that base rate ‘will stay low for four years’ after comments were made on Australian television after a private meeting Mervyn King had with David Hale, a senior American economist.

Interest rates have now been on hold since March 2009 and the next decision is on June 10, 2010.

May 10, 2010

Lenders’ have been slowly lowering the mortgage rates and now the average two-year fix is at its lowest level for a year. According to Moneyfacts.co.uk the average two-year fixed rate is 4.63% down from the 5.21% high last year. The average three-year fixed rate is 5.34% and the average five-year fix is 5.85%.

More mortgage rates available

This week Trinity Financial secured access to the exclusive mortgages offered by the Newcastle and Chelsea building societies.  Both societies have market leading fixed rates and they are available only to a limited number of brokers.

Chelsea offer a two-year fixed rate at 3.43% and it is available to those with a 25% deposit. Both lenders have particularly low five-year fixed rates at 4.59%. These mortgages have arrangement fees of £995 and they are available up to £1 million.

May 1, 2010

This week Trinity Financial secured access to the exclusive mortgages offered by the Newcastle and Chelsea building societies.  Both societies have market leading fixed rates and they are available only to a limited number of brokers.

Chelsea offer a two-year fixed rate at 3.43% and it is available to those with a 25% deposit. Both lenders have particularly low five-year fixed rates at 4.59%. These mortgages have arrangement fees of £995 and they are available up to £1 million.

Abbey reduced the prices of their two-year fixed rates by 0.2 this week. Their lowest fixed rate is now 3.29% and it is available for loans up to £250,000. For mortgages up to £1 million the rate increases to 3.44%. The arrangement fee is £995 on both mortgages and Abbey will provide a free property valuation and £250 cash back.

May 1, 2010

All regions of England and Wales have seen a year-on-year increase in house prices, according to figures released by Land Registry. The average property value dropped by 0.6% in March, compared with February, it’s figures show. The average price of a property is now £164,288.

London had the biggest annual price change with an increase of 13%. Wales had the lowest annual rise in prices at 1.1%. The East Midlands is the region with the most significant monthly price fall with a movement of -2.1 per cent.

Land Registry went on to say that the number of completed house sales picked up at the start of 2010, and that there was a 30% increase on the year before. The number of completed house sales in England and Wales rose to 34,171 from 26,208 in January 2009.

May 1, 2010