This week the first comment was a response to the article: ‘No ordinary summer’ on the way for housing market – Knight Frank.
Sox said: “Demand is one thing, and a stamp duty holiday great – but we need to be able to obtain these people mortgages so unless the lenders respond well, it will be a busy but fruitless time.”
Discussing another way increased activity could prove to be a waste of time was Derek, who replied to the article: Annual house price growth reaches four-year high – Rightmove.
Derek said: “This sounds great for the sellers and the estate agents who must be rubbing their hands together and wondering how much extra they can add to the price of the next house they sell.
“I can see all of their euphoria disappear when the lender’s valuer goes in and puts a more sensible value on the property.”
“Happy sellers will suddenly become unhappy and they will by now have been convinced that their house is worth what someone offers.
“I can see a lot of disappointed buyers and sellers and a lot of advisers with increased workloads and nothing to show for it,” he added.
EWS1 delay a management fault
In response to the article: Couple trapped in flat waiting for fire safety form that could take ‘years’ to come, Sox said: “As far as I’m aware the EWS1 form only needs to detail what work, if any, is required.
“The management company then needs to confirm they are undertaking the work and provide a schedule, which could be one to two years.
“It just shows they have acknowledged what needs to be done to make the building safe – the lender does not need the work to be completed.
“So why these management companies have not managed to at least undertake the report process when they have had over two years, cannot simply be a shortage of qualified surveyors,” Sox added.
