A company or individual is fraudulently using our name and logo to email people seeking rental properties in the Middle East. The company or individual asks prospective tenants to transfer money via ‘MoneyGram’ to secure a rental property.

THESE EMAILS ARE A SCAM.

The emails have nothing to do with propertyfinder.com. We are taking appropriate action in an attempt to stop the emails.

Propertyfinder.com deals only with estate agents and does not act on behalf of landlords or vendors. We will never ask for money on behalf of a landlord or act as an agent for a property.

Do not send money to anyone representing themselves as being from propertyfinder.com and acting on behalf of a landlord or vendor or as agent for a property.

IF YOU ARE IN ANY WAY SUSPICIOUS OF FRAUD PLEASE CONTACT KYRENIA GROSS ON +44 (0)844 502 1000.

Up to 900,000 homeowners are facing negative equity as plummeting house prices take their toll on the UK property

Read the full story.

The move is part of a £200 million scheme that, the government claims, will ensure that repossession is always a last resort for householders in financial trouble.

Households with incomes under £60,000 a year and which contain vulnerable individuals including those with children and the elderly or disabled, will be eligible for help from the scheme.

Homeowners facing repossession can either sell a share of their home to a housing association, enabling their monthly mortgage payments to be significantly reduced, or they can sell the entire property to a housing association and remain in the property as tenants – and pay a subsidised rent.

The government says that the scheme will help up to 6,000 households avoid repossession over the next two years, and has been expanded after being trialled by 80 fast-track councils in December.

Also, anyone facing repossession now needs to only wait 13 weeks instead of 39 weeks after losing their job before receiving financial help from the government, and a Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme is also to be introduced in partnership with lenders to enable borrowers to defer part of their mortgage payments for up to two years after being made redundant.

“We know that some families are worried about their mortgage payments right now, and we are determined to do everything possible to ensure repossession is always a last resort,�? says housing minister Margaret Beckett. “Whatever the situation, the clear message for households struggling with their payments is to speak to their lender as soon as possible.�?

For a full list of fast track councils offering the mortgage rescue plan visit www.communities.gov.uk/housing/buyingselling/mortgagerescuemeasures/

The move is unprecedented in the Land Regsitry's history as it has rarely given advice on property investments such as land banking schemes - but after nearly a decade of the schemes running, it has decided to act.

Most land banking companies offer small plots of land for sale within fields that they say are soon to be granted planning permission when usually, the Land Registry says, the likelihood of permission being given to build on the land is almost zero.

The first sign that a land banking company is up and running on a field comes when paint or poles are used to identify the ‘plots’.

These strips of land are offered for sale, often online, and sometimes with the claim that there will be huge returns when planning permission is obtained for housing or other development – all for just a couple of thousand pounds.

But the land is usually in areas near or within green belts protected from development by planning law, and those offering the schemes often boost their credibility by claiming that major banks and developers back their schemes, when in reality this is ‘not the case’, the Land Registry says.

“In some extreme cases forged Land Registry letters have been produced to suggest that there is official Land Registry planning approval,�? says Mike Westcott Rudd, head of corporate legal affairs at the Land Registry. “However, we play no part in the planning process.�?

A hundred women were interviewed at regular intervals between the ages of 18 and 61 as they passed through marriage, child-rearing and finally empty-nester life stages, and many of them reported that they were more happily married after their children left home.

Spending more quality time with their spouses was said to be the main reason for their increased marital bliss – as the benefits of fewer parenting responsibilities and less stress kicked in.

And while being interviewed by researchers from the University of California, the empty-nesters were keen to show their relief: “Twenty years ago, we were in the battle of the children – today, we can enjoy one another for who we are,�? one woman said. “Once the kids grow up some of that stress – and responsibility – is removed so things are a little more relaxed.�?

Researcher Sarah Gorchoff, who headed up the study, told The Times newspaper: “There is this idea that women are bereft when the children leave, but our data suggest that in fact they are happier�?. She also added that “the take-home message for couples with young children is ‘hang in there’.

Her team’s research also revealed how the women, who were all born in the 1930s, faired in life and love – 84 per cent of them married before age 25 and 30 per cent divorced by age 45 which, Gorchoff says, is typical of their generation.

Now that conditions have changed dramatically, lettings departments are still presiding over a record number of renewals. This time around, however, everyone involved in the process is increasingly sensitive to increased outgoings. Tenants may be deciding whether or not to downsize as landlords are struggling to make their numbers come right with the higher cost of finance.

That being said, tenants realise that rents have moved on to a higher level generally and that relocating themselves, their families and belongings has its own significant costs. In turn, landlords are reluctant to incur void periods. Furthermore, a good landlord appreciates and respects a good tenant and is usually willing to accommodate them as much as is reasonable.

By way of a fair resolution, we are negotiating an upward adjustment for inflation in line with RPI. This figure (4.2% at time of going to press) is readily available from the Office of National Statistics as well as Lonres, the trade website. As agents, we also benefit from having an objective standard to assist us in carrying out our responsibility to our clients, as well as our duty of care to our customers.

Tessa Lang
Lettings Manager
Des Res Ltd.

Property expert Nicholas Leeming provides an overview of the terms...

What is leasehold?
Leasehold title gives you the right to occupy property for the period of the lease only after which it reverts to the freeholder. The leaseholder owns everything within the walls while the freeholder owns structure and the land which it is built on. The length of the lease has a direct impact on the value of the property.

What is a lease?
A lease entitles a tenant to occupy a property in return for paying a rent, subject to any conditions contained in the lease. A legally binding document stating the terms and conditions under which the property is occupied and used.

What is commonhold?
This form of ownership was introduced in September 1994 and applies to interdependent properties so allowing flats to be held on a freehold basis.

What is a Rent Act tenancy?
These are older leases which fall under the jurisdiction of the Rent Acts and which may, among other things, limit the amount by which rents can be increased at any one time.

What is an Assured Shorthold tenancy?
These are more modern forms of leases which most properties are now let under and are for a minimum term of 6 months.

What is Leasehold Enfranchisement?
This is the process by which a qualifying leaseholder may acquire the freehold for their property for a market value

Property expert Nicholas Leeming gives his advice:

There is a large stock of property for sale and, as the months progress, there will be more vendors prepared to discount their guide prices. This cycle in the market brings opportunities for buyers who understand that the long term fundamentals of property ownership remain positive, even if short term comment in the press is negative.

So what should you do if you want to buy a home and make the most of this opportunity?

First of all get your own property (if you have one) valued and be realistic about the net proceeds that this will realise. It is a brave person in any market who commits to buy without having agreed the sale of their own property first, so look at renting as an interim solution. Then do your research on what funding options may be available to you. If you need a mortgage then spend time in looking at what offers are out there....but it is not just the rates that you should check, it is the terms such as the deposit and income cover which can be just as important. With satisfaction on this front you should be ready to start your search.

Needless to say the internet is one of the most efficient ways of finding property and is the best research tool.

When looking at property think carefully about how the building society or bank will look at it for security purposes and will an independent valuer confirm the level that you are proposing to bid. Also will the lender require additional work to be done to the property which may be expensive to carry out. Without a mortgage offer being confirmed you may not get very far with your purchase and you may land up with some hefty abortive costs!

The general advice to property buyers in the light of the current credit crunch is to do you homework in advance and be sure that you do not expose yourself to unnecessary financial risk. There are opportunities in the current market as well as challenges....make sure that you make the most of it!

Stamp duty is the oldest tax administered by the Inland Revenue and was introduced in 1694 to pay for the war against France. The tax was extended to property sales in 1808 and its sole purpose now is to generate revenues for the government.

How much is stamp duty?

Stamp duty used to be levied at 1% on the sale price of a property above a basic threshold. In July 1997 Gordon Brown increased the tax to 1.5% on properties between £250,000 and £500,000. There have been a number of subsequent changes and the current rates are shown below:

Purchase price of residential property    Rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax (% of the total purchase price)

 £0 - £125,000                                           0%

£125,001 - £250,000                                 1%

£250,001 - £500,000                                 3%

£500,001 or more                                      4%

What is the result of the tax?

The tax take for HMRC in 2007/8 will be around £6,863m with an average bill for each property sold of £4,950 this tax year. The comparable figure 10 years ago was £709 representing an increase of nearly 600%. In London the affect is even worse with average stamp duty paid on a property reaching £12,409. Three London boroughs alone paid more stamp duty last year than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined! Today’s first time buyers will pay around £20,000 in stamp duty over their lifetime.

Is it possible to reduce or avoid stamp duty?

The most common way of avoiding stamp duty was to attribute a high percentage of the agreed sale price to the fixtures and fittings so as to reduce the value of the property to below the threshold for stamp duty. While this could create worthwhile savings, this practice has now been stopped and there are now no effective ways of avoiding the tax.

In the long term, the role of buy-to-let in the UK housing market is likely to get bigger rather than smaller. We estimate that around 3.1 million of today’s over 30s who had expected to retire in their own homes will actually live out their golden years in rented accommodation due to affordability constraints. Most of these people will find homes in the private rented sector.’

Where HIPs are concerned, the only thing the government has been consistent on is indecision. The main impact on the market has been from dithering over implementation, rather than the actual legislation. Now that HIPs are compulsory for almost all properties, they are just an expensive, unavoidable inconvenience – much like death and taxes.

The legislation was initially intended to speed up the process of buying and selling a home by making vital information on a property available to buyers upfront. This would prevent people pulling out of purchases further down the line. But after several U-turns, the government burdened the market with a diluted HIP that does not provide the information a buyer needs. Without a structural survey, a buyer and their mortgage lender don’t have the information to guarantee they can proceed with buying the property.

Agent Response

Agents tell me HIPs have done nothing to speed up transactions for this reason – there’s nothing in them of use. Buyers aren’t even looking at them and don’t ask to see them. Solicitors often refuse to rely on the information they contain.

EPCs

Supporters (mostly those with a vested interest) make a lot of positive noise about EPCs. But buying a home is an emotive process and the energy efficiency of the property will not influence the decision of the vast majority of buyers. HIPs have become about complying with an EU directive on reducing carbon emissions, not about helping buyers and sellers of property.

New Build Properties

Which is precisely why this pointless legislation is being extended to recent new build properties. New properties are built to the latest building regulatory standards. A HIP won’t tell buyers anything new but with guaranteed high standards of energy efficiency, dragging them under the legislative net will undoubtedly boost the government’s energy efficiency statistics. So the government can furnish their green credentials at the expense of others. The only other outcome of extending the reach of HIPs will be to create work to placate the HIP providers who suffered from the earlier indecision and are now struggling in a slower housing market.

Nicholas Leeming, major client director of propertyfinder.com comments:

Worryingly, there are reports emerging that a growing number of people are thinking of selling their home and moving into rented accommodation until property prices fall.

It’s a dangerous game to say the least. Speculating on the property market with your own home is definitely not for the faint-hearted. The average London property has to fall over 7% in value before you even break even once you take into account all the costs of selling, moving and then buying again; stamp duty is the biggest cost.

For people in more expensive homes, the market has to fall further still – over 8%. So you need the market to drop a very long way before this starts to look like an attractive prospect. And you have to consider how much the hassle and upheaval is worth to you.

The London rental market is certainly very busy at the moment. Tenant demand is strong and rents are rising rapidly. There is a lot of competition from tenants for the nicest homes, so those selling up to move into a rented home will have to fight for the best property. Good rented accommodation for a family in a decent school catchment area is like gold dust.