5 years of new build,
Some lenders have gone to the ridiculous criteria of considering all properties under five years old as new build. It just goes to show how small minded these lenders are.
Off-plan property and new build is the lifeblood of an economy and doesn't deserve the treatment it is being given right now by lenders. The government through the FSA could do something, but never have I seen a pack of incompetent idiots running a country, they really seem to lack and leadership or vision of what gets an economy out of recession and an opposition that reminds me of that baby advert on TV, the one with the babies on skates.
Classifying properties of anything up to 5 years as a new build and restricting the lending further places stress on an already desolate marketplace.
Right now they may be sitting smug but when demand returns and the scale of the supply shortage increases, only then the extent of the lag to begin building will be revealed. We'll need new developers, surveyors, brokers and solicitors to come into the market. All of these professions have been cleared out since 2007, so when demand returns the supply will lag and all this will add up to prices beginning to skyrocket in 2013/2014.
Of course as an investor I don't really care, the longer they leave it and the more damage they do, the higher prices will climb… ‘cha-ching!' will be our phone ringtone.
I'm thinking more about the first-time buyers who will be shut out, the parents who have the choice of helping their kids get on the ladder or trying to fund their failed pension.
Don't be caught out, take advantage now just call the team on +44 (0)207 923 6100 or directly on their mobiles. The market has never been better and the shortage never more acute.
Live with passion,
Brett Alegre-Wood