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Almost half of home owners in London putting selling plans on hold due to EU vote
Almost half of home owners in London intend to put any plans they have to buy or sell on hold under after the referendum in June on the future of the UK in the European Union. A survey has found that 47% will not get involved until after the vote and Bishop’s move, which commissioned the poll, believes that uncertainty over the outcome of the EU referendum is likely to slow London’s housing market in the coming months. In the poll 20% of Londoners said whether the UK stays or leaves the EU would not play any part in their decision to put their house on the market, and a further 32% said they weren’t sure. But 30% of home owners in London also believe that leaving the EU would actually strengthen the value of their home compared to 13% who believe that leaving the EU will not have an impact at all on the value of their home. Just13% in the neighbouring South East region said that an ‘out’ vote would add value to their property. The survey also discovered a significant proportion of younger generations would prefer to wait for the outcome of the EU vote. Some 46% of those aged 16 to 24 and 43% of those aged 24 to 35 said they intend to wait for the outcome of the vote compared to 16% of those aged between 45 to 54 and just 9% of those aged 55 and above. With almost half of London home owners willing to wait until after the EU referendum, in contrast just 11% in the East of England, 14% in the North East, and 15% in Yorkshire and the Humber claimed that they would prefer to wait until after the EU referendum to sell their property. ‘This paints a picture of the both the attitude towards the EU referendum amongst London homeowners and also their approach towards the price of property in the capital. It’s actually a very similar situation we found in Scotland during its 2014 independence referendum,’ said Chris Marshall, sales and marketing director at Bishop’s Move. ‘Significant policy decisions can severely impact the UK housing market and our own research last year also found almost a quarter of those looking to buy and sell a property delayed their move by one to four months in order to wait for the outcome of the General Election,’ he pointed out. ‘However, whilst these results point to a slowdown in the build-up to June, we fully anticipate business to resume as usual, particularly when the school holidays arrive and everyone wants to get their moves completed during the break,’ he added. Continue reading
Property prices in England and Wales up over 7% year on year
Residential property prices in England and Wales increased by 2.5% in January and are not 7.1% higher than a year ago, the latest index shows. This takes the average house price in England and Wales to £191,812 but the average price in London is much higher at £530,409, according to the data from the Land Registry. The house price index also shows that the number of property transactions has decreased over the last year. From August 2014 to November 2014 there was an average of 81,656 sales per month. In the same months a year later the figure was 78,652. The January data for London shows a monthly increase of 2.8% and year on year growth of 13.9% the North East saw the smallest annual price increase of 0.2% while Wales recorded the greatest monthly price rise of 3.7% and the North East also saw the most significant monthly price decrease with a fall of 1.6%. Within London the borough with the highest annual price rise was Hillingdon with a ise of 15.5% and Hillingdon also experienced the highest monthly price increase at 2.4%. Camden saw the smallest annual increase of 3% and Camden and Islington both recorded the only monthly fall, each seeing prices down by 0.4%. The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in November 2015 increased by 14% to 1,091 from 953 in November 2014. The number of properties sold in London for over £1 million in November 2015 increased by 9% to 657 from 601 in November 2014. In the months August 2015 to November 2015, repossession volumes averaged 409 per month. This is a fall compared to the same period a year earlier, when volumes averaged 801 per month and the report says that repossession volumes appear to be exhibiting a downward trend. The region with the greatest fall in repossession sales was the South West with a decrease of 78% from November 2014. All regions experienced a decrease in the number of repossession sales in November when compared with the same period a year earlier. Continue reading
Rental prices in UK up by 2.6% in last 12 months
Private rental prices paid by tenants in the UK rose by 2.6% in the 12 months to January 2016, up from 2.5% in the year to December 2015, the latest index shows. The data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reveals that rental prices grew by 2.7% in England, 0.3% in Wales and 0.8% in Scotland with rents up the most in London at 3.9%. It means that overall rents are up 0.1% in annual terms compared with the year to December 2015, and up 0.7% compared with the annual price increase in January 2015. The regional breakdown of the figures shows that annual rental price growth varies, rising in Yorkshire and The Humber from 0.8% to 1.2%, and in the North East from 0.6% to 0.9%, whereas it fell in Wales from 0.7% to 0.3%. Rental growth in Scotland has gradually slowed to 0.8% in the year to January 2016, from a high of 2.1% in the year to June 2015. Rental prices in England show three distinct periods, increasing from January 2005 until February 2009, then decreasing from July 2009 to February 2010, and increasing again from May 2010 onwards. When London is excluded, England shows a similar pattern but with slower rental price increases from around the end of 2010. Since the beginning of 2012, English rental prices have shown annual increases ranging between 1.4% and 3% year on year, with January 2016 rental prices being 2.7% higher than January 2015 rental prices. Excluding London, England showed an increase of 2% for the same period. A shortage of suitable properties combined with strong demand, both from people priced out of the housing market and those who prefer to rent, lies behind these increases, according to Steve Bolton, founder of Platinum Property Partners. He believes that the Government is taking an enormous gamble on the private rental sector through its announced changes to buy to let investment and this could affect prices and growth. ‘Ending tax relief for landlords and levying a higher rate of stamp duty will ultimately increase investor’s costs, forcing many to push tenants’ rents up to remain profitable. Standards may also be reduced, with landlords having fewer funds to invest in the quality of their property. In some instances, landlords will be forced to sell, adding additional strain to private rented sector housing stock,’ he explained. ‘It is hard to see how the proposed changes will benefit prospective first time buyers. The biggest barrier to homeownership is a lack of adequate property supply, and discouraging buy to let investment will do nothing to alleviate this. With prices standing at such high levels, first time buyers need to raise a substantial deposit and as rental prices continue to grow this will become ever more difficult,’ he added. Jonathan Hopper, managing director of the buying agents Garrington Property Finders, believes that the traditional January uptick in activity and a scramble by second home and buy… Continue reading
