As the property market begins to cool in the face of rising inflation the government releases new plans for extending the Right to Buy. Other UK property news reveals the latest coastal hotspots for affordable – and dry – places to live while some landlords are coming to the rescue of financially hard-pressed tenants.
PM announces new cost of living plan including extension of Right to Buy scheme
iNews on the 9th of June carried reports about a recent speech in which Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged support for more first-time buyers by extending the Right to Buy to housing association tenants (council house tenants are currently eligible to participate in Right to Buy schemes).
The Prime Minister also spoke about increasing the availability of low-deposit mortgages so that low-paid workers could also use any housing benefits included in their Universal Credit receipts to get a first step on the housing ladder.
The twin-pronged housing initiative was announced to a fanfare that it would “unbolt the door to ownership”.
Housing market shows signs of cooling, says Halifax
There are signs that the housing market – recently characterised by runaway price increases – seems to be cooling, according to a report by the BBC on the 8th of June, citing figures compiled by the Halifax building society.
The average price of a home in the UK continued to climb throughout the month of May – taking the annual growth to 10.5% a – prices grew at their slowest rate in four months, although May still marked the eleventh consecutive month of increases.
In its report on the latest figures, the Halifax noted that the number of mortgage applications was beginning to fall as households faced the inflationary pressures of higher costs of living. This has reduced the demand from buyers and re-established a closer balance between supply and demand – so, also reducing the rate at which house prices will grow.
Best coastal towns and cities to relocate to in the UK – from cheapest to driest
The recent pandemic sparked a surge of interest in moving to live beside the seaside – and a story in the Express newspaper on the 7th of June revealed some of the most popular choices, together with those with the driest and sunniest weather.
Ranking the coastal locations according to the affordability of homes there, together with the favourable climate, the Kentish resort of Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey came out on top, with Shanklin on the Isle of Wight running a close second, while a second coastal town in Kent, Minster-on-sea, which is also on the Isle of Sheppey, came in third place overall.
Completing the top 5 coastal hotspots was yet another town in Kent, the port of Dover, and Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey.
Landlords bail out struggling tenants
As inflation begins to take its toll and the cost of living plunges many private sector tenants into the danger of rent arrears, many landlords are coming to the rescue, explained a story in the Daily Mail on the 2nd of June.
A recent survey of more than 700 landlords revealed that more than four in ten of them were helping their cash-strapped tenants by reducing the rent by up to £50 a month.
By coming to the rescue in this fashion, some of those landlords were allowing the rent reduction for as long as the next six months or more.
Despite many landlords leaping to the help of their tenants, 45% of those surveyed admitted that any rent reduction made them suffer financially, although 38% said they would maintain rents at the same level in the coming 12 months despite the difficult financial climate.
55% of those surveyed said that they would have to increase rents in the coming year.
