In the current property situation it appears that the majority of homeowners improving their properties are doing so to increase its value according to the Halifax.
The Halifax survey found that around 28 percent of people are planning home improvements this year, with the primary objective being add value. Of these people around half of them are expecting to add in the region of GBP5,000 to what the property is worth, with over 10 percent aiming for between GBP10,000 and GBP25,000.
By far the most popular improvement is redecorating, followed by garden improvements and adding new furnishings. A Halifax spokesman said that home improvements can add value to a home, although expectations of higher property values should be balanced against a market where the buyer is stronger right now, so prices can be variable.
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The Abbey National has just released figures showing that, for the first half of the year, they had over a quarter of the UK new mortgage market.
A performance at this level means that the Abbey National could take the title of biggest UK mortgage lender depending on the results posted by its closest competitor next week. With an increase of 17 percent compared with the same time last year the improvement is quite remarkable, especially in the current economic climate. In fact a spokesman from the Abbey was pleased to say that they had taken a risk-averse approach to lending, making the huge increase even more noteworthy.
The successful approach taken by the Abbey National has been to look at lower loan to value business, with borrowers basically needing a bigger deposit. Against this growth it will be interesting to see how the main protagonists in the mortgage market plan to win back market share.
HBOS, owner of the Halifax amongst others, is to streamline its operation with the cutting of around 420 jobs and the deletion of one of its mortgage businesses.
The Halifax brand is well known for mortgages, being one of the biggest providers of home loans in the UK. This status means it will not see any changes to its operation, the cuts instead coming from other parts of the HBOS group. It appears that part of the problem was a duplication of efforts in relation to mortgage business, the streamlining aiming to reduce this and give each brand its area of expertise.
The job cuts by HBOS, which as already stated will not impact on the Halifax, will see most employees redeployed to other parts of the group, meaning that in real terms job losses should only be slight.