theRatandMouse

Sale-and-rent-back... almost dead, according to FSA

The number of sale-and-rent-back deals done before 2009, when the FSA took on regulation of the sector: give-or-take 50,000. The number of deals since: 61. And - according to the FSA - that number has trickled down to pretty much zero, with the remaining 22 firms effectively bullied into inertia.

"The FSA has referred one firm to its enforcement division while others have either stopped taking on new business or cancelled their permissions," the FSA said. "Effectively, this means the entire sale and rent back market is temporarily shut," it added.

But let's not loose any sleep over this. Remember the bad old days of sale-and-rent-back? The companies bought houses from homeowners struggling with their mortgages at knock-down prices, and with a promise that they'd thus avoid eviction, and stay in their homes as tenants. But the tales of sharp practice were many and varied... most commonly involving short-term tenancy agreements and unsympathetic landlords. They're unlikely to be missed.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Stoke Newington, UK's top location... for burglary

That's according to data from moneysupermarket.com, using insurance data. Not far behind Stokey comes Apperley Bridge in Bradford and West Bromwich.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

In Prime London, interest from wealthy foreign buyers still strong

According to Winkworth, there's no sign of London's top-end boom market ending soon, while wealthy Eurozone and Middle Eastern buyers continue to plough money in. Prices in Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Belgravia rose 17% in 2011, with 41% of those sales involving figures above £2m (up from 33% in 2010). London's safe haven status is behind the demand, and a shortage of available properties is pushing prices ever higher. More here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Thursday linkage - 20 great Matt cartoons about property

In bubble-hit Michigan, beautiful house of the future, as the future looked in 1971 [Curbed]
The big bribe, £1,000 each for homeowners to allow high speed rail contractors onto property [Daily Telegraph]
Shapps' state-backed 95% mortgage scheme... the details [Guardian]
20 great Matt cartoons about property [Daily Telegraph]

The Rat and Mouse - it's about your house

Market report - Nationwide, first report of the year

Nationwide's January data's out, and it shows a 0.2% fall in house prices, leaving the annual change down to just +0.6%, from +1%. The important three-month-on-three-month measure was up 0.3%. More here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Lady Gaga buys off-plan in Fitzrovia

She's said to have bought in a luxury new-build development in the Fitzrovia area. Details? It's apparently "modern concrete" on the outside, has floor to ceiling glass, four penthouses and a communal courtyard. Any ideas?

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Palace Green home for sale: offers over £100m

Its price has earned it coverage from Bloomberg and Business Week. It's a 16,000 square foot, at the southern end of Kensington Palace Gardens, and it sounds - from something Aylesford International (handling the sale) say - it's either not quite reached the market yet or it's never going to appear formally, but buying agents "know". The exact guide price also remains undisclosed, other than it will be more than £100m.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Repos on the rise

According to this, in Metro, the third quarter of 2011 saw a worrying 20% rise in repos. Almost half were ordered by lenders, the rest by landlords, mostly social.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

On the Kensal Rise water tower

An interesting piece in the Daily Mail (is this what it's come to?) about designer Tom Dixon's work to turn a 5,000 gallon water tower into a 5,000 square foot living space. It's a fascinating project, perhaps blighted a tiny bit, though, by its position. The photo below, from Google's StreetView, shows just how one side "benefits", as they say, from a view of the canal; but the other looks over a Sainsbury car park. Will it matter?

Another noteworthy detail from the Daily Mail piece is that Tom Dixon's a self-taught designer. Very, very impressive. More here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Monday afternoon linkage - cheaper to buy than to rent

Halifax: cheaper to buy than to rent [Guardian]
Return of the 95% mortgage [Guardian]
Vincent Tchenguiz throws entire portfolio onto market [Daily Mail]
Is Scarlett Johansson property shopping in London? (Truth Dive]

The Rat and Mouse - London's property blog

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Land Registry calls time on 2011 housing market... and we have a winner

The new figures show a fall of 1.3% in 2011, after zero change between November and December. The only region to see a rise in 2011 was - of course - London, where house prices rose 2.8%, which was modest and roughly half the level of general inflation. In the north east, prices fell 7.1%.

So, we have a winner, and damn if it isn't the much-mocked, much-maligned (but mainly by us, and for their very odd way of producing their monthly index) Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Yes, we've egg on our faces, but not as much as Citi group, who forecast house price gains of between 5% and 10%, At the bottom end of last year's forecasts, we've probably got to cut Capital Economics (-10%) and Armstrong Davis (-10% to -15%) some slack, for the way those London figures have skewed what would otherwise be a market that was falling faster. What did we predict? Gains of 2%. For another look at last year's forecasts, go here.

Congratulations, RICS. If there was a prize, you'd get it. But there isn't.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Updown Court: sold

The price has been up (£70m, originally), but it only sold when it was down (£36m, according to the Telegraph), to a Middle Eastern businessman who'll now enjoy a heated marble driveway, a guest bedroom with en suite swimming pool and 24 carat gold mosaics. The Telegraph describes it as Britain's "tackiest House", which sounds like a challenge. Can you find tackier?

Updown Court, the ups and downs [July 15, 2011]
Examiner.com examines Updown Court [August 11, 2009]

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Friday afternoon linkage - how to buy a London bolthole

Expect mortgage rate volatility [BBC]
Elephant & Castle plans... approval at last? [Homes & Property]
How to buy a London bolthole [Country Life]
New residential property fun to provide bridging loans to rich London buyers [Citywire]

The Rat and Mouse - London's property blog, since 2005

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

House prices rise, cost of moving rises... where's the surprise?

Research by Lloyds TSB this morning showing that the cost of moving has risen 69% in the last decade is resulting in shock/horror headlines across the press. But average property prices have risen 64% during the same period, so moving costs as a proportion of purchase price have actually shifted hardly at all, despite huge increases in the cost of fuel, and a 5% increase in VAT. Other major costs (stamp duty, estate agents' fees) are directly linked property prices. So where's the story?

Certainly, moving costs as 27% of average pre-tax earnings are hard to swallow. But the issue - here - is with property prices. Go here for the story.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

In Ireland: worthless ghost estate homes might be demolished

An interesting news video, here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate