Merry Christmas
December 24th, 2009
Happy Homes would like to wish all it’s investors a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Happy investing!
The End of the Stamp Duty Holiday
November 24th, 2009
The Daily Telegraph recently carried an article in which it stated that a coalition of 7 property groups, led by the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents were calling on the government to reform stamp duty as they claim it is distorting the housing market.
This follows the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) report that stated the end of the stamp duty exemption on properties costing up to £175,000 could have a detrimental effect on the recovery in areas that were lagging behind the rest of the country. Surveyors in the West Midlands, the East Midlands, Wales and Scotland are expecting a drop in activity when the 1% threshold reverts back to properties sold over £125,000. The slump in sales will be mainly in the first time buyer market, which will have a favourable impact on the buy-to-let market as the young upwardly mobile now choose to rent rather than find a large deposit and stamp duty.
Surveyors in London and the South East have said the end of the stamp duty holiday will not impact on the market as the average house price in those areas are well above the £175,000 threshold, and in the North of England, where the average house price is £116,051 were also less concerned about the impact of the concession would have on activity.
Last week the Council of Mortgage Lenders calculated that 132,500 house purchases, funded with a mortgage had escaped stamp duty in the past year.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS. Has been quoted as saying “ At the time of its introduction, we did question how great an impact this policy would have and judging by the fact that only surveyors in certain parts of the country are particularly concerned about the ending of the holiday, it could be said that some areas of the UK hardly even noticed the change, however the additional transaction cost is still a worry to many, particularly first time buyers, and it is a threat to the market in areas of the country that are still seeing a weak price environment”.
Happy investing.
HHI Launches New Website
November 13th, 2009
Both Brett and I are delighted to welcome you to our brand new website. We’ve helped a large number of people to successfully build their own property portfolio. However, we want to help you do the same.
We know that if you’re the type of person who wants to see a much better return on investment, without all the time and stress that comes with investing in property, that you couldn’t make a better decision than coming on board with HHI.
We knew this before we created the site, but we needed to think of a way to prove it to you. We then decided that the best way to do this was to be as transparent as possible. After all, we have nothing to hide and we are very proud of the service that we provide.
This is when we decided to create the viewing tour so you could see exactly what we are all about and how we can help you. No other property investment company ( that we could find or know of ) has gone to such lengths to make sure you don’t miss out on building your property portfolio at the right time.
That time is now. If you have any questions ( no matter how big or small ), please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I will be happy to personally answer any questions that you may have at a time that is convenient for you.
To your success