Posts Tagged ‘home-owning’

A generation locked out

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

It’s a tough old time this recession, particularly if you’re in your twenties. As graduate unemployment heads towards 20 per cent and school leaver joblessness hits 50 per cent, the future for young people seems pretty bleak.

Do you want somewhere to live? Bad luck, rent’s sky high and energy bills are rising so you might as well forget saving. Yes, the future for young Britons appears to be fairly gloomy with that triple threat of massive debts, dower job prospects and the rising cost of living. So is there any hope?

The answer, believe it or not, is yes. I for one cannot help but admire the stoicism of a generation in which 9 out of 10 still have home-owning aspirations. The recent research conducted by property website New-Homes showed that 89 per cent of 18-34 year olds, who don’t already own a home, wished they did. With the financial climate as it is, the rest of Britain might wonder as to how they haven’t been put off all together but this would be missing the point would it not? Homeownership is ingrained in our national DNA.

It was only last week that a young graduate tweeted @MillerHomesUK the following:

“As a 22 year old graduate starting a new job in two weeks I’ve got no money but would love my own.”

Forgive me for generalising but in light of the survey results it would seem that our tweeter represents a fairly large cohort.

Now, whether it’s a planning debate or a mortgage famine that’s hogging property media headlines, as an industry we should be vocal about it, government responsibility or not. The survey results clearly show there is a demand for new homes but the issue being that those aspiring to become First Time Buyers (FTBs) are locked out of the market. On the whole, it’s high time that the government properly addressed the fact that they abandoned a generation when the markets slumped in September 2008.

For us at Miller Homes it’s always been a simple case of supply and demand. We’re constantly looking for innovative solutions to ease the financial burden that’s on your shoulders when it comes to buying a house and I believe the housing industry has a responsibility to provide purchase incentives and keep affordability and accessibility a priority. Social mobility is essential to 21st century Britain and making sure that potential FTBs get all the support they can is integral to that mobility.

By Sue Warwick, National Marketing and Sales Director

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Avoiding slum nation for the next generation

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

The last few weeks have seen a sudden shift in media attention from house prices to housing shortage.  Hallelujah!

For months now I have been warning that Britain is rushing headfirst into a real housing crisis and, recently, I’ve noticed several others getting more vocal on the issue – not least the Home Builders Federation (HBF).

However, when the subject starts being talked about at Number 10, you know you’re getting somewhere.  Yes – David Cameron told MPs earlier this month: “House building is too low in this country, and as we all know, the typical first-time buyer is now in their mid-30s. So we need change – we need more houses to be built.”

About time too!  For reasons out of our control, the housebuilding industry isn’t able to deliver the number of homes required to house our growing population and unless the Government takes action, they will leave behind them an appalling legacy.

However, the housing crisis is right in front of their nose right now.  According to a major study, the results of which were published a couple of week s ago, housing conditions in Britain are among the worst in Europe and cost the nation about £7bn a year by adding to the pressures on the NHS and other public services.

Almost 4,000 people are now sleeping rough on London’s streets – an increase of eight percent since last year.  The number of families on housing waiting lists in London doubled to 362,000 between 1997 and 2010 – and this accounts for just 20% of the waiting list nationally.

In the capital alone, there is expected to be an increase of between 30,000 and 34,000 households every year for the next 25 years, a large proportion of which will be single-person households.

Dr Stephen Battersby, president of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (which brought the housing groups together for this report) said of its findings; “The lack of a coherent housing policy for the past 30 years has created an expensive housing market with a shortage of affordable housing.”

There is more to the crisis than just that, but there does need to be an action plan put in place – and sooner rather than later.

The blueprint recommendations of the report were to tackle the housing shortage by the provision of 500,000 green and affordable houses and flats over the next seven years, including bringing empty houses back into use – much like what we have done recently with Infusion our development in Moss Side.

In my view, this will be a good start but unless the Government persuades the banks to increase mortgage supply, they will be fighting a losing battle.

I am hoping that Cameron’s comments were more than just rhetoric on this critical issue but only time will tell and time, I am afraid, is not on the PM’s side with this one.

By Sue Warwick, National Sales and Marketing Director

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Cramped Living? Think again!

Friday, September 16th, 2011

If there is one thing nearly all of us wants, it’s a bigger house so it’s of little surprise that when RIBA decided to tell the world this week that new homes were simply too small, they got such wide spread publicity.  What was surprising – to me at least – was their failure to put their findings into any sort of context – and to whip up a media storm with little thought for the consequences.

You see, for the most part, we all want more – but at what price?

Let’s start from the beginning.  According to RIBA a typical three-bed  new home is 8% too small.   Apparently we build “shameful shoe-box homes” and are responsible for “cramped living”.  Sorry, but that is ridiculous.

We build homes that meet local planning policy guidelines. If we submitted a planning application that saw us putting sprawling five bed detached homes in an area where house prices were already out of the reach of many, this would not be popular. In the current climate, getting a mortgage is difficult enough.  The last thing we need to be doing is making it even harder.

What’s more, housebuilders are under pressure from central and local government to make best use of the land available.  Because there is a limited land supply in this country – land given over to residential development is limited.

The third problem with this report is its total failure to mention the mere matter of the housing shortage.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – we are staring down the barrel at the worst housing crisis since WW2.  I would love to pontificate award winning-design over lunch sometime, but for now I have got to crack on and do my bit to get the housebuilding industry moving again.

Consider this: owing to the problems we have faced over recent years, our industry is delivering around 100,000 new homes a year against a predicted requirement of around 250,000.  Already we have more households than homes and this is only going to get worse.

Quite frankly, unless something changes and fast, half of us will be thrilled to have a home at all by 2030 and the fact that it is 8% smaller than we might like won’t even feature on our radar.

My fourth and final comment on this report, is that it doesn’t remotely reflect what people who buy new homes actually think of them.  Year after year, our customer satisfaction scores at Miller Homes climb ever higher – and that is echoed across the industry. In fact, we are fiercely proud of our product and would never sell anything that we ourselves wouldn’t be happy to call home.

We are also doing everything we can to help aspiring home owners (and existing ones too) to achieve their dreams. Our range of purchase incentives is designed to aid home buyers and bridge the affordability gap – and we have helped hundreds of people to move who had given up hope.

In conclusion then – the Home Builders Federation (HBF) recently said of this report, that it was looking at housing statistics in a ‘vacuum’. I think that was putting it kindly – but I agree with the sentiment.

Like I say, we all want more – but at what price?  If it’s making homeownership something just for the rich and making more people homeless – I’m out. And so I expect, are you.

 

By Sue Warwick, National Marketing and Sales Director

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The best time to invest in property since 1964!

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

If you are looking to invest in 2011, you may find yourself scratching your head wondering where you can get a good return on investment these days.

Interest rates offered by the banks on savings accounts are still low.  The stock markets are volatile, especially with the high levels of debt running throughout the Eurozone and the US.  The price of gold has hit a record high but this upward trend may not continue forever, as the price is inflated when compared to other commodities.

So what about investing in property?  Well if you look past the small fluctuations in house prices, there are two current economic factors that are creating substantial returns for property investors.

The first factor is interest rates. As we all know, The Bank of England base rate has now been at an historically low level of 0.5% for two years and four months.  It’s worth noting that it has never been this low before, not in its entire history dating back to 1964!

Secondly, demand for rental property has never been so high.  According to LSL Property Services, the average rental price has risen by 4.1% over the last 12 months and is now at an all time high of £701 per month.

So low interest rate buy-to-let mortgages combined with high rental prices are the reason landlords saw an average yield of 5.2% in June.  Plus it isn’t just in London, rental prices in June in the North East and West Midlands rose by 5.1% and 4.6% respectively.

But what about the long term value of your investment?  Well if you consider the 750,000 homes shortage by 2025 (detailed in our recent blog), then I would expect property prices to increase in years to come.  Investing in a new home will also limit the maintenance costs associated with older properties.

So it sounds like a winning formula.  But remember if you are thinking of becoming a landlord, do your research first and don’t forget the pitfalls that can occur with rented property.

Another attractive investment is our MiFamily deposit scheme.  If you can help a family member with their deposit, you can earn the equivalent of 5% interest over 5 years.  Plus, this is paid as a lump sum once the purchaser has legally completed the buying process.  See www.millerhomes.co.uk/familydeposit.

So as the title suggests, perhaps now is the best time to invest in property since 1964…!

By Andy Moorhead – Marketing Manager, Miller Homes

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At the heart of the home

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

 

Last week, results from our latest Facebook poll answered a much debated topic in the Miller Homes office -what is the favourite room in your house?

It is true that as a nation we love our homes. A man or woman’s home is his or her castle. But even within that castle, we have our favourite rooms.

Our social media community answered this question for us and looking back, the results were not surprising.

As a nation we remain positive about our home-owning dreams. Even during dark economic times, sure and steady optimism coupled with a stiff upper lip characterise our home owning aspirations. But it’s about more than just owning a small piece of Britain, isn’t it? When looking to make a house move the most important decision is often whether it is the right time for you and your family. After all, owning a home is about bringing families together, in a place that is entirely yours and which you can call your own. It’s not surprising then that our favourite room is the one that brings the family together each and every day.

Yes, the kitchen, heart of the home! From the beginning of time, when our homes were caves and mud huts, mealtime brought us together, albeit not in a kitchen but our hairy ancestors did discover fire (I see this as a pre-historic equivalent), and not much has changed since. There is something intrinsically human about coming together at the beginning and the end of our day, sharing with each other and being together.

This was made obvious in the feedback from our poll and across our Facebook and Twitter following. The heart of the home is where the family is. The same goes for some of the other popular choices in the poll, like the lounge.

It is this human characteristic that is behind our valuation of the rooms in our houses, which drives our home-owning aspirations and certainly our firm belief here at Miller Home’s that every family has the right to a place they can call their own.

By Sue Warwick – National Sales & Marketing Director, Miller Homes

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Mortgage tips from the experts

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

We like to think that we can offer some nuggets of help and advice to buyers and today’s blog is no exception. In the current climate, mortgage lending criteria is more stringent than ever, which poses a challenge to those looking to get onto the property ladder. As a result, we have been chatting to some of our independent financial advisers (IFA’s) to find out what types of problems people are facing when applying for mortgages and how they can overcome them. Some very interesting facts came back…

Searching Can Scupper

Using aggregator sites might be a quick and easy way to search when looking for financial products, but did you realize that this service can leave a mark on your credit history?  This is because the site registers that you have gathered separate quotes from different providers.

The best advice is to research products individually by contacting individual companies direct or speak to an IFA to find out which mortgage would suit you best.

Also, searching for quotes for anything from car, life or mobile phone insurance to personal loans and credit cards can leave more than one mark on that all-important credit score. Our advice: Think carefully before using aggregator sites, particularly if you are thinking of applying for a mortgage.

The Ostrich Act Won’t Do

If you know you have had bad debts in the past, look them up, pay them off and get a letter to confirm it from your lender. Burying your head in the sand won’t make your debting demons go away and if you face your money worries head on, it will benefit you in the long run.

The same applies to outstanding bills – delayed payment can lead to refusal on a mortgage product, which will only delay the buying process further.  To avoid any disappointment further down the line, you should always pay your bills on time – perhaps setting up a direct debit to ensure this happens when it should do.

Eager Beaver

Try to keep your last three months pay slips and bank statements as these are crucial when you come to apply for a mortgage.  You will also need two forms of identification on hand as this will help you to get a quick and easy approval.

If you claim benefits, you should check that your approval letters are up to date. This is vital if you need to use your benefits as income within your mortgage application.

To delve even deeper into the mortgage application process, it is important for you to put any additional finance applications on hold until the mortgage funding has been received. Although interest free credit on that new sofa may be a tempting offer, this application has the potential to hinder your outstanding mortgage application.

Honesty is the Best Policy

Be honest if you think you have a problem with your credit score or if you are worried about previous financial faux pas. Tell your financial advisor your concerns from the start so they can use the information to help you.

Remember that if you are declined for a loan, credit card or mortgage, the checking system shows the results of applications you have made and records the information so it will serve you well to bear this in mind when you sit down with your IFA or mortgage advisor.

Ask the Experts

Finally, seek professional advice. Financial advisors can help you understand your credit score and show you how to improve it so if you are having trouble getting a mortgage now, the help that professionals such as these can give will be key in helping you achieve your home buying dreams in the near future.

And, as always, you are more than welcome to come and chat to one of our sales advisers, who are trained to help people purchase the home of their dreams.

By Sue Warwick, national sales and marketing director, Miller Homes

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Are we French kissing goodbye to our home owning dreams?

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

 

We have started the week with more gloomy statistics about new buyers having given up hope of ever owning their own home due to the constraints of deposits and readiness of banks to lend at higher loan-to-value rates.

The Halifax commissioned a study with 8,000 20-45 year olds to gauge their attitudes towards buying and it makes for a gloomy read. The general consensus seems to be that people have given up on the thought of owning their own place.

But are we really happy to become a nation of renters like our neighbours on the continent? Have we really lost that drive to own our own piece of Britain? I think not. The study found that 84 per cent of people believe that first time buyers are being deterred from entering the property market because they think that banks don’t want to lend to them a quiet resignation that should not be allowed to take root.

Is it just me that thinks it’s a more than a little ironic that these stats are coming from the very institution that has the power to reverse the fortunes of first time buyers? I find it despicable that people are being allowed to feel abandoned by the system that has enabled and encouraged people to own their own homes for generations. Perhaps if the Halifax stopped touting negative news and focussed on how best they could help buyers, people wouldn’t feel quite so disenfranchised.

These findings aren’t demonstrating a step-change in cultural attitudes. We help hundreds of first time buyers achieve their house-buying dreams every year. Our incentives, designed specifically for first time buyers, are hugely popular. MiWay, our equity loan scheme and Government scheme HomeBuy Direct have been hugely successful.

We recently launched Family Deposit, a scheme that helps to reward the relatives of first time buyers that have assisted them with deposits for their first home by paying the equivalent of five per cent interest over five years as a lump sum.

The announcement of the coalition government’s new equity loan scheme, FirstBuy, also proves that there is a huge and pressing need to help first time buyers achieve their home owning dreams.

Such stong take-up of these schemes surely proves that people haven’t reverted to the continental view that renting will do, but rather, are looking for new ways to replace the role once played by the UK’s banks. The credit crunch has changed lots of things, but it hasn’t shifted the great British need to own our own home. A Brit’s home is his or her castle and renting simply won’t suffice. Et que la verite.

Sue Warwick, National Sales and Marketing Director, Miller Homes

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The expert strikes back!

Friday, May 13th, 2011

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the property market was comfortable territory for first time buyers.

No, really, the above statement is true. Negative reports on the property market have stolen the spotlight in recent times, but the quest to get that all important first step onto the property ladder was once much simpler.

Now, before you give up hope on ever owning that dream home, take a look at our army of purchase incentives designed to assist first time buyers. Miller Homes is a property expert which has well and truly struck back.  Our aim is to make your home owning dreams become a reality.

Our Jedi powers led us to believe that 2011 was set to be a difficult year for house hunters and it’s fair to say that this was a fairly accurate foresight. We are therefore doing everything in our power to make the process easier and house buying more accessible and affordable. Thanks to our latest campaign, buyers can turn to the light side and have us pay their utility bills for a whole year*.

Against those negative headlines, we will strike back.

May the force be with you!

Sue Warwick, National Sales and Marketing Director, Miller Homes

* On selected plots and developments, terms and conditions apply

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Look after the pennies and the house will look after itself

Friday, April 15th, 2011

It’s Friday!  Better than that, today marks the end of the last full week you’ll work until May.  Surely, nothing can beat the prospect of working just seven days out of the next 16?  Except maybe, just maybe, that feeling you get when you receive the keys to your very first home.

I can remember that moment like it was only yesterday a sense of true independence, financial security and a million decorating ideas (not all as sensible as my fixed first fixed term mortgage if I am honest).

I was part of the lucky generation. We bought our houses young and watched the values rocket.  I have made many mistakes in life, but investing in property has never been one of them. I have a home I love and it’s mine, all mine!

That is why I am passionate about helping First Time Buyers onto the property ladder. And I am lucky enough to work for a company that feels just the same. Together, we do everything we can to help – which is why readers of First Time Buyer Magazine have just voted us Private Developer of the Year for the second year in a row.

It’s also why Fridays are now First Time Fridays for us – the day we give over to helping people looking to buy when everyone else seems to be telling them they can’t.

So, here are my personal top tips for saving for a deposit. In short, look after the pennies and the house will take care of itself.

  1. Clear your debts.  If you can’t clear your debts now, make sure you are paying the lowest possible interest. Shopping around is time well spent.
  2. Plan a budget.  Set a limit for what you spend on food, socialising and clothes – and set a savings target.
  3. Plan for the unexpected.  Most people who plan for a budget don’t include things like car repairs, Christmas, presents and holidays. Have separate accounts for this sort of thing so you can cope with the unexpected and still have a treat once in a while.
  4. Write down everything you spend.  That will help to cut your spending more than anything else!
  5. Take cash shopping not cards.  It feels a lot more real this way.
  6. Get an ISA and earn money on your savings.
  7. Shop around. Don’t just go with your usual gas or electricity supplier and don’t just renew your insurance policies.  Try sites like uswitch and moneysupermarket to save money on life’s essentials.
  8. Look at easy ways to supplement your income like being a mystery shopper with Retail Eyes or being paid to complete online surveys through companies such as Valued Opinions.
  9. Have a clear out and sell things you don’t need on eBay or at car boot sales.  You’ll be surprised how much money you can raise.
  10. Save money in the house turn off appliances left on standby, take showers not baths, don’t use the tumble dryer, install a water meter, don’t leave the tap running whilst you brush your teeth, turn down the thermostat, close the curtains in the winter and only boil the amount of water you need.
  11. Shop wisely, plan meals in advance, don’t buy branded goods, buy in bulk, don’t buy expensive ready meals and always take lunch to work.
  12. Do use supermarket loyalty cards and if using credit cards, try and choose those that reward spending (provided you can pay the debt off each month).
  13. Instead of buying expensive presents for people you can’t afford, give them a gift of your time – and instead of having flippant presents back, ask for money or vouchers.
  14. Finally, ask for help. Every year we help hundreds of First Time Buyers onto the property ladder though a range of schemes including Deposit Match, MiWay and Homebuy Direct. Firstbuy is the next big thing so watch this space…

 

Sue Warwick – National Sales & Marketing Director, Miller Homes

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