“The market is looking rosy for housing”

As the Summer Budget announcement moves closer, more and more people are beginning to make their predictions.

David Ingram, Founder of MyLocalMortgage.co.uk has made a number of predictions on what he hoped to see announced when it came to housing and mortgage rates.

“The Market is looking rosy for housing since it was announced recently that construction output had increased for the first time in six months by 3.9%, recovering from the slump in March,” said David.

“Domestic housing construction itself was up by 1.3% and prices have also risen since the Conservative party came to power in May.

“Mortgage borrowing has jumped to a six-year high and while the average deposit is now 4% higher than this time last year, mortgage rates are at their lowest to compensate.”

David felt the first phase of the Help to Buy scheme had seen a lot of success so far with 47,018 properties purchased over the last two years and he hoped to hear George Osborne confirm the Loan Equity part of the scheme would last until 2020.

“The new Help to Buy ISA is due to be launched soon and so clarification around how this will aid first-time buyers would be welcomed,” added David.

“The promise that up to £3,000 will be donated by the government to those who use the scheme is a promise which many feel will have to be seen to be believed, especially as welfare cuts and reduced spending are on top of the agenda.”

David also pointed out the concerns which were voiced regarding the continually low national cash rate as set by the Bank of England.

“Predictions that interest rates will soon have to rise will not be welcomed by those looking to move up the property ladder, especially in the light of rising deposit prices,” added David.

“We would be very interested to hear what Osbourne has to say about the future of mortgage rates on the 7th July, if they are mentioned at all.”

Finally David said he would be interested to hear what the chancellor had to say about the future of construction.

“While the rate of output is rising, the Tory Manifesto proclaimed that, if elected, they would be overseeing the building of 200,000 new starter homes to cater for ‘Generation Rent’, pushing them away from renting and towards ownership,” he said.

“We would love to hear progress on this and whether the increased output from construction is a result of this or of non-housing repair and maintenance work.”