Category Archives: On the Market

Treherne

What does a Conservative government mean for housing?

So, the Conservatives have won the majority vote in Parliament and David Cameron is set to return to Downing Street as Prime Minister once again. But after this

somewhat surprising victory, how will homeowners, prospective buyers and landlords stand to benefit from the refreshed government?

Amid all of the parties’ manifestos, first-time buyers found themselves at the helm of attention. Labour pledged to give first-time buyers priority on new homes built for a period of two months and the Liberal Democrats proposed a ‘Rent to Own’ scheme where first-time buyers built up shares in their homes through renting.

The party that matters though is the Conservatives. David Treharne of Mortgage Advice Bureau looks at what the Tories plan on bringing to the table.

What have they proposed?

Their flagship policy, albeit a controversial one in the industry, is the expansion of the Right to Buy scheme which will see tenants of housing association properties receive huge discounts, allowing them to consider purchasing their homes.

1.3 million tenants could qualify for discounts of 35 per cent up to a maximum of 70 per cent up to a maximum of £102,700 in London and £77,000 across the rest of the country.

Help to Buy ISA

Announced in the Budget in March, come the autumn, hopeful and prospective homeowners will receive a Help to Buy “savings account” that will see the government top up £50 for every £200 saved towards a deposit, up to a maximum of £3,000.

Aspiring homeowners under a Conservative government would have access to a Help to Buy Isa, which would top up £50 for every £200 saved towards a deposit, up to a maximum top-up of £3,000. This was announced in the March Budget.

Only available for the next four years and being introduced in the autumn, the new savings account will only be available to consumers who are yet to buy their first home and will have no limit to how long people can use the accounts for.

First-time buyers based in London will be able to use the savings to buy properties worth up to £450,000, whilst the rest of the UK will see a ceiling of £250,000.

Discount homes for first-time buyers

David Cameron has pledged to offer up to 100,000 new homes to first-time buyers under the age of 40 at a discount of 20 per cent.

The ‘starter homes’ initiative has been created to encourage home ownership among young buyers and to boost construction of new homes by building on brownfield land – land previously used for commercial uses or industrial purposes.

While this means that, if you qualify, you will be able to afford a property that you would have previously struggled to, it should be noted that you will not be able to sell the home at full market price for five years after you purchase it.

A London Land Commission will also help release brownfield land owned by the public sector in the capital for building by promising a £1bn brownfield regeneration fund to unlock sites for around 400,000 homes.

With the general election now over and done with, new policies from the Conservatives will be coming through thick and fast which is why it is important to speak to a professional mortgage adviser who will have the latest information to help you through the mortgage process.

ACCamera_6-1024x683

South Wales estate agent celebrates as student accommodation being snapped up.

Dawsons Estate Agent has successfully secured reservations on more than 50% of 24 purpose-built student apartments right in the centre of Swansea.

The Park Buildings lettings have created a lot of interest across the world from as far afield as Europe, the Middle East, Japan, China and Canada.

The amount of lettings already snapped up is a significant achievement considering the high spec flats are not opening until September.

“We have secured students from many places around the world, and are many weeks ahead of our schedule in terms of securing half occupation reservations through May,” said Ricky Purdy, Dawsons Director of Residential Lettings.

“We are seeing much interest on a daily basis from students currently studying at the university and from those starting in September.

“We are delighted with progress and are sure of securing full reservations prior to the availability date for occupation, as per our intentions at launch.”

Park Buildings is conveniently located in the heart of the city, just a stone’s throw away from transport links and all amenities. The accommodation is also beautifully designed with open plan living and sleeping areas and their very own kitchen and shower rooms.

“Park Buildings is a truly unique addition to Swansea and its student population needn’t settle for second best any longer when it comes to finding a new home from home for the new term,” added Ricky.

“The studio apartments come complete with, cleaning service, laundry facilities and storage facilities, so you have everything you need to start or continue your education in Swansea.”

For further information on Park Buildings, please contact Dawsons’ Swansea office on 01792 633260. Please also visit http://www.parkbuildings.info/ for more details.

Chris Hope

SWANSEA ESTATE AGENT JOINS NEW PROPERTY WEBSITE ONTHEMARKET.COM

Dawsons is proud to announce it is featuring all of its properties at OnTheMarket.com, a new property website which launched on Monday, January 26th 2015 as a direct competitor to Rightmove and Zoopla.

OnTheMarket.com is a mutual organisation focused on providing an outstanding service for property searchers, estate and letting agents, vendors and landlords. The venture has the support of more than 4,600 estate and lettings agency branches nationwide, including those of leading national, regional and local firms. OnTheMarket.com is expecting many more to join in the coming weeks after they have seen the website.

Estate and letting agents who have joined have moved hundreds of thousands of properties to OnTheMarket.com from other websites to create a unique set of listings which cannot be found elsewhere. In addition, many are choosing to launch their properties exclusively there first, at least 48 hours in advance of the other portals.

Neither Rightmove nor Zoopla can now claim their property listings cover the entire market because many estate and letting agents have left them to join OnTheMarket.com as the best platform to showcase their properties in the clearest and simplest way.

The property search at OnTheMarket.com is slick, simple, fast and state-of-the-art, compatible with the latest technologies. The website adapts seamlessly to fit the screen of any device being used to view it. There is no clutter from irritating and distracting third party adverts, nor any spam email.

Every property at OnTheMarket.com is marketed by a locally-based estate or letting agent because OnTheMarket.com knows the majority of the public recognises the benefits of having a local professional in place who can manage the sales or lettings process on their behalf. Also, there is no substitute for their detailed knowledge of a property, the local area, the current market conditions and the vendor’s/landlord’s personal circumstances.  OnTheMarket.com does not feature properties marketed by online-only agents.

Dawsons Senior Partner Chris Hope said: “We believe OnTheMarket.com will rapidly grow to become a major player in the portal market because it will provide a clean, crisp and simple search function and a highlyeffective platform for our vendor and landlord clients and be a great place to launch new properties onto the market.”

Ian Springett, Chief Executive of OnTheMarket.com, said: “We are delighted Dawsons has committed to OnTheMarket.com and we look forward to matching motivated buyers and tenants with all the properties our member agents are marketing for their clients in and around Swansea.”