The majority of mortgages in the UK are in joint names, but it seems that old small print clauses from years gone by have not been removed. The clauses refer to the liability for payment of outstanding debts if a share of the property is used as collateral for a loan. The problem comes whereby the other party to the mortgage is unaware of the loan against the property.
It has emerged that the debacle which is Home Information Packs (HIPs) may have had more of an impact upon the housing market than first thought. Data from the last two months has shown an unexplained rise in the number of homes for sale, against historic trends and totally unexpected. Did the HIPs situation play a part?
While there has been little mention of repossessions in the housing market of late, that may well be about to change over the coming months. The repossession and fire sale of homes has long been a last resort for the majority of lending agents, but they may not be so shy in coming forward when the top of the property market is confirmed. If they are able to sell a property at the top of the market, they will receive more than enough to cover outstanding payments, and possibly leave some funds to be passed back to the original home owner.
After months and months of successive increases in house prices, it seems that many of the UK’s mainstream mortgage lenders are finally taking stock of what could be a potentially dangerous stage of the economic cycle. Mortgage approval figures for April fell to the lowest level for 12 months with many market observers sensing a sea change in the attitude of lenders.
For many years we have seen consumers place great trust in the so called “Best Buy†tables in many of the financial magazines. While they do offer a summary of the best offers available at the time, many in the industry have great reservations. Do all companies have the same access to these lists? Maybe not….
Insiders in the industry claim that :-
In an alarming U-turn, the UK Government have been forced to “delay†the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs) although they have also relaxed the requirements - paving the way for a total withdrawal in due course?
Originally due to be introduced in England and Wales on the 1 June, the packs will now be available from the 1 August, but there is only a requirement to show a pack has been initiated, not produced, prior to marketing any property. Under new rules, many smaller properties will not require a HIPs at all, although the details have yet to be clarified by the Government.
