Rinoa Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Anecdotal from Manks over on TMF Had an interesting conversation this morning with an estate agent whose repossession stock is being snapped up by two organisations that are seemingly not particularly price conscious. It seems that the deals are being tied up via head office and the branches only advised after the event.I traced the name of one companies and it turns out to be a company called Illius. Which, it turns out, is a subsidiary of Britannia Building Society. So I gave them a call. The chap I spoke to was very helpful and he explained to me that they were exclusively buying repossessed property. I asked whether this was mainly ex local authority stock (because that is what most repos seem to be at present), and he said they were. They are buying them up, putting contractors in to refurbish them and letting them. They are also speaking to local authorities about long-term leases for for use as social housing. What I take from this is that Britannia's economists may believe that we are somewhere near the bottom of the market. Perhaps, also, they think it is a way of accessing public money via housing benefit claims - the places that they are buying will tend to attract HB customers. I also deduce that they view this as a long-term opportunity, because the cost of acquisition and refurbishment plus administration means that profit won't be immediate. I have to say that I was very surprised - shocked even - when I heard the above, especially given the type of property they are buying. But it's from the horse's mouth. If this becomes a large-scale operation, and / or it is being replicated by other organisations (and I have my suspicions that it is) this could have quite an impact upon the market. Interesting times. Manks Interesting times indeed. Make of it what you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moo Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 I wonder which lender they're (a subsidiary of the Britannia, not the Britannia itself) buying them off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMHAL Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Anecdotal from Manks over on TMFInteresting times indeed. Make of it what you will. In other news - icecream saleman eats all his own icecream and reports a roaring trade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuuzeme Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Had an interesting conversation this morning with an estate agent whose repossession stock is being snapped up "Snapped up" Estate Agent Tells you all you need to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairies Wear Boots Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Anecdotal from Manks over on TMFI also deduce that they view this as a long-term opportunity, because the cost of acquisition and refurbishment plus administration means that profit won't be immediate. More fools to the slaughter. In Jan 2007 95 percent of people thought that housing was a one way bet. They were all wrong. Now there are numpties thinking they're getting a bargain. They're wrong. And even if the market bottoms soon like you keep on banging on about, it certainly isn't going to be V shaped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 SO what they paying? Are they preventing their own customers LTV sinking by propping up the markets ... Britannia ? aint they owned by the co-op now? the ethical bank... maybe they're just the thic bank now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonoP Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 "Snapped up" Estate Agent Tells you all you need to know. Yeah, probably some vehicle Britannia have set up to try to disguise the losses they are making on their bad loans. They repo someone, and lo and behold ‘Illius’ comes along and buys the repo for 1% less than the mortgage amount, thus stopping Britannia having to write off the delta between the mortgage and the eventual auction sale amount...... Perfect timing, because there is a shortage of rental properties right now........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RufflesTheGuineaPig Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 SO what they paying? Are they preventing their own customers LTV sinking by propping up the markets ...Britannia ? aint they owned by the co-op now? the ethical bank... maybe they're just the thic bank now Agreed. More importantly, if prices fall, the value of the assets backing their loans falls and affcts their balance sheets. This cna't go on forever though... eventually as prices drop it will backfire. There is a huge mass of water building up behind the floodgates... all these litte deals and underhand coverups. The more they let it build up, the bigger the catastrophe will be when the gates break. Maybe they everyone is hoping that if the threat gets big enough they will get bailed out....somehow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrillsBears Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 (edited) Yeah, probably some vehicle Britannia have set up to try to disguise the losses they are making on their bad loans. They repo someone, and lo and behold ‘Illius’ comes along and buys the repo for 1% less than the mortgage amount, thus stopping Britannia having to write off the delta between the mortgage and the eventual auction sale amount......Perfect timing, because there is a shortage of rental properties right now........ Don't say delta you ****. It's brand new to management shit speak bingo. Just the deltas ya. ****** off you pretentious **** here endeth the rant Edited May 22, 2009 by GrillsBears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loginandtonic Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 are britannia downgraded in the fitch update? i think chelsea and some others are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porca misèria Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 (edited) Erm, a company as a subsidiary of a mutual, and buying property? Doesn't that ring alarm bells? If there's any truth in the story, the "britannia" in question is more likely to be this. [edit] Hmmm, HPC search is broken, and that link doesn't work. Here's another: http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/search.ph...ISO-8859-1#1001 Edited May 23, 2009 by niq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Nice Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 without knowing the prices paid, and the housing type, it would be a pretty bad idea to assume that it is anything other than a good deal for them. if their yield on the rent is good enough, there is no reason for them not to be doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Loo Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 didnt a Mr R Maxwell Pioneer the using of company funds ( well pensioners funds) to support prices..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingermany Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 I remember in the 1960s, there used to huge organizations called Housing Authorities, which owned large swathes of urban Britain and rented the housing on them to social tenants. These houses were referred to as council houses, and the Authorities that owned them were massive tax-payer funded social welfare providers. These Authorities were largely dismantled under the 1979 Conservative government. They are now back, and we are calling them "banks". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrat Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 If the Britannia Building Society is buying repos then it seems to be an incredibly risky strategy. Unless the Britannia has sufficient funding to cover any losses through default and the bottom of the housing is in then the Britannia is doing nothing more than doubling-up on a losing gamble. If it's an attempt to support house prices then the Britannia will find out that the truism 'You can't buck the market' is just that - true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonoP Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Don't say delta you ****.It's brand new to management shit speak bingo. Just the deltas ya. ****** off you pretentious **** here endeth the rant I have been working for a large American company for 9 years. The expression 'delta', used in the context of describing the difference between two amounts, has been in use as long as I have worked there. It seems that it is an expression that you have heard for the first time recently. Which makes you come across as rather slow and backwards. ****** off you retarded ********* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Volio Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 (edited) It's been used in maths & physics for generations. To be fair, it is usually considered a bit vvanky to drop it into normal conversation when you could just say "difference" edit: maybe physicists are just more reticent Edited May 23, 2009 by Mal Volio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emlyn Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 (edited) It's been used in maths & physics for generations. To be fair, it is usually considered a bit vvanky to drop it into normal conversation when you could just say "difference" Just to add that in "physics speak" its a logical term because a difference is described by the greek letter "delta" (like this: http://sub.allaboutcircuits.com/images/13027.png) Edited May 23, 2009 by Emlyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquid Goldfish Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 It's been used in maths & physics for generations. To be fair, it is usually considered a bit vvanky to drop it into normal conversation when you could just say "difference" edit: maybe physicists are just more reticent scientists say "difference" when they speak science the delta sign is only used as a written notation first time I've heard of it being used in management speak - complete nobsters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Tedious hit and run trolling bulls*** :angry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearback Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 I think letter k has been stolen from maths & science too, k being 1000. i.e "doctors earn 200k per year". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rinoa Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 You have chosen to ignore all posts from: Young Goat.· View this post · Un-ignore Young Goat adios Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 adios He thinks I care! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderpup Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Ok,now I'm confused. I thought the whole point of building societies was to allow other people to buy houses- not buy houses themselves. Talk about cutting out the middle man It's hard to escape the conclusion that all this clever engineering of the market place is going to make the whole thing worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.