LATEST: Average house price rises £15k in a year to record high

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Average house prices have hit a new record high of £238,831, up £15,916 over the past 12 months, says Nationwide.

It reports that annual house price growth rebounded to 7.1% in April from 5.7% in March, with prices up 2.1% month-on-month – the biggest monthly rise since February 2004.

But its research found that although the stamp duty holiday reaccelerated prices, it isn’t the biggest motivator for house buyers; of those who were either moving home or considering a move this month, three quarters said this would have been the case even if the stamp duty holiday hadn’t been extended.

Nationwide believes housing market activity is likely to remain fairly buoyant over the next six months as a result of the stamp duty extension, along with low borrowing costs and a change in housing needs following the pandemic.

Chief economist Robert Gardner (pictured, below) says that with the stock of homes on the market relatively constrained, there is scope for annual house price growth to accelerate.

He adds: “If house prices remain flat in month-on-month terms over the next two months, the annual rate of growth will reach double digits in June.”

“If unemployment rises sharply towards the end of the year as most analysts expect, activity could slow, perhaps sharply,” says Gardner.

But at the end of April, 25% of homeowners surveyed by Nationwide said they were either in the process of moving or considering a move as a result of the pandemic, only slightly below the 28% recorded in September last year.

“Given that only around 5% of the housing stock typically changes hands in a given year, it only requires a relatively small proportion of people to follow through on this to have a material impact,” he adds.

Read more about house prices.

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BREAKING: Evictions paperwork must now include ‘breathing space’ scheme details

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The government has dropped another of its regular end-of-the-week private rental sector legal bombshells following a sudden alteration to the legislation underpinning Section 8 eviction notices

Both Landlords, agents and their solicitors will from Tuesday May 4th onwards have to include details of the governments recently-introduced ‘breathing space’ debt scheme within paperwork when seeking to gain possession of a property, or risk the eviction being rejected.

Announced last summer, the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) gives someone in problem debt the right to legal protections from their creditors for up to 60 days.

These regulations come into force on Tuesday, which is why housing minister Christopher Pincher has now inserted an amendment into The Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies (Forms) (Moratorium Debt) (Consequential Amendment) (England) Regulations 2021.

“Anyone who serves a notice using the incorrect template runs the risk of having their case thrown out on a technicality,” says Tim Frome of Landlord Action.

“With six-month notice periods in place at the moment this could be a very expensive mistake.

“This further highlights why landlords should use a Solicitors Regulation Authority regulated and authorised law firm such as Landlord Action to serve possession notices.”

Mike Morgan, Legal Division Manager at HF Assist, adds: “We have taken a number of calls on our HF Assist phone lines about the requirements set out in the Debt Respite Scheme regulations.

“The basic position is that if a tenant has a qualifying debt, such as rent arrears, they can see an FCA or local authority authorised debt advisor and apply for a debt moratorium.

“This gives them an eight-week breathing space from being chased for the amount owed while they work with the debt adviser to restructure their finances to pay their debts. The tenant should still pay their rent during this period.”

Read a free guide to the Breathing Space regulations.

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House prices up 7.1% on April last year

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The Nationwide House price index is showing annual price growth increased to 7.1% in April, up from 5.7% in March with a new record high average house price of £238,831, up £15,916 over the last year.

Prices jumped 2.1% month-on-month which is the largest monthly rise since February 2004 and annual growth will reach double digits in June if prices are flat over the next two months.

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The Landlord law Virtual Conference 2021

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It has been one hell of a year for Landlords!  A year full of change – which landlords have had to keep up with or face penalties.

Not only have there been the changes which we expected –

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