Your need-to-know news and numbers: July 2024.

The general election is upon us, and with manifesto madness and policy preoccupation, it wouldn’t be a surprise if some of June’s news and numbers passed you by.

Well, luckily we’ve always got a finger on the pulse. So we’re here to share a handful of curated headlines to keep you up to date on some of the alternative (i.e. non-election) property finance stories from the last month.

£2.4 trillion

Steve Holden, host on LBC News, spoke to Chris Baguley (Group Channel Development Director at Together) about the state of small business finance in the UK.

Discussed as part of the interview, revealing new research shed light on small and medium enterprise (SME) growth ambitions - with 65% of SMEs saying they’re eager to invest at least £100,000 into their individual businesses over the next two years. That’s an estimated £2.4 trillion.

However, a lack of credit availability is hindering progress, potentially causing a knock on effect for the wider economy.

• Read the full story in The Intermediary here.

11x

According to a recent report by the National Audit Office, the rate of heat pump installations would need to accelerate 11-fold to reach targets of 600,000 homes by 2028. When surveyed, almost a third of heat pump installers said a shortage of skilled staff is adding a barrier to progress. The drive to retrofit homes with eco-friendly futureproofing renovations is often a trending topic in press, and in the property market. Together recently announced a partnership with Improveasy, a market leader in green home improvement, to help property owners have more awareness and control over how their bills, property value and carbon footprint can be impacted by eco-friendly renovation.

2 in 5

… UK adults feel unsafe in their local city, due to the volume of abandoned buildings. That’s according to our research featured in The Express. The hidden gems campaign, fronted by Lucy Alexander from Homes Under the Hammer looks at the 1.55 million empty homes in the UK, and how the right investment could mean there’s money, and history, to be made.

Half a day

Air fryer or home loan… which is the more considered purchase?

Well, new research featured on This is Money shows that it takes homeowners more time to pick a coffee machine or an air fryer than a mortgage. On average, it takes less than half a day browsing mortgage options before selecting a deal.

31%

… that’s the percentage of home sellers who experienced gazumping in the last six months of 2023, says the House Buyer Bureau in the Metro. With gazumping and gazundering occurring regularly, it’s no surprise there are many stories of buyers and sellers who have fallen victim. One case included in the article describes an offer being slashed by £30,000 the day before contracts were due to exchange.

100+

With Together announced as a new partner, Commercial property finance marketplace Brickflow’s lender panel has now expanded to over 100 lenders. Tanya Elmaz, our Director of Intermediary Sales, said, “At Together, our vision is to provide fast, flexible finance, which perfectly aligns with Brickflow’s mission. We’re thrilled to partner with a company that shares this commitment to streamlining the CRE finance process.”

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