The latest news in the property market

Welcome to the August edition of the Greenstone newsletter. We hope that you have all been enjoying the lovely UK summer as we have had some surprisingly sunny weather over the past couple of months.

In this months' newsletter we share information on the Green Homes Grant that is coming into affect in September. We also provide information on the stamp duty holiday and how this is supporting landlords, and the five most important factors when buying a home. Our final article explores the demand for overseas property, which is increasing as restrictions around the world begin to relax.

We hope you enjoy this months edition. We also provide property tips, insights, and updates on our social media channels which you can click to follow at the end of our newsletter. As always, please get in touch if you have any property queries.

Best regards

Lewis Green, Director

What Is The Green Energy Grant And How To Claim It

As part of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s summer statement, green energy grants up to a possible £10,000 will be available from September in order to pay for green home improvements such as a new boiler, loft insulation or double glazing.

For the majority of homeowners, grants of up to £5,000 will be available but for those from low income households, this amount doubles in order for the cost of energy-efficient home improvements to be fully covered.

The Chancellor confirmed: "From September, homeowners and landlords will be able to apply for vouchers to make their homes more energy efficient and create local jobs.

"The grants will cover at least two thirds of the cost, up to £5,000 per household.

"And for low income households, we’ll go even further with vouchers covering the full cost - up to £10,000."

Measures such as loft, wall and floor insulation, double glazing, lighting, energy-efficient doors, boilers and heat pumps will all be included under the scheme, with Rishi Sunak predicting a saving a £300 per year for households who make the most of the grants.

The grant will be available from September via a Government website, yet to be launched, which will also detail an approved list of suppliers.

What Does The Stamp Duty Cut Mean For Landlords?

The buy to let sector has seen a tremendous amount of change over the past few years in order to help rebalance the property market, with key pieces of legislation such as the Tenant Fees Act and the recent Electrical Safety Standards regulations. The changes to stamp duty will go some way to reigniting the buy-to-let market and offers landlords a tremendous opportunity to make the most of the tax changes.

With the temporary increase on the stamp duty threshold to £500,000 until 31st March next year, first-time buyers and existing homeowners are set to save up to £15,000. For additional and investment properties, stamp duty is also removed up to this value, however the 3% surcharge remains.

Charlotte Nixon, mortgage expert at Quilter, believes that the changes to stamp duty could have the consequence of more investors returning to the market;

“Buy-to-let investors have left the market in their droves over the last few years after tax changes have made it an untenable investment for many. The stamp duty holiday may serve to entice some of these investors back to the market."

“Not only will this cut help to reignite the property market but also improve the supply of rental properties, which has been dwindling over the last 12 months."

Nixon is supported in her opinion by David Whittaker, Chief Executive of Keystone Property Finance who believes;

“The Chancellor’s decision to cut stamp duty will have positive implications for homebuyers across the country and will certainly help to stimulate the housing market. Importantly, this latest cut will also go some way towards providing a much-needed boost for the buy-to-let sector.”

“As a result of this measure, many portfolio landlords across the UK will now be considering new buy-to-let purchases."

The numbers can be useful to bare out the extent of the potential savings for landlords looking to increase their portfolios – before the stamp duty holiday was introduced you would have paid £26,000 in stamp duty but now that is reduced almost by half to £13,500.

If you are thinking of investing in an additional property or looking to increase your property portfolio, then making the most of the stamp duty holiday is advised – contact us today to see how we can help you.

The 5 Most Important Factors When Buying A Home

For many of us, when we decide to move to a new home there will be many factors to consider, which can range from new work commitments, to growing family needs or simply the need for better quality of life. A new survey from Broadband Choices has discovered the five key reasons as to why people select a location for their new home, which could form a useful list for current house-hunters.

Safety First

Whether you’re staying put or moving home, crime will always remain a key concern for the majority of us and with 84% of respondents to the Broadband Choices poll listing crime as a crucial factor this still rings true. Knowing that your home and possessions are in an area with low crime rates is obviously very attractive, with low crime rates correlating to strong house prices and the converse also true.

Commuting Commotion

Getting to and from work, as well as freely being able to see friends and family, is of course extremely important when deciding where we would like to live. Amongst correspondents, nearly three-quarters mentioned transport links as one of their decision points for a location to live within. Living within close proximity to a tube station, for example, can add £42,000 to the price of a home, according to research from Nationwide.

A Quality Connection

Unsurprisingly in these modern times, a strong internet connection which will allow broadband and television streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime stands at third in the list of buyer priorities when searching for a new home. With 69% of people mentioning a strong internet connection in the poll, many of whom stating that they would pay over-the-odds for a property with guaranteed superfast broadband connection, it would seem that for home-sellers updating your broadband could actually help in the process of finding a buyer.

Top Of The Class

For those with families, schools are an extremely important consideration; with catchment areas and the competition around catchments for the best schools being an important factor for both families, and those planning on families in the long term. Just over half of correspondents listed schools as a deliberation in their home buying decision, with recent studies showing that homes in catchments for schools with Ofsted ratings of 1 can cost almost £40,000 more than those with Ofsted rating 2.

Shop Local

As well as transport links ranking highly in the list of priorities for buyers, local shops and amenities also place highly with just over a third of people stating that living close to shops and amenities is a significant factor in their property search.

Demand For Overseas Properties Surges

With Governments around the world relaxing travel restrictions and allowing wider tourism, searches for overseas properties have surged. It seems that the lure of better climates and new cultures are particularly appealing with Rightmove reporting record levels of searches on their site.

On Sunday 28th June, as the British government announced the relaxation of travel and quarantine restrictions, Rightmove Overseas recorded an all-time high on property searches, with more than one million searches in a single day – the first time that this milestone has ever been reached.

Searches for property in Spain were up by a quarter compared to the same point last year, while France recorded a one third rise. Other countries seeing a rise in demand include Portugal, Italy and Greece – popular European destinations for holidaying.

Rightmove’s overseas insights expert Rachel Beaton explained;

“We’ve seen a gradual resurgence of interest from home-hunters looking for properties abroad since April, but after the government confirmed there will be easing of travel restrictions to certain countries we saw demand for overseas homes rise even further to record-breaking levels."

“We know that activity on Rightmove Overseas is always an inverse response to the British weather – so traffic dips when we have good weather, and then bounces back when the rain comes – and this was exactly what happened in the final weekend of June. This, coupled with the news about fewer restrictions on overseas travel, saw UK home-hunters flock to our site to look at places they could relocate to or buy a holiday home.”