Faster homebuying & other news…

From moths to mortgages and floods to faster homebuying, we’ve seen a range of issues covered in property media stories in the past few days. Here’s our round-up.  

FASTER HOMEBUYING: The government has announced a 12-week scoping project to agree on rules to speed up the homebuying process through ‘data digitisation’.

The aim is to modernise existing arrangements by allowing information that is often paper-based or not machine-readable to be shared more easily.

The move is in recognition that when buying a home, the conveyancing stage might last just a few weeks but waiting for documents required for property searches and other parts of the process can take much longer and so lead to delays.

Building control and highways information are among the kinds of paperwork that can often not be machine-readable according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

A lack of protocol for accessing, sharing and verifying data that is available electronically also contributes to holdups, the ministry says.

The website Rightmove said it takes five months on average from an offer being accepted to moving into a property, and that ‘digitisation’ is key to expediting the process.

MHCLG will work with HM Land Registry (HMLR) and experts from the Digital Property Market Steering Group, a coalition of government and industry partners, on the project.

HMLR will also lead a series of pilot projects with local planning authorities around the country aimed at opening up more data and making it digital.

PRICES ON THE UP: The average price of a UK house has hit a record high of £299,138 as buyers look to find homes and complete purchases ahead of the Stamp Duty increases due to kick in from April.

The January UK Halifax House Price Index showed that prices are up 0.7% compared to a fall of 0.2% in December. At the moment, most buyers pay no Stamp Duty on properties selling for £250,000 or less.  The leeway is more generous if you are a first-time buyer as the threshold is not reached until the value is £425,000.

This is all set to change from April. Instead of £250,000, the threshold for most buyers will be just £125,000. And for first-time buyers, the current £425,000 will drop to £300,000.

As well as buyers seeking a main residence, the changes will impact prospective landlords considering ‘second home’ activity in the BTL (buy-to-let) market, and even more so if they are looking to acquire multiple properties for their portfolios.

FLOOD RISK: In a report to MPs, the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) forecasts that around 105,000 new homes will be built on areas deemed to have the highest risk of flooding by the end of this parliament.

It follows analysis by the CCC based on trends in housebuilding as the government moves ahead with its target to build 1.5 million new homes.

Experts in flooding and insurance issues say development in high-risk areas should be avoided unless absolutely necessary because of the potential for property damage and danger to life.

INTEREST RATES: In case you missed it, the Bank of England has cut its base rate by a quarter of a per cent from 4.75% to 4.5%.

This is the lowest rate since the summer of 2023 and good news for those borrowers and mortgage holders who can negotiate lower-rate deals.

MOTHS: Meanwhile, the seller of a multi-million-pound west London mansion has come seriously unstuck by failing to disclose the property had a severe moth infestation.

The High Court has ruled the couple who bought it are entitled to a repayment of most of the £32.5 million asking price plus compensation for other costs including Stamp Duty, the money they paid to try and solve the problem while staying there, and £15,000 for ruined clothes.

Rescinding the sale, the judge found that the owner of the house, Horbury Villa in Notting Hill, made ‘fraudulent misrepresentations’ in response to pre-contract enquiries when he claimed there was no defect in the property and was unaware of the infestation. One insect specialist involved with the case said it was ‘an infestation of extreme proportions…amounting to millions of moths’.

The key takeaways from this are the responsibilities incumbent on sellers to flag relevant property issues to prospective buyers and, on the buyers’ side, of insisting on robust surveys and valuation reports before committing to a purchase.

BEST ADVICE: As ever, if you are buying, renting or selling property, we strongly advise you to take well-researched advice from property experts. We’re always here if you want to have a chat and for more information, we highlight a range of essential indicators about the local property scene on our website.

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