The government announced a £1 billion scheme that would allow mortgage interest payments to be deferred for up to two years by home-owners facing the threat of repossession.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 3 December 2008, column 35, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Downing Street press release | DCLG press release | HMT press release | Shelter press release | Citizens Advice press release | CML press release | FT report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | BBC report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2008-Dec
A report provided an overview of the housing market. It said that the great 'tenure shift' away from renting that had characterized every decade of the twentieth century had probably come to an end. Home-ownership could not expand much more because of affordability issues, and distribution of income and wealth factors. Housebuilding rates were the lowest among the major economies when differences in population size were taken into account. The notorious 'boom-bust' housing market cycle was encouraged by the long-term lack of supply.
Source: Michael Ball, The Modern UK Housing Market: Origins and prospects, National Association of Estate Agents (01926 496800 )
Links: Report | News report | Residential Landlord report
Date: 2008-Nov
The government announced a new protocol for mortgage possession cases, setting out the standards that judges might expect of lenders bringing repossession cases in the courts. Repossessions should be a last resort. Where possible lenders would be expected to try to discuss and agree with borrowers alternatives to repossession. Where a case subsequently came to court, lenders would be expected to be able to tell the court precisely what they had done to comply with the protocol.
Source: Pre-action Protocol for Possession Claims Based on Mortgage or Home Purchase Plan Arrears in Respect of Residential Property, Civil Justice Council (cjc@judiciary.gsi.gov.uk)
Links: Protocol | CJC press release | Hansard | DBERR press release | CML press release | Shelter press release | TUC press release | Inside Housing report | FT report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Oct
The fair trading watchdog said that the sale-and-rent-back sector needed statutory regulation, with better protection for consumers. The government said that it accepted the recommendations in full. (Sale-and-rent-back schemes involve home-owners selling their property to specialist firms at a discount in return for tenancy rights.)
Source: Sale and Rent Back: An OFT market study, Office of Fair Trading (0870 606 0321) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 22 October 2008, columns 9-10WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | OFT press release | Hansard | Shelter press release | CML/Citizens Advice press release | NLA press release | Guardian report | Inside Housing report | Residential Landlord report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report (commissioned by an official advisory body) set out the results of a 'rapid evidence assessment' of the research literature on the purchase and use of second homes. Regional planning authorities needed to acknowledge the impact of second-home ownership on the housing market and factor it into their development of regional spatial strategies – or risk creating a further undersupply of homes in the future.
Source: Michael Oxley, Tim Brown, Ros Lishman and Richard Turkington, Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Research Literature on the Purchase and Use of Second Homes, National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (023 9295 8152)
Links: Report | NHPAU press release
Date: 2008-Oct
Researchers examined the importance of unanticipated house price shocks for marital dissolution, using individual household data from the British Household Panel Survey. Results suggested that positive and negative house price shocks had asymmetric effects on the probability of partnership dissolution. Negative house price shocks significantly increased the risk of partnership dissolution, while positive shocks did not have a significant effect in general. The destabilizing effect of negative house price shocks was particularly pronounced for couples with dependent children, low family income, and high mortgage debt.
Source: Helmut Rainer and Ian Smith, Staying Together for the Sake of the Home? House price shocks and partnership dissolution in the UK, Working Paper 2008-31, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Date: 2008-Sep
The government announced a package to help first-time house buyers and those struggling to pay their mortgage. It said that it was suspending stamp duty for properties worth up to £175,000 – £50,000 more than the existing threshold. It brought forward £400 million of funding to social housing providers, including local councils, in order to deliver 5,500 more homes over the following 18 months. It announced reforms to the system by which people on income support were helped with mortgage interest payments: claimants would receive the relief 13 weeks after making a claim, rather than 39 weeks.
Source: Press release 2 September 2008, Department for Communities and Local Government (020 7944 3000)
Links: DCLG press release | CIH briefing | Shelter press release | Crisis press release | CPAG press release | Citizens Advice press release | CML press release | NHF press release | Housing Corporation press release | LGIU press release | LGA press release | BPF press release | PWC press release | TUC press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | FT report | Community Care report | Inside Housing report | Guardian report | Residential Landlord report
Date: 2008-Sep
A report examined shared ownership and its role in meeting housing demand. Overall demand for shared ownership was very hard to predict: households who could afford shared ownership often had other options open to them. For many council tenants, the right to buy still provided a financially more attractive route into home ownership.
Source: Housing Aspirations and Shared Ownership, Chartered Institute of Housing (024 7685 1700) for Housing Corporation
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Aug
The financial services watchdog examined arrears and repossessions practices by mortgage lenders. It said that some mortgage lenders could do more to consider customers' individual circumstances and offer more options to resolve the arrears position; imposed charges in circumstances that could result in the unfair treatment of customers; and did not exercise sufficient oversight of third parties contracted to carry out mortgage arrears and repossessions handling activities on behalf of lenders. Some lenders (particularly those which offered mortgages to consumers with impaired credit) were not checking income where they should have had reason to doubt the amount declared; and self-certification of income was being used without adequate justification being recorded by the lender.
Source: Press release 5 August 2008, Financial Services Authority (0845 608 2372)
Links: FSA press release | Citizens Advice press release | CML press release | Shelter press release
Date: 2008-Aug
A report examined how the government might respond to housing market recessions in the short term, and what longer-term measures it might take to promote sustainability through the housing market cycle.
Source: Mark Stephens (ed.), Housing Market Recessions and Sustainable Home-ownership, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Date: 2008-Jul
Two linked reports (by an official advisory body) examined trends in housing affordability, and their impact on demand for social and affordable housing.
Source: Affordability Still Matters, National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (023 9295 8152) | Impact of Worsening Affordability on Demand for Social and Affordable Housing: Tenure choice and household formation, Research Findings 2, National Housing and Planning Advice Unit
Links: Report (1) | Report (2) | Literature review
Date: 2008-Jul
The government announced a series of measures designed to help alleviate the effects of the housing market slump and to support the delivery of more homes over the long term. The measures included: a new scheme to support first-time buyers into affordable home-ownership by renting first and buying later; new partnerships between local councils and the private sector, under which councils put surplus land into a 'local housing company' for developments with at least 50 per cent affordable homes; and new proposals to deliver up to 75,000 homes in 20 more towns and cities in areas of high demand.
Source: Facing the Housing Challenge: Action today, innovation for tomorrow, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report | Hansard | DCLG press release | Housing Corporation press release | Shelter press release | CPRE press release | CIH press release | NHF press release | TCPA press release | BPF press release | TUC press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2008-Jul
The conclusions were published of a government-commissioned review of the future of the private shared-equity market. There had been very little development of the market since a taskforce report in December 2006: but there was no major measure that government could take which would radically transform the situation.
Source: The Pomeroy Review of Prospects for Private Sector Shared Equity: Summary of conclusions, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jul
The interim report of a government-commissioned review examined options for reviving the mortgage market, following disruption in international credit markets. It said that the government might have to give a guarantee to underwrite billions of pounds of mortgage market bonds.
Source: James Crosby, Mortgage Finance: Interim Analysis, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: Report | CML press release | BPF press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Inside Housing report | FT report
Date: 2008-Jul
A study found that over 28.3 per cent of young working households were unable to access the very lowest rungs of the property ladder in their local market.
Source: Steve Wilcox, Can't Supply: Can't Buy – The affordability of private housing in Great Britain, Hometrack Data Systems (0845 013 2350)
Links: Report | BPF press release | News report
Date: 2008-Jun
A report outlined progress in implementing Social HomeBuy. It focused on the motivations behind the involvement of participating landlords, and their experience of barriers to the implementation of the scheme both from an organizational and a tenant perspective. Overall Social HomeBuy was viewed in a positive way by those tenants who had taken an active interest in the product. (The pilot Social HomeBuy scheme provided new opportunities for tenants who did not have the 'right to buy', or who could not afford to purchase outright, to buy a share in their rented home.)
Source: Rob Rowlands and Alan Murie, Evaluation of Social HomeBuy Pilot Scheme for Affordable Housing: Final Report, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2008-Jun
A report examined the private residential property market in England and Wales. It said that home information packs were not working, and should be abolished or at least made voluntary.
Source: Carsberg Review of Residential Property: Standards, Regulation, Redress and Competition in the 21st Century, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (020 7695 1535) and others
Links: Report | RICS press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2008-Jun
A think-tank report said that local councils should offer financial support to home-owners threatened by the credit difficulties. Local authorities should adopt mortgage support plans and offer whole or partial mortgages at below market rates, to help prevent repossessions and evictions, support the housing market to prevent remortgage difficulties, and help first-time buyers to buy locally.
Source: Anthony Brand, Good House keeping? Stronger communities through local housing intervention, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: NLGN press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2008-Jun
The government announced new support to help first-time buyers into affordable home-ownership. All first-time buyers with a household income of £60,000 per year or less would have the opportunity to apply to buy a share of a home, under a major expansion of the HomeBuy programme (rather than just 'key workers'). The Housing Corporation would be given powers to allocate up to £200 million of its resources to buy new properties on the open market, either to be made available for first-time buyers to purchase through the HomeBuy scheme or for social rent.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 14 May 2008, columns 58-60WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DCLG press release | CIH press release | TUC press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2008-May
A report said that up to 4 million mortgage people were vulnerable to changes in financial market conditions and their personal financial circumstances. This included: over-indebted and higher-risk consumers who faced 're-rating' by lenders; and borrowers coming off fixed or discounted-rate mortgages.
Source: Mick McAteer, The Perfect Storm, National Consumer Council (020 7730 3469)
Links: Links removed
Date: 2008-May
A study examined residents' views about living in new affordable higher-density housing. The government objective of delivering more affordable homes in mixed communities would only succeed if close attention were paid to their management, how 'affordable' they were for 'low cost home ownership' residents, and the placement of the affordable properties within the scheme. Developments also had to fit correctly within the surrounding neighbourhood and community.
Source: Joanne Bretherton and Nicholas Pleace, Residents' Views of New Forms of High Density Affordable Living, Chartered Institute of Housing (024 7685 1700) for Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2008-Apr
The government announced (in the Budget) that from April 2008 two new equity loans would be available through the government's shared equity scheme, 'Open Market HomeBuy' (OMHB). The loans would allow buyers to shop around for the best mortgage deals and would be simpler to arrange than previous OMHB products. It published a review of housing finance, containing proposals aimed at improving the mortgage-backed securities market as a stable source of mortgage finance.
Source: Budget 2008: Stability and opportunity – building a strong, sustainable future, HC 388, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Housing Finance Review: Analysis and proposals, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: Budget Report | Housing finance review | Hansard | HMT press release | DCLG press release | Housing Corporation press release | CIH press release | NHF press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Letting News report
Date: 2008-Mar
A study of area trials found that 72 per cent of sellers were satisfied with home information packs: but 58 per cent of buyers would have liked the opportunity to see the pack earlier in the process.
Source: Ipsos MORI, Home Information Pack Area Trials: Research report, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report | Hansard | DCLG press release | Friends of the Earth press release | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Mar
A report recommended implementation of a new insurance scheme (based on a partnership between government, lenders, and borrowers) which would cover 10 months of complete mortgage payments, should borrowers face unemployment or sickness, or have an accident.
Source: Mark Stephens, Mike Dailly and Steve Wilcox, Developing Safety Nets for Home-owners, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | JRF press release | CHP press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Mar
