Tag Archives: cities
Report identifies 18 areas in the UK with new home development opportunities
There are 18 areas in the UK where economic fundamentals suggest there are good opportunities for developers at a time when the government wants to build more homes than ever. An analysis from international real estate firm Knight Frank and planning consultancy Barton Willmore names them as Leeds, Manchester, York, Durham, Birmingham, Nottingham, Warwick, Leicester, Brentwood, South Cambridgeshire, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, Exeter, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Guildford, Reigate and Banstead and Tunbridge Wells. Factors examined included economic growth, employment growth, stock to sales ratios, affordability and liveability. These rankings were then placed alongside the latest conditions in the local planning environment as well as local knowledge, to highlight areas which suggest there is the possibility for outperformance for developers, not only in terms of pricing but also market absorption. Justin Gaze, joint head of residential development at Knight Frank, said developer interest is now much wider than just London. ‘Increasingly, our clients are looking at regional cities and districts for future potential and the report demonstrates from an economic and planning perspective where these development opportunities are likely to be,’ he explained. According to Iain Painting, planning partner at Barton Willmore, these opportunity areas are aligned with the increased emphasis on urbanisation, focusing on many of England’s key cities, but also demonstrate that development opportunities are not purely based in the South East. In the North of England it is Manchester and Leeds that are expected to be among the areas which will experience the strongest rates of household growth over the next 10 years, while York scores particularly highly on liveability rankings. The report suggests that the green belt will pose constraints for developers in and around Durham and York but at the same time, there is a need for more site identification, as these two areas do not yet have a five year land supply. York boasts policies to boost housing supply as it has been identified as one of the first Housing Zones in England. Meanwhile, Leeds plays host to an Enterprise Zone and the North East Combined Authority, of which Durham is one of the constituent boroughs, has also bid for 175 hectares of Enterprise Zone over 10 sites. The report points out that this new combined authority has just been granted extended powers over housing. Of the four Development Opportunity areas, only Leeds has an approved local plan and as policymakers push ahead with the ‘Northern Powerhouse’, especially the transport infrastructure to support this, the opportunities in the North of England will widen, it adds. The report explains that not only does Birmingham have an Enterprise Zone, but also a planning department committed to large scale regeneration of many parts of the city. Nottingham is also an Enterprise Zone area and has a local plan and five year land supply in place. ‘However, our data shows that the current pipeline supply of schemes in this local authority may fall short of household growth projections,’ the… Continue reading
House prices growth in UK cities on track for 10% growth in 2015
City level house price inflation in the UK is on track for 10% growth in 2015 as price increases accelerates in large regional cities, according to a new index report. Cities have seen annual house price growth of 9.4% per annum and the large regional cities outside southern England are recording an acceleration in growth off a low base, says the Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index. In Glasgow prices are up 8.3%, in Manchester up 7% and in Liverpool up 5.1%, meaning that these cities are registering the highest rates of annual house price growth since 2007. Glasgow house prices currently average £110,000, less than half the £229,300 average price across all the 20 cities measured by the index. House prices in Glasgow stopped falling three years ago and have since risen by 13%. In the last 12 months they are up by 8.3%, the highest rate of growth since August 2007. Manchester house prices have been recovering since 2012 and average house prices have risen by 17% over this time to £141,200. In the last 12 months house prices across Manchester have grown by 7%, the highest rate of growth since July 2007. Liverpool has registered the weakest house price performance of all the British cities covered by the index. House prices declined between 2007 and early 2013 and have since increased by 10.5%. In the last 12 months the rate of growth has risen to 5.1%, the highest since August 2007. Despite this modest recovery, the average price of £109,800 is still 13% lower than the 2007 peak. The recovery emerging in large regional cities contrasts strongly with the rise of London’s house prices where average values are up by 70% since 2009 and by over 100% in the highest value markets in central London. The report says that it is these high value markets that are now recording some of the weakest levels of house price growth as tax and currency changes impact demand after a period of stellar price appreciation. Kensington and Chelsea has seen prices fall by 2.6% and in the City of Westminster they are up by only 1.3%. ‘Improving consumer confidence and low mortgage rates are boosting demand in cities where the recovery in house prices is in its infancy. While southern cities have been in recovery mode for over six years with price gains of up to 70%, the large regional cities have seen far more modest price rises over just the last three years,’ said Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack. ‘Further house price growth is likely to improve market confidence as it pushes down loan to values on mortgaged homes and creates capacity for households to access cheaper credit. Many corporate investors and developers are looking to the major regional cities in search of better value for money in new investments relative to London,’ he explained. ‘The outlook for the next 12 to 18 months… Continue reading
Residential rents in Australian capital cities up 0.1% month on month
Residential rents across Australian capital cities were virtually unchanged in October, down by 0.1% over the previous month, according to the latest index data. Rents were lower in four of the eight capital cities covered by the CoreLogic RP Data rental review report and the annual rate of change increased slightly from 0.5% in September to 0.6% in October. There is an ongoing softening in the rental market, according to CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher, who said that with just two months remaining to the end of the year it seems that rental growth will be very soft over 2015 as a whole. ‘The construction boom across the capital cities, coupled with slowing population growth, low mortgage rates and the recent heightened level of activity from investors are the major contributing factors to the slowing rental growth,’ he explained. He pointed out that Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have continued to record rental rises over the last year however, each city is seeing a slowing in the pace of rental growth relative to 12 months ago. 'Clearly, the increase in investment stock is providing landlords with little scope to lift rental rates while the low mortgage rate environment provides little incentive to push yields higher,’ Kusher said. A breakdown of the data shows that rental rates were $483 per week and they have increased by just 0.2% over the first 10 months of the year while they have risen by 0.6% over the past 12 months. Only Sydney and Melbourne have recorded rental increases greater than 2% over the year. Rents have fallen over the year in Perth and Darwin, while the remaining capitals have seen rents rise by less than 2% over the year. It is anticipated that the rate of rental growth will continue to slow over the coming months due to increased supply of housing and rental stock and slower migration rates. Looking across the individual capital cities, over the past year, Sydney and Melbourne have recorded the greatest increases in weekly rents. Over the past month, weekly rents have moved lower across every capital city except Sydney, Hobart and Canberra where they rose and in Melbourne where they were unchanged. Over the past three months rents are lower in all capital cities except for Sydney and Melbourne. Continue reading
