Last year it was Japanese Knotweed, an invasive plant that might do a bit of damage if left unchecked – but were you to base your world view on the coverage of the Daily Mail et al, you would be within your rights to be casting a wary eye over your shoulder as you walked down the street, for fear of an epidemic of collapsing houses catching you unawares.
The number of houses that have actually fallen down due to Knotweed is 0.
This year, it’s HS2, the ambitious plan to improve communication links with the North of the country via a massive investment in new railways. Firstly, it’s interesting to note that it won’t be completed until 2033, so unless we want 20 years of uncertainty, it might be a good idea to try and clear this one up.
Understandably, there are concerns over blighting of property values but once again, febrile media coverage has distorted the real picture. Significant coverage was recently given to a case where the lender had allegedly valued a property at zero due to the nearby route.
Firstly, we all know (don’t we?) that valuers value property, not lenders. In the case in question, the property condition was such that it was unmortgageable and a zero figure was entered purely to stop the lender’s automated process issuing an offer.
The HS2 route was rightly mentioned in the report but sniffing an opportunity to bash a bank, certain media outlets didn’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Further, valuers only reflect what the market is doing, they don’t lead it – so if enough of us decide that we don’t actually mind living close to a railway line, then guess what – values will be sustained and lenders will happily lend.
Some properties will likely be adversely affected by the route and valuers are already pricing this into their calculations, whilst others close to stations will see a rise.
However, talk of lenders ‘red lining’ certain areas is absolute garbage – to do so would excluded circa 180,000 properties from mortgage finance. As things stand, campaigners have just won a victory forcing government to revisit the consultation process, but equally 9 other legal claims have been dismissed by the high court.
The only beneficiaries at the moment are the lawyers, it seems. I’m no journalist but I guess the story ‘it’s going to happen and it probably won’t be that bad’ just doesn’t sell chip wrappings.
Richard Sexton is director of business development at e.surv
