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Landlords in UK divided over whether the country should leave or stay in the EU
One in three residential landlords in the UK are still undecided about whether they will vote to leave or remain in the upcoming referendum on the European Union, according to new research. The landlord panel survey from the National Landlords Association (NLA) is published a little over a week before the referendum on 23 June which will decide whether or not the UK stays in the EU. The findings show that landlords are evenly split, with 35% intending to vote leave and 35% intending to vote to remain with the rest undecided. Landlords were also divided about whether EU membership would be beneficial to their future business prospects, with 53% believing that EU membership would be beneficial and 47% believing it would be harmful. Regionally, more landlords in London intend to vote to remain in the EU than anywhere else in the UK at 45%. By contrast, more landlords in the North East intend to vote to leave than anywhere else in the UK, with 44% saying they will do so. A breakdown of the survey figures show that in Scotland 42% want to remain and 30% to leave while in Wales it is just 20% who would vote to remain and 40% to leave. Elsewhere it is pretty evenly split with 38% in the East of England for remaining and 40% to leave. In the South West it is 35% and 36% respectively, in the North West it is also 35% and 36%, in the South East it is30% and 37%, while in Yorkshire and Humber it is 33% and 29%. In the West Midlands 31% want to remain and 40% to leave and it is even more diverse in the East Midlands with just 24% opting to remain and 40% to leave. And in London some 45% in the central area want to remain and 29% to leave but in outer London it is 37% and 34%. ‘Landlords, much like the rest of the British public, are divided on how they will vote in the EU referendum which means the decision looks to go down to the wire,’ said Richard Lambert, chief executive officer at the NLA. ‘The Remain and Leave campaigns have both had difficulty persuading the public on the benefits or hazards of a Brexit vote, and they have struggled to provide any clear analysis about the impact exiting the EU would have on the buy to let market,’ he explained. ‘As a result, landlords appear more likely to vote in this referendum based on their attitudes to issues such as national security, trade, and immigration, rather than the effect on the UK property market or their businesses,’ he added. Continue reading
Tax change boosts home sales in Scotland
Property tax change had boosted Scottish home sales with a rise in transactions of 11% year on year but prices are down 7.8% compared to 12 months ago, the latest index shows. The index report from estate agents Your Move suggests that prices are down due to a lack of higher value homes on the market with the average house price now £170,667. Prices have increased in Edinburgh and Clackmannanshire but have fallen in the majority of areas throughout Scotland. The index also shows that month on month prices are unchanged despite the new 3% surcharge on additional home sales. ‘After a year of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), it’s now possible to see its impact across the Scottish housing market. By cutting the cost of purchasing cheaper homes, LBTT has led to an 11% increase in sales over the last year,’ said Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland. She pointed out that with 104,344 home sales in the last 12 months, the market has outdone the previous year’s 93,601 sales. ‘These figures confirm that lower purchase taxes for property can significantly boost activity in the housing market, while also making it more affordable for first time buyers to get a foot on the ladder,’ Campbell explained. Indeed, she believes that the Scottish Government should consider lifting the LBTT bands higher, if they want to build on the foundations of this policy, in order to support Scotland’s fragile property and construction sector. She also pointed out that the drop in property values was caused by a spike in high value home sales last year, before the LBTT was introduced, but today’s market hasn’t regained those losses yet. ‘The facts show that since the introduction of LBTT, growth in house prices has been subdued. The average property value in Scotland has only grown 1.74% in the last six months, compared to 3.19% for England and Wales over the same period,’ Campbell explained. ‘The tax has particularly hit homes at the top of the market, as these properties have become more expensive to buy after the introduction of LBTT. So while there has been an upswing in sales, it has come at a cost for some,’ she added. And she said that while sales in March were almost double those in February, sales in April are 66% down on the previous month. However, home sales for the first four months of the year are still well ahead on the same point in 2015, with 4,751 additional property purchases so far in 2016. However, when you look at the local picture, the negative effects of the new surcharge are more obvious, as average house prices have dropped in 20 of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas from the previous month. Moray has felt the worst of the tax hike in April, with property values in the area declining by 4.6% month on month. Edinburgh has seen house prices rise by… Continue reading
Research reveals the housing market winners to mark first games of Euro football cup
With the European Championship football tournament underway new research shows which countries have done best in terms of house prices since the last cup four years ago. The price of mainstream homes have increases in more than 74% of the countries competing in the tournament, according to the study from international real estate agent Knight Frank. Turkey topped the rankings with an increase of 65.6%, followed by the Republic of Ireland with price growth of 34.3% and Sweden up 32%. In fourth place is Iceland with house prices up by 30.6%, followed closely by England where prices are up 29.7%, Germany up 19.7%, Austria up 16.5%, Northern Ireland up by 15.6% and Russia up 15.2%. Next is Wales with price growth of 14.1% in the last four years, Switzerland up 10.3%, the Czech Republic up 8.2%, Hungary up 8.1%, Belgium up 4%, Poland up by 1.8%, Portugal up by 1.4% and Slovakia up by 0.9%. The country with the worst ranking is Ukraine where house prices have fallen by 22.6% but this is not surprising considering the unrest in recent years. Second from bottom is Italy where prices are down 13.1% and then Croatia where prices have fallen by 9% since the last tournament in 2012. In Romania prices are down 0.5%, France down 5.7%, Spain down 7.2%. Kate Everett-Allen, head of international residential research at Knight Frank, pointed out that the divergent performance of northern and southern Europe is evident. ‘The Nordic countries along with Ireland, England and Germany have seen prices accelerate while prices in most of the southern European economies still sit below their level in 2012,’ she said. Continue reading
