Author: Diane

Lloyds Banking Group is to create a mechanism to help restore the value of thousands of non-performing home loans with Grainger, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord.

This is an interesting development. Are they trying to avoid having to sell at a loss as house prices fall? I suspect so.

Is it a good thing?

It might not be good for the person who is having their house repossessed. What value is being placed on the property if it is being passed to a landlord? Is it a fair market value? Surely the fair market value would be achieved by placing it for sale on the open market as is the way with repossessions normally.
If they don’t sell the asset then how do they assign a value? Is the landlord paying the same amount at the mortgage outstanding? If not then Lloyds (a tax payer part owned bank – Lloyds, a huge % owned by the taxpayer!) is not doing the tax payers any favours.

Will the extra rental properties on the market further help decline rents making it an even worse idea for the banks?
What if the banks’ landlord has to shell out for many repairs and upgrades to the property?
Does it make financial sense still?

I think this whole idea of propping up the housing market is wrong – I understand why they’re doing it – because of Gordon Brown’s messing with the banks and propping them up – the tax payer will have to continue to suffer in many ways because of the continued propping up of property prices.

Presumably this landlord company will be taking hefty fees for managing the properties too – so will Lloyds make any money from this?

I’ve seen photos of horse and cows as photos of properties on rightmove – but they’ve always been tucked away further down the list of photos after you’ve seen the first few of the house.

This one has chickens as the first photo!


I want to make it clear I have nothing against chickens – I think they’re very tasty – but are they really the best photo to sell your house?

Finding a house by leafleting! If there’s a particular road you’d love to live
on but none of the houses are up for sale then why not print a leaflet out and
put it through the doors? It’s important to make sure you put your contact details on so they can get in touch with you! Do the whole street!

Put your name, contact details including mobile and email.
Date it!

For the Attention of the home owner,

I am writing to you with a view to possibly buy your house. I have been looking
to buy in the area as my child attends *local school* but have not seen anything
on the market that I am interested in buying. I am doing this leaflet drop to
try and find the right property this way!

I am currently in a position to move at your convenience. I have a solicitor
and finances in place so I will be able to move quickly.

I am looking for *insert number of bedrooms or type of house here*.
If you feel you would be interested in selling your house to me then I would
be grateful if you could either call me on my mobile or send me an email to
discuss this further. There would of course be no estate agent fees payable
if I bought directly from you.

Thank you for your time to read this.

*sign name*

 

Probably the most frequently asked question about first time buyers and stamp duty is about when only one partner is a first time buyer and the other has owned property in the past.
All purchasers must be first time buyers to get the relief. This is covered in the very last point.

From the official HM Revenue and Customs site here

SDLT relief for first-time buyers

First-time buyers of residential property can apply for SDLT relief
if all of the following apply:

* the effective date is on or after 25 March 2010 and before 25 March 2012
* the consideration given is £250,000 or less
* the buyer intends to live in the property and it will be their only or main
home
* they have not previously owned property or land either in the UK or anywhere
else in the world – including property bought with anyone else

This means that from 25 March 2010 to 24 March 2012 inclusive the threshold
for qualifying first-time buyers of residential property is £250,000.

Financial institutions can claim the SDLT relief for first-time buyers
using alternative finance schemes.

To claim this relief you’ll need to enter relief code 32 in the SDLT return.
When first-time buyer’s relief does not apply

The relief is not available for any of the following:

* non-residential or mixed use property
* leasehold property with a lease of less than 21 years
* SDLT payable on rent for leasehold properties (relief applies only to the
premium)
* properties that are treated as linked transactions for SDLT purpose – unless
it’s to do with the same property, eg a separate lease on a garage
* shared ownership schemes where the payment is made in stages (but the relief
can be claimed if a market value election is made)
* one of the buyers is a first-time buyer but someone buying the property with
them has owned residential property before

Your solicitor is the one to ask for clarifications – they may advise you to keep hold of it for ‘reasonable amount of time.’

What would a reasonable amount of time be? If there is very little room for storing things then I would guess it’s a shorter time than if it’s junk in a corner of an outbuilding.

You could make attempts to contact the person who previously owned the house and give them a deadline for removing items.