Business as Usual

Nick Churton of our London 'Mayfair Office' takes a look at the 2014 Budget and considers how it may affect the property market.

Blame or applaud whomever you like for the surge in the property market across most of the UK - but a surge is what we have. 

Whether it is foreign investors in London, the government's help-to-buy scheme or greater confidence following month after month of lower unemployment and higher growth, the property market is following its familiar path of post-bust recovery with the ripples radiating from London. 

Of course there are those who still manage to blame estate agents for rising prices - but even these people must concede by now that greater forces are at work than just the aim of estate agents to get the best for their clients.

The 2014 Budget did nothing to derail this recovery but did little to accelerate it either. The new homes sector will receive support for building more than 200,000 homes. The help-to-buy scheme extended now to 2020 indicates that both Treasury and the Bank of England have little fear of this measure helping to cause a housing bubble. 

Nor will a new 15,000 home garden city at Ebbsfleet do much to alter the housing picture overall - however exciting the first of these cities in 100 years may be. Some people may rue the closing of the loophole that made it advantageous to buy property over £500,000 through a company. These properties will now be liable for 15 per cent stamp duty. 

Finally, those that face the uncertainty of flooding may take a little consolation from the extra £140m for flood defence repairs made in this Budget - although that figure might not seem very much when weighed against such an intractable foe.

So the Budget will be pored over by many more than just those in the property industry this time round. Property has been left to find its own way and by-and-large that is how it usually is.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

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First Love

Nick Churton of our  London Mayfair Office looks at one of the challenges of buying property in this buoyant market.

The big challenge with this property market is that there is less time to make a decision to buy. The fewer properties on the market the more pressure there is for buyers to make a choice quickly. Figures show that in London alone there are sixty buyers for every property for sale.

So gone are the days of casually inspecting property after property over a number of months and then taking weeks to make up your mind. In this market blink and you will miss the good ones.

The trick in this market is to know what you want and be in a position to move rapidly having a mortgage offer in principle and any property you need to sell sold or at least under offer. But how do you know at which point to make a choice? The curse of the home buyer is when the first property seen ticks all the boxes but there is the temptation to pass in the hope that something better turns up. Very often it doesn't and all that will remain is regret.

The thing about choosing a property is that because all our individual needs are unique to us alone, no property will be faultless, a ten out of ten, and few will be a nine. So seven or eight out of ten is all most can expect at best. That is why so many buyers go on to improve, extend and alter. If you demand the ten out of ten property from the start you are in for a long wait.

So the knack in this market is to recognise what you want in the things you can't change - location, garden size, etc - and be flexible with the things you might be able to change such as appearance, kitchens, bathrooms, and even overall size by extension. It is possible to turn a seven out of ten into a nine out of ten to suit your particular needs.

As anyone who has missed a great chance through holding out for a perfect ten will tell you, it is better to be pragmatic and flexible. In this market decisive and quick action is required to avoid disappointment after disappointment.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com