Planning On Moving Home

How to help your house sale.

For the past decade, homeowners have sat back on their haunches smugly watching the value of their properties soar. In fact, house prices have risen by a staggering 189% in the past 10 years, according to figures from Halifax, regardless of whether you have picked up a paintbrush or sander during that time or not.

But, according to the latest house price figures from Rightmove, things are set to change. The average price of property across the UK increased by a marginal 0.6% during the first three weeks of August - the fourth consecutive month in which rises were less than 1% - while the average cost of a property in the capital actually fell by 0.1%. Miles Shipside, commercial director at Rightmove, said that this, "paves the way to a more sustainable market."

This may be true but the figures also denote a kind of 'stalemate' for those struggling to get on the property ladder - and those struggling to stay move up it. For example, despite price increases being minimal, they still took the average cost of a UK home to £241,747 (although figures are based on asking prices), which is way out of reach for the vast majority of first-time buyers.

And for many of those whose struggle to make the first rung actually paid off, equity rises were no doubt part of their motivation. After all, the smaller your mortgage debt in relation to the value of your home (known as a Loan to Value), the keener the mortgage interest rate you qualify for. Add to this the five quarter-point rises in the Bank of England base rate over the last year and it could be argued that the new Rightmove figures don't make pleasant reading for anyone.

The 17-minute house sale
What the newly-tamed housing market does mean is that homeowners will become more responsible for the marketability and final sale price of their own homes. This responsibility lies especially heavy on sellers' shoulders when considering new research out from ING Direct that claims the typical house hunter takes just 17 minutes to make up their mind about whether to buy a property!

One way of pushing them along is to gain planning permission for a home improvement such as an extension, loft conversion or extra bedroom, prior to putting up the 'For Sale' sign. In fact, according to industry estimates, this can boost the value of your property by around 15% as well as make it more appealing in the context of a slowing market.

But this doesn't mean to say you have to endure the renovations and the costs yourself - just paying for and getting the application agreed should do the trick. "As long as you have the documents to prove that the planning permission has been granted - and it is for something useful - it can set your home apart from the rest in a slowing housing market," says Charles Smailes, president of the National Association of Estate Agents.

Making plans isn't easy!
However, don't expect that even getting your hands on the documents will be easy. "Depending on where you are in the country, some Local Authorities are very strict, even when an application is perfectly reasonable," says Mr Smailes. "It's almost as if they are living next door to you."

And although you won't be forking out for the cost of the renovations, just the application process will cost you. "Gone are the days when you could send a speculative 'outline application' to your local authority for free and wait for a response," says Mr Smailes. "Now you will be charged for the application and you will also have to prove the feasibility of it. This means drawing up proper plans in advance, which - unless you are able to do yourself - will also cost you an architect's fee."

In short, even an average application could end up costing around £2,000 although this is variable as costs are set by individual Local Authorities and not central government. The 'planning permission tactic' might also not be the best idea for those sellers who want to move quickly as the application process can be time-consuming. More heavy weight applications can easily take eight weeks or more. Once granted, your permission will currently have a shelf life of five years although you should tell your buyer that this is shortly to reduce to three years.

What changes do you need planning permission for?
Some things are getting easier though. For example, although you will still need to seek planning permission for extensions, alterations and outbuilding conversions, smaller-scale extensions may be made exempt under new government proposals - certainly something to keep an eye out for.

Although this won't be your problem by the time your house has been sold at a tidy premium thanks to your hard work in getting the planning permission agreed, certain renovations would have been best left well alone, according to Mr Smailes. "I have seen three-bed semis that have had a fourth bedroom built over the garage with the effect of making the rest of the property imbalanced," he says. "The house still has one bathroom for example and a small downstairs living area which of course, is conducive to the three bedrooms it was originally built for."

© www.Moneyextra.com

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