Lunchtime news Friday 17 August 2023

Reports from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) shows that young homebuyers owe two-thirds more than tenants in the same age group. Homeowners under 24 owe an average of £20,290 in unsecured debt, compared to £12,113 for renters, with personal loans accounting for more than half the debts. Malcolm Hurlston, chairman of CCCS said there is a danger in young people getting on the housing ladder ‘before they are financially ready’.

Communities and Local Government (CLG) are believed to be on the brink of overturning a local authority policy which encourages increasing use of renewable energy technologies – the so-called ’Merton rule’. Named after the London borough which established it in 2003 it requires any new building to reduce its carbon emmissions by 10 per cent by using renewable energy. The rule has spread to over 150 local authorities around the country. While the Royal Institute of British Architects fully supports local authorities being able to demand ‘higher building standards than those set nationally’, it is believed that CLG has come under pressure from housebuilders who ‘do not want to bear the cost of adding things like solar panels’ to the building they are constructing to make them more green.

In an open letter to the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) called on the Environment Agency to increase spending on flood defences. With the cost of this summer’s rains already approaching 60,000 claims totalling £3 billion, the insurance industry is bracing itself for more bad news as the flood plain is so saturated that even normal rainfall could lead to further flooding. The ABI welcomed the Environment Agency’s announcement last month that flood defence spending would increase to £800 million in 2010/11, but stated that the UK is unique in the EU by covering flood risk through insurance, and not through government. They want Mr Benn to reassess the government’s housing plan, particularly its response of building new developments on flood plains.

A Freedom of Information request and parliamentary questions have lead to the Conservatives and Lib Dems accusing the governement of training council tax inspectors to ‘snoop’ on desirable properties across England in an attempt to revalue millions of homes. A 120 page handbook has been issued to caseworkers by the Valuation Office Agency, where they are asked to compare homes in ‘Quaintown’ and ‘Happyville’ with those in ‘Greytown’ which has worse surroundings, schools, parks, and slower road links. The inspectors have also been advised to measure gardens, look at attic apace and examine architectural plans, while taking into account double glazing on windows, central heating, and the number of bedrooms, all of which could help boost the price of a property. The Government, who have already postponed revaluation of council tax denies the claim.

House prices rose by just 0.6 per cent in the past month in England and Wales, while prices for London homes fell for the first time in a year, after five interest rate rises in the past 12 months and ongoing uncertainty in the US over sub-prime mortgages. The annual housing market inflation rate is still running at 12.6 per cent according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, althought they think this figure may be fuelled by the large number of people remortgaging to better deals in the belief that rates will go higher still. At the same time, the average time it takes to sell a house in August rose to 85 days, up from 80 days a month earlier.