Merry Christmas from Oakwood Estates

Welcome to the Oakwood Estates December newsletter!

We hope to bring you news of what's going on with us, the local area and the property market so you are up to date. If you see something in our newsletter you wish to discuss further, please do not hesitate to give us a call.

Until next time,

Oakwood Estates.

Oakwood Estate's opening times for Christmas

A very Merry Christmas from Oakwood Estates! Here are our opening times over the festive period...

Friday 23rd December - OPEN

Christmas Eve - CLOSED
Christmas Day - CLOSED
Boxing Day - CLOSED
Tuesday 27th December - CLOSED

Wednesday 28th December - 10am-2pm
Thursday 29th December - 10am-2pm
Friday 30th December - 10am-2pm

New Years Eve - CLOSED
New Years Day - CLOSED
Monday 2nd January - CLOSED

Tuesday 3rd January - OPEN AS USUAL

A guide to selling your home in winter

Selling your property can be a bit of a long process at the best of times but it can definitely drag on if you’re not generating enough interest.

For those of you with your home already on the market or considering selling during the winter months, we discuss a few steps you can take to get more buyers in the door and prevent your home from looking as miserable as the weather does.

Kerb Appeal
This is something that’s important regardless of what season you put your home on the market, but especially vital in the winter months. First impressions count and the winter weather will do its best to make your home look a little more run down than usual, so you need stay on top of maintaining the exterior.

Keeping driveways and paths as clean as possible is the best start, there is bound to be all sorts of dirt, rubbish and leaves blowing around in the wind so just take a moment to tidy up every now and then. Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do about the rain but if you do get the opportunity to give the windows a clean then go for it. Snow can be a positive at times as it may give your home a very cosy, festive look, however, be sure to tackle any hazardous icy pathways just to be safe.

When the days get colder and darker, we usually tend to forget that our gardens exist for a few months and pick up on the maintenance just before spring. However, if your home is on the market, a clean-up of the garden can go a long way. This doesn’t mean you have to get out there and begin renovating your garden with new plants and features, but it does mean that the garden has to appear as if it hasn’t been forgotten about since the BBQ in August. The more tidy your garden looks, the better, give anything that’s overgrown a trim and any outdoor furniture that’s been battered by the weather should be removed or replaced.

Make The Most Of The Situation
While it may feel like you’re fighting against dark days and dreadful weather to make your home more appealing to buyers, there are some ways that you can use this time of year to your advantage. The objective here is to make your home feel like the warm haven that buyers will be rushing in to to escape the cold.

Lighting, similar to a properties kerb appeal, is another factor that’s vital regardless of the time of year, but when it starts to get darker around 4pm, opening the curtains to try and flood the room with natural light isn’t really an option. However, you’re not completely out of luck as the right type of soft ambient lighting around the house can create the right sort of welcoming and cosy atmosphere that you’re looking for.

Keeping your property clean is also imperative. It may become tiring cleaning your home after every viewing but it’s definitely worth it. With the weather being wet and windy, both you and buyers are certain to bring an amount of mess on the bottom of your shoes, so get a good door mat to prevent it travelling throughout the house and vacuum daily.

Final Bits
As we’ve already established the key to increasing your homes appeal throughout winter is to keep it clean, tidy and make it feel warm and inviting at the same time. But there are plenty other little ways to make your home more attractive.

Firstly, you should inspect your home for all of those odd jobs like creaky doors and small marks on the wall. A bit of paint and WD40 can do wonders in making your home seem like it’s all in working order. The bigger the list of small fixes for you, is a bigger list of small fixes for the buyer and only adds to the ‘reasons not to buy’ list.

Normally during the warmer months we’d advise opening as many windows as possible to get the fresh air in, however, when its minus 2 outside that may not be an option, so try and introduce a pleasant scent such as fresh coffee or a subtle plug in air freshener.

Also, the greenery outside may be turning brown, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add a few decorative inside to make sure the home feels full of life.

Mortgage activity rises to pre-brexit level

Recently published figures indicate that stability is returning to the mortgage market despite the ambiguity that surrounded the recent Brexit vote. Some financial experts are also keen to stress that the housing market continues to fare better than many expected.

Mortgage lenders are seeing a surge in the number of mortgage applicants, reaching levels seen before the UK voted to leave the European Union. Since the Bank of England lowered the base rate to 0.25% in August there has been an increase in the number of re-applicants and new applicants, signalling a progressive rise in consumer confidence.

House purchase approvals have also increased, signalling that the 20-month slump in growth is now on the rise with nearly 63,000 approvals authorised within the period. Gross lending for the whole of 2016 is also estimated to be upwards of &245bn, which indicates a 10-12% rise when compared to 2015.

With the base rate at an all time low, experts consider that the cut should provide a boost to the finances of mortgage applicants due to the availability of cheaper and more competitive mortgage options. The news also signals a positive move for those who are concerned about the rising cost of living, with first-time buyers and movers now spending, on average, under 18% of their monthly household income on interest and capital repayments’.

Whilst the government has been keen to help first-time buyers with incentives, there has been a steady decline in the second-stepper market. Brexit, and the economic uncertainty that followed, seemed to have subdued this area of the market. However, although some experts stress that the number of people choosing to re-mortgage has remained broadly unchanged since August and has done little to encourage people to switch, the forecast, provided by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, indicates that ‘the mix of lending has moved towards re-mortgage activity’, accounting for over 40% of all lending’. They also indicate that this trend is likely to ‘continue in the future’.

An overall increase in mortgage lending ultimately signals a return in confidence and has the potential to stimulate a number of knock-on effects. For example, a rise in consumer confidence could trigger an increase in vendors bringing properties to market, increasing availability.

Complementing this positive news within the mortgage market, the UK Government has continued its campaign to promote incentives to prompt further beneficial activity within the housing market, offering various buying schemes, pledging investment capital, and relaxing regulations. These are all expected to help provide stability to the market in the future.

The final quarter of the year is also recognised as a good time for consumer investment as banks and mortgage providers seek to meet their lending targets. Couple this with the recent findings and it’s fair to say that now would be a good time for some people to re-evaluate their current mortgage arrangements.

House building plans continue to grow

Recent news has further highlighted positive progression within the UK housing sector with research confirming that the number of new-builds has risen by 11% within a year, making it the highest annual total in 8 years.

There is also further progression projected for the future of the sector after Philip Hammond confirmed his commitment to strengthening the UK’s housing market by pledging to provide &2.3bn to a housing infrastructure plan that will help support the construction of 100,000 new homes in areas of high need. A further pledge to provide &1.4bn to help build new and affordable homes throughout Britain has also been proposed.

In his first Autumn Statement, Mr Hammond also emphasised the need to ‘reflect’ on the rules and regulations for affordable housing, adding that the much needed cash injection should ‘help to diversify the housing mix’ and create homes that people ‘want and need’.

With demand for housing currently outweighing supply, the chancellor’s plan should help to bolster the housing market in a number of ways. Primarily, it will provide much needed funding to developers, and with new housing developments helping to drive down house prices and rents, this outcome will be welcomed by many - especially those seeking to get on the property ladder in the near future.

The proposed reassessment of the rules and regulations that property developers currently face should also make it easier to develop affordable housing in the future, therefore encouraging existing and prospective developers to invest within the market.

It is expected that there will also be a number of other beneficial consequences from the investments, with the chancellor emphasising that housing providers will be now be incentivised to support and offer a wide range of products, including: affordable rent, Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy. This sentiment indicates that there is a resolute commitment to providing support to people, regardless of economic circumstance, in order to ensure that there is affordable housing available for all in the future.

The chancellor has also committed resources to find resolutions to current “lack of land” issues, which, over time, should also encourage developers to invest.

Many experts agree that the proposals are positive and that they will only serve to strengthen the wider economy, help those who are currently struggling financially, encourage positive gains within the trade and skilled jobs sector, and provide healthy foundations to help build solid infrastructures for new and existing communities.

Overall, it can be argued that the chancellor’s investment pledges will encourage positive changes within the housing market. With further healthy investment, an amenable application process, and a focus on helping developers, the future of the housing sector looks buoyant and should continue to grow.