NEW OPPORTUNITY FUND LAUNCHED FOR 2012 PROPERTY BOOM

"If this current slowdown is anything like the last one in 2001, the market will come back very quickly - quite possibly in spring 2009," Heaton says.

"Right now, buyers are hanging back to see where the market goes. When a trend becomes evident, it is usually too late to get in.

"Buying with maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratios of 65%, we aim to double our money during the life of the fund. We will be buying up to November, against little competition from other buyers."

Officially investors must find a minimum £50,000 - but they can put in £10,000 upwards, via a nominee trustee company - and be prepared to leave their money alone until shareholders decide to sell up or seven years have passed.

At that point the portfolio will be sold off and money returned to investors.

The fund produces no income, hopefully just a capital gain at the end. Many LCP investors put in cash as part of a personal pension fund and therefore regard it as a long-term investment.

LCP will target properties in Mayfair, Marylebone, Kensington, Knightsbridge, Chelsea, South Ken, Paddington and Bayswater. It expects investors to be tempted also by recent reductions in the level of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to 18%, which only clicks in when the annual personal allowance for capital gains is exceeded.

"We will focus on the one and two-bedroom flat sector which remains fairly robust," says Heaton. "Last year there was high rental inflation, and so far this year, we are seeing growth which exceeds that."

:: INFORMATION: LCP 0207 723 1733 and www.londoncentralportfolio.com.

HOME INFORMATION PACKS SHINE A SPOTLIGHT ON TOWN HALLS

On their first birthday this month (August), can anything be said in defence of Home Information Packs (HIPs) introduced by Government to speed the housebuying process and cut the risk of gazumping and abortive costs suffered by homebuyers?

Dominic Toller, marketing director of lms, an outsourced conveyancing specialist which claims to hold a sizeable stake of the HIPs market by working closely with big chains of agents and lenders requiring HIPs for remortgages, is naturally kinder about them than many others.

"From work by us and other firms compiling HIPs, a spotlight is shining on remarkable and unacceptable variations in quality of service offered by local town halls in handling standard search enquiries," he says.

"We have found that seven out of ten of the slowest councils for search turnaround times are in South-East England. This could have considerable implications for many owners when a healthier market eventually returns."

lms names Britain's slowest council as Hillingdon, West London, taking an average 17.33 working days to provide search data.

This is almost five times the time taken by the top ranked local authority, Crawley BC, which turns enquiries around in an average 3.56 days.

In June 2008, Hillingdon Council took 44 days - almost nine weeks - to compile the necessary data. Another 'slowcoach' is Hastings, which averaged 33 days per enquiry in May.

Nationally, the average search turnaround time is 7.04 days, over 10 days quicker than hapless Hillingdon.

Besides Hillingdon, the slowcoaches include Taunton Deane (15.02 days); Sedgemoor (14.49); Greenwich, South London Borough (12.93); Thanet (12.37); Gravesham (12.31) and Halton, in the North-West (12.24).

Fastest performers, after Crawley, include Wakefield (3.88); Kingston upon Hull (4.11); Calderdale Metropolitan (4.12); Bristol (4.13); Dudley (4.20) and Alnwick (4.23).

Toller denies HIPS have greatly increased the costs of moving - although they mean vendors now pay for things like searches which buyers paid for previously.

He also thinks the new housebuying system slowly evolving will eventually bring cheaper conveyancing, with Land Registry records increasingly accessible online; lms has a standard conveyancing fee of £299 plus VAT and disbursements, cheaper than many high street solicitors.

Toller thinks problems of HIPs so far have followed from Government failure to win the backing of key professional bodies - notably The Law Society, The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Several agents claim that only a small minority of buyers bother to read HIPs anyway.

Although Government is considering the addition to HIPs of a Property Questionnaire to be completed by vendors, Toller thinks only the Home Condition Report (HCR) - dropped amidst furious controversy by Government - can give HIPs much clout with potential buyers.

For the moment, they still get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPCs) - currently costing anything between £55 and £120 - on their potential next home. Prices of these have fallen because of an over-supply of qualified Energy Assessors.

Trevor Kent, Gerrards Cross, Bucks-based estate agent and a key figure in the anti-HIPs campaign, says he might have to agree with Toller "for the first time" in his attack on the inefficient town halls.

"The problem has certainly become more evident", says Kent. "We advised Government of this problem before the scheme was brought in, but of course they took no notice of us.

"This problem will become particularly serious from January 1, 2009, when all owners must have a HIP in their hands before agents are legally allowed to market a property.

"What will owners say in 2009 if they have to wait seven or eight weeks before they can put their home on sale?"

:: INFORMATION: lms accepts both business and private client enquiries on 0870 907 9400 and online at www.lms.com.

HOUSE PRICE CRASH HAS BROKEN ALL RECORDS

The great crash in house prices so far during 2008 is "unprecedented" with no sector of the market unscathed as it now hits the top end as sharply as the bottom.

That's the view of James Greenwood of Stacks Property Search & Acquisition, a property search agency with 17 offices which searches for homes from £250,000 upwards for those too busy or lazy to look for themselves.

Greenwood believes the crisis in the housing market is unparallelled because the drop in values - which would normally take two or three years to unfold in a stagnating market - has happened in barely six months.

He says patient negotiation easily wipes 25-30% off August 2007 price levels if owners are struggling to sell.

"The problem, which we are getting from our Cornwall office, is that vendors listen to agents and set asking prices to reflect the drop - only for buyers to demand another 20-30% off.

"If vendors had kept their price up, and then accepted the offer, a deal might have gone through."

Stacks heard this week of a country property in West Gloucestershire slashed from £960,000 to £650,000.

"It's a probate sale and has certain problems," says Greenwood. "Like many properties, it was hugely over-valued in 2007. But there were enough buyers in 2007 to support crazy over-valuations."

Here's where Greenwood reckons the worst pain is being suffered by vendors:

:: New homes: with one developer slashing prices by 40% overnight most developers are ready to offer "fantastic" deals to get rid of empty stock.

"Be prepared to walk away if the deal isn't good enough," says Greenwood. "There are plenty of alternatives."

:: Repossessions: mortgage companies hate holding onto homes they have acquired so "they are anxious to offload properties at almost any price."

Properties about to be repossessed are also sometimes offered at crazy prices because some vendors try anything to avoid the shame and trauma of repossessions.

:: Half-finished projects: when developers can't afford to finish the job there may be flexibility for new buyers to re-plan the project.

:: Holiday complexes: in South-West England, in particular, many owners have invested heavily in their main family home with three or four luxury cottages for self-catering holidays in the grounds.

"Despite the so-called boom in domestic holidays some owners aren't generating enough income to cover borrowing costs," says Greenwood.

"In some cases, owners have to sell at prices which don't match the total amount of money they have already put in. Painful for them, but good news for the next owner."

Greenwood thinks the market has ground to a halt because many potential buyers have decided to sit on the sidelines until they find a buyer for their own home.

"In this market, it's the wrong approach," he says. "Buyers should find the property they like, do the deal, and then see how much flexibility this allows in getting rid of their present home."

:: INFORMATION: Stacks Property Search & Acquisition (01594 842 880 and www.stacks.co.uk).