Tag Archives: autumn
Rents in England and Wales fall for first time since March
Residential rents across England and Wales have fallen on a monthly basis for the first time since March, despite fresh records in three regions, according to the latest index. Average rents fell by 0.1% on a monthly basis, down from £804 in July to stand at an average of £803 in August, the data from the Your Move and Reeds Rains index shows. However, on an annual basis rents are now 5.5% higher than in August 2014, representing a slowdown since July when annual rent rises stood at an all-time record of 6.8%. ‘August has witnessed a break in a series of blistering rent rises. Yet this mild correction comes on the back of a whole year of acceleration. Rents are rising rapidly on an annual basis, underpinned by an improving economic picture for many potential tenants and the peak lettings season is only just about to start this autumn,’ said Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Reeds Rains and Your Move. ‘There is also no major change to the fundamentals of supply and demand. This means that in the longer term, faster rent rises may become a semi-permanent feature of the British property market. Alongside purchase prices, rents will continue to rise rapidly until something happens to address a drastic shortage of homes in the UK,’ he added. A regional breakdown show that despite a slower picture across the board, three individual regions of England and Wales saw rents hit fresh records in August. In the West Midlands average rents of £586 per month represent the highest levels on record, while rents in the East Midlands have set their own record at £596. As the third region to see record rents, the East of England has also overtaken London to see the fastest annual growth of 11.5%, ahead of 10.2% annual increases in the capital. This takes average rents in the East of England to £843 per month. Meanwhile, while relegated to second place in terms of annual rent rises, London’s tenants still pay by far the most in absolute terms, with average rents of £1,278 in August. Annual rent rises in the West and East Midlands were also particularly strong, standing at 4.6% and 5.9% respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, Welsh rents are 3.1% lower than a year ago and the only region to see an annual fall. This comes as Wales has also seen the most negative trend on a monthly basis, with rents in the principality dropping 4% since July. In total five out of 10 regions have seen rents fall on a monthly basis. After Wales this is led by the South East, with rents 1.4% lower than in July, and the North East with a 1.1% monthly decrease. In London rents have seen a rapid reversal with a 0.3% fall following a 3.3% increase over the previous month. Leading the field on a monthly basis, South Western rents rose 3.2% between July and August,… Continue reading
Lending for UK buyers sees growth, especially for first time buyers
House purchase lending in the UK increased by 9% in July compared to the same time last year with the economic outlook allowing more people to enter the property market, according to the latest data. The figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that first time buyers saw a month on month increase by volume and by value in activity compared to June and a year on year rise compared to July 2014. Home mover lending saw larger monthly and annual increases than first time buyers by volume and by value but home owner remortgage activity saw a slight dip month on month but substantial increases when compared to the same month in 2014. Buy to let continues to grow year on year and month on month, mainly driven by buy to let remortgage activity, the CML data also shows. ‘The market has shown steady growth in house purchase and buy-to-let over the past few months with general improvements in economic factors across the UK allowing for more people to enter the property market,’ said Paul Smee, director general of the CML. ‘This positive direction of travel going into the autumn months reinforces our recent revised forecasts that lending levels should continue to grow gradually over the rest of the year after a subdued beginning of the year,’ he added. House purchase lending in the UK saw its third consecutive month on month growth by volume and by value in July. This was also the second month that volumes and values increased compared to the same month in 2014. As previously reported, UK gross lending in July totalled £21.7 billion, up 8% on June and 12% up on July last year. Overall in July, the value of home owner loans for house purchase accounted for 56% of gross lending, while remortgage activity accounted for 24%. The rise in the number of loans for house purchase in July was driven by both first time buyers and home movers. However, the increase in volume and value terms for home movers was much stronger than for first time buyers. This was the highest monthly lending level by volume since November 2007, and by value the highest monthly level since October 2007. Nevertheless, first time buyers took up 45% of total house purchase lending, which continues to make up a larger proportion of activity than pre-crisis levels when it made up as little as 30% of the number of loans for house purchases. Buy to let as a proportion of total lending was 18% in July. It was the highest monthly first time buyer lending level by volume and value since August 2007. The proportion of first time buyer gross household monthly income in July to service the capital and interest rate payments of their mortgage rose slightly from 18.3% in June to 18.5%. This is still lower than in July 2014 when it was 19.5%, and much lower than… Continue reading
Annual house price growth varies across the UK, latest ONS index shows
Annual house price growth in the UK is going up and down according to region, varying between a fall of 0.6% to a rise of 9% year on year, according to the latest property index. Overall UK house prices increased by 5.7% in the year to June 2015, up from 5.6% in the year to May 2015, the data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows. A breakdown of the figures shows the strongest annual growth was in Northern Ireland at 9% while the weakest was on Scotland with a dip of 0.6%. In England growth was 6.1% and in Wales it was 0.8%. It is the first annual fall in prices in Scotland since September 2013, down from 2.2%, and prices were also down from 2.7% in Wales, and down from 11% in Northern Ireland while in England the annual rise was up from 5.8%. Annual house price increases in England were driven by a 9.2% increase in the East and a 7.7% increase in the South East. But excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 5.2% in the 12 months to June 2015. The ONS data also shows that on a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices increased by 0.4% between May and June 2015. In June 2015, prices paid by first time buyers were 5.1% higher on average than in June 2014 while for existing owners, prices increased by 6% for the same period. Peter Rollings, chief executive officer of Marsh & Parsons, pointed out that price rises in London continue to be overpowered by the East and South East for the moment. ‘Costlier property taxes at the highest rungs of the market have forced London off the boil, and dampened the appetite in the market momentarily,’ he said. But he pointed out that there are signs that London buyers are starting to take on board increased stamp duty costs, and during the second quarter of the year the firm saw buyer registrations increase by 17% up against a supply boost of just 10%. ‘This fundamental imbalance will ensure price growth simmers on into the autumn, and in the Prime market we’ve already seen property values start to solidify again, recording the first quarterly rise since September 2014,’ he added. Rob Weaver, director of property for residential investment platform Property Partner, believes that prices will keep going upward due to the imbalance in the market. ‘Demand continues to outstrip supply and this, with the odd blip or dip aside, can only mean one thing for property values,’ he said. He also pointed out that average price growth on new builds has been almost double that of pre-owned properties over the past year. ‘It’s a worry as this implies people are paying more of a premium on new builds, which could be a symptom of foreign investors tending to do less market research. It’s rather like buying a new car, once you put the keys in and drive… Continue reading
