House Prices to rise in 2012? Oh and the Olympics.

The start of a New Year is always exciting. You start to think ahead and plan your year.

It may have been New Year resolutions to give up smoking, chocolate or alcohol or a promise that this year will be better. Perhaps a new car or the moving home you have been putting off as you wait for the market to drop to its worse point or pick up so that you can sell for the price you paid for it.

Surveyors are not fortune tellers, neither are economic editors who will try and predict a gloomy year to try and grab the headlines. So perhaps a little common sense may prevail as we try to give a view on 2012.

The Queens diamond jubilee kicks off in June as so does the UEFA Euro football tournament. A good run for England could inspire Andy Murray in June and July to triumph at Wimbledon. July and August, the World watches London and Great Britain as hosts of the Olympics.

Sport can inspire and excite but most of all it can be a great advert for London. More than ever, in this period of uncertaintly and concern over unemployment, we need to stand out from our European partners and be proud of being British. This period of just three months could make so much difference in the three years that follow. Investment could flow in from overseas as we are seen as the place to be. London is the link between the East and the West and this year, with the help of a strong government and a stunning sequence of events we could see house prices rise in the South East. The knock on effect to the North may not be instant, but we could see stability for a period of time with rises elsewhere across the UK in the following year.

But, if you want to plan for the negative, an attack by terrorists or an embarrassing opening / closing ceremony at the Olympics could have a disastrous affect. Fortunately that won't happen, because our Armed Forces, Police and Secret Services are the best in the world. In 2011, Harry and Kate showed the world how we celebrate and in 2012, it will be even bigger.

Get ready for 2012 and to the Olympians, good luck from E Surveyors - no pressure but our livelihoods depend upon you.

The VAT Rise, Inflation and Interest Rates

It has been a gloomy start to 2011 according to the Press, but the word on Surveying Street is that things have not been that bad at all.

Talking to our affiliates, it is clear that some parts of the country are enjoying plenty of interest from property investors, first time buyers and the bungalow buyer.

The VAT rise has not affected our customers as we have not decided not to increase our prices in line with inflation and in some cases, returning customers buying their second or third investment property have been rewarded with lower fees for returning to us, so in fact, they have been better off than 2010.

Interest rates though are likely to rise in March, so what will this mean? Well no doubt the mortgage companies will be delighted to pass on the increases. Shame they were not as keen to reduce them so quickly!

At E Surveyors though, we love the mortgage lender. So many times we get calls from mortgage brokers asking what the fee would be for a homebuyer report because Santander offer free mortgage valuations, but the upgrade to a homebuyer report is more expensive than coming to us direct. So, the benefit to the customer, two valuations for the price of one.

Santander though are one of the nicer lenders; they offer free valuations. Others are still charging as much for a mortgage valuation as we would charge for the upgraded and much more extensive homebuyer report. Compare the difference of your mortgage valuation fee for a one or two page report that will take the surveyor 25 mins to complete and 30 mins to type and sign off (a mortgage valuer is quite often expected to carry out 7 valuations a day - so you would allow 1 hour per inspection and report and 30 mins travel between appointments = 10.5 hour working day) whereas the homebuyer report inspection will take somewhere between 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours plus 3 hours of putting the report together. Yet they cost a similar amount.

But this is critical. So many buyers will only rely on the mortgage valuation and the estate agent will no doubt tell you, "you don't need anything more than a mortgage valuation". Well they would, wouldn't they. They don't want you to know the warts and all story of the house you are buying, but just whether the bank would be happy to lend on this property. That will get the deal through won't it.

So be glad that Chartered Surveyors fees have remained at low prices for the foreseeable future and before you invest your hard earned cash in a £246,387 property (average house price in November 2010), for less than the £387 you will get an in-depth report full of photographs telling you the condition of the roof space, the electrics, the gas central heating, damp defects, and drainage problems.

You will be amazed at the difference. Choose E Surveyors and be informed.

Our SVP!

Soil Vent Pipes or SVPs to their friends; You may not know much about them, but thats because they are the unsung hero of Sanitary pipework.

You may be wondering 'What purpose does a soil vent pipe serve?', you may even be wondering 'How does a soil vent pipe affect me in my day to day life?'

Well let me put your mind at ease. According to: http://www.homesurveyor.net/Glossary/glossary.html, a soil vent pipe can be defined as 'A vertical wide pipe into which toilet and other waste appliances discharge which is ventilated at its upper end to prevent syphonage.' This basically means that the waste from your WC is taken out of your house through the SVP and down into the sewers and away to be treated.

As the waste is leaving your house it passes through a trap which means that once it is beyond this point the odour and gases from the waste will not be able to re enter your property. This is a nice touch from SVP as no one wants odorous gases wafting through the house.

There are three different types of SVP: Cast Iron, Plastic and Asbestos. If you wish to identify which one of the three your SVP is then this can be achieved in the extremely scientific way of erm...tapping it. If it emmits a 'hollow' sound then it is probably plastic. Cast iron and Asbestos are relatively similar to each other in sound and so it is important to listen carefully. Cast iron gives a metallic slightly shrill noise while asbestos is slightly duller and denser sounding.

If it transpires that your SVP is made out of asbestos then don't worry just yet. Asbestos is only a hazardous substance when provoked, so be careful not to crack the pipework. If it is in need of decoration, it would be unwise to sand the old layer of paint off before repainting as this would cause the dangerous particles in the asbestos to be transmitted into the air. It may be sensible to hire a specialist contractor to remove a defective asbestos SVP before intalling a modern plastic pipe.

Soil Vent Pipes should be capped so as to prevent things falling or climbing into the pipe and potentially blocking it. Birds are a common cause of blocked pipes.

So here's to our friend the Soil Vent Pipe. Keep up the good work.

Surveyors Cost

The cost of a house survey has remained static now for some time and in real terms has dropped.

The cost of being a Chartered Surveyor has risen with expensive insurance premiums, high administration costs for producing the new HomeBuyer Report and having to pay for licenses to be registered as producing HomeBuyer Reports and for the impending Red Book Valuation regulation.

These costs though have been borne by the Surveyor not the consumer. In fact margins have been lowered further due to competition for work resulting in lower fees in many areas. Further pressure will mount next year if and when VAT rises are implemented.

The value of a building survey or a HomeBuyer Report should never be underestimated though. It is possibly one of the areas that home buyers think they can afford to cut out. Not true at all. The importance of a survey is vital now with Lenders concentrating their efforts on looking after their interests only. They are not interested in the specific elements of a property, just an overall opinion of whether it is worth an amount to cover the lending criteria. Any home buyer, would certainly be interested to know this example:

On a recent homebuyer report, a mortgage valuer was at the same property inspecting it for the lender. Whilst looking in the drainage inspection chamber, it was noted to be blocked and potential evidence of a significant problem. The mortgage valuer said he was unable to comment upon it in his Report, as he should not have seen it. Although, if I had not been doing a HomeBuyer Survey, the customer would have been faced with a big problem on the moving in day if the drains were overflowing.

So, the cost of a Survey is always justified, and the consumer is currently lucky enough to get them at very competitive levels. This will not last forever though and prices will eventually have to rise when the market picks up and the lack of good Chartered Surveyors in the industry is found.

Buy to Let Property Investors special survey deal

The property investment market has gathered momentum as rents are expected to rise and buy to let investors return the housing market.

A student buy to let company approached us asking to help with their portfolio purchase in Leeds and since then all I have heard is how the investor looking for high returns is looking again at residential as the way forward, with the RICS quoting in excess of 6% yields for rental properties in Yorkshire.

Our expertise is showing the property investor the extent of works required to make the property habitable for tenants. The Homebuyer Report is perfect for helping clients form an investment opinion given the amount of work required to get it let.

The investment market is so large that we decided to target it fully. To encourage investors to be more prudent and get the right advice we decided to offer discounts for multiple survey requests. And why not, as an investor, if you bought more than one property from a seller, wouldn't you expect a discount?

The trouble with property investment is who do you listen to? The estate agent; they want to sell you a house, the bank; they want to sell you a mortgage, the solicitor; they want you to pull out or take out an insurance policy, the letting agent; they want a regular 12.5% fee, the Government; they want, well lots. THE CHARTERED SURVEYOR, the one you can trust for impartial and honest advice. And if the survey says you are paying too much, then it may save you thousands.

Even if you don't use E Surveyors to find you a RICS regulated Chartered Surveyor, please take professional advice and find one at www.ricsfirms.com

Good Luck with your investment, I am sure you know exactly what you are doing.

The Budget 2010

Purely from a housing market perspective, the 2010 budget brings missed blessings.

As an owner of a property valued at £250,000 and soon to sell, I am delighted with the news that this property will now be exempt from stamp duty for the next two years.

As a Chartered Surveyor, I am again delighted as this will no doubt lead to an increase in sales to first time buyers and potential parents helping their children onto the housing ladder.

The downside is the £1 million plus bracket. This end of the market is likely to stall given the increase in stamp duty to 5%. A £50,000 tax bill for buying a terraced house in London may be a little off putting next year.

Between now and April 2011 though we have an election and clearly these changes may not go ahead.

This summer looks good though, we have been told this week by weather forecasters that we are possibly in for the warmest summer since 1976. This, a World Cup and stamp duty free up to £250,000 - after the winter of discontentment, perhaps the summer of happiness.

House prices fall

According to a national newspaper today, house prices have fallen for the first time in several months. Sky News quote for the first time in ten months.

When we look at the housing market as we come out of a recession we expect instant results, but the difficulties in obtaining mortgages for first time buyers remain. This is bound to affect the housing market and their prices.

I have heard many stories of mortgage brokers who are considering whether to give up their jobs to concentrate on earning income elsewhere. One such adviser told me that the mortgage products are so hard to find. People with low earnings, adverse credit ratings or high loan to values just cannot be accommodated at the moment.

Also, we have seen the stock that went on the market in the summer last year finally sell as estate agents books look smaller and smaller. As they have been on for such a long time, homeowners have in some cases been forced to take low offers to get a sale. this will have caused the average house price to fall.

This is most probably just a stutter. We wait for the weather to warm up, flowers to fill the garden and houses to look attractive for the property brochures. We have alot to look forward to this year: a general election and change of government, a World Cup of such magnitude that has never seen before with an England win and a long hot summer.

So as we look ahead to a year of positivity, we can't think we are ready yet for another property price crash. But of course, if there is a huge increase in houses for sale in the summer, then this could have another negative impact on house prices. Its been a long time though since house prices were this affordable with interest rates so low. Could prices really fall any lower?

Gary Edgar

Chartered Surveyor

www.esurveyors.com

08456 437097