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Housing Solicitors

“Renters’ Manifesto” launched to help those unable to afford to buy (19 June 2014)

Date: 19/06/2014
Duncan Lewis, Housing Solicitors, “Renters’ Manifesto” launched to help those unable to afford to buy

Campaign group Generation Rent has launched a manifesto calling for more help for the thousands of young Londoners unable to afford their own homes.

The group says that many young Londoners are paying such high rents in the capital that they are unable to save enough for a deposit on a home of their own.

Generation Rent is calling for the government to set aside £1 billion of taxpayers’ money to build affordable homes on state-owned land in London, with the homes being sold to buyers at near cost price. Homeowners would sign away their rights to make a profit when the property is sold – and any profits would be ploughed back into building more homes.

Property prices in London have escalated at almost twice the rate of other areas in Britain – last year, property in London rose by an average of 18%, compared with a national average of 9.1%.

Online estate agent Rightmove has said that some areas of London are seeing a dip in house prices, as buyers refuse to be panicked into paying exaggerated prices for homes.

The London boroughs of Barnet and Kingston both saw a 3.7% dip in property prices in June, while the average price of homes in Haringey in north London fell by 4.8%.

Across London, house prices fell by an average of 0.5% in June.

However, Generation Rent’s “Renters’ Manifesto” seeks to redress what it sees as an imbalance in the property sector in London, with existing homeowners in the buy-to-let property sector capitalising on their investment to the extent that renters are unable to buy a home of their own.

The manifesto was launched on Wednesday (18/06/14) evening and director of Generation Rent, Alex Hilton, said:

“Prices have risen so far, people living and working here have given up on ever buying a home.

“Most people want to buy somewhere to live, not something they can flip for a profit.”

New research also shows that traditionally “poor” areas of London such as the East End have now become property hotspots as a result of developing infrastructure and Tech City, which has grown up round Old Street.

Online estate agent Move With Us Rental says that areas like Hackney and Tower Hamlets are becoming more popular with younger renters than traditionally more desirable areas in central London.

Old Street in east London has undergone a transformation in the last 10 years to become home to the burgeoning tech sector in London, and house prices in areas where artists’ communities have settled – such as Hoxton and Spitalfields – are now competing with previously gentrified areas like Islington.

In Hackney, the average rent is now £2,125 a month, according to figures from Move With Us Rental.

In Wandsworth in southwest London, average monthly rents have soared to £2,105.

The government’s Help to Buy scheme has enabled some first-time buyers to get on the property ladder by allowing buyers to buy properties up to a value of £600,000 with deposits of just 5%.

However, Bank of England governor Mark Carney recently warned that interest rates would have to rise – and lenders have already started to introduce tougher criteria for borrowers, to make sure they will be able to meet their monthly mortgage payments when interest rates rise.

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of housing law solicitors and can advise homeowners on housing matters such as debt and mortgage repossession.

Duncan Lewis can also advise renters on housing possession and Local Authority Housing, as well as:

• Disrepair of rental property
• Housing benefit
• Landlord & Tenant disputes
• Unlawful eviction.

For expert legal advice on housing matters, contact Duncan Lewis housing solicitors on 020 7923 4020.


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