Bringing the Property Market Back to the Buyers
Since 1985, the UK housing market has been largely a seller's market. This was due to the fact that people had money and the economy was doing well. This allowed many people to benefit and buy investment properties to keep for a few years, driving the market upward. They would later sell, making significant profits. This kind of system is very prone to boom and bust periods and thus we have entered into a bust period. Many people over-stretched their boundaries and thus have been left with properties they can no longer afford the mortgages on. This situation, without the right assistance, may eventually result in these people losing their property, and in some cases much more.
When a homeowner in a certain area has to sell a property quickly due to financial pressures, he/she is willing to sell it for whatever they can get. Thus, the buyer is able to purchase a property for basement bargain prices. To stay competitive in the marketplace, other sellers in that area will then be forced to drop their selling price as well. It’s at this point that we find the entire countrywide housing market moving towards the buyers benefit.
The evidence in the market however does not speak of the real problem currently facing the UK: the shortage of properties and alternatives. At the moment it may appear to be a buyer's market, which is due to the mortgage crisis of late. This has however has allowed first-time buyers to enter the housing market, yet, it is not a sustainable solution. Understandably, nobody in the UK wants new housing built near where they live, as there is a limited amount of green belt area
The challenges faced by a new government is to address these issues and assure young people that it is attainable to own your own home. The solution is to assure hard-working households that they too can break the bondage of renting and become their own homeowner, without stretching themselves to the brink of financial default.
To tackle this issue of people unwilling to accept growth within their communities, the Conservative Party has proposed the Local Housing Trust. The idea is that it will allow for opportunities to bring business back into the local areas while dealing with the chronic housing shortages around the country. Councils will be rewarded for the promotion of local economic development and the encouragement of the building of more sustainable structures. This project is directly related to the focus on the development of affordable housing so that first time buyers from lower income families will too have the chance to break the shackles of renting, and can realistically become homeowners.
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Do we need a Property Indemnity Insurance?
We have been in a so-called dispute with the new owner of next door and her grand-daughter who rents the property off her.It started 6 months ago,we have a solicitor on the case,but things are going really,really slow.Before the dispute,we were on friendly terms with our neigbours,but as soon as we say we are selling our house,within weeks,they say the garden fence is in the wrong place.At first it was by 3 inches,now somehow it has gone up to 3 foot onto their land.
Trying to cut a long story short,we have lived here 22 years,20 years ago in very bad wind,the fence blew over,seeing as it was old then.Both my father and the then next door neighbour built a new fence in its place,and all were in agreement,happy etc,in it’s pposition.We have photos from 20 years ago,photos throughout the years,all with the fence and a video tape recording of the garden and fence from 1995.In all of them the fence is in the same position,all that as ever happened to them is that it has been repanelled onto the existing posts.
No way has the fence encroached onto the now neighbours garden by 3 foot.Our solicitor as sent them numerous letters asking for proof/documents etc to back up their claims,but in 6 months they have not.They even phoned our estate agent up and said we could not sell our house,as we were in dispute over the land.Anyway,we were supposed to of left 6 months ago,as we already have a new house who my brother is looking after for us.We were going too leave the house on the market.But with all this legal stuff going on,it has really put the kybosh on us.But now we have to leave,we cannot afford the upkeep of 2 homes,and leave our present house on the market.
We have 20 years of photographic proof that the fence has never moved,and our neighbours still claim we have as much as 3 foot of their land all along the length of the fence.But they have not brought the matter up for about 2 months now.They just say it,but never provide proof.
Should we get a indemnity insurance policy,either for ourselves,or pay for one for any prospective buyer of our property,in case the neighbour brings the matter up with the new owners.
Sorry for the long post.Thank you.
Is there no plan attached to your deeds? Usually there are boundary dimensions shown which will show who is responsible for which boundary and the overall size of the plot.
In any event the absence of proof from your neighbour tells all. It is most likely they have none, or they would have readily produced it long ago.
My inclination would be to go ahead and sell it as is. At the moment you are racking up solicitors fees whereas your neighbour is apparently making the odd phone call.
I cannot see that, once sold, your neighbour is going to embark upon expensive legal action without proof relating to the boundary. It is time your solicitor told him to put up or shut up. I think your solicitor should start advising your neighbour that you may sue him for unjustified interference in a house sale.
That would be my tack.Why are there so many empty houses in Liverpool, and why does the council not change its misguided policies?
Have a drive through Liverpool. You will notice thousands of empty homes. In fact in 2004 there were over 17,000 empty homes in Liverpool (Liverpool City Council website own figures), or 7.6% of all homes. Only 329 of them were brought back in to use that year.
This is a result of the council's own policies. They argue the housing market has failed in certain areas of the city, which fail to attract buyers, or where prices are lower than they ought to be. Their plan is to just hope someone will redevelop huge areas.
Many of the properties are beautiful Victorian terraces and semis, some of them really large properties. Surely this is having a seriously adverse effect on people and businesses in the area?
http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Housing/Private_housing/empty_homes/index.asp
As far as I'm aware, the vast majority of the council in Liverpool is made up of LibDem & Labour councillors (not often the brightest sparks)............. and as seen in the rest of the country (both through councillors & MPs from these parties)... all they're ever good at is talking about making things better, hiking up taxes, wasting them all on things like Lesbian theatre groups / street art / social engineering projects / glossy newsletters / employing people in politically correct non-jobs + fine people over their dustbins....... but neglect things like making run down residential areas worth living in, and sorting out other things that REALLY matter to locals.
I think this problem also afflicts Glasgow + Teesside come to think about it (other places where Labour councillors have ruled the roost for long periods).