James Caan launches Look4AProperty|Money to boost business for estate agents
One of the country’s leading entrepreneurs has launched a multi-million pound initiative to kick-start the housing market.
Dragon’s Den star, James Caan, famous for using his own money to give fledgling businesses a foothold onto the first rungs of commercial life, now wants to help ordinary people climb the property ladder.
Caan is backing an unprecedented package to take the pain out of buying and selling a home. The initiative will offer interest-free loans to cover unavoidable costs such as stamp duty and legal fees, which is a multi billion pound market.
Access to the loans will be through a network of carefully selected estate agents across the UK. Caan says the scheme is all about getting liquidity back into the property market.
“A healthy housing market is the lifeblood of the UK economy,” says Caan. “This country needs sound initiatives to get things moving again – so we have launched Look4AProperty|Money.”
James Caan and Aaron Turner
From now on, every home buyer in the UK is entitled to apply for an interest free loan (subject to status). All buyers need to do is to ask their local estate agent to arrange it for them as part of the offer they make on the property they wish to buy.
Loans can be spread over two or three years – interest free. Look4AProperty|Money will also offer a 10-month loan to cover the cost of a HIP*.
“This scheme gets rid of those financial obstacles which are holding up the housing market. This means that thousands of people who have been putting off moving or buying their first home can now climb up the property ladder without further delays,” says Caan.
Caan and his business partner in the venture, Aaron Turner, began negotiating for the initiative last year after Caan bought a 25 per cent stake in Turner’s online property portal, Look4AProperty.com.
According to Turner the stress of finding the money to pay stamp duty is a major reason why many people aren’t moving house.
“Because stamp duty must be paid by house buyers to HM Treasury on contract completion it cannot be bundled into a home loan,” says Turner.
“It is one expense too far for many people. This initiative is an excellent way to help people; it creates a comfort zone which gives them room to move.
“The benefits of this simple scheme are two-fold. Home buyers will have less pain and something to gain from not having to worry about finding the costs involved with moving.
“The interest free loan will allow people to use the cash they save to pay for vital items for their new homes – and that will help the struggling high street.” Read the rest of this entry »
