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Monday 31 August 2010STUDENTS BOOST VALUES IN UNI CITIES
The arrival of A' Level results marks the scramble to fill university places across the UK. While most first year students get ready to settle into halls, some freshers will join their second or third year counterparts in opting for privately owned housing, boosting the local market, according to new analysis from Lloyds TSB.
More than half (60%) of university towns across the UK have seen house price growth outperform the region in the past 5 years, with the biggest increases appearing in towns that have seen a real uplift in the number of students over the same time.
* Aberdeen - home to 29,300 students- saw a house price gain of almost 40%; compared to 14% price growth across Scotland. This is coupled with a 54% increase in the student population.
* The University of Ulster campus is responsible for a 30% growth in student population in Coleraine since 2005 and has recorded a price increase of 34%, ahead of the 24% for Northern Ireland.
* In Winchester, prices rose by 30% in comparison to 2.5% in the South East - as student numbers in the town were boosted by 78%. The average house price of £385,713 is 114% above the UK average of £180,501.
However, it's more of a mixed picture for some of the UK's largest University Towns, despite an increase in student population:
* Edinburgh, having the eighth largest student population in the UK, has seen house prices rise by 11% in the last five years, as student numbers rose by over a third to 55,195.
* London and Glasgow recorded price growth of just 5% since 2005, although the student population rose by 76% and 43% respectively.
* Student numbers have risen by 66% in Birmingham, but house prices are 3% lower than 5 years ago and just over 11% below the West Midlands average.
* Leeds, Manchester and Nottingham have all seen their student population rise by over a third, but only the West Yorkshire city has an average house price above that of the region.
Nitesh Patel, housing economist at Lloyds TSB commented: "Growing student numbers have had a big impact in boosting house prices in some university towns - where the increase in demand has led to the local market outperforming the rest of the region. However, it's a very mixed picture for some of UK's largest university towns that have seen student population increase significantly without impacting on house prices. In the past five years population across the university towns in UK has increased by nearly a million students. Naturally, this has boosted demand for property and land to provide suitable accommodation for students."
The Lloyds TSB University Town House Price Review, tracks house price movements in 70 university towns across the UK. The review is based on the Lloyds Banking Group housing statistics database, along with data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
Friday 13th August 2010
Transaction levels edged up 11% in July compared with the previous month, says the LSL/Acadametrics report this morning.
It said there were an estimated 72,100 transactions in the month, compared with 64,915 in June, and roughly double the number of house sales in January this year.
However, the figure is a very long way short of the 15-year July average of 104,362 transactions.
Of more concern, Acadametrics says that house sales for the period from January to July are an estimated 375,643.
That, too, is way below the long-term average for the same months of 608,301 house sales.
House prices, says the report, rose by just 0.1% in July.
The report claims the average house price is now £220,685 – a great deal higher than the figure the Land Registry, Nationwide and Halifax are all reporting.
Admitting to the mixed picture being painted by various ‘analysts’, Dr Peter Williams, chairman of Acadametrics, said: “We are clearly in a picture of considerable uncertainty and, at best, the market is likely to continue to remain close to flat. That said, there will be strong regional and local variations.
“There is little to suggest we will see any strong recovery in the market in 2010 or indeed into 2011.”
Thanks to Estate Agent Today
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August 12 2010
DEMAND DIPS IN JULY
Just when you wanted to enjoy the holiday period (as best as possible in the current financial climate) the sun goes in, the barbie gets rusty and the flowers in your tubs get soggy. And then along comes the RICS with their latest report which finds that July was the worst month for demand for property and house price falls.
In the July survey, eight per cent more surveyors reported a fall in house prices - the lowest reading in more than a year. In contrast, June saw eight per cent more surveyors reporting rising, not falling prices. Regionally, the only areas which continued to see material price rises in the past month were London and the North West.
Demand for property, measured by the net balance of new buyer enquiries, fell for the second month in a row, from -6 to -10. Difficulty in securing mortgages and increased uncertainty about the prospects for the economy may have contributed to caution from potential homebuyers.
The housing market is always a seesaw of supply and demand but it has been a while since the seesaw jerked up and down quite so violently. When we had HIPS, there were not enough properties on the market. Whether it was really the HIP that put people off selling is debatable, but the number of properties being put up for sale since the abolition of the HIP has risen significantly.
RICS says that “the number of new vendor instructions, which in effect measures the amount of properties coming to the market, increased. 33 per cent more surveyors reported a rise rather than fall in properties to their books, up from 28 per cent in June.
This is the highest reading since May 2007, the month before the initial planned introduction of HIPS. Since the abolition of HIPS in May this year, it appears some homeowners are now a little more willing to test the property market.
In keeping with the trend of increased supply to the market, the average number of properties on surveyors’ books also rose by 4.1 per cent from June, taking the average to 69.1. Meanwhile, the average number of sales per surveyor stayed flat, at 16.6 (down 0.1 per cent).
Looking forward, expectations for house price increases have also turned negative, with 28 per cent more surveyors expecting prices to fall over the coming months, up from six per cent in June.
But property people have learned to keep smiling in tough times. Sales expectations, say the RICS, remain positive, with eight per cent more surveyors expecting sales to rise rather than fall, although this is down from the previous month.
RICS spokesperson, Ian Perry, says “The fall in the RICS house price measure is broadly consistent with most other recent data that has been released. This is a reflection of both the increase in supply following the scrapping of HIPS and the more cautious stance from buyers.
Significantly, the forward looking price expectations numbers suggest that this softer trend will continue through the second half of the year. However, agents are still generally optimistic about sales activity which should benefit from more realistic pricing of properties.”
By the Royal Institute Of Chartered Surveyors
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August 2 2010
The £22 fee homebuyers must pay to find out about issues or restrictions that may affect a property is being abolished, the government has announced.
Until now, legislation stated that a £22 fixed fee should be charged for this information when an individual inspects the records in person. But the law is now being changed to stop people being charged in order to ensure compliance with European regulations relating to "environmental information". These state that checking this type of information in person should be free of charge.
A spokeswoman for the department said that while the law had not yet been amended, its advice to local authorities was that "this should be free from now".
She said there were 736,000 property transactions in England last year, and if this charge had not been in place homebuyers could have saved as much as £16.2m.
By: INEA
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July 28 2010
House prices in England and Wales are now at similar levels to those seen in the summer of 2006, according to the Land Registry.
However, property values crept up by just 0.1% from May to June, taking the average cost of a house to £166,072.
Prices were 8.4% higher than a year ago - the eighth consecutive month that there has been a year-on-year rise.
Various commentators have suggested that house prices are likely to remain relatively static in 2010.
The Land Registry's survey is widely regarded as the most authoritative, although it only covers England and Wales.
Regional breakdown
All regions of England and Wales have seen average property prices rise in the year to June, the Land Registry said.
The highest increase was in London - up 12.2% - with the smallest in the North East of England - up 0.7%.
However, the North East has seen typical house prices drop by 1.3% in the month from May to June. The highest month-on-month rise was in Wales, up 2.9%.
Over the last year, the value of semi-detached homes has accelerated faster than other types of property, up by 9.6%, ahead of detached homes, up 9%, and flats, up 8%.
The latest figures from HM Revenue and Customs show that the number of homes sold in the UK in June rose by 21% from May to 86,000. The sales figures were the highest this year and were up 15% on the same month last year.
A general rise in house prices, which started in the spring of 2009, seems to have reached a plateau this summer, according to the most recent surveys from the Nationwide building society and the Halifax bank.
Forecasts
Extra austerity measures could reduce people's confidence about buying homes, according to Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight.
"The only marginal house price rise in June reported by the Land Registry maintains our belief that house prices will fall back over the latter months of 2010 and very likely soften further in 2011," he said.
In real terms, house prices could fall by 8% from now to 2015, according to a report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).
"While we have assumed the housing market remains stable, there remains the risk that house prices in the UK could decline at a more rapid pace," the report said.
"By 2015, real house prices are expected to fall back only to the level of 2003."
A separate forecast published earlier this months by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers suggested that house prices might not reach the levels seen at the peak of the market for another decade.
By BBC Business News
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July 19 2010
In new data from Nationwide, London homebuyers are likely to pay a £20,000 premium for property 500m from nearest station (compared with a similar property 1,500m from station)
Its research shows the marginal impact on prices is greatest close to stations with average house prices highest around the Circle line.
Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: “London has an extensive network of underground and surface rail lines which form an important part of the city’s infrastructure. 34% of Londoners usually use either National Rail or London Underground services to travel to work, compared to 8% for Great Britain. Therefore, one might expect those buying property in the capital would prefer to live close to a tube or train station and be willing to pay a premium for this.
“Using the Nationwide House Price model we have assessed how property prices in the Greater London region vary in relation to the distance to the nearest tube or train station. We have isolated the specific impact this has over and above other property characteristics, such as property type, size and local neighbourhood type. Our figures suggest that a property located 500m from a station would attract a 7% price premium (approximately £20,300) over an otherwise identical property 1,500m from a station.”
By: Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist
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June 16 2010
GOOGLE SET TO ADDRESS THE UK PROPERTY MARKET
Search engine giant Google has today confirmed that residential property listings will be added to its Google maps service. The company claims that “hundreds of thousands” of homes are already being advertised for sale or rent on the Google maps service which is proving to be one of the more popular initiatives of late.
In a rather clever way, which does not alienate any area of the market, Google is allowing both estate agents and private sellers to gain access to Google maps at a price. All of the major property players appear to be in favour of the move and property experts Spicer Haart and Countrywide have been brought into the fold as expert advisers.
For many years there has been speculation that Google was looking to enter the UK property market although in such a way as to not alienate those already advertising with Google. By effectively partnering with some of the UK’s most prominent property sellers and rental agents, as well as offering the same service to the public, this will bring on board a number of very powerful and very prominent property experts. It will be interesting to see how this strategy develops in the future and what kind of income it attracts for the company.
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June 15 2010
Boot & Flogger, Southwark, SE1.
A favourite watering hole with South London estate agents & London property people, the Boot & Flogger was, until recently, the only hostelry in the UK that had the right to sell wine without having a licence, thanks to a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1567.
There's something pleasantly old-school about the place itself, from its dark wood paneling, little nooks and deep leather button-back wing chairs, to Peter, the pin-stripe suited manager behind the bar. It's part of the venerable wine bar chain set up by the Davy family, which has been trading in wine since 1870. The Boot first opened in 1964 and has the feel of a gentlemen's club, but without the stuffiness.
This is a place for settling back, relaxing and enjoying unsurprisingly top-notch wine, ports and champagnes. Service is charming and solicitous, and food also deserves a mention: reasonably priced and served until 7pm. Options run from olives to solid English fare such as potted shrimps, ham sandwiches or steak and chips.
But what of the name? The boot and flogger was a corking device comprised of a leather 'boot' that the bottle was placed in, with a wooden 'flogger' - a piece of flat wood - which was used to 'flog' the cork into the bottle.
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June 14 2010
London's house prices rising
According to the latest House Price Index from the Land Registry, all 10 regions in England and Wales experienced increases in their average property values over the last 12 months. The region with the highest annual price change is London with an increase of 14.8%.
The annual house price change in England and Wales has remained positive for six months in a row, with a movement of 8.5% in April. This is the highest annual change figure recorded since September 2007. A positive monthly figure of 0.2% increases the average property value to £165,596.
Sales volumes averaged 53,137 per month from November 2009 to February 2010. In comparison to this, during the same months the year before, the figure stood at 32,089.
The data for April shows a continued rise in the capital's annual house price change, with a movement of 14.8%. This is the seventh consecutive month in which annual change has been above zero.
While London's annual change mirrored that of England and Wales for quite some time, the capital's growth rate is now overtaking steadily. The monthly change in London is 1.6%, bringing its average property value to £341,487. In comparison to this is the average for England and Wales, which stands at £165,596.
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May 21 2010
HIPS SCRAPPED BY THE NEW GOVERNMENT !
Home owners no longer have to pay for a HIP when selling their property after the new coalition government scrapped the controversial packs.
Home Information Packs were introduced to speed up the house selling process by obliging sellers to provide certain information about their property when it is first put up for sale.
Ministers suggested the move would save consumers £870 million over the next 10 years as the packs are paid for sellers and cost several hundred pounds each.
Housing minister Grant Shapps said: “Home sellers will get immediate relief. It means they can put their house on the market without having to shell out thousands of pounds.”
Speculation has been rife about when exactly the packs would be scrapped and the government said it had moved quickly to make today’s announcement to avoid uncertainty and to prevent a slump in an already fragile housing market.
Housing experts welcomed the decision, saying it would help home owners and the housing market.
Kirstie Allsopp, the television presenter, said “Is absurd that there was ever this additional expense. I am thrilled to bits because it is really important to help people to sell their home quicker.”
Gillian Charlesworth, a director at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said: “HIPs have failed to address the significant problems in the home buying process they were originally supposed to tackle and we are pleased that one of the first acts of the new Government has been to clearly show their intention to abolish them. Taking a swift decision will have minimized the impact on the market and ensured that estate agents who stick to the rules will not lose out.”
However, the decision is unlikely to be popular with thousands of people who retrained as home inspectors to provide the packs as they are likely to lose their jobs once they are no longer compulsory.
Mike Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, said: “More than 3,000 jobs will go and 10,000 will be affected as a result of the suspension of HIPs.”
By: Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance Correspondent. Telegraph.
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May 14 2010
Knight Frank have published the following view on what the new Government means for the housing market....................
The new CGT rate for investors and second home owners - unhelpful for some and irrelevant for others.
The new Government said yesterday that it is looking to charge CGT at the same rate that people pay their normal Income Tax, so in most cases a rise from 18% to 40%.
This change will hit both second home owners and residential investors. The initial response from the industry has been to suggest there will be a mass sell off of investment and second homes.
This is unlikely. There will be some people who will look to dispose of assets sooner rather than later, to avoid the prospective tax. However most investors in residential property are in the market for the long term. With interest rates so low, rental yields have become a more important driver of demand rather than short term capital price growth.
For a large number of investors, the real attraction of property at the current time is that the alternatives look very unattractive – cash provides almost no return and equities are regarded with barely disguised mistrust.
For second homes there will undoubtedly be potential buyers who will think twice about their purchases. However nearly three-quarters of second home buyers purchase a second home with the intention of retiring to the property in the future (according to the Knight Frank survey of second home ownership intentions - April 2010). Therefore for the majority of buyers the CGT changes are an irrelevance.
No mansion tax – a welcome admission of reality
If ever there was a populist tax proposal designed for its political rather than tax revenue advantages – the Mansion Tax was it. The proposal is now safely in the bin.
HIP abolition needs to go further
The announcement that the HIP is to join the mansion tax proposal in the bin is to be welcomed – it will encourage more speculative vendors to come into the marketplace and save vendors a lot of wasted money.
The need to provide an EPC, which is an European Union requirement, will remain and is still hurdle to get properties to market. The objective must be to follow the French and the Portuguese and require an EPC only when terms have been agreed on a sales – not prior to marketing. Only if this happens will the full damaging legacy of HIPs have been removed.
Stamp Duty changes
The new £25,000 zero rate band of Stamp Duty is now likely to become a permanent feature, Alistair Darling had introduced it as a temporary two year measure in his final budget – the Conservatives are wedded to extending this measure indefinitely. The new 5% £1m+ rate will be likely to survive the first budget and will still be introduced in April next year, leading to a flurry of sales late this year and early in 2011.
Silence on the mortgage market
Nothing to date has been mentioned abut the need to encouraging the re-growth of the residential mortgage-backed securities and covered bond markets. Without this is will be very hard for the main mortgage lenders to repay the £314bn they owe to the Bank of England, under the Special Liquidity Scheme, and which they are due to start paying back from next year.
By Knight Frank
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May 14 2010
The estate agency market has been left in the dark about future housing policy by the newly-created coalition government, which in an agreement published May 12 issued a range of new policies lacking both detail and any reference to timing.
According to the agreement issued by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition party, led by the newly-appointed Prime Minister David Cameron (pictured), capital gains tax will be hiked in line with income tax, which many industry pundits believe spells disaster for the private-rented sector and property supply.
The agreement also pledges to retain Energy Performance Certificates, as required under European law, but to scrap Home Information Packs.
The pledge was revealed as one of a range of bullet points within the 11-section document under the heading ‘environment', which also includes low-carbon and eco-friendly pledges to help boost home energy improvements.
But detail was lacking on both the timing of the planned abolition of the packs, and on what vendors and agents are supposed to do in the meantime, which some critics fear will prompt a breach of the HIPs regulation, with properties being marketed without HIPs in place.
The coalition agreement has been published ahead of an announcement about the appointment of a new housing minister.
And there is no indication whether Grant Shapps and Sarah Teather, Conservative and Liberal Democrat shadow housing ministers respectively, were sole contenders for the position.
Meanwhile, Mike Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, refuses to believe that the statement sounds the death knell for HIPs.
He says: "There's nothing there that says the party is not going to consult on HIPs, which was the commitment that was given in the first place by Shapps.
"So this doesn't mean that if HIPs are scrapped there isn't a next stage of reform to be introduced."
He adds: "We're not rolling on our backs and saying ‘HIPS are gone, oh dear, woe is us.' There's a still a proper conversation to have with this new administration and we look forward to having that."
Ockenden claims that 3,000 jobs are under threat directly, and by extension up to another 10,000, if HIPs are scrapped.
Negotiator May 14 2010
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May 14 2010.
NEW GOVERNMENTS CGT PLANS
The newly-formed coalition government has proposed to hike capital gains tax. These are the implications.
What is the proposed capital gains tax change?
The coalition government is expected to set out plans for a rise in CGT on the sale of second homes, buy-to-let properties, shares and other investments. The CGT details will be included in an emergency budget where it is thought CGT will raise from 18% to 40% or even 50% in order to pay for the increase in the income tax threshold to £10,000.
Does the proposal simply mean that CGT will be moved in line with the current income tax bands?
That is the suggestion, but it has not been confirmed and it is possible that it will not be quite as high as 40%. We will find out the exact level during the Emergency Budget which will be called within 50 days of the agreement which works out as the end of June.
Is the CGT change definite?
The coalition government has confirmed a change to CGT will take place, but details as to how they will change it and the exact level has yet to be announced.
When is the change likely to take effect?
The new Chancellor is expected to set out plans for a rise in CGT at the start of the new tax year in April next year.
I'm a lettings agent. How will it impact me?
The change is expected to hit buy-to-let hard. It will cause pain to the housing market at exactly the time when more investors are badly needed to fill the demand for rental accommodation. The rise may also create a rush of property sales before it comes into play.
What about my BTL clients? What advice should I give them?
If looking at buying, a BTL client will need to factor in additional tax when considering the merits of making an investment. For those considering selling properties, it may be worth trying to do this before any new increases come in. That said, we need to see the detail of the proposals. At this stage, there is a degree of speculation as to what the exact changes will be.
Should professional landlords consider restructuring and/or reducing the size of their portfolios? Or should they wait for further detail from the government?
It is thought that any changes would take effect from April 2011. If that's the case, it is worth waiting to see the further detail. If it were to change on the date of the Emergency Budget though, action should be taken today. The key issue is when any changes will take effect, and that is down to speculation.
Is it really worth a landlord with one or just a few properties continuing to be a player in the private rented sector?
Yes, it is. However landlords need to consider the impact on post tax returns and evaluate these in accordance with other alternative investments. The proposed changes are likely to have the same impact on other proposed investments. This is unless they can fall to be treated as business assets although we have yet to see the definition of this.
Is there any chance there could be an alternative structure introduced, such as one based on taper relief as we have had before?
Anything is possible, and it is hoped that the government will bring in a form of taper relief or something similar.
How would that work in today's housing market, and specifically the BTL market?
If it was brought in, it is likely that the relief would increase the longer the property was held for. We have had tapering provisions in the past that encouraged longer term ownership, and so it is not inconceivable that they will introduce something along these lines.
By Clare Hartnell. Global head of property at Grant Thornton
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May 13th, 2010
Coalition Plan To Double Capital Gains Tax
Now the fuss has died down over the 'Cameron and Clegg Love-in' on the lawns of Downing Street, we've had chance to look through the coalition deal in greater detail. There's some encouraging ideas, from a higher threshold on income tax to the reduction in DNA retention. But buried halfway down the document is this concise but dangerous paragraph...
"We further agree to seek a detailed agreement on taxing non-business capital gains at rates similar or close to those applied to income, with generous exemptions for entrepreneurial business activities"
What this means in laymans terms is an increase in Capital Gains Tax on buy-to-let properties, from 18% to 40%. This aggressive act is going to hit the city centre property market particularly hard, where many vunerable buy-to-let investors hang onto their properties by the skin of their teeth. If the act takes over 50 days to come into affect, this could result in a flood of apartments coming onto the market as investors scramble to beat the impending rise. Could this Libdem/Tory initiative lead to a crash and the return of Boom and Bust?
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May 5 2010
THE HIP COULD BE REACHING THE END OF THE ROAD
As the opinion polls start to appear to be swinging towards a Conservative Party victory, it would appear that Gordon Browns reign is about to end.
Labour oversaw the introduction of Home Information Packs in August 2007 and with them - Energy Performance Certificates, created under the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
A sizeable industry has grown out of the requirement for HIPs and a cut throat market has brought about recent casualties like HIPHIPHooray and MySalePack.
The future for HIPs continues to look bleak unless Labour retain control.
The following extracts from both the Conservative manifesto and the Liberal Democrats will surely signal the end for Labour's unpopular attempt to re-invent the Home buying process
Abolish Labour's expensive and unnecessary Home Information Packs which increase the cost and hassle of selling homes. – Conservative Party Manifesto
Scrap Burdensome Home Information Packs, retaining the requirement for homes to have energy performance certificate.
Liberal Democrat Manifesto
As for Energy Performance Certificates – our friends in Europe will be responsible for ensuring that these remain a legal requirement for all properties bought, sold and rented.
RIP to the HIP & we can live with EPC's
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April 28th 2010
The new East London rail route will provide a major housing market boost that transcends the age-old north/south divide in the capital.
The long-awaited £1billion extension of the old East London Line opens up a brand new overground route between Dalston Junction in the North and West Croydon to the south of the capital, offering swift central London access from both sides of the river Thames.
Expected to service 100,000 commuters a day, the new line has the potential to dramatically transform the fortunes of homeowners along the twelve mile route.
A development like this will boost property price growth North and South of the river along the new route and provide a valuable tool for vendors to woo elusive buyers in the current competitive market. Landlords in the areas will also benefit from strengthening an increasingly robust lettings market, as greater accessibility opens up new parts of London to the rental market.
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April 21 2010
Nine Elms, Wandsworth.
Treasure Holding's Battersea Power Station development is now with the local council for approval, which, if given, will provide around 1,000,000 SqM of floor space for homes, shops, restaurants, pubs & bars.
The Garden at New Covent Garden Market have revealed plans for about 2,300 new homes....... more to follow on this one.
The developer, Ballymore has secured the sale of 5 acres for the new American Embassy and will build a mainly residential scheme on the remaining 13 acre site. Work is expected to begin in 2012.
Good news for rail travellers - the East London Line is to be extended to the Wandsworth Road by 2012 & there are plans to extend the Northern Line to Nine Elms & Battersea Power Station.
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Wednesday 21st April 2010
First-time buyer numbers at a 20 year low....
The number of first-time buyers in the UK property market hit a 20 year low in the year to February with just 347,000 new entrants to the property market. While this compares a little more favourably to the 331,374 a year earlier it is well below the figure of 700,000 back in 2004/05 and perfectly reflects the difficulties facing the UK property market.
There are also concerns that the UK government’s stamp duty holiday for properties valued at under £250,000 will have little impact in the short to medium term unless more financing is made available by the mortgage sector. When you consider that first-time buyers are the food and water of the UK property market it is difficult to see how we can expect a significant increase in activity and property prices in the short to medium term. So what is going wrong?
Aside from the lack of liquidity in the mortgage market, especially for first-time buyers, many mortgage lenders have also increased their deposit requirement which has effectively priced the vast majority of potential first-time buyers out of the market place. Until deposits are reduced, liquidity is increased and more promotions announced for first-time buyers we are unlikely to see a marked increase in the number of new entrants to the property market.
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April 13 2010
Poll suggests improved property market under Tories........................
Almost forty per cent of house hunters believe the property market will improve if the Conservatives win the General Election, a survey from FindaProperty.com has revealed.
FindaProperty.com, one of the UK’s leading property portals, surveyed 14,800 of its users on whether they felt the property market would improve, remain unchanged, or deteriorate given three different election outcomes.
If the Conservatives were to emerge victorious, 39% of house hunters say the market will improve, while a further 39% believe it will remain unchanged. Just one fifth (22%) think the market will deteriorate under a Conservative government.
In contrast, 14% of house hunters believe the market will improve following a Labour victory, with almost half (48%) saying it will remain unchanged and 38% feeling it will deteriorate.
A hung parliament is the most worrying scenario for house hunters. Less than one in ten (9%) feel the market will improve if no party wins an outright majority, with 43% believing it will deteriorate.
Despite the uncertainty around the outcome of the election, house hunters are not letting the impending election affect their decision to continue searching for a property. Eight in ten (83%) people searching for a property stated that they will continue their search despite the upcoming election and three quarters (74%) said that the election result would not stop them buying a property.
Nigel Lewis at FindaProperty.com, says:
“We’ve found that the election is unlikely to put people off their property search, but many home buyers have an opinion on what will happen to the market after the election.
“It seems the majority of house hunters believe the best thing for the property market would be a Conservative victory. Their policies on the deregulation of the market and ensuring only millionaires pay inheritance tax have really struck a chord with the voting public.
“Many polls are pointing towards a hung parliament though and that is worrying. House-hunters feel this would be the worst scenario for the property market as the parties battle it out to form a coalition, putting policies on hold while compromises are made.”
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April 5 2010
The Bank of England has released figures on lending to individuals in February 2010.
Total net lending to individuals rose by £2.1 billion in February. The twelve-month growth rate increased by 0.9%. The three-month annualised growth rate was 1.5%, a 0.2% increase on January.
Within the total, net lending secured on dwellings (mortgages) increased by £1.6 billion, above the January increase of £1.5 billion and the previous six-month average of £1.4 billion. The twelve-month growth rate was unchanged, at 1.0%. The three-month annualised growth rate was also unchanged, at 1.4%.
However, the number of loan approvals for house purchase (47,094) was lower than the January figure (48,099) and below the previous six-month average (55,130).
Approvals for remortgaging (27,297) were higher than in January and also higher than the previous six-month average, while approvals for other purposes (25,017) were higher than in January but still below the previous six-month average.
Consumer credit increased by £0.5 billion, above the previous six‑month average of a net repayment of £0.1 billion, and also above January's net increase of £0.3 billion. Credit card lending increased by £0.4 billion and other loans and advances increased by £0.2 billion. The annual growth rate of consumer credit increased by 0.3 percentage points to 0.2% and the three-month annualised growth rate increased by 1.4 percentage points to 2.1%.
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March 29th 2010
Nine regions in England and Wales experienced increases in their average property values over the last 12 months. The region with the highest annual price change is London with an increase of 11.9 per cent. The region with the most significant annual price fall was the North East with a movement of -2.3 per cent.
The North West experienced the greatest monthly rise with a movement of 3.6 per cent. Wales was the region with the most significant monthly price fall with a movement of -2.4 per cent.
The most up-to-date figures available show that during December 2009, the number of completed house sales in England and Wales rose by 89 per cent to 73,889 from 39,138 in December 2008.
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March 29th 2010
Students are paying 22 per cent more for their accommodation this year than in 2006-7, according to a new survey of providers carried out by the National Union of Students (NUS) and Unipol Student Homes.
This rise comes despite the fact that student support has increased only to account for inflation, yet the rental rise is 13 per cent above inflation over this period.
Student housing charity Unipol and NUS expressed concern at ever increasing rents with fewer property types being available for rent. The report calls for universities and private providers to ensure that affordability and choice are reflected in the development of accommodation.
Wes Streeting, NUS President said:
"Students are already graduating with tens of thousands of pounds of debt, and soaring accommodation costs will only make the situation worse. With graduate job prospects at an all time low, things are looking very bleak for many students."
"It is remarkable that, despite the fact that students are already incurring huge costs in order to obtain a degree, some vice chancellors and private providers think it is acceptable to both argue for higher tuition fees and slam students with excessive rent prices. Students simply cannot afford to be hit with this double whammy."
Martin Blakey, Chief Executive of Unipol said:
"Just as property prices could not go on rising forever, there is a point at which these kind of rent rises must slow and we are now seeing this in 2010. Whilst high quality student accommodation is to be welcomed, it is of concern that lower priced accommodation is no longer available.
"Educational institutions must make sure that they maintain a range of accommodation types at a price that all of their students can afford."
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March 24. 2010
As expected, Alistair Darling has raised the Stamp Duty threshold for first-time buyers to £250,000. The change will kick in at midnight tonight and will last for this year and next.
The Chancellor said that it would mean that nine in ten first-time buyers would not have to pay the tax.
The lifting of the threshold will be financed by a raising of the rate payable on properties over £1m, to 5%.
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February 26. 2010
The Rental Market improves........
For the past 18 months or so, Landlords have been weathering the economic storm while rents and property values dipped, but it looks like the situation may be easing now as “accidental landlords” exit the buy-to-let scene, & the market is no longer awash with a surplus of properties to rent.
If this reduction in supply continues, landlords may see a further recovery in rental values over the coming year."
• Following two months of declining values, asking rents increased by 1.2% in February to £814pcm from £804pcm in January
• Average rental values are now 1.9% (£16pcm) lower than a year ago (£830pcm)
• Properties let within 59 days in February - a week longer than last month
• The supply of properties available to rent fell by 3.6% to the lowest level since November 2008
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February 4 2010
Registry reveals 24% increase in sales.
The number of properties sold in England and Wales between July and October 2009 averaged 58,000, according to the Land Registry.
This is 24% up on the 46,655 transactions recorded for the same period in 2008. The number of sales of properties across England and Wales priced over £1m increased 55% from 323 to 500 during the year to October 2009, but the highest level of activity was seen in the £800,001 to £1m property price band, with transactions up 72% from 242 to 416.
Meanwhile in London, the number of properties priced over £1m increased by 86% from 155 to 288, according to the Land Registry’s latest statistics, out today [January 29].
In terms of prices, the average price of property across England and Wales increased by 0.1% during December and 2.5% during the previous year to £161,783, which is the eighth month in a row in which the monthly change has been above zero.
Seven regions in England and Wales experienced increases in their average property values over the last 12 months, with London having experienced the highest annual price change of 6.1% to £324,352 while the North East and West Midlands experienced the greatest monthly rises of 1.9%. Wales experienced the highest monthly and annual price falls of 2% and 2.5% respectively.
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February 2 2010.
New restrictions planned for HMOs.......
Housing and Planning Minister John Healey announced new local powers to control the spread of high concentrations of shared rented homes and to tackle pockets of unsafe and substandard accommodation run by bad landlords.
In a nutshell....... The Minister said that he would legislate so the new rules would come into force by April this year. The changes mean that landlords will need to apply for planning permission in order to establish a new HMO with a change of use, for example when the use of a property is altered from a family home to a shared house, with three or more tenants who are not related.
Mr Healey confirmed new powers for local councils to manage the unplanned spread of Houses in Multiple Occupation (or an HMO) in towns and cities. The cluster of too many shared houses can sometimes cause problems, especially if too many properties in one area are let to short term residents with little stake in the local community. Tenants can also suffer from poor conditions and management of the properties by landlords.
A Government consultation on how to tackle this long-standing issue closed last year. It attracted around 900 responses, published today, from local authorities, residents associations, universities, individuals, MPs, councillors, and campaign groups. The large majority of those who responded supported a change to the so-called Use Classes Order, which defines how a property can be legally used, and the introduction of a definition of what constitutes a HMO.
Mr Healey responded to the consultation by confirming changes to the planning rules, giving local authorities the powers to manage the development of HMOs in their area, in turn helping stem the growth of large pockets of shared homes - which can change the balance and nature of communities.
The Minister also published plans for councils, giving them extra flexibility to license landlords, requiring safe and quality rented accommodation in neighbourhoods where large numbers of substandard properties can be a magnet for community problems.
In a consultation published today, John Healey proposes to give a general consent for councils to introduce licensing schemes, without seeking permission from central Government, in hotspot areas where landlords do not maintain or manage their properties properly. A general consent would ensure that decisions on the quality of rented homes are made by those who are aware of the local issues and needs of the community. In the future, tenants will see improved standards and councils will be better able to deal with the worst landlords that drag down the neighbourhood.
Mr Healey also confirmed that detailed work is now underway for a new National Landlords Register, to help raise standards of private rented accommodation further. For the first time it will give landlords and tenants easy access to clear advice and support. It will also be the way in which landlords and tenants can be kept informed of basic rights and responsibilities.
John Healey, said:
"Today I am giving councils more local powers to crack down on the worst landlords and stop the spread of high concentrations of shared homes where it causes problems for other residents or changes the character of a neighbourhood.
"Private landlords play a big part in meeting the housing needs of millions so I want to raise the standards and stamp out the worst landlords that drag down the reputation of the rest. Councils know their communities and are best placed to help tenants facing landlords who rent unsafe or substandard accommodation and take little responsibility for the problems caused for neighbours.
"It's also right that tenants have the information they need about potential landlords, and know what to do when things go wrong. The new National Landlords Register I will set up will give them access to this important advice.
"Everyone deserves a decent and safe place to live and these measures aim to improve standards of the private rented sector at a time when more people look to rent as their first option in the housing market."
Many towns and cities across the country have suffered the effects of a concentration of HMOs. Market, coastal and university towns have reported problems due to large student populations and HMOs, meaning shops, businesses and pubs simply close down creating 'ghost neighbourhoods'.
The consultation identified the problems linked with high concentrations of HMOs and looked at ways of dealing with the difficulties. John Healey today confirmed that new local powers will be in place by April this year. The changes will include a specific definition of an HMO and a general consent for councils to set up local landlord licensing schemes.
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February 2 2010
Hundreds of never-lived-in new apartments — all failed completions in the same Docklands development — are to be sold at 40 per cent less than their original owners paid for them two years ago, says David Spittles
From £160,000: Indescon Court, a new apartment complex only five-minutes’ walk from the Canary Wharf business district
Galliard Homes’s February “liquidation stock sale” is at Indescon Court, a new apartment complex only five-minutes’ walk from the Canary Wharf business district. Prices start at £160,000.
Many of the original buyers were buy-to-let investors who have been unable to secure mortgages on the properties and have therefore defaulted.
“This is no gimmick,” says Galliard’s Madeleine Flower. “We need to sell quickly to keep our bank happy.”
Galliard conducted a similar “fire sale” of flats at a block in Poplar in the summer of 2009. Then, a queue of 500 people clamoured to buy a property, enticed by adverts claiming discounts of up to 50 per cent below original contract prices. Two-thirds of the flats were purchased by owner-occupiers.
“The reduced prices at Indescon Court represent a big saving, and are probably the lowest the Canary Wharf area has seen for a decade,” she adds. “This could be the last opportunity to buy at the bottom of the market.”
On average, the revised prices equate to about £500 per sq ft. At the peak of the boom in 2006, values in this part of Docklands reached nearly £1,000 per sq ft.
Would-be buyers will be able to view the finished flats at Indescon Court
Would-be buyers will be able to view the finished flats and exchange contracts by paying £1,000 on the day and committing to pay the full 10 per cent deposit within 21 days. Galliard says both the new price and the “previously exchanged price” will be displayed on the door of flats for sale. Original prices can be authenticated by on-site lawyers.
Underground parking spaces are available by separate negotiation. Call 020 7620 1500 or visit www.galliardhomes.com.
A second phase of Indescon Court, yet to be built, will bring the total number of apartments to 364.
By: Homes & Property
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February 1 2010
New purchases by Daily Mail's Digital group
Fresh from its purchase of a 50% stake in Globrix, the Daily Mail’s Digital Property Group has bought Dothomes.co.uk and Extate.co.uk
It is understood that both had been on the market for some time. Originally launched as Google-style search engines, they apparently failed to make the impact expected. They were acquired by Digital from BytePlay, which says it will relaunch in the UK the first of the property mapping offerings – OnOneMap.
All traffic to both dothomes and extate has been redirected to FindaProperty.
Both FindaProperty and Digital’s other main site, Primelocation, have registered record daily visitor traffic levels in January.
On January 18, FindaProperty received just short of 215,000 unique visitors, 11,400 more than its previous best in August 2009. The following day, Primelocation achieved its best 24 hours to date by attracting over 168,000 unique visitors.
Both sets of data are, however, easily outstripped by Rightmove, which claims that it broke the million visitor mark on a single day this time a week ago, on January 25.
By Estate Agent Today
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February 1 2010
Listings continue to shrink, says worried Hometrack
House prices are up across only 7% of the country, with sales agreed down 4.2% in January, and listings down by 1.3%, compared with December. There was also a 2.2% drop in new applicants with time on market increasing to 8.6 weeks from 8.3.
Hometrack reported this morning that the only areas where house prices have risen are in London, the South-East and South-West.
Richard Donnell, Hometrack’s director of research, said the continuing decline in stock was of concern and that the housing market had got off to a sluggish start in the new year.
He said there was a skew in transactions towards higher-value properties in better-off areas. He said over 10m households had little or no need of a mortgage and, against a backdrop of low supply and limited funding, buyers from this affluent group had fuelled price rises in affluent areas last year.
He warned: “This has led to the general health of the housing market being over-stated. The market bounce-back of 2009 was distinctly one-dimensional and the outlook for 2010 is less certain.”
By Estate Agent Today
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January 29 2010
This could be the best time to sell your house
The housing market faces its worst shortage in living memory: with 1,500 buyers chasing 150 properties in some areas.
Bea Piazza is an estate agent and she can’t find a house to buy. She wants a little two-bedroom Victorian cottage in Weybridge and has been looking since last August. She has sold her own property and moved in with family while she waits. Her funding is in place and she is ready to go — but where to? In six months of searching she has found only six properties to view, and none to buy.
The shortage of houses for sale is the worst in recent memory. “I am in lettings but I know all the sales agents and they are saying they have nothing to sell. People are just holding back on putting their houses up for sale,” Bea says. Estate agents Jackson-Stops & Staff, for whom she works, say that of their queue of buyers, 41 per cent are in an equally strong position — renting, cash-in-hand, or with nothing to sell. “The lack of choice leaves them having to renew their tenancy agreements, which removes them from the market for another six months,” says Susie Hall at the firm’s Weybridge office.
By: Caroline McGhie .The Telegraph
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Jaunuary 29 2010
London is still a top performer.
While the capital’s Prime property markets have not been immune to a seasonal cooling-off of prices due to lower levels of activity from domestic buyers, they were still among the top performing regions for annual growth in January. Prime and Prime Platinum property recorded price increases of 5.3% and 8.6% respectively.
North West London was the best Prime performer over the course of the month. Prices in the region were driven up by a drop in the number of new properties coming onto the market during a period of sustained demand. The region also experienced the lowest annual
growth in stock at 1.4% - an increase almost 15% less than that of the next closest London region.
By TDPG Reasearch
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January 29 2010
TV'S Fame Academy mansion is set to become the world's most expensive house, with a price tag of £150million.
The sprawling estate in north London has been snapped up by a developer who plans to restore it to its former glory.
And he wants to smash the world record by putting it on the market for a fortune.
But anyone who fancies buying it would need to keep up mortgage repayments of £1m a MONTH.
The 25-bedroom property, known as Witanhurst, is a Grade II listed building and housed the contestants of BBC1's Fame Academy.
Set in 5.5 acres, it was also used for filming dramas Tipping The Velvet, Nicholas Nickleby and Dead Gorgeous.
The house is the largest private residence in London after Buckingham Palace but the interior has deteriorated over time.
Article by INEA
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January 21 2010
Digital Property Group will run Globrix.
It appears The Digital Property Group is to take control of the management of Globrix following the acquisition of a 50% stake in the portal by TDPG’s parent company, Associated Northcliffe Digital.
The deal should boost TDPG’s unique visitor traffic to 2.5 million, which compares with Rightmove’s 2.9 million visitors, strengthening TDPG’s position as the second most popular property portal in the UK based on comScore statistics.
This comes just two months after Globrix management, including chief executive Daniel Lee, undertook a management buy-out of the business, ending its partnership with News International.
The chief executive officer of TDPG, insists that Globrix will remain as a free-to-list portal.
By: The Negotiator Magazine
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January 19 2010
Bank of England keeps Bank Rate at 0.5%
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases totalling £200 billion financed by the issuance of central bank reserves.
The Committee expects the announced programme to take another month to complete. The scale of the programme will be kept under review.
The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 20 January.
The previous change in Bank Rate was a reduction of 0.5 percentage points to 0.5% on 5 March 2009. A programme of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves was initiated on 5 March 2009. The most recent change in the size of that programme was an increase of £25 billion to a total of £200 billion on 5 November 2009.
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January 18 2010
Prime London market grows for 3rd consecutive quarter
The bounce back in the prime central London property market continued for the third consecutive quarter, showing gains of 4.6% in the last three months of 2009.
This brings annual growth to 8.8% in the whole of 2009 and the total bounce since the bottom of the market (March 2009) to 13.4%, according to the latest analysis from Savills Research. This leaves the prime central London markets just 13% away from their peak levels of 2007.
"Prospects for the London market in 2010 look much better than for the rest of the country," according to Yolande Barnes, head of residential research at Savills.
"But we still foresee a weakening of house price growth, even in prime markets, to result in a flattening of growth with a marginal -1% fall by the year end," she said. "This has been made more likely by the signals given in the chancellor’s pre-budget report that remuneration for City high flyers will be curbed. This is likely to reduce both the amount of bonus money available and going into the prime central London property market."
For those with lump sums to invest in the prime central London property market, average gross rental income yields of 4.6% on flats and 3.9% on houses, could look a lot better than interest paid on deposit accounts at present, especially as rents are now growing again at an annualised rate of about 5%.
While Savills believes that medium and long-term capital growth prospects are good, stock selection is key as there are likely to be wide discrepancies between the performance of different locations and different types of property.
Looking back over the past decade, this was certainly the case. The average growth in value of a prime central London property between December 1999 and December 2009 was 83.4% according to the Savills prime central London index. "But behind this figure are some big variations – both in the volatility of growth since the credit crunch and between different places," Barnes said.
These variations mean that someone investing in central South West (Chelsea, Knightsbridge, South Kensington) flats in 1999 would have seen growth in the value of their portfolio of just 40% while, if they had put their money into flats in the central West markets (Kensington, Holland Park, Notting Hill) they would have seen 96% growth.
By putting their money in houses rather than flats, they would have seen capital appreciation of 128% and 115% respectively - in the same locations.
Generally, the higher the growth seen in a sub-market during the boom years, the harder the falls in 2008 were. The subsequent bounce-back has been much more pronounced in the market for houses than the market for flats – with the exception of flats in the prime South-West suburbs of Clapham, Wandsworth, Putney, Wimbledon and Richmond, which, being cheaper, more accessible and readily lettable to the mid-market, appear to be favoured by investors at present.
"The differing fortunes of places and property types have to do with both property and neighbourhood types and the people who buy into them," Barnes said.
"Places that became more fashionable over the decade, like Notting Hill, for example, fared very well but other locations and property types escaped the limelight."
Some of the highest growth seen in the decade has been in markets favoured by those working in the financial services sector. The markets in Kensington, Holland Park and Notting Hill, serviced by the Central line with its links directly into the heart of the City, were particularly popular with those with wealth made in the financial markets. Houses in these locations saw the second highest growth of the decade.
At the same time, those with families increasingly favoured the South West suburbs also known as "Nappy Valley", where the value growth of houses has been the third greatest of all the sub-markets studied.
By Mike Jones, Propertytalk
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January 17 2010
London villages: Bow
City folk are discovering the well-connected East End enclave....
Bow, London E3, has been “the next big thing” for several years, and has attracted its share of eminent residents, including the Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle. But it has somehow failed to achieve quite the status of neighbouring Victoria Park, a West London-type enclave in Hackney, or Bethnal Green, which has great transport and is close to Brick Lane, East London’s hippest quarter. The reason for Bow’s inability to achieve A-list village status is perhaps its proximity to the stark vistas of Olympic Park in Stratford. But this could yet become its key advantage.
What are the properties like?
Bow Road splits the area into two. The southern part, towards the Thames, is decidedly grittier but there are lots of new developments, such as Caspian Wharf near Devons Road on the Docklands Light Railway. Studios start at £169,950.
The principal attractions of the northern section are the townhouses in the conservation area between Mile End Road and Roman Road. Georgian Tredegar Square has the best houses, starting at £900,000 for four bedrooms and a garden; but these do not often come on to the market. Tredegar Square’s similarity to the squares of Notting Hill has been noted by film-makers; scenes from the BBC Two drama The Line of Beauty were shot there. Bow Quarter, a modern development in the northern section, is a popular conversion of the Bryant & May match factory, where female workers staged a strike in 1888 in a defining moment of labour relations history. One-bedroom flats start at £225,000.
Anywhere to go out?
Roman Road has a market and pie-and-mash shops. The Morgan Arms, a pricey but fabulous gastropub on the corner of Morgan Street and Coburn Road, won an award for London’s pub of the year in 2005. The Palm Tree is a traditional pub where the clientele get up to sing cabaret-style (Bill Murray was won over by its charms when working in London on the animated film Fantastic Mr Fox). There are darts and quiz nights at the Coborn Arms, another East End local. Many residents head to Bethnal Green, Canary Wharf and Victoria Park, where Lauriston Road offers bars and restaurants such as the Fish House and the Empress of India.
Good transport links?
Probably Bow’s best asset. Bow Road Tube is on the District and Hammersmith and City lines; Bow Church DLR is near by. Mile End Tube is impeccably connected — it’s on three Tube lines and the trip to Bank on the Central Line takes seven minutes.
How about green spaces?
Victoria Park is huge, and charming, with the added bonus of a lake and music festivals in the summer. Regent’s Canal towpath is popular for walks and bike rides, to Canary Wharf in one direction and Broadway Market and Islington in the other.
Are there good schools?
Clara Grant primary and Old Palace primary are rated as great by the Good Schools Guide. Morpeth school is a good co-ed in nearby Bethnal Green. City of London School for Boys and City of London School for Girls are both independent.
Do you feel safe?
Bow was once proper East End gangster territory (the notorious Kray twins owned a club here) and it still feels — and looks — dodgy in parts. But locals say that street crime is rare.
So is it a good investment?
Richard Everitt, of Winkworth’s Bow office, says that the area could be the greatest beneficiary of the Olympics as it is “ideally positioned” between Stratford, Docklands and the City. “As soon as the economy recovers, I suspect house prices, and the gentrification of Bow, will quickly follow.”
By Francesca Steele Times on Line
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January 17 2010
Has the housing market caught a cold?
For the next few weeks, a simple question will dominate in the housing market — is it the beginning of a new slowdown in prices, or just seasonal?
Given that many people couldn’t get out of their own drives, let alone into somebody else’s, it is not a surprise that the housing market has not really got started this year.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) thinks seasonal factors explain the modest slowdown in its latest survey. The proportion of surveyors reporting a rise in house prices minus those reporting falls slipped to 30% last month, from 35% in November, with most of the strength in London, the southeast, the southwest and East Anglia, but prices falling in the north and the Midlands.
Other measures in the survey were weaker, with buyer inquiries, sales expectations and the ratio of sales to stocks all slipping back, even before the snow came.
Yet Jeremy Leaf, of Rics, cautions against reading too much into this. “The recent loss of momentum in prices can in part be attributed to the housing market pulling down its shutters for Christmas,” he said. “It is likely that the new year will see more interest and activity in the market, as those who held back start to market their property with renewed optimism.”
Will it? The seasonal adjustments Rics appplies should take care of the Christmas holiday period. January is a different matter: the exceptionally bad weather means much of the month will be a write-off, worse than the statisticians will have allowed for.
Beyond this month, it is a question of momentum. Official figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government suggest that house prices had plenty going into the worst of the winter, jumping by 1.7% in November and rising by 0.6% over 12 months, the first such increase since mid-2008.
Nothing material has changed in the past couple of months, but estate agents are entitled to be a little more nervous than for a while. The snows will go, but will the buyers be back?
- The continuing fall in borrowing costs means people moving house needed 10.6% of gross income to cover their mortgage interest payments in November, the lowest since mid-1996, the Council of Mortgage Lenders says. The debt burden on first-time buyers has shrunk to its smallest since May 2004.
By David Smith. Times
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January 16 2010
Property the popular home for new wealth
Prime London property is set for a boost as City bankers hunt down investment opportunities for their bonus payments.
Estate agents say the number of applicants for expensive homes in London has increased by a fifth in the past few months and is set to rise further as bonus decisions are formally announced.
Payouts are expected to be significantly higher than last year, although estate agents say many buyers are playing safe and waiting for confirmation of the sum before committing to a deal.
Nevertheless, Knight Frank has reported a 23 per cent increase in applicants in the last quarter.
"Judging from the calls that we started to get as soon as we got back [after Christmas] the bonus buyer is back and will have a positive effect on house prices," says Tim Wright, head of Knight Frank's Kensington office.
Property prices have already rebounded strongly in prime areas, and are even exceeding previous peak levels in some pockets of the markets.
"Not surprisingly, perhaps, in terms of employer, it would seem that JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs lead the way," adds Mr Wright, "although some still do not know exactly how much they will be getting and are therefore not able to give us clarity on exactly what their budget is likely to be."
Also, some buyers may be constrained by the amount of cash they will receive, as banks are likely to pay a greater proportion of bonuses in shares.
Mortgage brokers are gearing up to offer buyers bespoke solutions, including using share options as collateral for loans.
Paul Welch, managing director of Largemortgageloans.com, says private banks tend to be willing to structure mortgages based on equity, although these are done on an individual basis and only for the "right sort of client".
Much of the interest from buyers is coming from people who want to buy a more impressive main residence rather than add another home to their portfolio.
Lindsay Cuthill, head of Savills' Fulham office, reports that buyers looking to exchange a home worth £2m for one with a £3.5m price tag are "quite typical". "Another buyer described himself as not being in the 'big bonus category' but expects to be able to upgrade from £1.2m to £1.75m," he says.
Charles McDowell, a buying agent, has already received a number of "serious approaches" from City buyers. "It would seem that upgrading your own home would be a good way of achieving a capital gain as well as minimising your tax exposure."
However some buyers may be disappointed.
"The problem will be supply," says Mr McDowell. "The year has got off to a slow start in terms of new properties coming to the market".
By:Sharlene Goff and Daniel Thomas . FT
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January 16 2010
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January 16 2010.
UK homeowners 'considering move to rental market.
Landlords and letting agents have been told that many property owners in the UK are now considering selling off their homes and moving into rented accomodation.
According to research carried out by professional advice website Unbiased.co.uk, around 1.75 million British householders are thinking about making such a move.
The survey also found that current tenants living in privately rented properties appear to have little desire to purchase their own home, with only 13 per cent saying they had not been put off buying by the slump in housing prices over the past two years.
Karen Barrett, chief executive of Unbiased.co.uk, said: "While there are mixed messages as to whether house prices are now starting to rise again, it is clear that the property market crash has had a profound effect on the way people view their homes."
A recent survey of buy-to-let landlords also revealed that confidence is growing about the state of the private rented sector.
The Young Index survey stated that 99 per cent of investors plan to hold on to their current assets until at least the end of 2010, reported E1 News.
By Rentman
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January 16. 2010
Landlords can expect more renters to come into market.......
Landlords can expect to see increasing demand for rented accommodation in the next few years, a new government report indicates.
The Department for Communities and Local Government's Survey of English Housing says there has been nearly a three per cent drop in owner-occupied homes since 2003, reports the Financial Times.
Housing minister John Healey said there could be a shift in attitudes with Britons happier to rent rather than buy.
Mr Healey said, in a speech to the Fabian Society: "Some [people] point to the recession having shaken people's desire to invest in bricks and mortar. But in reality home ownership has been dropping since 2005. And I'm not sure that's such a bad thing."
The UK could move to a more European model of housing with renting more common than ownership in the future, Mr Healey added.
One in ten tenants no longer seek the status symbol of owning their own home, research by professional services advice website Unbiased.co.uk said last week.
By Rentman.
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January 15 2010
Landlord Buy To Let show at London Olympia March 5-6 2010
Book now for 2010's premier landlord event
With private rented sector legislation constantly changing, the Landlord & Buy-to-Let Show - coming to London Olympia on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th March 2010 - brings you everything you need to stay one step ahead in 2010.
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Jan 15 2010
Jeremy Hewitt
The London Property Partnership is a highly communicative partnership of leading and respected independent, London estate agents working together to deliver unrivalled results for all their clients.
As members of this exclusive partnership, together with their individual combination of local knowledge and entrepreneurial flair, they are able to offer a highly personal service in the fast moving London property market and also ensure their clients property have maximum exposure to the market by working together.
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Jan 15 2010
News from hfslondon.com
Aside from their Homestay services for internationals, HFS London operates a finding service for UK university students in London. Contact them to run through your requirements in detail in person. If they do not have what you are looking for on their lettings register, they will find it for you.
This is a free service for UK students- they do not charge to find the property, nor for their advice.
By Jeremy Hewitt
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Jan 15 2010
London boosted by active occupiers
A flurry of major office lettings in the last three months have boosted London’s office market according to new figures from Cushman & Wakefield.
In its latest stats it found 41% of the year’s total take-up of office space of 6.4m sq ft took place in the last quarter as corporates have moved to secure deals believing rents to have bottomed out. The take-up of 2.6msq ft is the highest quarterly figure since the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Rents stabilised at their lowest point in the cycle in Q4 with prices on prime space – the Benchmark for the market – standing at £75.00/sq ft in the West End. In the City market the first rental growth in 3 years has been recorded with prime rents rising 3.5% to £44.00/sq ft up from £42.50/sq ft. This first sign of rental growth going into 2010 provides a boost for landlords and developers and means tenants have a narrowing window of opportunity to secure space at some of the lowest prime rents in a decade. With confidence returning, tenants can also expect to see less generous incentive packages from landlords.
Key deals which happened at year end included law firms Clyde & Co taking 145,000 sq ft at St Botolphs, EC3, and Pinsent Masons taking 189,000 sq ft at Crown Place, EC2. A number of other large transactions failed to make the year end cut-off meaning there should be a reasonable start to 2010.
Central London available space currently stands at 20m sq ft which equates to an overall vacancy rate of 8.5%. Market dynamics, however, are fundamentally more solid today than in the last recession, when the peak vacancy rate was approaching 17%; in part due to a much smaller speculative construction pipeline today but also because occupiers have been less inclined to release surplus space back onto the market compared to the early 1990s.
Speculative development activity has fallen markedly and as at year end just 5m sq ft is under construction. This is down by 42% compared with 12 months ago. The majority of this space is due on stream in the first six months of 2010 after which supply will start to diminish placing rents under pressure.
James Young, head of Cushman’s City office, said: "Undoubtedly 2009 was a challenging year for the office markets in London. We turned the corner in the third quarter, however, as take-up of space started to increase and in the 4th quarter we have seen a number of major transactions that have boosted the annual take-up to a respectable level. With rents on prime City space now showing growth, 2010 will be a time for occupiers to secure terms for their future business before the onset of a shortage of new space drives terms further in landlords' favour.”
By Laura Chesters. Propertyweek.com
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Friday 8th January 2010
Foxtons is taken over by banks
Controversial agents Foxtons has been taken over by its lenders – an American bank and a Japanese bank.
The development is part of an emergency refinancing and follows one of the private equity industry’s most ill-timed deals – and the estate agency industry’s best-timed one.
Jon Hunt, who founded Foxtons, sold the business at the top of the property market to private equity firm BC Partners for £360m in May 2007 – shortly before the market crashed.
BC has spent much of the last year attempting to renegotiate the massive loans it took out to fund its takeover deal, having admitted that it made a wrong judgement call.
Bank of America and Mizuho have now struck a deal to reduce the debt from about £300m to £120m in return for them becoming the majority shareholders.
Hunt has also written off a loan that he made to the firm, ending his association with the company he founded in 1981.
Foxtons management led by chief executive Michael Brown will receive a minority stake of as much as 20% depending on whether performance targets are hit.
BC will inject less than £50m of fresh equity, retaining its status as the biggest minority shareholder.
Foxtons have greeted the deal as a “capital reorganization” which delivers “a sound balance sheet to complement Foxtons’ strong trading performance and supports the company in continuing to build its position as London’s leading estate agency”.
Brown said: “Despite the credit crunch and recession, the strength of Foxtons brand and business model, and the quality of our people, mean we have continued trading profitably.
“Our strengths and future potential lie behind the capital reorganisation, and we are delighted we will continue to have the support of BC Partners and our banks going forward. We continue to face the future with considerable confidence.”
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Monday 4th January 2010
Bankruptcy threat for hundreds as developers sue failed buyers.
Cash-strapped buyers and buy-to-let investors who walked away from off-plan deals in trendy apartment blocks face being prosecuted by the developers.
Some – including first-time buyers – could now face bankruptcy, following a test case where the developer won £133,282.
Some would-be purchasers reneged on deals, preferring to lose their deposits rather than complete purchases in a falling market.
But a large number were unable to complete their deals, with lenders pulling the plug as prices of such homes plunged 40%.
The High Court test case at Bristol was won by Prestige Homes South West, which won damages after an investor pulled out of the purchase of two apartments at the Zero 4 development in Plymouth.
The investor was one of 30 people who paid deposits for flats at Zero 4 but then backed out of the deals.
Some have since come to an agreement with the developers, but Prestige Homes is taking a further eight investors to court next month.
Prestige Homes finance director Matthew Hockin said the company would never have started the 54-flat development had it not secured deposits beforehand.
It has been unable to sell all but 18 of the flats and has had to let them out instead. However, it is understood nine units still remain empty.
The Prestige Homes case is likely to unleash a flood of others. In London alone, 300 cases are in the pipeline.
Among the developers reported to have filed claims are Ballymore, which has lodged more than 130 claims, Trelford Homes, which has filed 50, and Imagine Homes which issued 40 before it went into administration.
But some purchasers are putting up a fight. One group has formed the Berkeley Homes Collective. They say they are private purchasers only, and that they have turned away investors. On their website they say that they were ‘mugged by slick sales staff’.
They claim Berkeley Homes used “high-pressure sales techniques, recommending customers use Berkeley’s preferred solicitors, presenting purchasers with lists of valuations supposedly carried out by Countrywide, Colleys and the other major surveying firms which miraculously matched the sales list”.
The 90 ‘verified’ members of the collective walked away from deals at Caspian Wharf, Royal Arsenal and Chelsea Bridge Wharf.
The collective’s claims are denied by Berkeley Homes, which says it is trying to reach agreement with the buyers.
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December 3 2009
Google considers plans for British property portal
Google is considering plans to launch an online property portal in Britain which experts say could threaten existing websites and listings in local newspapers.
The US search engine giant is reportedly in talks with British estate agents about the project which could take a similar format to a service it provides in Australia.
The Australian version, launched last August, allows estate agents to list properties free of charge along with pictures taken from its Street View service and details on a map.
Estate agents and property websites expect Google to launch a similar portal in Britain in early 2010, attracting substantial advertising revenue, the Financial Times reported.
Ed Mead, commercial director at Douglas & Gordon, the estate agency, said that it had spoken to Google about the plans. He told the FT: "It looks very simple. If it stays free, then Google has a massive winner on its hands as it will get the backing from estate agents currently paying for rival sites."
Jonathan Cunliffe of Savills, another agency, said: "The interesting thing will be to see how and if they charge for content; that is where the battle between the portals might begin."
Rightmove, the brand leader, which charges estate agents £325 per month on average, said that the service would not necessarily represent a threat to its dominance.
Early signs suggest that Australian estate agents have not abandoned advertising on existing websites following the Google property portal’s launch there.
Ed Williams, managing director of Rightmove, said: "We provide visibility of brand and logo. Agents are spending money on raising brand awareness, not getting more properties online."
Douglas McCabe, of Enders Analysis, said: "This sounds like a serious problem for Rightmove and others like them, depending on the model Google uses, but eventually it will affect everyone and newspapers will suffer another chapter in the story of consumers being more and more aware of alternatives to their classified advertising."
Local newspaper property advertising fell by as much as 65 per cent in the last year in the face of the recession.
By Telegraph....http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/6715970/Google-considers-plans-for-British-property-portal.html
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