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The recent Reuters poll has predicted that mortgage approvals in the UK are expected to increase by nearly 75,000 per month in around six months’ time in comparison with 83,000 in November, which has picked up to 85,000 by the end of 2007. However, analysts think there’s only a 15% of a U.S.-kind market correction happening here. That is in part owing to a shortage of supply - rather than too much of it - and in part since there’s no ‘subprime’ market here to unwind, barring perhaps some over-leverage in the ‘buy-to-let’ sector.

Policymakers are mindful of the impact of too many and too frequent interest rate cuts on property prices, more so in a nation where so many individuals are property-obsessed, so to say. Economists are divided on a perceived risk of cutting rates too aggressively re-stoking house prices. According to some experts, The Bank of England might tend to overestimate the deflationary impact of prevailing tightness in credit markets and end up cutting interest rates too far and too fast; few others tend to disagree. Previously, it only needed one interest rate cut in August 2005 in a narrowly-split decision during a period of sustained housing market cooling; it was off to the races in a very short time.

According to a leading financial data provider, Moneyfacts, most banks are tightening their lending criteria, which is not good news for borrower and lender. Nearly dozen lenders have stopped offering 100% mortgages since last June, According to reports, Britannia building society and Alliance & Leicester - among Britain’s two major mortgage lenders - have already doubled the minimum deposit required by first-time buyers. Other lenders who have slashed maximum loans comprise Manchester building society and Egg, Yorkshire building society.

According to mortgage analyst David Knight, it is not difficult to follow why such pattern has emerged. It’s largely owing to the growing number of borrowers having debt problems coupled with mellowed housing prices. As a result, things are not going to be easy for the consumers with a small amount of equity.

The more cautious approach on part of lenders, leading to cut down bigger exposure to the fluctuations of property price, point to their concern over the uncertain future of the hazy UK housing market. Knight believes that it’s not only first-time buyers who are going to get hurt by lower LTV limits. He has stated: “If such conservative approach continues, borrowers who are near to closing a deal but are forced to borrow at a rather high ‘loan-to-value’ ratio could see the choice of deals getting limited, or may be asked to pay a much steeper price.”

“Except those who lived in London, very few Indians showed any interest in buying property in London. That was just two years back. But in the last year and half, we have seen a phenomenal rise in interest” said Jaideep Singh, head of India desk at Knight Frank.

According to property watchers in Harrow — North London has the largest Indian population in the country and trying to acquire a house with £100,000 finance is impossible. It is true for any where in London or the adjoining Home Counties.

If you are lucky, for £100 000, a buyer gets a small one bedroom, lounge-cum dining area, a tiny kitchen, and a shower room with toilet flat in a Harrow Weald or Hayes. For a decent two bedroom house in South Hall you will be poorer by £200 000.

The price rise grows steep as you get closer to city centre. In the picture postcard part of London, prices hit you really hard. A one room that has an open-plan kitchen, a sitting area, a bed, and a cupboard sized bathroom – can be anything from £300 000 upwards.

In Edgebaston you will get one bed room flat but a bit larger. You can get 2-3 bedroom house in the suburbs of Leicester, Birmingham, Coventry and the adjoining areas for the same amount of £100 000.

However there is a reason to cheer as, North England, UK, offers you lower house prices. You can dream of staying in 3-bedroom semi detached house with garden in Burnely or a 4- bedroom terraced house in Bradford within your budget. But be prepared for a six hour train journey to London.

Leading British publication ‘The Independent’ has come up with a list of ‘the best new green homes’ as Eeve Middleton has chosen to describe them in a well-researched essay. The writer has listed some of the excellent eco projects, explaining what makes them green and also delving into their “wow” factor. On top of the heap is magnificent Millfield Eco Projects at Kingston St Mary in Taunton, Somerset. It’s a project involving development of 18 beautiful eco-properties.

Millfield Eco Projects makes uses of timber and employs the advanced carbon-neutral technology for building each house. The roof and walls have been insulated to the best possible level, adhering to the stringent quality parameters with cellulose fibre generated from recycled paper, thus letting the walls ‘breathe and stopping decay and fungus’. The interiors comprise appliances for providing the optimum energy-efficiency. There are triple-glazed windows plus low-energy lighting. What makes the houses truly green is also the fact that the heating for each one is ensured by a pump system using the earth’s natural heat. The properties also have provision to collect and recycle rain water. The development is happening on the enchanting edge of Somerset’s Quantock Hills. It’s an area of true natural beauty.

Here’s a piece of advice for concerned landlords who are devising strategies to see through the choppy property market. First and foremost, existing landlords should see to it that they are able to make use of equity accruing from their past investment properties for funding the deposit that is required for new ones. This would go a long way in ensuring that the ‘buy-to-let’ sector is not dried up entirely. Property experts caution against the prospect of much bigger housing market volatility in case ‘buy-to-let’ happens to contract. It is feared that this will trigger more choppiness. This is more so the case in most urban areas.

According to the Home Builders’ Federation, a large proportion of newbuild homes in most urban areas are flats usually designed with focus on investors. Flat prices in centres experiencing over-supplies are going down fast. This tenant viability, what lettings agents term it, is now very important. One defaulting renter, who happens to leave a flat empty for a couple of months, will make a seemingly profitable ‘buy-to-let unit’ a loss-making one. Would-be investors who have previous missed out on the significant returns are realising that the problems in property investment are more acute than they thought. Today, investors require an average deposit of around £65,600 or 30% of a home’s value. Compare this with just £10,100 or 8% six years ago.

Even in this rather uncertain and negative housing market, there are some real competitive deals for repayment mortgage still available. They though come at a cost. It’s up to each individual to make a decision regarding a high fee (add it to the loan) for securing a decent rate. This strategy could be worthwhile for those whose mortgages happen to £ 150,000 or less provided the fee is on basis of a percentage of the loan.

More insight into remortgage

• One useful tip offered by financial experts is getting in an application early if you’re due to remortgage soon.
• You might secure a better tracker mortgage today than at a later date; the valuation, it means, gets done today. If the situation happens to worsen and you’re on the borderline of having 75% ‘loan-to-value’ or LTV, it makes sense getting it (the valuation) done now because the valuation may get lower, if lenders get tougher, potentially making your loan, say, around 80% LTV, experts note.
• The difference in the rate that you get, according to them, will be higher in proportion to your LTV.
• Those who sought high LTV loans two-three years ago are better off, experts think, given the fact that house prices have increased over that time period.

There’s a slightly different mood – largely one of cautious optimism - regarding commercial property investment trusts as well as certain Reits or real estate investment trusts, which recently celebrated their first anniversary. Several real estate market experts, commentators and analysts have pointed to the immense potential that trusts like Foreign and Colonial Property Trust harbor. It’s on a significant discount, yet its portfolio comprises noteworthy top-quality property located in central London. Even if the discount doesn’t narrow in the near short term, you’re still getting a yield of close to 6% while you wait.

Managing director of F&C (Property Asset Management) Paul Herrington has conceded that the market is ‘pretty horrible’, to put it in his own words, and that there’s sure a ‘bumpy road ahead’. However, he also reckons that the discount wouldn’t widen further very significantly. “I would be buying myself, he has been quoted as saying, if I carried any (spare) cash to put in it. It may seem like catching a falling knife, as they say, at the moment but then the best bargains are invariably to be found when hardly any one else is interested. Experts though caution against investing in trusts that carry rather high levels of ‘gearing’ - borrowing - or the ones, which are heavily invested in secondary assets.

The annual Mortgage Strategy Awards were held on the 5^th February 2008 at the plush Grosvenor House in London. Launched in September 2001 Mortgage Strategy is the only publication serving dedicated mortgage intermediaries and thus the event attracted many of the industry’s key players, including over 100 mortgage professionals and journalists.

Jimmy Carr hosted the awards evening which was a chance for the brightest stars in the mortgage industry to have their hard work recognised. The big winner was, Cobalt Capital, one of the UK’s leading independent mortgage brokers, arranging over £1.5 billion of lending annually. Cobalt Capital won Best London Mortgage Broker for the second year running.

Cobalt’s winning streak did not stop there. Andrew Montlake, a Cobalt partner, won one of the most coveted titles, ‘Mortgage Personality of the Year’.

The tranquil and picturesque Dorset village of Cerne Abbas is the one place where your car’s engine should not start misfiring. Your effort to call the RAC will be hampered by a lack of cell phone reception. However, the people of Cerne Abbas will give you a lot of moral support. According to a recent survey, village life is turning hot property and that at least 35 per cent of people would like to live in a village. And Cerne Abbas is definitely an option to consider by those who relish village life.

The recent Savills survey took into account aspects such as average property price compared with broader county and the home sales percentage topping the £500,000 mark apart from considering aspects like good schools, great houses, countryside, cute village greens, good pubs, etc. Cerne Abbas emerged the winner – taking the top spot as an ideal destination for city-dwellers seeking the true essence of village life.

Local agencies report quite a huge numbers of prospective buyers for each property that comes on the market. The reason for property buyer’s interest in Cerne Abbas is largely owing to its strikingly beautiful landscape, nurtured around a Benedictine abbey traced back to around the 10th century. A tour of the village unravels such rich historic architecture.

If eco-friendly way of life is what fascinates you, your interaction with Bob Tomlinson is a must. He is the person who has conceived the masterplan for a genuine eco-friendly housing colony on the site in Shropshire, just outside Bishop’s Castle. A majority of eco-developments, on close examination, turn to be nothing more than higher insulation levels than normal, a token cycle park and structures with concrete-riddled designs. However, concept of eco-thinking for Bob Tomlinson goes deeper than the mere inclusion of windmills and solar panels.

The Wintles design is a lovely combination of modern aesthetics and local vernacular. There’s something else unique about these eco-friendly homes. The lifeless lines of modern housing estates are absent. In place of them, one sees about a dozen houses of varying sizes and shapes clustered in a circle around a nice, little communal green. These are houses not made with glass, concrete and hi-tech steel, but with a more old-fashioned material - wood. Apart from selecting the right eco-friendly materials, Tomlinson has also attempted to infuse into The Wintles a sense of healthy community living. Effort has been made to build a real eco-village - true to the spirit of the concept.