November 2008 edition of the LandlordZONE Newsletter. Energy Performance Certificate Review Download the Full Newsletter Welcome to the November 2008 Issue, I don’t need to tell you things are bad—the 1.5% rate cut says it all and although the feeling is that the banking situation is solved, this cannot be taken for granted. The banks [...]
FAMILIES on housing benefit face homelessness as private landlords shun them following changes to the law. Since the introduction of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in April growing numbers of landlords are losing out on rent; and the situation is worsening as the credit crunch takes hold. Landlord Action director Paul Shamplina, who helps landlords [...]
The UK is a country with a state religion: the housing market. One of its former high priests, Sir James Crosby, a former chief executive of the mortgage bank HBOS, has delivered a report on how to reform the mortgage market. His main proposal aims to prevent a necessary downward adjustment in house prices from [...]
If there is one indicator that will determine just how long the Chinese slowdown lasts, it is property prices. Geoff Dyer, FT.com – 24 Nov 2008 Property has been one of the pillars of China’s boom. Not only does real estate account for about a quarter of all investment, but there have been huge spillovers [...]
Almost half of recent buy-to-let property investors could be in negative equity by the middle of next year if prices continue to fall, according to ratings. PropertyWire – Monday, 24 November 2008 They are property investors who took out large mortgages towards the end of the boom, typically interest only, and often buying city centre [...]
Tory MP Peter Bottomley has called for urgent action on sale and rent back schemes, by which distressed householders sell their homes for well under market value to buyers – both individuals and company – ¬who then become their landlords. Estate Agent Today – Monday 24th November 2008 Reported problems include the landlords either going [...]
The monetary authorities’ view of the world has changed dramatically. The MPC surprised markets with its 1.5% cut in bank rate in early November. The potential threat posed by inflation is now a distant memory and the MPC’s focus has shifted to mitigating the economic downturn. Council of Mortgage Lenders – Press Release – 21 [...]
Struggling car giant asks Jones Lang LaSalle to raise up to €200m from Euro sale and leasebacks. Jennifer Rigby, Property Week – 21 Nov 2008 Stricken global car giant General Motors hopes to raise more than $750m (£499m) from sale and leasebacks across its global estate. The US motor manufacturer – which owns some of [...]
Chief investment officer Ian Whittock tells investors UK is ‘opportunity of the decade’ Nick Duxbury, Property Week – 21 Nov 2008 Institutional investors should return to the UK property market because ‘it is the opportunity of the decade’, the world’s biggest property fund manager said this week. Ian Whittock, chief investment officer at ING Real [...]
London is one of the most famous cities in the world and with its cosmopolitan lifestyle it comes as no surprise that it is also one of the most multicultural capitals competing with New York and Toronto. It is thought that London’s greatest draw is its people but what is the key factor that makes [...]
