Tag Archives: facebook
Housing sales in UK set to jump by a fifth by 2020,
The number of property transactions in the UK could rise by over a fifth in five years to reach almost 1.5 million in 2020, according to new research. This will happen if first time buyers are given greater access to high loan to value lending, says the study commissioned by mover conveyancing services My Home Move. The increase in annual property transaction figures from the 1.23 million recorded in 2015 to the projected 1.49 million in 2020, a rise of 21.1%, is based on an econometric forecast of property transaction volumes. This includes a 6.6% rise in property sales in 2016, compared to 2015. The independent research uses a forecast model that draws on the historic relationship between property transactions and three variables that have had the greatest impact on property turnover: average mortgage rates, unemployment figures and the average first time buyer percentage deposit. The forecast of transaction levels is based on the OBR prediction for unemployment which is expected to fall slightly to 5.0% this year before rising slightly to 5.3% by 2020 and the OBR prediction for Bank Rate which is expected to rise gradually from early 2018 to reach 1.0% by the end of 2020. As part of the research, the average percentage deposit for first time buyers has been independently forecasted. This has been modelled to fall from the current 17.1% to 10% by late 2019 as more high LTV mortgage products come onto the market helping to make homeownership more affordable. As property transactions provide one of the most important measures of the overall health of the UK’s housing market, the research highlights a positive future for the market as transactions are set to advance strongly. ‘Although house prices have improved since the economic crash, property transaction levels, which are a key indicator of market health, are yet to return to their peak of 2007,’ said Doug Crawford, chief executive officer of My Home Move. ‘This report highlights the critical importance of unlocking access to high loan to value mortgage products for first time buyers, if we are to see transaction volumes grow and the health of the market remain,’ he explained. ‘The forecast shows that the number of home purchases could see a dramatic improvement if access to home ownership for first time buyers is nurtured. In particular, we need more lending to those with smaller deposits so that average deposit sizes for first time buyers fall to 10%,’ he pointed out. ‘However, reaching this would require a coordinated effort from across the industry sooner rather than later from house builders to ensure the supply is there, from lenders to provide the high loan to value lending that first time buyers depend on, and from those of us who support first time buyers with their purchase to ensure that buying a home is as easy as it can be,’ he added. ‘It couldn’t be clearer how important first time buyers are in… Continue reading
Most tenants in London never check their landlord’s credentials
The vast majority of people who rent a home in London don’t bother to check the landlord’s credentials leaving them open to dodgy landlords, new research suggests. Some 92% of London renters take what they can get and despite typically having to pay for the privilege of having a background check conducted on themselves, they don’t perform the same due diligence on their potential landlord. The study, by London removals firm Kiwi Movers, also found that highly competitive property marketing is cited as the number one reason for not doing checks on landlords and overall only 20% of UK renters do any sort of check on their landlord before agreeing a tenancy. Renters in Liverpool most likely to check out a landlord online before renting. . A third of the city’s residents say they’ve performed a background check on a landlord before agreeing to move into a property. Some 31.63% in Swansea would check the landlord, 26.83% in Southampton, 24.33% in Leicester, 24.07% in Glasgow, 23.37% in Sheffield, 23.3% in Brighton and Hove, 23% in Cardiff, 21.73% in Portsmouth and 21% in Birmingham. The research also found that women are more likely than men to background check a landlord at 24% compared to 15% of men and 44% of women would prefer to rent from another woman. Also one in five believe renting from an agency meant they didn’t need to worry about landlord credentials or history and but 53% of those that found negative information, in the form of a review, news article or details of legal issues, said it influenced their decision to rent from that person. Just 8% of London residents do any kind of background check on their landlord, 62% below the national average of 20%. London residents are also the least likely to act on information about a potential landlord, with fewer than half (44%) of them saying negative the information had influenced a housing decision. In other words, the need to secure a property was greater than their need to rent with confidence. One of those who prefer a woman landlord is PR manager Billie Gianfrancesco who has been renting in London since 2008 and is on her fifth rental property. ‘In my experience, female landlords tend to work more closely with property managers or put a system in place whereby tenants can resolve any issues quickly without needing to bother or chase them,’ she said. ‘I've found that male landlords prefer to try and resolve the issue themselves first. This often means repeat visits in person, which makes any tenant nervous, and a greater recurrence of botched DIY repairs. In one situation an upstairs bath was leaking, and our male landlord visited four times attempting to fix the issue himself. Because of this, the problem wasn't resolved for over a month. I faced a similar issue a couple of years later with a female landlord, she… Continue reading
Capital city rents edging lower in Australia
Rents in capital cities in Australia increased slightly by 0.1% in April, but overall rental rates edged lower and have now fallen by 0.2% over the past 12 months. This takes the average rental rate to $490 a week for houses and $467 a week for units across combined capital cities, according to the data from the latest CoreLogic monthly rental review report. Five of the eight capital cities saw a modest rise in rents over the past 12 months, including Sydney up 1.4%, Melbourne up 1.7%, Adelaide up 0.5%, Hobart up 1.1% and Canberra up 2.5%. Perth with a fall of 8.9% and Darwin with a decline of 12.6% both experienced large drops in rent rates and have collectively pulled the combined capital average lower while in Brisbane rents dropped by 0.6%. ‘We anticipate that the weakness in the rental market will persist over the year and rents will continue to fall over the coming months. The annual change in rental rates continues to be at its slowest pace since before 1996,’ said Research analyst Cameron Kusher. ‘At the same time last year, rental rates increased by 1.7% which indicates a sharp slowdown in rental growth over the past year,’ he pointed out, adding that factors contributing to a slowing in rental growth include falling real wages, excess rental supply in certain areas and lower rates of population growth, all of which have impacted on demand for rental accommodation. ‘With dwelling approvals at recent record highs and construction activity set to peak over the next 24 months, accompanied by many new properties still to settle, we anticipate that the weak rental market conditions will persist with rental growth continuing to slow and, or, fall in most capital cities,’ Kusher explained. He also pointed out that based on current market conditions, landlords won’t be in a position to lift rental rates and may actually need to reduce rents in order to keep their tenants. ‘We see renters as holding a stronger negotiation position and where they now have the potential to upgrade into higher grades of accommodation for a similar, or lower rents,’ Kusher said. Canberra is the only capital city where the annual rental change is currently stronger than it was a year ago. Kusher said this highlights the weakness in rental market conditions is being felt across all other capital city markets. With rental rates increasing in some cities in April, rates in Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart are at record highs. In all remaining cities, rental rates are now below their highs with the declines recorded respectively down 0.1% in Melbourne, 0.8% in Brisbane, 13.7% in Perth, 17.3% in Darwin and 5.4% in Canberra. The results show that as rental changes outpace home value changes, gross rental yields have trended lower and have hit record lows of 3.3% for houses and 4.2% for units. ‘In our two largest capital cities, we’ve seen rental yields move to record lows of 3.1% for houses and… Continue reading
