Tag Archives: construction
More people in UK want to buy a home but are concerned about rising prices
More people dream of becoming home owners in the UK with new research showing 73% aspire to owning a property, up from 65% four years ago. However some 78% of aspiring home owners are concerned about the availability and quality of homes, up 6% from last year, and house prices, the ability to get on the property ladder and saving for a deposit continue to top the nation’s list of housing concerns Overall the 2016 home owner survey conducted by YouGov for the HomeOwners Alliance and BLP Insurance suggests that the housing crisis is deepening as concerns mount about the availability and quality of homes. While the desire to own is rising, the ability of first time buyers to get on the housing ladder and saving for a deposit remains the top concerns nationally, at 82% and 80% respectively. On top of this, the proportion of aspiring homeowners who say that the availability of housing is a serious problem has increased to 78%, up from 72% last year. Aspiring home owners are also increasingly concerned about the quality of housing, with 60% saying it is a serious problem. The survey shows that the housing crisis is most acute in the capital, as Londoners head to the polls to elect a new mayor. However, there is a noticeable drop in concern about the rates of stamp duty, in the wake of the government’s reforms of the stamp duty system. Concern about negative equity has slumped among the UK overall to 44% from 64% two years ago, as house prices have continued to rise. ‘Despite government initiatives aimed at helping home owners, the housing crisis is deepening across the country, with ever more non-home owners wanting their own home, and ever greater concern about the lack of housing,’ said Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance. ‘Many government policies have boosted demand for homes, but what this survey shows is that the real problem is the desperate shortage of houses. Until the government tackles the fundamental issue that we just don’t have enough good quality homes, the housing crisis will continue to deepen and a generation will continue to have their dreams of homeownership crushed,’ she added. According to Kim Vernau, chief executive of BLP Insurance, the current situation is a critical juncture for the construction industry and housing market. ‘The government urgently needs to speed up the delivery of new homes for aspiring first time buyers. Tenures of all types are required across the country and affordable housing and social housing should also be a priority,’ he said. ‘Balancing these competing demands is a challenging task, particularly given the shortage of labour skills that we are currently witnessing in the construction industry. This is likely to get worse in the absence of key initiatives to help address this critical issue and the new Housing and Planning Bill and threat of… Continue reading
UK housing market grew at an accelerated rate, latest housing market bulletin shows
Average house prices are continuing to grow in the UK and at an accelerating rate with the South East, the East of England and London seeing the strongest growth, according to the latest Housing Market Bulletin. The report, published by the Homes and Communities Agency using data from house prices indices, lenders and construction companies, shows that residential sales surged forward strongly in March. It also shows that gross mortgage lending continues to see robust growth with levels over one third higher than a year ago and private sector house building investment continues to increase, but public sector investment has stalled. The value of Greenfield residential development land is slipping, but urban land is increasing. A breakdown of the figures shows that there were 141,310 residential property transactions in England in March 2016, which is 80.6% higher than one year earlier. It says that this sharp uptick could have been the result of by buy to let buyers having brought forward purchases in order to avoid increased Stamp Duty tax liabilities from April. There were a total of 1,135,830 transactions in England in the year to the end of March 2016. This is 9.9% higher than in the previous 12 months. Aside from this the spike in the data in March, the seasonally adjusted monthly total has been moving strongly upwards for the past year. The total stock of property for sale remains historically low. In England and Wales overall, the number of properties entering the market was down 6% in March compared to a year before and the supply shortage is most keenly felt in the West Midlands and the South West regions where, respectively, 12% and 11% less stock was registered for sale with estate agents compared to March 2015. Greater London was the only English region with increased numbers of homes coming to the market, up 6% on the same month in 2015. Gross mortgage lending reached an estimated £25.7 billion in March. This is 59% higher than March 2015 and gross mortgage lending for the first quarter of this year was an estimated £62.1bn, which is 39% higher than the first three months of 2015. There were a total of over 23.5 million dwellings in England in 2015, which is 704,000 or 3.1% more than in 2010. The number of private sector homes had increased by 649,000 or 3.5%, and there were over 209,000 or 9.3% more private registered provider homes. But the number of Local Authority owned homes fell by nearly 143,000 or 8% over the same period. The Output in the Construction Industry indices show the total value of new housing development in Great Britain is unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to the same quarter in 2014. The trend in the private sector has been of sustained steady increase over at least three years. The public new housing sector enjoyed expansion during 2013 and most of 2014 but then had four quarters of shrinking… Continue reading
Initial planning permission for new homes in England rise steeply
Initial planning permission for 255,032 new homes was granted in England in 2015, up 57% from a low point of 162,204 in 2009, according to the latest pipeline report. Permissions granted in the fourth quarter of 2015 were up 13% on the same quarter in 2014, to 74,759, as developers submitted more applications to ensure they can continue to deliver further increases in supply. The report from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and Glenigan also shows that permissions have risen steadily every year since 2009, with actual housing supply also increasingly markedly over the past two years as more of the permissions are progressed to the point that infrastructure work can start and house builders can begin building new dwellings Over 180,000 new homes were added to the housing stock in 2014/2015, up 22% on the previous year as house builders increased output in response to the rise in demand for new homes. However, many of the permissions counted in the report still have many hurdles to cross, the report points out as builders and developers navigate the complexities of the planning system before actual building work can get underway, for example discharging planning conditions. The industry continues to urge Government to streamline the planning process and ensure local authorities have the capacity to deal with the volume of applications now being processed so builders can get on to more sites more quickly. The figures though are a strong indicator of future supply, and suggest that housing completions will continue to rise as these permissions are turned into implementable permission and are the sites built out over the coming years. ‘The number of planning applications now being submitted demonstrates the commitment of the industry to deliver further increases in housing supply,’ said Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the HBF. ‘The past two years have seen huge increases in house building levels. Whilst the increase in the number of permissions is welcome, and a strong indicator of future supply, many still have to navigate the complexities of the planning system,’ he explained. ‘This is a further sign that house builders continue to step up investment in future housing supply but we need to see these permissions being processed to the stage where we can get onto site and start building more quickly and really start to meet demand for housing,’ he added. According to Allan Wilén, economics director and head of business market intelligence at Glenigan, the strong rise in planning approvals during the closing months of 2015 was driven by an increase in the number of private housing units approved, bodes well for house building activity during the current year. ‘The expanded development pipeline will help housebuilders to meet any strengthening in demand from house buyers. Furthermore the rise marked rise in approvals in the Midlands and North of England last year demonstrates that the recovery in housing market activity is becoming more established across the country,’ he added. Proposals announced earlier this year by the… Continue reading
