Stop the fraud!

dunstonh

Funny how no-one was complaining of builders incentives 10-15 years ago. Its not as if they have just appeared from nowhere.

Trollfever

Sadly there are now real people losing real money.

lypsey

I have signed for you , but doesn't seem to be showing??????

DrGUID

My landlord paid £220,000 for the new build flat I'm in, but all the others in the block were sold for around £175,000 (except for one which was only £144,000). All the properties were sold in the same month (according to the land registry).

What's going on here? Are the developer and my landlord's property management company operating some sort of scam, or did he just pay stupidly over the odds? I know the place is/was overvalued, as the last tenants were apparently paying 200 pcm more rent than I am.

It is be a problem for me as I'm in a higher council tax band to all the other flats, but the inflated value may make it more difficult for me to get a revaluation.

Richard_Webster

Buyers need to be more careful.

If a builder is advertising a new 2 bed "apartment" for £200,000 and there are some 15 year old 2 bed flats down the road for £150,000 and the only real difference is that the "apartment" has an en-suite, is it really worth £50K? In 5-10 years time the newness won't be so significant and people will start to compare what they get for their money between 5 year and 20 year old flats and the new ones will really suffer.

The trouble is that people didn't do any sensible market research before they bought. BTLers bought in towns they didn't know relying on assurances from websites that the values were guaranteed etc.

Builders did do this gifted deposit thing to make their prices look higher than they really were but really I must say buyers should have been more critical when deciding to buy in the first place.

brit1234

Hi just seen this thread on another site about Mortgage Express and Birmingham Midshires changing lending conditions because of this fraud. Its a good find from the original poster and well worth putting on this thread.

Dear all,
For your information please see below (taken from the Mortgage Express website)
We're making a change to our valuation policy for new build re-mortgages 04/02/08

Given current market conditions, and to enable us to ensure our customers are adequately protected, we're making a change to our valuation policy for new build re-mortgages.

From Monday 4th February 2008, re-mortgage offers on new builds will be based on the lower of:
-purchase price less discount
or
-valuation
We're still committed to lending on new builds, and to offering early re-mortgages - we have simply refined our criteria to ensure that our policy is clear, fair and transparent.

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=67584

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Mortgage Express the biggest provider of buy to let mortgages on newbuilds.:rotfl:

Richard_Webster

If the lenders' valuers had downvalued them then the builders would have to reduce their selling prices - it may be to do with lenders wanting to keep market share....

alan99_2

I suppose one way to stop unofficial payments or overvaluations is.
More than one independant valuer values and the property new or second hand sells for that price. Buyer pays that amount no more no less.
Vendor is obliged to accept .
(possibly they could be allowed , maybe just the once, to take it off the market , but then next time it will be revalued, could be less)
If more than 1 buyer then lots are drawn and chosen buyer pays that price.

Alan

TediousPhoenix

My boyfriend and I reserved a new build flat last weekend. We were both shocked by the Panorama programme before.

When setting out the deal, we were told that we could either have the property for £205k or £220k, depending on how we take the deals. It's stupid and should be illegal. The woman said 'you can have it at £205k and when you sell it for £245k you can be all *oohhh, we've made a lot of money, we only got it for 205k*. This should absolutely diabolical behaviour.

We of course will have the 205k on the land register. Our property is worth £205k, not £220k, even if it's worth that. We know that the property will more than likely decrease in value in the short term, and maybe in the long term, but the difference in buying and renting in the same development is very minimal and I'd rather lose money on MY flat than line the pockets of a landlord. The whole point of the move is for us to have a better quality of life and a home. It's not an investment.

The woman selling the property said that 'we got a bargain and other people have paid a lot more'. Whatever. No we haven't. The other people are just using the £220k figure as a valuation. Even the mortgage broker said others have paid more. Are we the only ones stating the proper value? It really isn't right, or fair.

CYBERCIDERSAVER

lypsey wrote: »

I have signed for you , but doesn't seem to be showing??????

I think it takes a while to update. Should be showing by now.