Is now the right time to buy?

This is the most common question being put to me at the moment and as a Financial Adviser working closely with Lawrence Rand Estate Agency so I wanted to share my thoughts and answer to this question.

I think it is important to recognise that we are in uncertain times, the UK has voted to leave the European Union and it appears that no one really knows what this actually means for the future of the UK.

But whilst there are question marks, over what the future holds post Brexit vote and Post EU membership, there are some fundamental facts that help answer the question “is now the right time to buy?”

For the majority of people, it is an aspiration time be a home owner and I don’t believe that recent events have changed this fact.

Why should we consider now as the right time to buy?

A very low Interest rate climate – the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) recently voted to reduce the Bank base rate (BBR) to 0.25%, which means that the cost of borrowing to the consumer, is very low.

The availability of mortgage lending – The banks/building societies have a genuine desire to lend, with competition in the marketevident in the mortgage deals that are available.

Demand v’s supply – The economic fundamental. There is no evidence to the contrary that the supply of property is going to meet its demand, which will therefore only put upward pressure on prices in the long term.

It is in fact cheaper to buy than rent – If you consider the local market for a moment. To rent a two-bedroom property, whether it is a flat, maisonette or a house, it would cost in the region of £1250 to £1400 per month to rent. If you compare this to the cost of mortgage payments on similar properties (assuming a deposit of 10% was put towards the purchase), you could borrow from as little as £1150 per month

When you take the above into account, along with various incentives and schemes that are available, such as Help-to-Buy, Shared Ownership, the local Hillingdon scheme and of course mortgages, that are available with deposits as low as 5%. My answer to the questions is “why would you not buy at the moment”? If you would like any advice on how you can personally benefit in this present financial climate, please give me a call on 0208 429 6304 or email me on gavin.hilton@piafp.co.uk

Gavin Hilton
Financial Adviser
Pia Financial Planning (working in partnership with Lawrence Rand)