Newmarket and Ely Living Dec 2019 - Jan 2020

GUIDE
CHARTERED SURVEY
Unless the property you are buying is less
than 10 years old, it really does make good
sense to have a survey. Most surveyors
offer a choice between a RICS Homebuyer
Report or a Building Survey. Send over
the property details you have and they
will help you decide on the best survey for
peace of mind. Once again, it does pay to
enquire with a few different firms to keep
prices competitive and to find the right
surveyor for the type of property you buy.
Surveying Tip - If you are buying a
flat, it can be difficult to know whether
you need to have a full building survey
(formerly called a structural survey). If
you are buying a flat in a listed or older
building, talk to your surveyor about
whether they can offer a special package
for you.
SELLING
Over the past few years, the property
landscape really has become a seller’s
market. With a high demand for property,
estate agents are having to be creative
in the way they compete for instructions.
This is great news if you are selling, as
you can ask them to be competitive in the
rates they offer.
Surveying Tips - It is likely that you
will need to provide certificates or
documentation of any major work you
have had done on your home in the last
10 years, primarily electrics. De-clutter
before the estate agent comes to take
photos. Your home needs to be a blank
canvas, so the potential buyer can imagine
their possessions there, without yours
dominating their vision.
MOVING
So, you’ve accumulated a lot of stuff eh?
Here are our top tips to make moving easier:
• Start packing the areas of your
home that you use the least. Pack
essentials last.
• At least 8 weeks before the date,
notify change of address for any
subscriptions.
• Pack early if you are using the
services of a moving company. Also
be sure to label clearly and keep
heavy boxes double taped.
• Recycle anything you don’t love
anymore. Start this process early,
using a skip for unsellable items and
send other bits to the charity shop.
Removals companies sometimes
charge by volume, so reducing the
amount you take with you cuts costs.
Help to Buy?
The Help to Buy scheme offers an equity
loan where the government lends firsttime
buyers and existing homeowners
money to buy a newly-built home.
The purchase price must be no more
than £600,000. Under this scheme, you
can borrow 20% of the purchase price
interest-free for the first five years as
long as you have at least a 5% deposit.
If you live in London, you can borrow up
to 40% of the purchase price.
The Government has confirmed it will
extend its Help to Buy equity loan
scheme from 2021 to 2023. However, this
extension will be restricted to first-time
buyers purchasing newly built homes.
From 2021, there will also be new
regional price caps which could reduce
the maximum value of homes that can be
bought through the Equity Loan Scheme.
Help to Buy: Equity loans
How they work
• You need at least 5% of the sale
price of your new-build flat or
house as a deposit.
• The government lends you up to
20%, or 40% if you live in London,
of the sale price.
• You borrow the rest (up to 75%, or
55% if you live in London) from a
mortgage lender, on a repayment
basis.
• The equity loan must be repaid
after 25 years, or earlier if you sell
your home.
• You must repay the same
percentage of the proceeds of the
sale as the initial equity loan (i.e.
if you received an equity loan for
20% of the purchase price of your
home, you must repay 20% of the
proceeds of the future sale).
• You don’t pay any interest or fees
on the government’s equity loan for
the first five years. In the sixth year,
you’ll be charged 1.75%.
• After then, the fee rises by inflation
based on the Retail Prices Index
(RPI) plus 1% each year.
• RPI figures are put together by the
Office for National Statistics.
Help to Buy: Shared
Ownership
If you can’t quite afford the mortgage on
100% of a home, Help to Buy: Shared
Ownership offers you the chance to buy
a share of your home (between 25% and
75% of the home’s value) and pay rent
on the remaining share. Later on, you
could buy bigger shares when you can
afford to.
You could buy a home through Help to
Buy: Shared Ownership in England if:
• Your household earns £80,000 a
year or less outside London, or
your household earns £90,000 a
year or less in London
• You are a first-time buyer, you used
to own a home but can’t afford
to buy one now or are an existing
shared owner looking to move.
With Help to Buy: Shared Ownership you
can buy a newly built home or an existing
one through resale programmes from
housing associations. You’ll need to take
out a mortgage to pay for your share of
the home’s purchase price, or fund this
through your savings. Shared Ownership
properties are always leasehold.
You can get help from another home
ownership scheme called Older People’s
Shared Ownership if you’re aged 55 or
over. It works in the same way as the
general Shared Ownership scheme, but
you can only buy up to 75% of your
home. Once you own 75% you won’t
have to pay rent on the remaining share.
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