Paul Smee
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Latest property news
Repossessions hit the highest number since 2014
The latest official data show that mortgage lenders’ claims for home repossession in England and Wales rose to the highest since late 2014 during the three months to June, this year.
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Latest property news
HM Treasury backs three rental fintech firms with £1.4 million
HM Treasury has today revealed the three fintech services it’s decided to back with £1.4 million to develop their platforms and ultimately help more tenants build up their credit scores and get on to the property ladder. The cash is the final phase of an initiative called the Rent Recognition Challenge, which was in part a political reaction to a e-petition that gathered over 140,000 signatures and called for rental payments to be included in tenants’ credit histories. This e-petition was debated in parliament and soon afterwards HM Treasury announced its ‘challenge’ which has spent a total of £2 million helping fund the growth of six fintech firms. Three of these including the UK’s largest rent recognition platform CreditLadder plus Bud and Rental Step, are the finalists in the challenge. CreditLadder is believed to have received the largest cheque, for £500,000. Scrutiny Today’s announcement follows scrutiny of each firm’s presentations by a panel of leading figures from the Fintech sector including Al Lukies of Motive Partners; Charlotte Crosswell, CEO of Innovate Finance and Paul Smee, Former Director of Mortgages, UK Finance. “Our service was the first in the UK to enable tenants to have their rent recognised by a leading…
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Movers & Shakers
RLA welcomes new Director
THE Residential Landlords Association (RLA) is delighted to welcome on board a new Director, former Director General of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Paul Smee.
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Latest property news
First time buyers are back in the market
First time buyers are back with a vengeance borrowing £5.9 billion in June, up 26% on June and 9% on the same month in 2016, the Council of Mortgage Lenders latest figures show. The increase is on the back of first time buyers taking out 36,000 loans in June, 22% more than the month before. The increase is more than a blip. Figures from the CML, which is soon to be renamed UK Finance, show that during the second quarter of this year first time buyer borrowing increased by 18% taking out 91,400 loans. “June’s figures show a busy month in the mortgage market, with home movers having their highest monthly activity levels for over a year and an especially high number of loans for first time buyers,” says Paul Smee, Head of Mortgages at UK Finance (pictured, left). “But there are also signs of a softening market and we are not anticipating that this performance will be sustained in the second half of 2017.” Home buyer borrowing also jumped during July, increasing by 26% month-on-month and 15% year-on-year although buy-to-let borrowing remains subdued, but still rising, by 3% both by month and year comparisons. The CML data also reveals that…
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Latest property news
Government property market track record is “disaster” says agency chief
One of the UK’s leading estate agency CEOs has launched a blistering attack on the government’s handling of the property market since it was elected in June. Haart CEO Paul Smith reckons the number of landlords registering with its branches to buy property is down by almost a third as fewer landlords invest in property. He says that “this could have serious long-term consequences for the rental market and lead to higher rents, putting those who are trying to save for a deposit in an even more difficult position”. His comments follow the most recent overall data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) which reveals that , although mortgage lending rose in May by 10% year-on-year, the figures “flatter to deceive” says Paul Smee, Head of Mortgages at CML parent organisation UK Finance (pictured, left). “The seasonally-adjusted data shows a less buoyant lending picture, with home buying activity remaining relatively unchanged month-on-month and remortgage lending gradually decreasing each month since January,” he says. Disaster Haart’s Paul Smith (pictured, below) says he also thinks Prime Minister Theresa May’s legacy on home ownership has so far been “a disaster” and that ‘just about managing’ families are further away from owning their…
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Latest property news
Home repossessions at 35 year low
Home repossessions by banks dropped by almost 25% last year the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has revealed. During 2016 some 7,700 homes home were taken back by banks, down from 10,200 in 2015, the lowest number since 1982. The CML also says that mortgage arrears were down last year by 7% and that it is part of a long-term trend (see graph). Repossessions peaked in early 2009 following the financial crisis at approximately 50,000 a year then began a prolonged year-on-year decline as the economy recovered, with some of the largest reductions over the past two years. “It is encouraging to see another improvement in arrears and possessions during a year in which borrowers were clearly helped by the downward trend in mortgage rates,” says Paul Smee (pictured, left), director general of the CML. “But customers do need to be ready for a time when the outlook may not be so benign, with pressure on real incomes increasing and as interest rates begin to move upwards again. “Lenders remain committed to helping borrowers work through any period of temporary payment difficulty and remain in their home wherever possible.” The number of buy-to-let mortgage arrears during 2016 also fell, by 11% compared to the year before,…
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Latest property news
CML predicts fewer buy-to-let property purchases in 2017
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) says the number of houses bought by landlords next year is likely to fall as several headwinds reduce demand for buy-to-let property. This includes the recently-introduced additional 3% Stamp Duty for buy-to-let purchases, the Prudential Regulation Authority’s buy-to-let lending stress tests starting on January 1st, and the new and less generous tax allowances for landlords, which kick off in April next year. Consequently, CML director general Paul Smee (pictured, below) says that although the overall mortgage market is resilient and will ‘plateau’ during 2017, buy-to-let lending is to likely to decline. The CML predicts that total lending for all types of mortgages in 2017 will be £248 million, approximately the same as 2016, before increasing in 2018 to £252 billion. But lending for new buy-to-let purchases is to decline in both 2017 and 2018, it says. “We expect any modest strengthening in home-owner lending to be rather offset by a less active house purchase market in buy-to-let, as both tax and regulatory changes bite on landlords,” says Paul. But lending is not the only dial on the buy-to-let market to be going down. Lender Landbay says average UK rental growth during 2016 halved from 2.34% to…
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Latest property news
Are buyers finally returning after the Brexit vote?
Purchasers are returning to the market following the Brexit vote according to figures from both the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). RICS says this morning that buyer demand has grown for the first time in seven months and that “market confidence continues to improve following post-referendum jitters”. Its survey of RICS members reveals that last month eight percent more of them reported an increase in buyer enquiries compared to June, when 34% of respondents reported a drop. “The market does now appear to be settling down following the significant headwinds encountered through the spring and summer,” says Simon Rubinstein, RICS Chief Economics. “Buyers do appear to be returning, albeit relatively slowly, but the big issue that continues to be highlighted by respondents is the lack of fresh stock on the market.” The CML also published an uptick in activity within the market this week. It revealed that the number of people borrowing money to buy homes increased by 14% month-on-month to £12.2 billion and up 11% year-on-year. First time buyers played a significant role in this activity increase, borrowing £5.5 billion during August, up 24% on the same month last year. “House…
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