Should homebuyers fear Hung Parliament effect on property prices after General Election shock?
Every Saturday, The Consumer Crew are here to solve your problems.
Mel Hunter will take on readers’ consumer issues, Amanda Cable will give you the best advice for buying your dream home, and Judge Rinder will tackle your legal woes.
Amanda Cable, Property Expert
SHOCKWAVES hit the property market following news of the hung parliament – but if you are one of the 100,000 buyers or sellers currently in the middle of a transaction, don’t panic.
Experts believe that while the housing market might stall temporarily due to the surprise result, ongoing deals are unlikely to fall through.
Brian Murphy, of the Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “For those who have had a mortgage approved and are actively looking to purchase, such as first-time buyers, it will be business as usual.
"Their circumstances won’t change.”
MORE people than ever have given up looking for their dream home – and are simply building it instead.
Brexit and election jitters may have stalled the housing market, but Rightmove sees 400,000 searches for land a month by people planning on building their own homes.
Build It magazine editor Chris Bates says: “One lady in her 80s commissioned her own contemporary Grand Designs-style home, complete with turrets and glass.
“She just didn’t want to waste time searching for a compromise.
“Lots of couples are retiring and deciding to build their own home.
“There were 12,000 self-builds last year – and the number will rise again when new figures are released soon.”
Retired couple Terry and Teresa Gibbons, wanted a home with an open-plan kitchen and dining area and a brick fireplace.
The couple used self-build specialists Potton to help them design their own Georgian-style home in the back garden of Terry’s 96-year-old father.
The build, which was completed in April 2015, cost £240,000.
Terry says: “It is everything we could have asked for – and more.”
- Build It Live 2017 is at Bicester Heritage, Oxon, today and tomorrow, with experts and workshops. See .
It's grin oop North, folks
HAPPINESS is a place called home – provided you are retired, over the age of 55 and living in Yorkshire and the Humber.
New research has identified where, across the country, Brits are happiest in their home.
While 80 per cent of those living in Yorkshire and the Humber feel content, Londoners are “twice as likely” than any other region to be unhappy.
The most unhappy overall are Londoners who rent, have more than one young child and are aged between 25 and 34.
The YouGov survey for property marketplace thehouseshop.com found that the happiest regions were the South East (77 per cent rating) and East of England (75 per cent).
After London, the second most unhappy region was the West Midlands.
Nick Marr, co-founder of thehouseshop.com says: “Our survey found that where you live makes a significant difference to how happy you are in your home.
“Only five per cent of people from Yorkshire and the Humber said they were unhappy – compared to more than three times that amount in London and the West Midlands.”
Judge Rinder – The Sun’s legal expert
It is difficult – impossible, even – to keep a level head after a series of unspeakable crimes such as those just seen in Manchester and London.
Hearing and reading the stories — of people injured and dying, of families broken and suffering — the mind begins to look for explanations.
The one that seems to come most easily is to say: “These murderers, these terrorists, are monsters.”
That is, they are in a different category from the people who populate our lives.
“We are human beings”, people say, “but they are animals”.
I don’t think this is the right way to think about it.
I believe I have seen a small part of the dark and terrifying landscape of human cruelty.
When I was a criminal barrister, I would meet many people, from every corner of the country, whose behaviour was horrifying and brutal.
I have sat closely in a prison cell while a man described to me in sickening detail of the murder he had committed.
There were others too.
Rapists, fraudsters, burglars, the list is lengthy — a chilling parade of people seemingly indifferent to the smashed lives they had left behind.
I am reminded of a story barristers would tell of such ruthlessness.
A brief asks his client why the man had organised for a vicious attack on a colleague . . . the client casually replies: “It’s because assassins are too expensive.”
But, and here’s the thing, I would meet the families of these people too.
More than once, I would stand with their parents or their friends or their partners, and learn the strange details of their daily lives — how they might always help with the washing up, how they liked to cook or would always give to charity.
They were sons and mums and husbands and aunts.
To understand all is not to forgive all, but it helps to realise what we are dealing with.
When we call these people “monsters” we both misjudge them and give them a free pass.
Monsters are in movies; they don’t know what they do.
These people are not monsters but men — we have to recognise that to in order to face them properly, to punish them justly and do whatever we can to stop them.
Summing up
Q) IN April of last year my wife and I bought a house.
As part of the papers a Law Society Form included a statement by the vendors that the central heating was working and in good condition.
When we moved in, the boiler was in desperate need of replacement and the radiators did not work properly.
This was confirmed by our plumber and British Gas – we have paperwork to show this.
We had the work done and in October contacted the vendors asking that they pay for the repairs but they have finally refused to accept responsibility.
We believe that we were deceived.
If the statements made on the commonly used Law Society Form are not true and no responsibility lies with the vendors, then what use are the forms?
Can we make a legal claim?
KEN, Milton Keynes
A) Of course these forms have legal bite.
They are designed to ensure that vendors, like these ones, don’t tell porky pies about their houses.
It seems to me that you have a cast-iron case against these people.
They sold the property with a clear representation that the boiler was in working order.
Had you been told that it was not, you would have asked for the price to be reduced accordingly or walked away.
The sellers made a representation which you relied upon so are legally responsible to pay for the boiler.
It is going to be challenging to sort this out because, based on their current attitude, it is likely that you will have to take this to court.
Do not be afraid as it seems this is fairly straightforward and the law is on your side.
Just to be sure get down to your Citizens Advice Bureaux who can point you in the direction of free legal advice.
- Mr Rinder regrets he cannot answer questions personally. Answers intended as general guidance – they do not constitute legal advice and are not a substitute for getting independent legal advice.
Got a question for Judge Rinder? Email [email protected]
Mel Hunter, Readers' champions fighting for your rights
Q) I LIVE alone and in April 2015 I bought a modest three-bedroom house with prepayment meters, which I wanted to get rid of.
A Scottish Power engineer changed the gas meter but couldn’t change the electricity meter so said the energy company would be in touch.
I heard nothing so contacted them and they said they’d send another engineer. This has happened three times over the last year.
I’m getting huge bills and the meter eats my credit alarmingly fast.
Before a weekend away I buy the maximum £40 top-up to avoid the power going off and the freezer defrosting. I’m paying a standard charge and my meter still shows a debt.
I feel Scottish Power is holding me to ransom over bills and a meter situation that are out of control, and they can neither explain nor remedy.
A YOUNG, Derby
A) I can solve some reader problems in a few hours.
Others, like yours, take a lot longer.
You first contacted me in January but it was May before you finally told me I’d “restored your sanity”.
You were completely confused about what you owed and what your usage was.
I brought your crazy situation to Scottish Power’s attention and it couldn’t work it out either, but in March, it finally removed the troublesome meter.
It was virtually impossible to unpick the mess and in the end, Scottish Power wiped the balance – nearly £500 – and set you up on its cheapest rate.
Q) I BOUGHT a Hotpoint tumble dryer about two years ago and then had to wait 18 months for it to be modified due to the well-publicised fire risk.
After this was done in January, it would not heat up properly.
Another engineer tried to fix it but it still did not get hot enough to dry clothes.
Manufacturer Whirlpool told me I would have to pay for an engineer to inspect the dryer.
It was hardly used and worked perfectly before the modification, but Whirlpool won’t help.
Henry Magee, Gourock, Inverclyde
A) It was ridiculous that you were being punished for this.
Once I got in touch, Whirlpool sent another engineer who replaced the element and hey presto, you could dry your clothes once again.
Q) IN 2009 I took out a contract with Talkmobile at Carphone Warehouse.
Four years later I upgraded my phone, sticking with Talkmobile, again at Carphone Warehouse.
No one told me I had to cancel my old number – and in February this year, I found out I had been making two payments to Talkmobile all this time.
They have offered me one year’s goodwill payment – around £100 – but I should have a full refund as I have done nothing wrong.
Tony Lowe, Hereford
A) Carphone Warehouse says it was up to you to cancel your contract but you were clearly not aware of this.
Because your line was not used at all, it agreed to cover the line rental charges as a gesture of goodwill, amounting to around £300.
I’d urge all readers to check their bills for unexpected charges like this as they can quickly add up.