First time buyers still have options to help them get on the property ladder

Times are hard, and now we’re hearing that the UK’s economic recovery is ‘paralysed’ by Europe’s debt crisis. With the economy the way it is, first time buyers often write off the possibility of ever getting on the property ladder and believe they are set to rent for the rest of their lives. This is not the case anymore, with the government; various agencies; housing associations and property developers now offering a range of deals to help first time buyers get on that crucial ladder. Here are 5 tips that can help you keep those costs down…

Shared ownership

Shared-ownership is a terrific way into home ownership and is the main affordable housing scheme. If you cannot afford to buy outright, you can part buy part rent your home – you pay a rent on the share that you do not buy which is set at an ‘affordable’ rate. The bigger the share that you purchase, the less rent you have to pay.

The FirstBuy scheme

Saving for a deposit is something that holds lots of first time buyers back. Schemes like this give you a step up onto the ladder, by lending you some of the money through a shared equity offer. If you purchase your first home in England though the FirstBuy scheme, your deposit could be as low as 4% – there are online calculators to see the difference it could make. If you are looking in Scotland or Wales, there’s a similar scheme called Head Start.

Avoiding stamp dut

Not an offer as such, but a way to reduce the cost of purchasing your own home. If your home’s value is less than £250,000 there’s no Stamp Duty to pay if you complete before March 24, 2012. That could save you up to £2,500 when you move.

Family ownership with your parents

It is becoming increasingly popular for young single people to include their parents on their mortgages. Even if they just own 1% of the property this security enables you to borrow more money from the bank and buy a more expensive property.

Move to a cheaper area

This does not sound like a perfect solution but sometimes in life, we have to take a step sideways to move forwards. House prices in some areas are much cheaper. If you are willing to move to these areas then you can make buying a house a real possibility. You never know, you may make a hefty profit in the end. It is worth bearing in mind that cheaper areas do not always mean lower quality. For example, some areas are more expensive because they are close to good schools so it is worth researching prices in different areas.

Tags: deals, Shared-ownership, cannot, Ownership, tips, ownership shared-ownership, way, main, stamp duty

Third consecutive drop in asking prices

It has been revealed that asking prices for properties have fallen for the third month in a row, raising further concerns that the UK economy and the property market may be heading towards a double dip. The data comes from a report released by the specialist property website Right Move.

During the five weeks leading up to September 11^th the average asking price on a home put up for sale in England and Wales fell by 1.1 percent, taking the average asking price to £229,767. During the past three months sellers have dropped their average asking prices by 3.4 percent in total, equating to £8000 in terms of value.

The drop in asking prices over the past three month has wiped out half of the gains that have been made during the first part of this year. This gloomy data relating to property prices adds to a number of reports that have painted a bleak picture for the immediate future of the property market in parts of the UK.

Estate agents are currently reporting record numbers of properties on their books that remain unsold, as more people rush to sell their homes at the same time as a greater number of potential buyers decide to hold off committing to a mortgage or are unable to get finance to buy a property.

Officials from Right Move have said that there was a fall in the number of properties that came onto the market over the course of the month, with just over 26,000 properties a week going up for sale each week during the month, reflecting an 11 percent fall compared to August and resulting in the lowest levels seen since April of this year. However, the record number of unsold properties per estate agent stood at seventy nine.

Tags: england, Wales, Estate agent, Right Move, property

Many Welsh travellers fail to take out travel insurance

Research has recently been released by the Foreign Office, with the data suggesting that Welsh people are more likely to be hospitalised when they go abroad than others people in the UK. However, despite this many fail to take out travel insurance cover, potentially causing themselves a great deal of financial harm.

The figures showed that nearly one third of Welsh people had found themselves in some sort of trouble whilst abroad, and this included being arrested, being involved in road accidents, or ending up in hospital. However, around 16 percent of Welsh travellers do not take out any travel insurance cover when they head abroad.

With the summer holiday season just around the corner the Foreign Office is now appealing to consumers to use their common sense and arrange adequate travel insurance cover if they are heading abroad so that they are protected against mishaps such as those outlined above.

The research also found that Welsh travellers spent an average of nearly £12 on magazines, snacks, and drinks whilst at the airport, which is twice the cost of basic single trip travel insurance cover. Welsh travellers were also found to spend the least time arranging travel insurance cover, with the average time being spent doing this standing at twenty one minutes.

Jeremy Brown, the Foreign Office Minister, said: “This report shines a light on the number of Britons who get into difficulty abroad each year. The worrying fact is that so many of these situations are preventable. Helping out Britons in trouble abroad is part of our job, but we can’t get you out of jail or pay your hospital bills. A bit of preparation before you go, such as arranging travel insurance and checking our website, will ensure you get the most out of your trip without bad memories and big bills.”

Tags: travel insurance, Insurance, travel insurance cover, Wales, Welsh

Nearly all Brits need a financial workout

Almost all of Britons would benefit from a financial workout, according to the results of a latest survey.

The findings from Abbey show that only one in every 100 Brits manages the various aspects of their personal finance well.

With a higher score indicating the greater the room for improvement in their personal financial management, the average score for the UK population was 43.

Steve Shore, Abbey director of banking, said: “Less than a third of people score less than 30 which suggests that the majority of the population could do with a financial workout.”

Women scored 46 compared with 41 for men and Wales and the South West were the most financially fit.

The research looked at the financial behaviour of British consumers and gave them a score according to the products they held, the competitiveness of these products and how often they shopped around for better deals.

Meanwhile, recent research from Abbey has revealed that the odd jobs economy for children is worth an estimated £696 million.

Tags: director, Wales, uk population, improvement, personal finance, british consumers

Protect yourself from flooding

Homeowners across much of England and Wales have endured flooding in recent days and Halifax Home Insurance is offering advice to those who live in high-risk areas.

The insurance firm says that around five million Brits live in flood-risk areas and these people are advised to take action to prevent their home and the items inside it being consumed by water.

Weather experts are predicting more rain in the coming days and Halifax is urging homeowners to follow its advice.

The firm says that homeowners should place sand bags outside doors and windows before a flood strikes.

It also advises that pipes should be protected in case appliances move during a flood, furniture should be moved upstairs and insurance policy information should be kept close to hand in case a claim needs to be made.

Halifax also has some advice for those who have already been affected by flooding.

They are being told to ensure gas, water and electricity supplies have been checked before being switched back on.

In addition, all affected appliances should be thoroughly checked by a qualified engineer, doors and windows should be opened and redecorating should not begin until the property is completely dried out.

It is possible to find out if you live in a flood-risk area by contacting the Environment Agency Floodline.

Tags: flood, Halifax Home Insurance, Atmospheric sciences, Wales, flood risk areas

Neighbours cost homeowners £93.4m

Brits spend more than £93.4 million each year on damage caused by their neighbours.

New research by Abbey has found that around 543,000 of us have to endure household damage by our neighbours every year.

Londoners are the worst affected, with ten per cent encountering damage, while people in Wales are the least affected.

The average insurance claim made after a neighbour has caused damage is around £172 but one in twenty is hit for £1,000 or more.

“Not all damage caused to people’s homes by their neighbours is malicious. In many cases this type of damage is accidental. However there are often misconceptions about whose insurance is to be used to claim for it,” explained Prasad Shastri from Abbey.

“It is always the policy holder of the damaged home that will need to submit a claim. For example, if your neighbour was to cut down a tree that accidentally breaks a window, it is only you that can claim for damage to your property, not your neighbour, highlighting how important it is for you to make sure your insurance covers you against accidental damage caused to your property by other people.”

Homeowners are also warned by Abbey that buying insurance on price alone can be dangerous as it is important to make sure that you have adequate cover for your home and its contents.

Tags: price, misconceptions, Wales, window, abbey

Consumers using bonuses to ‘pay off’ mortgage

Almost one in ten diligent Britons are using their annual bonus to pay off chunks of their mortgage, new research carried out by Birmingham and Midshires shows.

Figures released by the financial provider indicate that Britons are proving to be particularly savvy when using their bonuses, with nearly two-fifths having saved all or most of their bonus over the past year.

With regard to their mortgage, people from the Midlands and Wales are found to be the most financially astute, with nearly two-thirds paying off their mortgage.

In total, Britons collected more than £24 billion in bonuses last year, with the average employee receiving £1,758 from grateful employees, allowing many to invest in other avenues than their mortgage.

While some saved their payouts, over one in ten splashed their hard-earned cash on holidays and electrical items.

Jason Robinson, director of savings operations for Birmingham Midshires, said: “It’s easy to be tempted to splurge when we get paid a bonus so the fact that more than half are using their extra cash sensibly is great news.

“You don’t need a huge amount to save or invest so lucky bonus recipients should try to find a healthy balance between rewarding themselves for a year of hard work and squirreling their cash away,” he added.

Tags: jason robinson, Financial services, half, new research, two thirds, Wales, Birmingham Midshires, holidays

Tenancy deposit shake up

A new scheme is being introduced which could change the face of property renting in England and Wales.

From April 6th many landlords will be required to protect the deposits of tenants by putting the money in one of three schemes.

The move has been made after homeless charity Shelter warned that too many people are not getting their money back with the landlord failing to provide a good reason.

With the average deposit now sitting at around £700, the withholding of the money can cause serious financial hardship for many and can leave people unable to get a mortgage, or forced to get a loan just to pay another deposit on a rented property.

“This money represents a sizeable chunk of cash for many tenants and losing it unfairly not only leaves thousands of people out of pocket but can lead to homelessness,” said Adam Sampson, chief executive of Shelter.

“The tenancy deposit protection schemes provide a vital safety net for both tenants and responsible landlords, making the private rental sector more professional and fairer for everyone.”

One of the available schemes will physically hold the deposits until the tenancy agreement reaches its conclusion, while the other two will provide insurance cover if a landlord does not return the money.

Tags: deposit, shake, tenancy, homeless charity, Leasehold estate, Wales, mortgage, money

Third of Brits move home to improve lifestyle

Around a third of us have moved house in the last five years to seek a better quality of life.

That is according to research by Abbey, which says around 18.8 million of us were prepared to get a new mortgage to ensure we moved away from negative factors such as crime and unruly neighbours.

According to the research, almost 5.3 million people decided to move because crime levels in their previous area were too high.

In addition, 4.5 million people revealed that they moved to get away from irritating or annoying neighbours, while 2.6 million people wanted to live within a better school catchment area.

“When buying a home people have more to consider than just the building itself,” said Nici Audhlam Gardiner from Abbey.

“People spend a lot of time looking not only for what they want in a home, but for what they need in the area they live in, and more often than not, these requirements are for the greater good of the family.

“Crime and family safety is clearly a top priority for most buyers, but moving to get the right school for your children or to avoid unruly neighbours also have an important impact on the selection of a home,” she added.

The survey found that people in Wales are the most likely to move home in search of a better quality of life, with the majority of people moving to the south-west.

Tags: quality of life, Wales, life, home, school, previous area, crime, Brits