Housing Solicitors

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has recorded another rise in the number of mortgages being approved in March this year.

In March, gross mortgage lending was £15.4billion, an increase of 4% on February mortgage lending figures, and up by 33% on the same period in 2013.

The first-quarter figures were also 37% higher than in the first quarter of 2013.

However, figures for the first quarter of 2014 showed a decrease in gross mortgage lending compared with the final quarter of 2013. The CML attributed this to a traditional lull in house buying in the New Year.

The government second phase of Help to Buy launched in October 2013 and critics claim it has helped to fuel house prices, as well as sales of newbuild homes.

The majority of mortgages recorded by the CML were also recorded in London and the southeast- in the last year, property prices in London have risen by nearly 18% with the average house price in London now £458,000.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that last year the average London home “earned” nearly double the average London worker, with the average home in the capital increasing by £63,000 gross, compared with the average London worker’s annual gross salary of £32,500.

The increase in London house prices is the largest since July 2007, before the credit crunch began.

However, the competition to find affordable homes continues, with property prices rising by an average of 9.1% across England in the last year, the largest average increase for four years.

The ONS says that house prices remain “increasingly strong” across most areas of the UK. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has also said that it expects house prices to continue to rise by 6% annually for the next five years.

Homeless charity Shelter has said that the new figures from the ONS show that house prices are out of control. Chief executive of Shelter, Campbell Robb, said:

“The figures are yet more evidence that house prices are spiralling out of control. Apart from the lucky few who can rely on the bank of Mum and Dad, our runaway housing market is forcing a generation to watch a home of their own become an increasingly distant dream, no matter how hard they work or save.”

Chief economist for the CML, Bob Pannell, said:

“The underlying ? seasonally adjusted ? picture continues to depict the strongest and most sustained activity levels for more than five years.”

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors

Duncan Lewis housing solicitors can advise on housing law, including:

? Debt
? Disrepair of rental property
? Housing benefit
? Housing possession
? Local Authority housing
? Landlord & Tenant disputes
? Mortgage repossession
? Unlawful eviction.

For expert help with housing law contact Duncan Lewis solicitors on 020 7923 4020.