Fees hiked by Land Registry
May 11, 2009
In another blow for consumers hoping that affordability will be increased when it comes to purchasing a home, the Land Registry has recently announced that it is increasing its fees by nearly one third with effect from July.
The Land Registry plans to impose a 30 percent increase on its fees on properties up to £100,000, which will see the fee rise from £100 to £130. On properties costing £150,000 the increase will be 33 percent.
The Land Registry officially registers homes in England and Wales, but stated that due to the slump in property sales it had been operating at a loss and had been forced, therefore, to put these fee increases into place. It added that the Land Registry fees made up only a fraction of the total cost of purchasing a property, but officials have said that for buyers it will simply be yet another rising fee that adds to the overall expense of purchasing a property.
An official from the Land Registry stated: ‘A range of measures has already been taken to cut costs including a voluntary redundancy scheme and an accelerated plan to merge offices. Whilst these measures have helped to keep increases as small as possible, an increase is unavoidable. We do not believe this will be a deterrent to market recovery, especially in the context of interest rates at historically low levels and lower house prices.’
The news came shortly after the government announced that all sellers would have to shell out for a Home Information Pack before their property even went on the market.
Prior to the recent budget one industry official said: ‘In our opinion HIPs became untenable once the Government’s own statistics revealed that 77% of house-buyers paid no attention to them, and I would now call on Alistair Darling also to commit to scrapping them in this month’s Budget.’
- Searching for the right loan In the past finding the right loan could be a difficult and time consuming process, even though credit conditions were pretty relaxed and there was a wide range of loan products on the market to
- Extra Costs Causing Hardship for Tenants Tenants renting flats and houses in England have recently been faced with a rash of charges that is cutting into the money they have allotted for their expenses. One charity in England has labelled these
- Consumers could benefit from five year fixed rate deals A recent report has suggested that whilst many consumers are wary of taking on a very long term mortgage, as suggested by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, many could benefit from taking out
- Sharp rise in mortgage fees According to a recent report there has been a sharp rise in the cost of mortgage related fees over the past year, making affordability for potential buyers even more difficult. The rocketing fees are likely
- Valuations costing a fortune through mortgage companies Many mortgage companies are charging fees that are way over the top for valuations according to a recent report, and this is despite the fact that many of the customers are not moving home but
Comments
Got something to say?